The eleventh running of the Pitchfork Music Festival went down this weekend under glorious skies in Chicago’s Union Park and featured perhaps the strongest lineup in the festival’s history. Strong—if at-times bleak—headlining sets from Beach House, Sufjan Stevens, and FKA twigs were bolstered by a robust undercard that ranged from jazz (Sun Ra’s Arkestra, Kamasi Washington) to R&B (Miguel, Jeremih, BJ the Chicago Kid) to however you classify Jenny Hval’s circus madness.
We were chilling in the shade and keeping our phones charged off solar power thanks to our pals at Clif Bar & Company, who were giving out 7″ singles made from recycled plates—and offering up adult coloring books for the stressed and young at heart alike—at their Re-Sound Lounge. But our photographer James Richards IV was hard at work canvassing the Red, Green, and Blue stages and capturing what he saw. Check out the fest through his eyes below.
- Sufjan Stevens at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Clay Frankel of Twin Peaks at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- BJ the Chicago Kid at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Mary Ann “Ladybug Mecca” Vieria of Digable Planets at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Sufjan Stevens at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Nick Millhiser of Holy Ghost! at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Girl Band’s Dara Kiely at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Whitney crack a smile backstage at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Miles Mosley at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- BJ the Chicago Kid at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Rickey Washington at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Gemma Thompson and Jehnny Beth of Savages at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jehnny Beth of Savages at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Julien Ehrlich of Whitney at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- The Clif Re-Sound Lounge at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- One lucky unicorn at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Kamasi Washington at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Alex Scally of Beach House at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jenny Hval and friends at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Cadien Lake James of Twin Peaks at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Sufjan Stevens at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jeremy Earl of Woods at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Holly Herndon at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jeremih at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Charles Davis of Sun Ra’s Arkestra at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Dev Hynes of Blood Orange at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Thundercat at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Dev Hynes of Blood Orange at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Tara Middleton of Sun Ra’s Arkestra at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Anderson .Paak at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- photo by James Richards IV
- Sun Ra’s Arkestra at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- The crowd at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Julia Holter at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Moses Sumney at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- FKA twigs at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- FKA twigs at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Victoria Legrand of Beach House at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Patrice Quinn at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Brandon “Professor Boogie” Coleman at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Beach House at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Max Kakacek of Whitney at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Nick Millhiser of Holy Ghost! at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Miguel at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jeremih at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jehnny Beth of Savages at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Neon Indian at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Dev Hynes of Blood Orange at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Ultralight beam / photo by James Richards IV
- Miguel at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- FKA twigs at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jeremih at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Miguel at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Chicago’s own Twin Peaks at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Filling in the blank at the Clif Re-Sound Lounge / photo by James Richards IV
- Neon Indian at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Australia’s own Royal Headache backstage at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Victoria Legrand of Beach House at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Carly Rae Jepson at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Girl Band’s Dara Kiely at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Thundercat at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Marshall Allen of Sun Ra’s Arkestra at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- NAO at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Al Jardine of The Beach Boys at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Anderson .Paak at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Union Park / photo by James Richards IV
- Martin Courtney at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Anderson .Paak at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Craig “Doodlebug” Irving of Digable Planets at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Beach House at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- FKA twigs at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- FKA twigs at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler of Digable Planets at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Kevin Morby at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- An old pal pops up at at the Clif Re-Sound Lounge / photo by James Richards IV
- Carly Rae Jepson at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Sufjan Stevens at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Amy Millan of Broken Social Scene (and Stars) at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- A couple wait for a fresh-cut record at the Clif Re-Sound Lounge / photo by James Richards IV
- Thundercat at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Rickey and Kamasi Washington / photo by James Richards IV
- Brian Wilson at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Jason Lee Scott at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV
- Holly Herndon at Pitchfork Music Festival / photo by James Richards IV