What to Expect From the Pitchfork 2015 Music Festival
The Opening night of the Pitchfork Music Festival took place on Tuesday night, marking the fourth year of the Parisian music festival. Throughout the night, ten different artists played at three different venues: Café de La Danse, Mécanique Ondulatoire, and Badaboum, all in the 11th arrondissement. Each venue had a personality of its own, but shared casual atmospheres and intimate performances. Borns, Empress Of, and LA Priest (perfoming in silk pajamas) took to the stage in the two story venue of Café de La Danse. Mild High Club, Bully, and Speedy Ortiz performed to a small crowd in the basement of Mécanique Ondulatoire. SG Lewis, Moses Sumney, Mura Masa, and DJ Allie Teilz perfomed to an energetic crowd in Badaboum.
Image Credit: Phoebe Todd
The opening night set a promising tone for the rest of the festival, which will take place at the Grande Halle de la Villette, a 200,000 square foot venue which was originally used as a slaughterhouse in the 19th century. The festival attracts a very international audience of over 25,000 festivalgoers bonding over a love of underground music. The Grande Halle holds two stages on either end of the venue, for alternating performances throughout the night. You'll also find several food trucks and cheap beer—a rare find in Paris.
Before you go, you should know a little bit about the history of the festival. Pitchfork Media began in 1995, as an online music magazine based out of Chicago. The website has had an enormous influence on the success of emerging artists. Pitchfork is credited with “discovering” the likes of Arcade Fire and Bon Iver, and had a massive role in promoting artists such as Cold War Kids, Sufjan Stevens and Interpol. The group created the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2006, and moved it to Paris in 2011.
The organizers of Pitchfork try to promote emerging artists, which explains why you might not recognize some of the artists. A few of the big headliners for the festival include Beach House, Ariel Pink, Kurt Vile, Run the Jewels and Ratatat. The festival will take place from October 29th to the 31st in the Grande Halle de la Villette in the 19th arrondissement. You can find the itinerary here:
Image Credit: Pitchfork Music Festival Paris
Doors open at 5 p.m. and you should make sure you have your tickets printed beforehand. The concert goes until 1:00 a.m. every morning followed by after parties at Le Trabendo, just down the street from the venue. On the final night of Pitchfork, performers will be playing until 6:00 a.m.
If you like independent musicians and casual festivals, be sure to stop by Pitchfork this weekend. Yes, you may have to deal with annoying hipster crowds, but it's worth it for the quality of music.
