Capitol Hill is one helluva a party on ANY given night. This weekend, however, the neighborhood takes it to another level for the Block Party. For starters, the people-watching / people-meeting potential makes it worth the trip alone. But, of course the main draw is the music. 3 stages rocked the hill all day long. There were plenty of genres to choose from and many rising stars gave it their best on Friday.

My favorite was Viva Voce. This was my 4th time seeing them and by far, the best performance yet. They played 3 songs for the 1st time at this show and they totally fired up crowd at the Neumos stage.

Seattle favorites the Blue Scholars lived up to their reputation as one of the best live hip-hop acts around. They delivered smart lyrics and groovy beats with some of the best sampling in the business.

Last, but certainly not least was the Silversun Pickups. Seemingly 95% of the enormous crowd was packed into the main stage area for what turned out to be an extended rollicking set. As a result of their skyrocketing popularity, I could not move once I got close enough to actually see the band on stage. When they got going, it was easy to see why this L.A. band is making waves throughout the music industry. They have often been compared to vintage Smashing Pumpkins, circa Siamese Dream. While I see some resemblance, they definitely have a unique sound that is truly their own and definitely very accessible. Their latest full-length release "Carnavas" is available on Barsuk Records.

Correction: In my review I said that the Silversun Pickups record is available on Barsuk, it is actually Dangerbird Records. My bad.

Ben

Ben -- you're hired! ;)

Geez-here I am after all is said and done, and I..am..EXHAUSTED. So many people, hot hot sun, and so much music. I'm trying to pump out my reviews tonight, but I think I may sleep and then get at 'em. What a long weekend!

Elle, your reviews kick ass and I'm just trying to keep up with you to get them live on the site ASAP. You rock!!

i'm pissed that neumo's somehow influenced the promoters (or else they were too clueless and uncaring) into having a 21+ venue with several of the headliners, where a large number of people couldn't get in simply because of their age. everybody paid the same admission price, yet neumo's got to make more $$ off the crowd selling alcohol, rather than keep it all equal. that sucked.

you can't tell me it was anything other than money that prevented them from opening their doors to all ages. ok..if there are some city regs after a certain hour, than make it 18+ for those times and just don't sell booze at all inside.

if you're gonna discriminate, at least charge those people less, since they aren't getting equal goods for their bucks.

no kidding, dude. on my drive home after the block party, I heard the Trucks perform live on the radio, and it was just like, why the eff could I not go?

General admissions price was 5 bucks cheaper last year than this year, so I think next year, the general admission should go back down to 15 or even 12 then have the boozers pay an additional price to get into neumos.

Ya know, I think that's kinda brilliantly fair, actually -- why not discount by 30% if you can't see a third of the shows? Come to think of it -- if they don't get AC, I would totally go for those tickets as well, even though I'm over 21...

It's Sunday night at nearly midnight, and we've post 15 reviews from the Block Party. My eyes are going buggy, so it's robot-off-time for me till tomorrow, when we hope to get our final stack of reviews from this weekend's festivities up for your reading pleasure.

Ta!

{and *phew*}

Can I just say that I took a peek at other publications coverage of CHBP, and nothing compares to our photography department. Chona and Laura really blew other pictures taken out of the water.

I know I'm biased, but I agree with you, elle!!