Festivals, Concert Series, and Mega-Shows, Part 1: Introduction

I have lived my entire life in western Washington, but for the longest time I had no idea the wealth of music events our region enjoys. My knowledge was essentially limited to Bumbershoot...which I feel is definitely the best bang for your buck, festival-wise, but it is not for everyone (especially if you can't handle large crowds or long days).

 Bumbershoot mainstage performances draw a lot of viewers, but with smaller stages spread across the Seattle Center, there is something for everyone.

Good news: there is an abundance of festivals and concert series to look forward to, and things really start getting moving around late winter/early spring. Like a lot of things, music festivals and concert series tend to hibernate from November thru January. In February, Seattle gets things cooking again with the annual EMP Sound Off! Battle of the Bands. I unfortunately missed it again this year; I hear I've missed out yet again on a crop of really stellar bands (Seattle Times has an article covering the finals). To make sure I don't miss another great event, and to get you all ready, too, I will be starting a series in this blog that will highlight upcoming festivals and concert series. Mainly in Seattle, but don't be surprised when I start mentioning not-so-far-away lands like Portland, Vancouver, Bellingham, and Boise. If your favorite band is only making one PNW appearance all year, those cities are not such a far drive. Make it into a road trip!

I first want to highlight Seattle's awesome Office of Film + Music website. They don't have an exhaustive list, but this is a great start for those of you who like to plan ahead (like meeee!) I also like their City of Music website. It is great to live in a place that is so supportive of music and the arts.




If you have any ideas for festivals or series which ought to be covered or featured, please do feel free to comment below!

*3/3 Updated* Upcoming Seattle Shows

 

Some really good shows this week, but some costly ones as well. Fresh off his recent controversy with Jimmy Kimmel, Morrissey comes to town and you too can get a ticket for only $62.50 - $82.50 (not including STG's notorious handling fees). The Passion Pit show is also priced too high ($33.25 + fees) for what I assume to be the same reason. My recommendations are Psychic Ills on the 4th, The Pharmacy with Pony Time and Stickers on the 5th, and Autre Ne Veut with Majical Cloudz or La Luz with Dude York, Detective Agency and Weird Bug on the 8th. 

I've added a lot of new Heartland dates for the next month including Porchlight Record's own Pretty Old, Pony Time, Heatwarmer, Black Hat, Total Life, Mutant Video, Stickers and Universe People. Other shows include experimental black metal outfit Ash Borer, the return of UK synth wizard Chad Valley and the many mouth-watering offerings of the Penumbra Beer Bash just around the corner. Have a good week!

March 2013 
3 Boat CD release with Aqueduct at Barboza

4 Psychic Ills at Crocodile

5 Passion Pit at Paramount

5 The Hush Sound at El Corazon

5 The Pharmacy, Pony Time, and Stickers at Chop Suey

6 Morrissey at Moore…maybe

7 Thao and the Get Down Stay Down at Neumos

8 Autre Ne Veut with Majical Cloudz at Barboza

8 La Luz, Dude York, Detective Agency and Weird Bug at Black Lodge

10 Trust with ERAAS at Barboza

15 Pretty Lights at WaMu Theater

15 Pretty Old, Whitney Ballen, Albert Square at Heartland

16 Champagne Champagne, Pleasureboaters, TacocaT, WIMPS, La Luz, Prism Tats at King’s Hall

20 La Luz, Heatwarmer and Mega Bog at Heartland

21 Veronica Falls, Brilliant Colors, Golden Grrrrls at Tractor
21 Iceage with King Dude and Gag at Barboza (Previously announced as last month...sorry)

22 White Lung with Monogamy Party and TacocaT at Chop Suey

22 Black Hat, Lie, KORBAN, Bardo.Basho, and Daniel Shuman at Heartland

23 Charms, the Echo Echo Echos, the Dads at Blue Moon

23 Thrones, Midlife Vacation, Mutant Video and Total Life at Heartland

24 Pony Time, Stickers, Universe People and Ubu Roi at Heartland

26 Grave Babies at Chop Suey

26 Doldrums with Blue Hawaii and Sean Nicholas Savage at Barboza

26 Fuzz (Ty Segall), Night Beats, Unnatural Helpers, Wimps at Black Lodge

26 Chad Valley and Ski Lodge at Barboza April 26

27 Graves at Sea, Aldebaran and Ash Borer at Black Lodge

27 Widowspeak at Chop Suey

27 Ducktails with Mark McGuire at Barboza

29 Phoenix at Paramount

30 Merchandise with Wet Hair + Naomi Punk at Barboza

April 2013

3 Billy Brag at Neptune

5 Johnny Marr at Neumos

6 Alt-J at Neptune

6 Sky Ferreira with How to Dress Well at Barboza

6 Wimps, Dude York and Chastity Belt at Blue Moon

7 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Paramount Theater

8 Spiritualized at Neptune

9 Jessie Ware at The Crocodile

15 Bad Religion at Showbox at SODO

16 Bat for Lashes at the Showbox at the Market

18 The Revival Tour 2013 with Rocky Votolato, Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Tim McIlrath (Rise Against) and more at Showbox at The Market

20 The Men and Dude York at Vera Project

23 James Blake at The Neptune 

24 Purity Ring at Neptune

26 Space Needles, Universe People and the Gallow Swings at Blue Moon

26 Chad Valley and Ski Lodge at Barboza

30 Crystal Castles at Moore

May

1 Bleached, EX-COPS and Guests at Chop Suey

1 New Build with NO CEREMONY/// at Neumos

2 Marina and the Diamonds with Charli XCX at Showbox at the Market

4 Metz at Neumos

12 The Appleseed Cast, Hospital Ships and Guests at Chop Suey

17 Yo La Tengo at Showbox at the Market

19 Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death at El Corazon

25 Thermals and WIMPS at Neumos

June 2013

6 They Might Be Giants at Showbox at SODO

Artist Review: The Numbs' "People"

While I apparently missed out on the tenure of U, an industrial collage act composed of Jeff Johnson and Travis Coster, I don’t think I can fully mourn the loss because both artists have gone on to do such awesome work. Coster has been keeping busy as part of the now nationally acclaimed prog-grunge band Naomi Punk, who has just had their first record "The Feeling” (originally on Couple Skate) re-released on Brookyln-based Captured Tracks, while Johnson has been performing instrumental music under the moniker The Numbs. Last year's “People” is Johnson’s first full-length under that name and while the blog-o-sphere paid a lot of attention to the single “Freaks Easy”, I feel like it fell asleep on the rest of the record, which is a crime.  

 So here’s the subjective part: what does it sound like? I guess the popular term is “junk funk” owing in equal parts to the quasi-danceable beats and copy/paste style assimilation of warbling pops, hisses, and whistles. However, while technically accurate, this description still somehow falls short, perhaps because collage work like this is by definition greater than the sum of its parts. I feel like the real strength here lies in Johnson’s ability to effectively craft such an evocative full-length from seeming unrelated pieces—like assembling a complete puzzle from the remains of 50 different throwaways.

The Numbs playing Cairo Seattle for the "People" release show--don't remember the date. 

The result? Ari Spool at Impose described “Freaks Easy” as the perfect soundtrack to a Bill Nye the Science Guy experiment montage, but I keep imagining “People” as the soundtrack to some great maniacal cartoon saga with pieces like “Schaff did it” representing the opening shots, others like “I don’t understand” conveying tragedy, and anthems like “000’0006” and “Brain Case” playing triumphantly behind a victorious protagonist. That interpretation may not resonate with everyone, but the point is that Johnson imparts both function and form to these strange and comical sounds through his skillful arrangements. In fact, its the way in which he manages to do this that most distinguishes him from one of his biggest influences, Black Dice. Regarding BD, Bjorn Copeland himself says, "In the band, there's a weird aesthetic that we nurture that's playful but has a kind of, I don't want to say nihilistic, but a critical point of view". In contrast, Johnson produces music that is hand-dipped in some ill-defined, detached passion that exists outside of this world all together.

 You can still purchase the “People” cassette through the wonderful local label Couples Skate, and don’t forget to see The Numbs in and around our city (note: Numb is a different band)

 Also, if anyone has a copy of any of U’s material beyond what’s available on bandcamp I would really like a copy.

The Debacle Fest 2013 lineup has been finalized!!!

See the Debacle Fest site for more: http://www.debaclefest.com/

Friday May 3rd
FRED Wildlife Refuge | 127 Boylston Ave E
8pm | $20 door/$15 adv

Expo '70
Swahili
Plankton Wat
Monopoly Child Star Searchers
Brain Fruit
Panabrite
Total Life
LA Lungs
Secret Colors

Saturday May 4th
Highline | 210 Broadway Ave E
Matinee show | 3pm SHARP | $7
Sissy Spacek
MTNS
BLSPHM
WaMu
Stan Reed

Saturday, May 4th
Evening Show
FRED Wildlife Refuge | 127 Boylston Ave E
7pm | $20/$15 adv.
Date Palms
John Wiese
Nate Young
Golden Retriever
Mind Over Mirrors
Marielle Jakobsons
Gabriel Saloman
Morae (Emuul & Hemosis)
Biosexual

Sunday, May 5th
MOTOR Night
The Lo Fi Performance Gallery | 429 Eastlake Ave
8pm | $20/$15 adv
Hieroglyphic Being
Moon Pool & Dead Band
Strategy
GOODWIN
Prostitutes
Black Hat
TJ Max
Patternmaster
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