July 15th through July 17th Chicago's Union Park is transformed into a three-stage music festival. The festival organizers are proud of the fact that they 'strike a balance between discovery and celebration' of both known and up-and-coming musical artist. That curatorial mix has been well received by fans every year since 2006. Much media coverage is sought after by college radio stations regionally, further testament that these producers have a bead on emerging acts. This is consistent with Pitchfork magazine as one of the most trusted voices in music. And what comes with taste-making music fans is often a wild appetite for music related merchandise. In this case vending included bins of used and rare vinyl and a noteworthy variety of off-set press concert posters.
Union Park Chicago
The biggest challenge is trying to catch all the acts given 43 live sets of music. However the schedule was an earnest effort to stagger set times allowing fans to catch multiple sets slightly overlapped.
Whereas the music of Brain Wilson and The Beach Boys will always be celebrated, and the ensemble sounded great honoring his music, Brian Wilson's personal management should have never allowed him to be booked to perform. Wilson is an elderly man who no longer has the capacity to perform and entertain. Beach House started their set in the dark. It was not a technical issue. So it was easy to lose interested in hearing them. Weekend highlights included Kamasi Washington, Sufjan Stevens, Carly Rae Jepsen, Blood Orange and Savages. Unable to cover as much as desired, there were many more acts that I missed who really charged the audience.
The three day line-up listed by blue, green and red stages.
FRIDAY, JULY 15
8:30pm – (Green) Beach House
8:15pm – (Blue) Shamir
7:20pm – (Red) Broken Social Scene
7:15pm – (Blue) The Range
6:25pm – (Green) Carly Rae Jepsen
6:15pm – (Blue) Mick Jenkins
5:30pm – (Red) Twin Peaks
5:15pm – (Blue) Moses Sumney
4:35pm – (Green) Julia Holter
4:15pm – (Blue) Whitney
3:30pm – (Red) Car Seat Headrest
SATURDAY, JULY 16
8:30pm – (Green) Sufjan Stevens
8:45pm – (Blue) Holly Herndon
7:50pm – (Blue) Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals
7:25pm – (Red) Brian Wilson
6:40pm – (Blue) Jlin + RP BOO
6:15pm – (Green) Super Furry Animals
5:35pm – (Blue) Martin Courtney
5:15pm – (Red) Blood Orange
4:30pm – (Blue) Jenny Hval
4:15pm – (Green) Savages
3:25pm – (Blue) Royal Headache
3:20pm – (Red) Digable Planets
2:30pm – (Green) Kevin Morby
2:20pm – (Blue) BJ the Chicago Kid
1:45pm – (Red) Girl Band
1:00pm – (Green) Circuit Des Yeux
SUNDAY, JULY 17
8:30pm – (Green) FKA twigs
8:45pm – (Blue) Oneohtrix Point Never
7:45pm – (Blue) LUH
7:25pm – (Red) Miguel
6:45pm – (Blue) Oneman
6:15pm – (Green) Jeremih
5:45pm – (Blue) Thundercat
5:15pm – (Red) Neon Indian
4:45pm – (Blue) The Hotelier
4:15pm – (Green) Holy Ghost!
3:45pm – (Blue) Empress Of
3:20pm – (Red) Kamasi Washington
2:50pm – (Blue) NAO
2:30pm – (Green) Woods
1:55pm – (Blue) Sun Ra Arkestra
1:45pm – (Red) Porches
Photos by www.philamonjaro.com
