Not to pigeonhole myself as the perennial naysayer, but here goes:

Yes, this looks like a great lineup, but what with the insane proliferation of festivals in every nook and cranny of the country, in every week of the summer, can't we have one that's a showcase of our amazing regional bands? There are so many great bands in the NW, and that's what Musicfest NW has always been about. Now it's just another checklist of Pitchfork/blog/KEXP-approved indie bands.

Does everything always have to become big and huge and nationally-focused in order to be good? Am I just an old crank? I don't know, I just feel like this corner of the country makes some incredible music, and it would be very easy to build a terrific festival out of it. Musicfest NW used to be that festival; apparently it's moved on to bigger and better things. Bummer.

Hey Levi,

I feel your pain in that regard as well... part of me thinks it's great that our local music festivals have grown big enough to attract touring bands, but it also can become a big ole blur, with so many of the same bands playing at all the festivals. Georgetown Music Fest was a nice local-only fest tho, eh?

And of course, your Ball of Wax one on Aug 1 is going to be a bevy of local-only talent, no? ;)

{While I'm giving props, that lineup will include The Quiet Ones, Pufferfish, Amateur Radio Operator, Matt Sheehy, Open Choir Fire, Pickwick, Levi Fuller, Seth Howard, & Brittain Ashford -- and it's gonna be at the Sunset. We'll remind you again closer to the date.}

Aw shucks, thanks for the shout-out! Maybe one day we'll be able to do a real, all-day BoW-Fest . . . that would be sweet!

Sometimes I mix up my blog-commenting handles . . .