Nearly three-dozen acts converged on Chicago’s Union Park this past weekend (June 24-25) to provide two days of live music for the annual Intonation Music Festival. Headlined by the Streets and Bloc Party and curated by Vice, the fest’s bill spanned acts from hip-hop pioneers (Ghostface) to under-the-radar indie outfits (Favourite Sons, Tyrades), and was rounded out with noisecore experimentalists (Comets on Fire), a psych-rock legend (Roky Erickson), and bands who’d be spending Canada Day away from their motherland (the Constantines, the Stills). If you couldn’t make it, we’ve compiled the weekend’s highlights for you.
Here’s what the festival-goers are saying:
“Jose Gonzalez was mesmerizing, High on Fire rocked like nobody’s business, and the Boredoms blew everyone away.” Eric, stereogum.com
Also Read
Compact Discs: Sound of the Future
“It’s likely this Intonation will always be remembered as the festival that lured psychedelic-rock pioneer Roky Erickson out of Texas for the first time in decades, and the performance was even better than some Erickson die-hards could’ve imagined.” Greg Kot, chicagotribune.com
“Favourite Sons kicked things off with a rote set of New Wave revival music, heavy on the Smiths; Erase Errata tore through some riot grrrl punk, with a lot of attitude but little melody, and Devin the Dude belied his reputation as a funny and fluid rapper with too much singing on too many slow jams, including a weird cover of James Taylor’s ‘Handy Man.'” Jim Derogatis, suntimes.com
“We were most impressed by Tyrades, Rhymefest, Jon Brion, and Dead Prez (though we gave thumbs up to almost everyone). As rain fell on the crowd watching Bloc Party, the vibe we’d been missing really hit home as the UK act delivered a rocking set worthy of closing out a festival.” Scott Smith, chicagoist.com
