It's April, so it must be raining outside. Let me rephrase that... it's Seattle and it's not summer, so it must be raining outside. What a better way to spend a drizzly day than to dream about all the great music festivals hitting the Northwest this summer.
Playlist:
Sasquatch Music Festival (May 24-26)
The kickoff to the season is
the Sasquatch Music Festival, which year after year, gets the most best tasting/less filling lineup in the country. Doesn't get the press that Coachella gets, but the lineup is top notch, and it's hard to beat watching your favorite band with Grand Canyon Jr. (the Gorge) as a backdrop. Bands like
R.E.M.,
Modest Mouse,
The Cure and
Death Cab For Cutie are great decoys for the real entertainment on a second stage. That's where you can see acts like
Destroyer,
Stephen Malkmus,
Battles,
Okkervil River in a slightly more intimate setting.
Must See:
Fleet FoxesPlaylist:
Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival (July 12-13)
The initial lineup was
just announced this week, but rumors of a Green River reunion have
been circulating since the fall. Not only do we get a
GR reunion, but also reuniting for the event are
Red Red Meat,
Fluid,
Seaweed and
Beachwood Sparks. (What, no
Tad?) The rest of the lineup is filled with current roster acts like
Wolf Parade,
Iron & Wine,
Fleet Foxes and
Flight of the Conchords, but no sight of the crossover successes -
The Shins and
Band of Horses. Portland's Sub Pop contingent is missing as well -- perhaps
Hazel,
Pond and
The Spinanes can get their act together in time for the event?
Must see:
Green River (duh?)
Website:
SP20 DetailsPlaylist:
Pemberton Music Festival (July 25-27)
This is a first for the Whistler area and I for one was surprised to see the local residents approve the festival. With a camping set-up and acts like
Black Mountain,
Jay-Z,
Tom Petty,
My Morning Jacket (
see full lineup) it's a good thing Canada is much looser with their Marijuana laws. They even have a family section for camping, which presumably won't have the same cannibas fog surrounding it.
Must see:
Sam Roberts Band (when in Canada...)
Website:
Pemberton FestivalPlaylist:
Capitol Hill Block Party (July 25-26)
Occurring at the same time as Pemberton, CHBP has grown leaps and bounds throughout the years, but finally seems to have settled on a size, as this year resembles the last couple in size and strength (manageable and 'like bull', respectively).
Vampire Weekends' got a busy, uh... weekend playing both CHBP and Pemberton fests. Other highlights for this neighborhood party include
The Hold Steady,
Kimya Dawson and
Jay Reatard.
Must see:
Jay Reatard!
Website:
The Stranger's CHBP sitePlaylist:
Bumbershoot (August 30–September 1)
The annual labor day weekend arts extravaganza is always the bohemoth lying in wait... the giant straw that breaks your festival going back. I believe I've attended now every year since 1987, which makes my attendance this year of drinking age (21 years!) The beer gardens better watch out! A preview lineup has been announced featuring
Beck,
Neko Case,
M. Ward,
Dan Deacon and
Wreckless Eric (!) among many others. It's too early to say how it's going to look, though, as there's a lot of time for plenty of surprise announcements to come. We'll of course be monitoring the situation.
Must see:
Man Man (just added)
Website:
Bumbershoot.orgSo, who wants to fly to the Seattle area for the summer now?
If you thought that SP20 ended on Sunday, you're partly right... the official part did anyway. But like Green River and Fluid did the Thursday night before at the (tiny) Sunset Tavern, some bands were sneaking in more Sub Pop goodness outside the event. Monday night at Neumo's was billed as The Listening Party with Special Guests, and knowing that the band was getting set to start tour with Wolf Parade, some folks figured out that part of the secret pretty early. Yesterday morning, it was revealed that not only was Wolf Parade playing, but also Foals, essentially two of the three bands I most lamented missing out on by going Saturday instead of Sunday (the other being No Age).
