Written by Patrick McNamara

Pitchfork Fest is this weekend (7/14 - 7/16) in Union Park! The full schedule has been announced and there is so much goodness to see.

There are a bunch of big names playing, of course (LCD Soundsystem, A Tribe Called Quest, Dirty Projectors, Solange, Danny Brown, Ride, etc) and you should totally stay late to see all of them.

However, what you should REALLY do is get there early to see some of the opening bands and artists that you might not love just yet but who rule just the same.

Here are 5 good peeps worth getting to Union Park early for.

FOR SURE.

1. Priests play Friday at 1:45 PM (Green Stage)

Priests is a punk band from Washington D.C.

They play protest anthems.

Since forming circa 2011 A.D. the staunchly independent band put out music under their own label (Sister Polygon) and have played a TON of DIY shows w/ a bunch of dope bands like Screaming Females, Snail Mail, ESG, Pill, Shopping, Downtown Boys and The Julie Ruin to name a VERY few.

They do their own thing and their own thing rules.

RIYL: Teenage Jesus and the Jerks / X-Ray Spex / Bush Tetras / Fugazi

2. Madame Gandhi plays Friday at 1:00 PM (Red Stage)

Madame Gandhi is the electro-feminist project of Kiran Gandhi. She used to play drums for MIA and in 2015 ran the London marathon free-bleeding on her period to combat the menstrual stigma women face around the world. Maybe you heard about it!

She will have a live all-female band at Pitchfork Fest and will perform new music inspired by Fela Kuti and Brazilian Feminism. It's gonna be good and you should be there for it!

3. Weyes Blood play Saturday at 2:30 PM (Green Stage)

Weyes Blood rules and their latest album is fantastic and you should go see Natalie Mering and her crew play every single time you have the opportunity.

It doesn't really need to be any more complicated than that.

Stick with this one.

A good band is hard to find.*

*that's a pretty solid Flannery O'Connor drop!

4. Vagabon play Saturday at 1:00 PM (Green Stage)

The super talented singer / writer / producer / multi-instrumentalist Laetitia Tamko is Vagabon.

The NYC artist creates strong pop songs. Sometimes they're quiet. Sometimes they punk. Whichever way they go. They always sound dope!

Since forming sometime circa 2014, Vagabon has played a bunch of shows (most recently sharing bills with Frankie Cosmos, sad13, Mal Devisa and LVL UP to name just a few good bands) and this partially explains why this music sounds so good. Practice, yo. (BTW, the other part is talent.)

Vagabon recently released their debut full-length for Father/Daughter Records (home to: Forth Wanderers, Diet Cig, Hiccup & plenty more good bands).

Wait. I'll find it for you.

OK. Here you go!

5. Ne-Hi play Sunday at 2:30 PM (Green Stage)

Chicago's Ne-Hi rock the hazy heavy post ___ rock blues and their easy breezy noisy grooves will totally put you in a better mood and want to keep hanging out and keep the dream alive. Bet.

The band of four (Jason + Alex + Michael + James) has been slinging the sound goodness for a bit now, playing solid shows with good bands like PUP + Perfect Pussy + The Black Lips + their buds in Twin Peaks + many more along the way.

Please blast their latest album. It rules.

There you have it!

Get there early!

Stay late!

And don't forget about all the good late late aftershows too!

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PITCHFORK FESTIVAL, CLICK HERE >>