Last weekend, Ariel Zetina kicked off the Pitchfork Music Festival’s Sunday program. Instead of simply spinning a DJ set, Zetina worked with a Chicago-based team to put on a theatrical and “cunt” live performance focused on her 2022 album, Cyclorama.
A week before the festival, I went behind the curtain to get an inside look at the preparation for this astounding ensemble production. Then on Sunday, I did it again: Zetina and Pitch Perfect PR took me and photographer Miles Kalchik to the green room for hair and makeup. Just hours after her Pitchfork set, the Chicago DJ and producer was set to open for Beyoncé at Soldier Field, and that anticipation added a palpable buzz to the usual preshow excitement. The girls gleefully got ready together in a second-floor classroom in Union Park’s field house, taking breaks to bask in the cool of the air-conditioning unit.
For the show, we moved to stage right as Zetina and friends left it all on the stage. After she opened with her remix of Bored Lord’s “Crush on U,” she left the DJ booth to perform the Cyclorama track “Slab of Meat.” The crowd erupted in laughter and screams as she came downstage to greet them. Following an arrangement of “Cyclorama” and “Smooch Track,” singer Cae Monāe boosted the energy with “Have You Ever,” which featured dancers Liviana, Angelíca Grace, and Thee David Davis and a surprise vocal feature by stylist and drag artist Dutchesz Gemini.
Doll support was in full effect as Zetina performed “Security Theatre” with choreographed backing from the full ensemble. Mia Arevalo’s poignant but joyful rendition of “Gemstone” promoted a sense of togetherness, and all the performers—alongside visual designer Sloan Klusendorf, mixed-media artist Tali Halpern, and art photographer Anneasha Hogan—gathered onstage to take a bow at the start of Zetina’s captivating performance of “Vanity 7,” her set’s final song.
“We’re such theater bitches,” Zetina says. A few members of the troupe reply with a “yes and . . . ” She replies, ”Nooo. No yes ands—please say nooo, honey.” Credit: Miles Kalchik for Chicago Reader
Zetina excitedly rehearses her own lyrics: “Feeling like a slab of meat forgotten in the freezer / Are you gonna thaw me out or are you gonna leave me / Throw me on the countertop and pound me with a cleaver / Baby why’d you bring me home, can’t you see you’re wasting?” As Moreno helps her make costume adjustments, she exclaims that Zetina’s “thong is thonging.” Zetina and the girls dance and strike poses in the green room mirror, “channeling Lily-Rose Depp,” as Zetina puts it, humming Depp’s song “World Class Sinner.” Credit: Miles Kalchik for Chicago Reader
When asked for a quote about the performance, Liviana replied, “That pussy, that pussy, that pussy, that pussy, that pussy, that cunt.” Cae Monāe exclaimed, “Thank you, daddy!” Credit: Miles Kalchik for Chicago Reader
“Future is near, don’t feel alone / Purpose is an era, like a gemstone,” Arevalo sings. Credit: Miles Kalchik for Chicago Reader
