Culture Fiend

On Sale Friday: Deck the Hall Ball Tickets

With Mumford and Sons, Death Cab for Cutie, Foster the People, and more for a not-so-silent night.

Posted by: Stephanie Rubesh on Oct 26, 2011 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

West London folkies Mumford and Sons headline Deck the Hall Ball 2011.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

West London folkies Mumford and Sons headline Deck the Hall Ball 2011.

Mornings have gone from crisp to cold, which means it’s perfectly reasonable to start thinking about Deck the Hall Ball, 107.7 The End’s annual winter music fest, on December 7.

After three years at WaMu Theater, the whole show is moving to Key Arena to support the stacked indie lineup:

Mumford and Sons
Death Cab for Cutie
Cage the Elephant
Foster the People
Young the Giant
Two Door Cinema Club
Group Love

That’s a lot of first-class rockin’…around the Christmas tree. (Groan.)

Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 28, at 10am at ticketmaster.com, the Key Arena box office, or select Fred Meyer stores. Or tune in to 107.7 The End this week to try to win tickets.

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Tags: Concert, Music Fest

Sound Fest Is Your Antidote to Hall and Oates

The inaugural rock festival brings plenty of punk.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Aug 17, 2011 at 11:15AM 0 Comments

From left: Daryl Hall, John Oates, and Oates’s mustache.

Quote of the Week goes to Lou Medrano, a recent LA transplant and founder of Sound Fest, the new all-ages punk music festival kicking off tonight with a pre-party at El Corazon. See, it wouldn’t be appropriately punk without a little taunting. Medrano talked to Seattle Weekly’s Dave Lake about bringing in a “diverse lineup that didn’t overlap” with other upcoming festivals—specifically, behemoth Bumbershoot, which waddles over to Seattle Center in two weeks and plunks down with its assortment of rappers, rockers, folk heroes, indie kids, and aging pop stars.

“I look at Bumbershoot and I see Hall and Oates headlining and I’m just in awe,” Medrano said. “Is that really what people in Seattle want?”

Excellent question. Seattle, is that what you want? How deep does our nostalgia run? I don’t get it either.

Sound Fest, your Hall and Oates antidote, runs August 19-21 at venues across Seattle, including El Corazon, Vera Project, Neumos, the Funhouse and the Comet. Tickets to see some 70+ local and national punk acts are available at seattlesoundfest.com.

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Tags: Concert, Music Fest

Noise for the Needy Starts Tonight

An insider’s look at the acts you shouldn’t miss.

Posted by: Julia Scherzinger on Jun 07, 2011 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

Ramona Falls’ frontman Brent Knopf. Ramona Falls plays June 12 at the Vera Project with Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Land of Pines, and Kithkin.

Photo courtesy ramonafalls.com

Tonight Noise for the Needy kicks off its six-day charity music fest with a show at Neumos. Seattle Met sat down with creative director Jeffrey Henry, who has been with Seattle Noise for the Needy since its beginnings in 2004, and he gave us a closer look at Real Change (this year’s beneficiary) and a few can’t-miss acts.

The Real Change Empowerment Project provides low-barrier employment to people whose needs aren’t being met by social services, teaching them to become vendors for the newspaper of the same name. Henry says the people who often benefit most are those who can’t receive social services because of drugs or other problems. “[Real Change] is a place where they can go and start over and really try to employ themselves and try to build their life back up again,” he says.

So what are Henry’s top acts at this year’s festival? “That’s kind of like saying which kid you like the best.” When pressed, however, he gave us these:

Golden Blonds, Mal de Mer, Soft Hills, Ivory in Ice World, and Surrealized on Thursday at the Comet Tavern. He’s particularly looking forward to seeing Ivory in Ice World because “she has great vocals.”

Loch Lomond, Big Sur, Goldfinch, the Horde and the Harem, and DJ Doo Right on Saturday at Columbia City Theater. “It’s such a beautiful space,” he says. “I love venues, I love spaces to set the atmosphere.”

Ramona Falls, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Land of Pines, and Kithkin on Sunday at the Vera Project. “I’ve been listening to some of Ramona Falls online and he writes really, really beautiful shiny pop songs,” Henry gushes. The Vera Project show is also the only all-ages show this year.

Another act to see, he says, is Noise for the Needy’s first ever comedy show on Sunday at Re-Bar. The headliner, Kyle Kinane, has a strong following—he’s toured with Patton Oswalt and his Comedy Central Presents special premiered in February. He is, according to Henry, “a comedian’s comedian. Whatever that means.” Kinane will be joined by local funnymen Travis Vogt, Bryan Cook, and David TV.

Noise for the Needy runs June 7–12. Visit noisefortheneedy.org to see the full list of acts and buy tickets.

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Tags: Music Fest, Noise for the Needy, Charity Event

The Full Dave Matthews Band Caravan Lineup

The Labor Day festival will include John Butler Trio, the Roots, Dispatch, and more.

Posted by: Julia Scherzinger on Jun 06, 2011 at 12:15PM 1 Comments

If there was no Dave, how would we know that it’s summer?

As if we didn’t give you enough music fest news last week with Bumbershoot and Capitol Hill Block Party lineups, here’s a little bit more. Today the Dave Matthews Band Caravan announced the lineup for its three-day Labor Day weekend festival at the Gorge. The concert series is the DMB’s only West Coast performance this year, but they’ll play three full sets—one each night—so there will be plenty of “Ants Marching” to go around.

Here’s the rest of who’s playing and when:

Friday, Sept 2: John Butler Trio, Gogol Bordello, Blind Pilot, De La Soul, The Belle Brigade, Jenny O, and Soja.

Saturday, Sept 3: The Roots, Warren Haynes Band, Devotchka, Fruit Bats, The Silent Comedy, and Lindsay Fuller.

Sunday, Sept 4: Dispatch, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Antibalas, the Low Anthem, Infantree, and the Moondoggies.

Three-day tickets are available for $195 at dmbcaravan.com, and single-day tickets go on sale on Friday, June 10.

The Dave Matthews Band Caravan runs September 2–4 at the Gorge.

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Tags: Music Fest

Capitol Hill Block Party Lineup for 2011

So many music fests, so little time.

Posted by: Julia Scherzinger on Jun 01, 2011 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

MGMT rocked last year’s Block Party.

Photo by Douglas Bair.

Music fest junkies, rejoice. Today we bring you not only Bumbershoot’s full lineup, but Capitol Hill Block Party’s as well.

The full listing of who’s playing and when:

Friday, July 22: Ghostland Observatory, the Head and the Heart, Ra Ra Riot, Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Fresh Espresso, Hollyhood feat: Tigerbeat, Yuck, F*cked Up, Cults, Woods, The Fresh and Onlys, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, THEESatisfaction, Brothers From Another/Kung Fu Grip, Shad, Sol, Craft Spells, Skarp, Boat, Grave Babies, “The Rolling Stones”, Absolute Monarchs, Constant Lovers, Elephant Rider, Yarn Owl, and the Wheelies.

Saturday, July 23: TV On the Radio, Les Savy Fav, Best Coast, Handsome Furs, Telekinesis, Fences, Champagne Champagne, Comeback feat: Ononos, DJ Porq, and Colby B, the Young Evils, Cold Cave, Austra, Ravenna Woods, the Lumineers, Eleanor Friedberger, Lovesick Empire, He Whose Ox is Gored, Baths, Beat Connection, Teen Daze, Painted Palms, Seapony, Lovers, Witch Gardens, Yuni in Taxco, Hausu, Akimbo, Nazca Lines, Virgin, Don’t Talk to the Cops, Reporter, Slow Dance, and Sports.

Sunday, July 24: Explosions in the Sky, the Cave Singers, Battles, the Posies, My Goodness, Papercuts, Pink Mountaintops, Federation X, Loch Lomond, Grynch, Campfire Ok, Lumerians, Lisa Dank, Grand Hallway, Lake, Cold Showers, Dunes, Virgin Islands, Land of Pines, the Pharmacy, the First Times, Spurm, Tacocat, Buster Blue, Spaceneedles, and a Closing Party featuring Mad Rad, Mash Hall, Metal Chocolates Darwin, and Beat Connection DJ set.

Capitol Hill Block Party runs July 22–24. Tickets are $27.50 for a single day ticket—on sale Friday—or $75 for a three-day pass, available at capitolhillblockparty.strangertickets.com.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Music Fest, Capitol Hill Block Party

The Full Lineup of Bumbershoot 2011

Here’s what you’ll be doing over Labor Day weekend.

Posted by: Julia Scherzinger on Jun 01, 2011 at 01:00PM 0 Comments

Save your sunscreen: The Bumbershoot mainstage is in KeyArena this year.

Bumbershoot has been releasing its schedule slowly, giving us a band a day throughout May. What a tease. Today, finally, they’ve revealed their full hand for the annual Labor Day weekend festival at Seattle Center.

Shabazz Palaces! Broken Social Scene! Hall and Oates! While the marquee isn’t packed to the gills with big names—last year’s acts included Weezer, Mary J. Blidge, and Bob Dylan—it’s still a solid group of artists.

Here’s the full lineup by day:

Saturday, September 3: Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs, Minus the Bear, Mavis Staples, Little Dragon, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, STRFKR, Shabazz Palaces, Warpaint, Vusi Mahlasela, MarchFourth Marching Band, Eyehategod, Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible, Väsen, Champagne Champagne, Astronautalis, PS I Love You, Yuni in Taxco, Campfire Ok, Meklit Hadero, Craft Spells, Caleb Klauder Country Band, Valient Thorr, Jayme Stone: Room of Wonders, Pickwick, Red Fang, Scribes, Wagons, Shelby Earl, Free the Robots, Witchburn, Emancipator, Nice Nice, Kris Orlowski and the Passenger String Quartet, Tomten, Pezzner, LawnChair Generals, Natasha Kmeto, The Great Mundane, and DJ Nordic Soul

Sunday, September 4: Wiz Khalifa, Broken Social Scene, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Kills, Butthole Surfers, Carbon Leaf, Leon Russell, Toro y Moi, Anti-Flag, Das Racist, the Lonely Forest, Vetiver, Jessica Lea Mayfield, DåM-FunK + Master Blazter, NoMeansNo, Atari Teenage Riot, Tennis, Thee Oh Sees, Mad Rad, the Jim Jones Revue, School of Seven Bells, Joe Pug and the Hundred Mile Band, Davila 666, AgesandAges, Wayne Horvitz Cafe Paloma Band, Kore Ionz, Sol, Whalebones, Allen Stone, Massy Ferguson, Tycho, Thomas Marriott’s Human Spirit, Kaylee Cole, Com Truise, Lusine, HTRK, Gail Pettis Quartet, Kasey Anderson and the Honkies, Shigeto, the Sight Below, and DJ Justin Timbreline.

Monday, September 5: Daryl Hall and John Oates, The Presidents of the United States of America, The Reverend Horton Heat, Fitz and the Tantrums, Over the Rhine, Phantogram, Grant Lee Buffalo, Urge Overkill, Charles Bradley, Vendetta Red, Sharon Van Etten, Brite Futures, Dennis Coffey, Head Like a Kite, YACHT, Greensky Bluegrass, Quadron, Ian Moore & The Lossy Coils, Grand Hallway, You Am I, Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside, My Goodness, LAKE, Beat Connection, Purity Ring, Truckasauras, Ravenna Woods, Lemolo, SPLATINUM, Legendary Oaks, Mash Hall, the Horde and The Harem, Curtains For You, 214, WD4D, Ill Cosby, and DJ Introcut.

Bumbershoot Music Festival runs Sept 3–5. Tickets are $35 for single-day passes and $75 for a three-day pass, available at bumbershoot.strangertickets.com.

Watch for the full Capitol Hill Block Party lineup, also being released today.

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Tags: Bumbershoot, Music Fest, Seattle Center

Bumbershoot Announces a Band a Day in May

What a tease.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 02, 2011 at 11:30AM 0 Comments

Seems Bumbershoot is rolling out its 2011 music lineup in slow motion this year: a band a day in May on Facebook, until the full lineup is announced on June 1.

We already know that Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa will perform, which means you will now have “Black and Yellow” in your head for the rest of the day… or until the next big reveal at noon. (Seattle Weekly)

Bumbershoot is a three-day music and arts festival that runs from Sept 3–5 at Seattle Center. Single “any-day” tickets for $29 and $75 three-day passes are on sale now for members at bumbershoot.org.

UPDATED 12:04pm. Hall and Oates will also play Bumbershoot 2011.

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Tags: Bumbershoot, Music Fest

Watch Coachella Live at Moe Bar

No tickets to the California music fest? No problem.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Apr 13, 2011 at 05:00PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Sean Pecknold.

We can’t get enough of this Gogol Bordello photo from Sasquatch! 2009. Eugene Hütz is getting air.

This in from Moe Bar:

We are excited to announce that Moe Bar next to Neumos will be screening all three days of Coachella live! Fri Apr 15, Sat Apr 16, Sun Apr 17.

After the success of showing the LCD Soundsystem final concert, we wanted to go big or go home! The festival will be displayed on two flat screens as well as a large drop projection screen at the rear of the bar. Come out to see performances by Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, Duran Duran, The National, Nas and Damian Marley, PJ Harvey, Cold War Kids, Gogol Bordello, Interpol, Bright Eyes, and more, all while getting your drink on! For the full lineup of what you can expect each day, please visit coachella.com.

Set times have not been posted for the event as of yet, but we anticipate the stream to start at 5pm. This means Happy Hour 5–7. $3 Wells and Microdrafts, $2 Domestics. There will be NO COVER for this event. FREE. Just bring your sexiest dance moves.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Music Fest, Music Festival, Neumos, Moe Bar

Banjos and Bluegrass Return to Bellevue

The annual Wintergrass bluegrass festival has officially begun.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 25, 2011 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

Once again, the Bellevue Hyatt has become an unlikely hotbed of blistering fiddle solos and banjo pluckin’. The four-day Wintergrass Bluegrass Festival kicked off last night with headliners the Boxcars (see video above) and continues through Sunday. For tickets, go to acousticsound.org.

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Tags: Bellevue, Music Fest, Bluegrass

In Case You Haven’t Heard, Sasquatch! Is Sold Out

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 16, 2011 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

Four days, 100,000 tickets. Gone. We’ll have to be content watching Yeasayer videos instead.
(For the lucky hundred thousand going, here’s the 2011 Sasquatch! lineup.)

YEASAYER “O.N.E.” from Paranoid US on Vimeo.

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Tags: Music Fest

Sasquatch! Music Fest Adds Fourth Day; Foo Fighters to Headline

Yes, we’re already thinking about Memorial Day weekend.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Nov 22, 2010 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

Foo Fighters have a new album slated for 2011.

It’s a little jarring to get announcements about a Memorial Day weekend festival at the same time it starts snowing in Seattle. But considering how quickly Sasquatch! sold out last year, this Type-A forward planning is kind of necessary.

So heads-up: Sasquatch! Music Festival—the muddy music free-for-all that takes over the Gorge every May—has added a fourth day and the Foo Fighters are slated to headline the new Friday night event. Even though there isn’t a single other band booked yet, discounted four-day passes ($285) are on sale now. They go up to $295 on February 12, which is also when single-day tickets ($80) are available.

I’ll be honest: I’m going to wait until the lineup is announced on February 7 before I drop hundreds of dollars. But if you know you want to go, or think this Foo Fighters announcement is only the beginning of a long list of ‘90s rockers planning to reinvent themselves at Sasquatch! (Guns N’ Roses! 311! Fuel! Goo Goo Dolls… Gin Blossoms… oh god), then go for it. It is Sasquatch! Music Fest’s 10th anniversary, so there may be some decent surprises in store. And last year’s lineup, heavy on the indie bands, local hip-hop acts and comedy, was satisfying.

Who would you want to see at the Gorge?

Sasquatch Music Festival runs May 27-30, 2011 at the Gorge in George, Wa. Tickets are available at sasquatchfestival.com.

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Tags: Ticket Alerts, Music Fest

The Maldives and Tequila at Sunrise

Seattle’s beloved alt-country band talks booze and “American” music before the No Depression Festival.

Posted by: Judy Naegeli on Aug 18, 2010 at 12:00PM 0 Comments

The Maldives open the 2010 No Depression Festival.

This weekend’s No Depression Festival at Marymoor Park had a void to fill after the Punch Brothers dropped out at the last minute (due to scheduling conflicts, or irreconcilable differences, or fear of pigeons —one of those). Thankfully, Seattle’s beloved alt-country band the Maldives stepped in, completing an already stellar roots-music lineup that includes Lucinda Williams, Swell Season, local acts the Cave Singers and Sera Cahoone. Maldives front man Jason Dodson talks about the band’s last-minute inclusion and future plans.

You were added to the lineup because the Punch Brothers backed out. How do you feel about that?

I feel great about it! We are honored to play the ND Festival, and it gives us a chance to play our new songs for a nice, big audience. To be honest, I’m not even sure who the Punch Brothers are.

I understand you were quite a hit at the SXSW 2010 No Depression Showcase. Have you done a lot with ND in the past?

We played the No Depression Festival last year, albeit in a truncated form for the Seattle All-Star Revue group, covering a Levon Helm song. I’d never been on a stage that big before, so it took a lot of tequila to muster up my courage. Luckily we only had to play one song, early in the day, so I didn’t mess it up. I have since quit drinking before shows… And Austin was a blast! There were some nice folks who lived down there that said we put the local boys to shame. That is a high compliment coming from the birthplace of outlaw country.

What about the other performers? Have you played with any of them before?

Sera is a great friend of ours, and we’ve shared many a stage with her and her band. We all kind of started playing our own music around the same time. A few years back we played up in Roslyn, at the Brick. I used to have a picture of the marquee up there, because they misspelled both our names on the board. I always thought that was funny. I’ve heard those Cave Singers are nice people.

It seems like roots music has been enjoying a big revival. Is that true? What are your thoughts on the genre in general?

I’m not sure “roots” music ever went away. I’ve noticed young people really latching on to the sound, so maybe that’s why it seems like a revival of sorts. I’ve always liked the term “roots” music, as opposed to “alt-country” or “Americana” or even “folk.” “Roots” implies something deeper, something with connections, something familial. It’s comforting to me. I’ve always said the Maldives play “American” music, which is pretty broad, because I can’t figure out how to describe what we do.

How long have the Maldives been together and what are your influences, personally and as a group?

This lineup has been together for about four years now, though I was out playing as the Maldives in different forms for about two years before that. We all bring our own influences to the band, though there are a few we can all agree on: Neil Young, the Band, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson, and Bruce Springsteen. Throw in some Beach Boys and some Bob Dylan, especially the Rolling Thunder Revue, and I’d say that covers some of the major bases. There’s a ton of other stuff; we’re all pretty well-versed music nerds.

Any big news or future plans you’d like to share?

I’m excited to be taking some time off from playing shows this fall and getting back into the studio to record. I’m not sure if we’re gonna be making a new full-length album, or just an EP, but it’ll be good to give the new songs a try. And I’m excited to see how people receive Lynn Shelton’s $5 Cover: Seattle series she made for MTV, of which we were a part. That should be out in October. Other than that, my only plans are to follow old Woody Guthrie’s advice: Take it easy, but take it.

The No Depression Festival is Saturday, August 21, at Marymoor Park. Tickets are $45-$50, and the fest opens with the Maldives at 1:30pm.

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Tags: Concert, Preview, Music Fest