Pitchfork update, and other picks for the weekend

Well, you did it: You waited too long, and now Saturday and Sunday at the Pitchfork Music Festival are completely sold out. Some tickets remain for walk-up only on Friday night, but you’d better get there early to be sure.

If you have been shut out of the festival, you still have a chance to see some of the best acts FOR FREE tonight at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. The special preview concert starts at 6:30 p.m. and features Fleet Foxes, Extra Golden, Boban Markovic and A Hawk and a Hacksaw.

There is also a free panel discussion this afternoon on the making of Public Enemy’s “It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” with Chuck D., Hank and Keith Shocklee of the Bomb Squad, “media assassin” Harry Allen and rock academic Kembrew McLeod at the Chicago Cultural Center at 3 p.m. E-mail rsvp@pitchforkmusicfestival.com to attend.

And if that still doesn’t console you, here are some other shows of note in the next few days.

Though the overall lineup is a bit of a mixed bag, you can’t fault the Rock the Bells tour for failing to deliver a lot of bang for the buck. This year’s traveling hip-hop hoe-down pulls into the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, and the roster of performers includes A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, the Pharcyde and De La Soul. Tickets are $50 or $75 reserved, $40 on the lawn through www.ticketmaster.com, (312) 559-1212.

And although the new “Viva la Vida” isn’t quite as strong or as adventurous as “X&Y” (2005), Chris Martin and his bandmates in Coldplay always deliver the arena-rock goods in concert; for glorious moody bombast, I’ll take them over the post-Zoo TV U2 any day. The group performs at the United Center, 1901 W. Madison, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets are $49.50 to $97.50 through www.ticketmaster.com, (312) 559-1212.