So what did the 8th Annual Pitchfork Music Festival look and sound like, you ask? Well, this year we experienced a bit of everything; rain, thunder, lightning, 87-degree heat and humidity, dozens of food vendors, scores of indie labels and poster artists.

Three stages, and nearly 60,000 wet n’ sweaty music lovers wilding out for three days…all howling along to their favorite artists, (including standout performances from Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Beach House, Real Estate, The Field, King Krule, and a triumphantly reunited Chavez!). Thanks Chicago, we’ll see you again next year. Yes, we took lots of photos.

Held July 13-15th, Pitchfork is by far North America’s most eagerly anticipated outdoor music festival of summer. As a returning sixth-year sponsor we’ll be on hand gifting Pitchfork performing artists, festival attendees and production staff with a barrage of helpful Incase goodies.

As always, we recommend bringing a hat, ear plugs and comfy shoes. Maybe remember to eat snacks and drink water— it’s gonna be an all-day scorcher. Yup, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Grimes, Chavez, The Field, King Krule and Thee Oh Sees are all playing.

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago soon.

Chicago, oh how we love you. Excellent neighborhood restaurants, (Lula Cafe & Nightwood). Beautiful music theaters and cozy local clubs, (The Hideout). Dreamy outdoor spaces, (Union Park). Fantastic architecture, (too many spots to mention). And last but not least, a history of great bands, (Big Black, Califone, Naked Raygun, etc…). All of which makes it the ideal setting for the annual Pitchfork Music Festival.

So what did this year’s festival look like? 98-degree heat, dozens of food vendors, thousands of bicycles, heaps of indie labels, and roughly 50,000 sweaty music lovers spazzing out, singing along and taking naps. Thanks again Chicago, we’ll see you next year. We took a lot of photos.

In just a little over two days the Pitchfork Music Festival’s horde of disheveled, breezily attired patrons will again descend on Chicago’s Union Park. Held over the course of three delightful (albeit extremely hot+loud) days and nights, Pitchfork is hands-down the most anticipated independent outdoor music event of the summer. As a returning sponsor of the festival Incase will again be on hand gifting performing artists and festival attendees with a barrage of helpful goodies.

As always, please remember to bring a hat, ear plugs and comfy shoes. Eat something. Drink water. Perhaps even have a nap. Maybe bring a sheet or small blanket for lurking with pals on the lawn. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago soon!

Chicago is a magnificent city. Massive, industrious and steeped in American musical history… all of which makes it the perfect setting for the summer annual Pitchfork Music Festival. Check the photos and read the recap.

Chicago is a magnificent city. Massive, industrious and steeped in American musical history… all of which makes it the perfect setting for the summer annual Pitchfork Music Festival. Chicago in July, however, generally offers one of two weather vibes. You’re either dying of heat exhaustion or running from thundershowers and lightning. Last year saw scattered rain and even a bit of fog, which kept the mood nice and mellow. This year? It was blazing hot from sunrise to sundown for three straight days. Like, 90-degrees in the shade-style hot. So glad Matt the Ice Cream Man posted his van next to us.

So what did this year’s Pitchfork look like? 54,000 music lovers. Four dozen street meat trucks and various food vendors (once again the curry cart was the best). Thousands of bicycles. Dozens of indie record labels and arts & crafts vendors. 3,200 free Incase iPhone cases. Thousands of sweaty music lovers running around, spazzing out, falling down, flailing wildly, singing along and taking naps. Tents… and thousands of sunburns….

Stand out performances included Bear In Heaven, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Lightning Bolt, Kurt Vile, Titus Andronicus, Sharon Van Etten, Major Lazer and Robyn (yes, the Swedish pop star). For the sixth straight year in a row, the artists, vendors, festival organizers and fans alike made Pitchfork one of (if not the) best summer music festival in North America. We hope to see you next year.

On Wednesday morning, July 15th, after more than three months of preparation for Incase’s activities at the Pitchfork Music Festival, I boarded a flight to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Apart from the Glastonbury & Reading Festivals in the UK, Pitchfork is arguably the most anticipated independent music festival of the summer season. With more than 55,000 attendees across three days, Incase’s sponsorship of the fest gave us the opportunity to work with many of our friends and favorite bands from around the US and Europe. Coming into the festival, our hope was to give fans and performers carrying solutions for their music & technology products; relevant tools they could really use, whether in a van on tour or heading across town to work or school.

With this idea in mind, we positioned four freestanding stations around the festival grounds, using our grabbelton bins to give away roughly 6,000 Slider Cases for iPhone & iPod, (as well as kazoos, rubber balls, and water balloons). Each time Leslie and Hannah (our staffers/Chicago & NYC pals) went around refilling the bins, they found themselves swarmed, knocked over and pushed out of the way as rabid crowds rushed in, hoping to find the exact case(s) they were looking for. The reaction was hilarious, wild fun. In the VIP area we gifted artists specialized product requests like nylon backpacks, skate messenger bags and 2-in-1 Wall & Car Chargers; and at the Pitchfork Recycling Store hustlers won neoprene sleeves and notebook hardshell cases in exchange for turning in plastic bottles, cups and other recyclable goods.

Like the festival itself, our Incase presence and sponsorship approach was relaxed. No lame pitches, no corny outfits or weird hoops to jump through. We put the products out there in an open and organic way, and for three days straight we received beaming smiles and genuine words of thanks in return.

As for the music, the festival’s promoters once again got it all right, excellently pairing established independent artists like Yeasayer, F*cked Up, Beirut, The Thermals, DJ/Rupture and Grizzly Bear with underdogs like Disappears, Waaves (“Psyche!”), The Very Best, and Frightened Rabbit. During Opening Night’s pitch perfect “Write The Night” sets, people went predictably bananas for indie rock legends Built To Spill and Yo La Tengo. BTS’ Doug Martsch (and his beard) has come a long way from his formative years fronting the frenetic Treepeople. Total 90’s nostalgia was in full swing.

Pitchfork’s greatest stroke of genius, however, came in booking hometown heroes The Jesus Lizard. David Yow and company absolutely owned this year’s festival, proving 10-years after their breakup why they remain the most entertaining band of outsiders on earth.

All in all, last weekend’s Pitchfork Music Festival turned out to be a real blog-slog down memory lane. Between all the friends, fans and bands, we must’ve run into two hundred people spanning the last fifteen years of our collective lives. Everywhere we turned it was one wonderful run-in after another, friends, food and weirdness galore.

And last (but definitely not least), I haven’t said anything yet about the night we found ourselves all of a sudden (4:30 AM) at a dance party on the Southside of Chicago with Drill Team’s Brooke Morris and Yeasayer’s Jay Tram. Walking in, we bumped into twin brothers/DJs Greg & Darin Bresnitz from Brooklyn’s Finger On The Pulse. Of course. In unison, they said, “Dude, have you been to the basement yet?” I replied, “No, why?” They replied, again in unison, “Dude, just do it. Go down there right now.”

So we walked downstairs to discover—NO JOKE—full blown, raging cage-match boxing action. I’m talking about rugged, brrrrrrutal, Fight Club-style pummeling…in a cage. Close your eyes. Picture a low ceiling covered in peeling lead paint, cig smoke so hectic you feel like you’re inhaling a thousand dirty mattresses, hundreds of crushed PBR cans, a dim lamp shade made out of a white plastic bucket and a raw 100 watt bulb, more crushed PBR cans, half a dozen crumpled couches and busted chairs, and a cage full of men and women annihilating one another while crazy bad G ‘n’ R and Rage Against The Machine jams blare through a crappy soundsystem…

Basically, I stumbled upon someone’s version of perfection—my version. Chicago + Pitchfork Music Festival + Southside Dance Party + Random Basement Rage Cage = AWESOME.

From the many great performances to the exceptional food vendors, (indeed, everything from the finest gourmet cuisines to the whackest, most delicious death lards), to the speakeasy run by the karaoke singing, WWII vet/bartender (what? yeah), to the $19.99 blowup pools and Scarface & Tweedy Bird beach towels to just the city itself—Chicago is a fantastic town full of interesting history, beautiful neighborhoods and smart, funny people.

Chicago thanks for showing us a supremely good time. We’ll see you at the Pitchfork Music Festival again next year.

Now in its 5th year, it is just about time for the Pitchfork Music Festival and its 55,000 attendees to again swoop down on Chicago’s Union Park. Held over the course of three long, loud days & nights, Pitchfork is by far and away the most anticipated outdoor music event of the summer. Most anticipated that is, if you’re an indie rocker in skinny jeans with an ear for clanky-clonky twee jams made by other indie rockers in skinny jeans. Psyche! That’s not entirely true.

In addition to 39 other celebrated independent acts from across the musical spectrum, this year Pitchfork plays host to the behemoth reunion of The Jesus Lizard, hands down one of the greatest live bands of all time.

As a sponsor of this year’s festival, Incase will be on hand with bin stations spread out around the events grounds gifting attendees with a rainbow avalanche of free slider cases for iPod & iPhone. Also, be sure to stop by Pitchfork’s Recycling Store for additional Incase prizes and recycling contest giveaways.

Word to the wise— Wear a hat, drink water. Maybe bring a sheet or small blanket, you’re gonna want to lay down now and again. Seriously.

Have fun, we hope to see you there.

July 17, 18, 19th
Union Park
Chicago, IL

The Incase t-shirt stenciling booth at Pitchfork was a huge success. Even with the heat, rain and mud, our booth saw a steady stream of traffic and produced some great one-of-a-kind tees for Pitchfork festivalgoers. Check out more of the creations on our Flickr stream.

Special thanks to our friends at Drillteam for getting us there.