Pitchfork Fest 2023 day 1 pics (The Smile, Alvvays, Perfume Genius, Ric Wilson, more) – BrooklynVegan

Ferris CarterJuly 22, 2023

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Pitchfork Fest 2023 day 1 pics (The Smile, Alvvays, Perfume Genius, Ric Wilson, more) – BrooklynVegan

When The Smile dove headfirst in the anxious chaos of “Bending Hectic,” their newest single, there should have been a turbulence warning to take a seat for the crescendo, as the dizzying light show and screaming instruments made fission-level impact.
Even on “Waving A White Flag,” in which sonic savant Greenwood played his guitar with a violin bow, he did it so furiously that he broke the strings. The addition of fourth touring member, Robert Stillman on horns, only added to the lush orchestration. [Chicago Sun Times]

The Smile, aka Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with former Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, headlined day one of the 2023 edition of Pitchfork Festival, which is happening this weekend at Chicago’s Union Park. This was the final date of the band’s summer North American tour, which also included a stop at NYC’s Forest Hills Stadium earlier this month. They were in the studio earlier this year working on the follow-up to their fantastic 2022 debut album; hopefully they’ll have more new music on the way soon too. Stay tuned.

Day one of Pitchfork Festival 2023 also included sets from Alvvays, Ric Wilson, Perfume Genius, Youth Lagoon, Jlin, Leikeli47, Nation of Language, Mavi, Grace Ives, Sen Morimoto, Axel Boman, Nourished by Time, and Contour. See pictures from the whole day by James Richards IV below.

Pitchfork Fest continues through Sunday (7/23), and if you can’t be there in person, it’s also streaming live.

photo by James Richards IV