Living near Chicago, we are lucky enough to be close to some of the best music festivals in the world. Lollapalooza, Riot Fest and Pitchfork are just some of the few festivals Illinoisans have to look forward to every year.

Last week, Pitchfork announced the highly anticipated full lineup for this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. The festival will take place in Union Park, Chicago, from July 20 to 22.

The publication began announcing the acts on Feb. 27 by painting each act individually on a wall in Wicker Park. Yes, individually. It’s safe to say fans were not too happy about the way the announcement was executed.

The festival showed a livestream of the lineup announcements and some comments showed a lack of enthusiasm. “When people think Pitchfork they think this: self-important, obnoxious, and boring,” said one fan.

“Has it ever occurred to you guys that this is unequivocally the worst way to release a lineup in the world?” said another.

Finally, when the music festival released the full lineup, opting out of the painting, fans were expecting something extraordinary. Instead, some fans feel they were given something less.

“Such a disappointment overall aside from a select few. Worst line up in the past 5 years, hands down,” said a fan on festival facebook page.

This year’s festival hosts some big names, like the fan-favorite Tame Impala, Fleet Foxes and Ms. Lauryn Hill, who will be playing a 20-year anniversary of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

As far as headliners go, I can only say I am interested in seeing Fleet Foxes, the chamber folk group from Seattle. The group gained some critical success after releasing their third studio album, “Crack-Up,” in 2017.

Many fans are very excited for Tame Impala, which is easily the most well-known of the three headliners. They are not a group I am overly interested in, but hopefully they will be able to put on a good show.

“Tame Impala is worth every penny alone! Everything else is just extra,” said another fan.

The same can be said for Ms. Lauryn Hill. In all honesty, I have never listened to her music, but people rave over her. I am sure she will be worth seeing.

For the rest of the lineup, I can only say there are a handful of performers I am excited for. One act in particular is This Is Not This Heat, the reunion band for This Heat, the experimental rock group from the United Kingdom who disbanded in 1982.

Some other acts to look forward to include (Sandy) Alex G, Courtney Barnett, Earl Sweatshirt and The War on Drugs. This is not to say there are not more acts who are interesting, but there are a lot of artists who I will have to familiarize myself with before I can say I am excited for this lineup.

In my opinion, the lineup this year just does not seem to have much variety. I would be lying if I said that I know even half of the acts on the lineup.

Some of the lineup rumors for this year’s fest included acts like Icelandic superstar Björk, My Bloody Valentine and Arcade Fire. These are just a few names I was hoping for.

Björk headlined the festival in 2013, but I can easily say that if she had been a headliner again this year, I would spend the $175 for a three-day pass just to see her.

While I can admit that paying attention to lineup “leaks” is not the best idea, as it often leads to disappointment, many people were anticipating something more, including myself.

All in all, I feel the lineup could have much more to offer. While I find the lineup to be a bit underwhelming, it is still a fun experience I will consider attending, though I will have to listen to more of the performers before I make my final decision.