Kaytranada, one of the Pitchfork Paris 2018 headliners
As the leaves turn brown and the nights draw in, you could be forgiven for taking your mind off the subject of music festivals for a few months. But there is one last hurrah in the 2018 season and it is about to take place in the City of Lights.
A fixture in the European calendar since its 2010 debut, Pitchfork Paris is the second major annual shindig organised by the Chicago-based online magazine. This year’s event is just days from taking place, with the city’s historic former slaughterhouse, La Grande Halle de la Villette, set to host proceedings from 1-3 November.
The line-up is as ambitious and expertly selected as you would expect from its eponymous curators. Three days of wall to wall sets will be headlined by Bon Iver, Mac DeMarco and Kaytranada, who will all be playing their last European date of 2018 at the festival, with slots too for Blood Orange, Stephen Malkmus and CHVRCHES.
Tastes of every kind are catered for, from the guitar-led noise of Car Seat Headrest, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and The Voidz to the electronic innovation of Daniel Avery, John Maus and DJ Koze. Local talent is handsomely represented in the lineup too, with French acts including young alternative dance whizkids Bagarre mingling alongside veteran new wave chansonnier Etienne Daho.
Some tickets still remain for each day’s offerings. The final night will see the Grande Halle descend into a hedonistic free-for-all, with organisers claiming a 6am finish to a night of DJ sets and reverie.
For the hardcore music fan with an insatiable appetite for discovery, there is even more. October 30 & 31 sees Pitchfork Avant-Garde, the warm-up to end all warm-ups. Taking place across seven nearby venues around the Bastille, it is a showcase for countless of the world’s most sought-after emerging talent, from alternative hip-hop star JPEGMAFIA to the psychedelic pop of Let’s Eat Grandma, from the neo-soul of Biig Piig to the bedroom stylings of Jimothy Lacoste.
Five days of finely selected music in the French capital are the perfect tonic to take anybody’s mind off the impending winter. If this sounds like your flavour of escapism, head to pitchforkmusicfestival.fr to grab your last minute tickets.
Bon Iver MP3s or CDs
Bon Iver on Spotify
