14 Nice Pitchfork Fest Performances from Artists Earlier than They Blew Up

In 2010, Pitchfork Fest had a comedy stage hosted by Les Savy Fav’s Tim Harrington. Among the many performers had been Hannibal Burress and Wyatt Cenac. (They each ended up being interviewed by a puppet named Ratso for the beloved cult Chicago youngsters’s TV present Stylish-A-Go-Go.) A pair days earlier than the pageant, Burress scored a spot on Selection’s “Ten Comics to Watch in 2010” record; he’d additionally simply left SNL and began writing for NBC’s 30 Rock. Since then, he’s discovered his absurdist comedic groove on The Eric Andre Present, starred within the iconic Broad Metropolis, and in addition initiated the domino impact that put the ultimate nail within the coffin for Invoice Cosby. In 2010, Wyatt Cenac was simply getting often called a correspondent on “The Day by day Present.” He would go on to host the exhibits Wyatt Cenac’s Downside Areas and aka Wyatt Cenac and garner Grammy and Emmy nominations for his comedy specials and internet sequence.

Kurt Vile — “Jesus Fever” (2011)

Head down, lengthy curly hair whipping within the wind, ripping a beautiful guitar solo, Vile nearly confirms Sean Yeaton’s (of Parquet Courts) phrases of reward from 2016: “He’s one of many final examples of a rock‘n’roll frontiersman who’s simply going to be well-known. He is just like the Mars 1 mission.” There may be an awe-inducing calm that comes with watching Vile carry out then as a youthful man, the type who would by no means suspect that he’d be well-known sufficient to be a solution on Jeopardy just some years later.

James Blake — “CMYK” (2011)

On the 2011 pageant, a 22-year-old James Blake carried out the electronic-instrumental single “CMYK” off his second EP of the identical title. The sun shades resting on his head are susceptible to falling off with each involuntary head shake, however that doesn’t cease him from rightfully jamming out. Blake would develop right into a musical drive, releasing a number of acclaimed information and ultimately co-writing and producing on Beyoncé’s Lemonade, Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN., and the Black Panther soundtrack.

Kendrick Lamar’s Radio Run mini-doc (2012)

Kendrick Lamar was nonetheless a budding expertise with a Dre co-sign in the summertime of 2012. Who may have identified then that he was going to develop into one of the crucial necessary rappers of the twenty first century? However, earlier than Kendrick’s efficiency at Pitchfork Fest that summer season, we filmed this mini-doc the place we adopted him round his promo tour of Chicago. He discusses his upcoming album (the nonetheless untitled good child, m.A.A.d metropolis), a Kendrick Lamar and J.Cole collab (which remains to be unreleased), amongst different issues. Then Woman Gaga exhibits up for his Pitchfork set, the place he performs the freshly minted “Swimming Swimming pools (Drank)” and “ADHD.” By the autumn, he’d launch good child, and after that it, nicely, the remainder is historical past.

Grimes — “Genesis” (2012)

Claire Boucher is the architect for a complete set of aesthetics that influenced pop music all through the 2010s. However in 2012, she had simply launched her breakthrough Visions. Her efficiency of “Genesis” speaks to what’s completely incomparable about Grimes: She expresses a very unexplainable bliss that grows extra pleasurable and extra head-scratching the longer you retain listening and searching.

King Krule — “Portrait in Black and Blue” (2012)

It will be one other yr earlier than Archy Marshall launched his debut LP 6 Ft Beneath the Moon, and at this level, he was maybe finest often called Zoo Child, the moniker he used to drop “Out Getting Ribs” in late 2010. It was laborious to know what a physique of labor would appear like from him, as a result of at this level he was nonetheless coming into his personal, revising his musical character on the fly. On this clip, Marshall performs “Portrait in Black and Blue,” from his self-titled EP, and it’s the type of informal perfection that feels tailored for sunny afternoons at summer season fests.

DJ Rashad (2013)

Deeply woven into the material of Chicago’s latest musical historical past is the impact of DJ Rashad’s footwork genius. He could not have began the style (credit score goes to RP Boo), however he wrote its New Testomony. Rashad’s crowning achievement, Double Cup, was set to be launched within the fall of 2013; earlier than that, footwork was by and huge a distinct segment however fanatically adopted style of dance music. On this efficiency, he performed a medley of songs, together with “Feelin” months earlier than it was launched. The following yr, Rashad handed away, so the Teklife household honored him in DJ Spinn’s efficiency at Pitchfork Fest 2014.

St. Vincent – “Cheerleader” (2014)