Bitchpork Weekend Kicks Off Tonight

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 12, 2012 7:45PM

Who knew that a music festival with a name as hokey as Bitchpork would end up one of Chicago’s favorite secret events? It started four years ago as a 3-day DIY alternative to Pitchfork that actually hosted more acts than its corporate-backed foe, though mostly of the noise and punk variety, for a fraction of the price. Last summer was supposed to be Bitchpork’s last, but the little fest that could is returning for another year and kicking off its expanded 4-day run today.

Word of the fest’s return started spreading a couple months ago, but after its home-venue Mortville (a warehouse in Little Village) was closed down due to the NATO summit and with the building apparently looking like an anarchist meeting place, we weren’t so sure the whole thing would come together.

In fact, so many DIY venues have been closed down in the past few months (Ball Hall and Mortville’s neighbor Treasure Town, to note) that there was real fear more would be closed for any ridiculous little reason. The guys behind Bitchpork are making sure that doesn’t happen by keeping the exact details on the down low (so down low that the four days of music are split among several secret locations across the city and, venues switch midday).

It’s too bad that this vast selection of music is so inaccessible—it features Tyvek, Guardian Alien, RUN DMT, Gas Mask Horse, Hurricanes of Love, and a couple dozen more local and national acts—but them’s the breaks. Anyone who really wants to be there can figure it out with a little diligent research. Check out the daily lineup below, but first, check out this very weird promotional video for the first Bitchpork:

Bitchpork IV Lineup

Thursday, July 12
Meat Pressure
Heat Death
Uncanny Valley (Oakland)
Psychic Steel
Gas Mask Horse
Giant Squid Autopsy
Luther Diskette

Friday, July 13
Blinking Girls
Diving God (Los Angeles)
Smith Bros (New York and California)
Toilet Mint
PC Worship (NewYork)
RUN DMT (Baltimore)
Dreebs (New York)
Winston Lasker
Panicsville
Rotten Apples (Boston)
B0dy Gl0ve (Oakland)
Windbreaker
Piss Piss Piss Moan Moan Moan

Saturday, July 14
VnessWolfCHild (Virginia)
Enamored (Oakland)
Daniel Lutz (Columbia MO)
Tyvek (Detroit)
Solid Attitude (Iowa City)
Attic Ted (Austin)
Gel Set
Ginseng (Iowa City)
Thee Open Sex (Bloomington)
Samantha Glass (Madison)
Machismo
Jermiah Fischer

Sunday, July 15
Guardian Alien (New York)
Tips for Twat (Minneapolis)
Apache Dropout (Bloomington)
Lazy K (Kansas City)
Flux Bikes
Hurricanes of Love (New York)
Spires That In The Sunset Rise (Madison)
Large ensemble performance of Terry Riley’s “IN C” conducted by Dan Quinlivan
Single Moms (New Mexico)
Mind Detergent (Oakland)
Lil Princess
Persuasion