Pitchfork Review (10/02/20) Patel, Puja

The Pitchfork Review podcast discussed the future of live music with Kristen Kaza, co-founder of Chicago's Slo 'Mo series of queer dance parties, and Adam Krefman, Pitchfork's executive director of festivals. Krefman reflected on the differing outcomes of drive-in shows put on despite prohibitions: a Jeff Tweedy concert at a drive-in outside of Chicago and a drive-in performance by the Chainsmokers outside of New York. The latter was not well received, with Krefman saying "they encouraged people to get out of their cars supposedly, and so everyone kind of rushed to the front of the stage." The Tweedy concert, meanwhile, went well, "and it seems difficult to parse because on paper those two events are the same thing," he explained. There is speculation of decentralization or a reversion to independent, grassroots organizing among the live music community in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Kaza pointed to discrimination in terms of government aid, with big businesses favored over smaller ones. "On the other side of that is that you have communities that have been gathering in their own spaces that have been finding alternative ways of supporting each other," she added. Kaza emphasized, however, that "we should be thinking of how these larger industries and institutions can do that for these [marginalized] communities."

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