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Pitchfork Festival 2015: Sunday – Triumphant Chance

Pitchfork Festival 2015: Sunday – Triumphant Chance

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Chance the Rapper delivered an energetic closing set- capping off a weekend of stellar performances amidst soaring heat and rapturous fans.

I started Sunday, once again, at the Blue stage for the performance of ‘Mourn’- a Barca-based, indie-punk four-piece. They were very shy but got more comfortable as it went on. ‘Otitis’ was the highlight for me; I felt the same about their debut album released in 2013. The drummer for this band is really talented and received the loudest applause as he left the stage.

Madlib & Freddie Gibbs brought ‘real’ hip hop to the Red stage. Freddie urged the crowd to chant back ‘F*ck Police’ at least a dozen times. What cannot be denied is his phenomenal ability to rap, his execution made it clear that his experience and refined elocution put him a cut above some of the younger, more hyped rappers playing at the festival.

Jamie XX was next up on the Red. He started his set appropriately with the flittering keys of ‘Your Love’ by House forefather and Chicagoan, Frankie Knuckles. There was a touch of historicism to proceedings as Jamie worked his way to tracks from his joint debut (with Gil Scott-Heron) ‘We’re New Here’ and critically acclaimed solo record ‘In Colour’.

My relationship with ‘Caribou’ has come to assimilate my teenage years. In my worst moments his music was always there for me and I’ve usually found myself at his concerts on the back end of a (usually self-induced) heartbreak. I’ve been round the world with him and for some reason felt like this would be the last time I’d receive his organic, post-dubstep awesomeness in the form of a live show. It felt quite apt to slug away admirably to see someone who I think will play more of a part in my future.

A. G. Cook was hilarious, precarious and actually a little bit dangerous. Listening to his SoundCloud material and the general scope of stuff coming out of his label PC Music, you wouldn’t expect such an intense atmosphere. The silly, air-pop/UK Garage vibe was hugely enjoyable, but so infectious it was difficult to stand up straight as you were constantly watching your back for fighting/twerking sixteen year olds. He finished on ‘Hey QT’ though so it’s all good.

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I felt the presence of Run the Jewels from the sheer amount of people rocking tees with the mummified hand signs that feature on their album covers and stage backdrops. The atmosphere was rowdy, but just the right amount of rowdy. The attitude of the audience meant people could mosh and ‘get lit’ without doing too much harm to one another. As someone who attended as a fan who wasn’t able to name tracks I was hugely impressed. They have to go down as the act of the weekend for me for the combination of sound quality and atmosphere.

Chance the Rapper’s closing set was spectacular. He drew a crowd of 18,000 spectators, admitting on stage to not being able to see the back of. He went straight in with songs from ‘Acid Rap’. He changed outfits several times during the performance returning with the ‘Chicago Bulls Bucket Boys’ for one song and ‘Donnie Trumpet’ for tracks from their joint album ‘Surf’. The triumphant Chance confessed ‘he’s putting to bed and outgrowing a chapter of his life’ and he seemed so grateful to be able to share that with his home fans, declaring it ‘our show’.

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