Windy City Indies

[RonJonSurfer]

Indie rock festivals duke it out in Chicago By Todd Martens

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Indie rock fans in Chicago are benefiting from a good old-fashioned catfight between Intonation and Pitchfork, which are producing competing music festivals in the Windy City this summer.

Even Lollapalooza is getting in on the indie action, with such acts as the New Pornographers and Iron & Wine among the many representing the indie sector during its August run in Chi-town.

Last year, Windy City indie-flavored Web site Pitchfork curated Intonation -- a duty that has since been taken over by New York-based record label/magazine/DVD company Vice. Pitchfork decided to go it alone, setting up a battle of the brands by staging its own two-day event in the same park a month later.

Or maybe not completely alone. Booking the Pitchfork Music Festival is Mike Reed, one of the founders of Intonation, who left the festival last fall.

Reed declines to talk about the breakup, but the Intonation folks are more vocal.

Pitchfork "wanted complete creative control, and Intonation had worked hard to create a brand for itself," Intonation co-founder Jonathan Singer says. "There's been a tremendous amount of confusion (to the public). We didn't contractually preclude them from doing their own festival. We just didn't know that it would happen."

At the June 24-25 Intonation festival, such Vice acts as the Streets and Bloc Party will headline, with key support coming from stoner rock act High on Fire and up-and-coming hip-hop artists Lady Sovereign and Chicago's Lupe Fiasco. A number of acts are still to be announced, and Singer has his fingers crossed for some big names: "We've been heavily courting Leonard Cohen and Brian Eno," he says.

For the July 29-30 Pitchfork event, Spoon, Mission of Burma, Art Brut and Devendra Banhart are among the notables. Reed says more than a dozen artists have yet to be announced, mainly those who will appear on a side stage.

Lollapalooza happens the week after Pitchfork, and while Reed says he admires the Lolla lineup, which includes Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West and Death Cab for Cutie, he takes a swipe at it, calling the festival suitable for a "30-year-old broker."

Whether it's Vice subscribers or Pitchfork followers that show up in larger numbers, few festivals are as big a bargain. Two-day tickets to Pitchfork sell for $30, and weekend Intonation passes go for $30. On the other hand, a three-day pass for Lollapalooza is $130.

Reuters/Billboard