Imaginaries! Sasquatch is right around the corner, and as always, this year’s festival has a little something for everybody. There’s the folky hand-clapping foot-stomping sounds of Mumford and Sons, the reunion of The Postal Service after a ten year hiatus (!), the inescapable hip-hop of hometown favorite Macklemore, and, what’s sure to be an unforgettably epic nighttime set from Sigur Ros. If you’re headed to Sasquatch, you’re likely pretty familiar with most of the big name mainstage acts. Thankfully, in-between all those great headlining sets, there are tons of great acts (many of them hailing from the great Pacific Northwest) to see off on those side stages. Hopefully this list will give you some ideas of who to see while you’re basking in the glory of all that is Sasquatch…

If you’re one of those ambitious types that will be there when the gates open Friday afternoon, you’ll be rewarded by a set from Erik Blood, playing on the Yeti stage at 4:00. Blood is an accomplished local producer, having manned the boards for local hip-hop acts Thee Satisfaction and Shabazz Palaces in recent years. He made lots of noise on his own with his 2009 debut The Way We Live, and followed it up with the equally fantastic Touch Screens in 2012. 

Following Blood on the Yeti Stage at 5:05 is local composer, producer, and orchestral musician Jherek Bischoff. His 2012 release Composed features contributions from the legendary David Byrne, and songs bring to mind some of the eastern European influenced sounds of DeVotchka and Beirut, as well as the orchestral-pop sounds of Hey Marseilles.

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at Neptune Theater

Spring is just around the corner, and with spring and summer comes the music festival circuit. Coachella recently announced some big names with Blur, the Stone Roses, and New Order set to play the California festival, so anticipation has been high for what Sasquatch would roll out. Monday night’s Sasquatch! Launch Party ended all the speculation with the announcement of a stellar lineup, but not before kicking the whole thing off with a killer show at the Neptune Theater.

Cody ChesnuTT started off the night with his own brand of high energy soul/funk/R&B. Wearing what appeared to be an army helmet, ChesnuTT had the crowd singing along as he bounced from one side of the stage to the other, his backing band sounding incredible. After a short video from Ron Swanson estowing the virtues of the festival “Thunder Closet," it was time for the 'special guest.'

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Bands. Art. Comedy. Community. These are just a few of the things you can expect from the upcoming City Arts Festival, taking place at various venues throughout the city from Thursday, October 20th through Saturday, October 22nd. They've done a damn fine job of showcasing a ton of local artists as well as featuring some national acts, both sure to pack their respective houses -- and thus, it's through a sea of tears that we give you some of our picks for what you should do to make the best of those seventy-two hours.

City Arts isn't bringing us to tears, of course, unless you count tears of JOY at reading the full lineup! But we are a little sad to report that part of our imaginary team will be in New York for CMJ this year {for those of you keeping score at home, yep: it's the same week / weekend}.

THURSDAY

The Don't-Miss: The Long Winters / Campfire OK / Cobirds Unite / Cataldo
Where: Showbox at the Market
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The Long Fucking Winters. At the Showbox. Seriously!! The rumors are true -- we're presenting this show, it's going to kick ass, the night will be full of surprises, and the lineup is killer. Cataldo will be warming up the night, fresh off the release of their latest album Prison Boxing, Cobirds Unite will send the masses swooning, Campfire OK will undoubtedly win the house over... and all of this before John Roderick and Company take the stage. Any night when he and Rachel Flotard are in the same house, whether they perform together or not, is sure to go down as one for the books.

The Runner-Upper: Seateeth
Where: Theatre Off Jackson
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{John Roderick/Long Winters photo by Victoria VanBruinisse}

City Arts announced their over the top City Arts Fest line-up late last week.  If you haven't seen it already, prepare yourself, it's a doozy (and it's cut and pasted after the jump)! It looks like our schedules for October 20-22, 2011 will be filled to the brim with radness!

The core of the fest hones in on the rich medley of bands saturating the Seattle music scene, from royalty like the Fastbacks and the Long Winters to a fine sampling of up and comers like Don't Talk To The Cops and Lovesick Empire. The organizers also secured some of the finest international acts to mix it up (Ryan Adams, Built to Spill). Oh, and then there are the laser dome shows (Grunge and Helio Sequence) and fantastic film sing alongs, including Hedwig and Purple Rain.

I wonder if Bumbershoot is looking over it's shoulder a bit and feeling the heat of such a diverse, jam-packed festival offering?

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(Doug Martsch covering a Smiths song that isn't "Reel Around The Fountain")

It's been a while since we've heard anything new from a member of the Smiths, so it's perfect timing for a new Smiths covers album... especially one with tracks interpreted by the Wedding Present,  Doug Martsch (Built To Spill), The Rest (one of my favorite new Arcade Fire-ish Canadian bands), Katy Goodman (La Sera, Vivian Girls), and Tanya Donelly.  This latest tribute will be released on American Laundromat Records this Fall and they are still adding folks to the track listing... which currently includes:

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at Showbox at the Market

 

 

Built to Spill came out with an energetic show, an abundance of talent and a prime selection of songs including many off their latest release There Is No Enemy. And for a band that has being playing the hits since 1992, they seemed to have a revised sense of energy and urgency.

Fans crowded in to the Showbox Green Room early for Friday night's sold out show. Some were hoping to score tickets, others were scarfing down much needed corndogs, but everyone was emphatically discussing which songs they hoped to hear. "I hope Doug plays 'Kicked It In The Sun'" one women literally shouted at her friend - while at the same time trying to convince Showbox security to let her up to the clearly closed off box office to buy a ticket. And the chatter didn’t stop in the venue or during their set. In fact, the intensity of some of the fans was a little distracting. During a lovely selection of songs, the audience kept yelling out favorites like “Strange,” “Stab” and “Liar.” One guy worked himself up into such a frenzy during a twenty minute rendition of "Conventional Wisdom" that he jumped up on to the stage after the song ended to give Doug a HUGE hug (before being promptly escorted out of the venue by security). But maybe the audience was picking up on something very rare and real - a chance to hear Built to Spill, energized from a new album, play old songs with renewed intensity. And I have to admit, despite the distractions, it was pretty magic.

 

 

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at Capitol Hill Block Party 2009

Block party started off mellow enough with the sultry blues of The Dutchess and The Duke kicking off Friday on the main stage at 4 pm with “Reservoir Park,” the gravel between Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison’s deep vocal harmonies foreshadowing the fine layer of grit that would coat my skin by the end of the day.

 

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The lineup is Built to Spill, Ra Ra Riot and Smile Brigade and it will be on the HUB Lawn at the University of Washington from 3-7pm and it's free.

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As if Yo La Tengo, Built to Spill, Jesus Lizard and Tortoise weren't enough.. the brilliant minds (or not so) behind the lauded Pitchfork Music Festival have added the infamous Flaming Lips to the Sunday ender show, "Write the Night: Set Lists By Request". Ticketholders will be emailed a link to a website in which they can vote on which song they'd like to be played by each band. 

Setlist decided by audience!!! ("Kim's Watermelon Gun", "When You Smile", "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton"! I can't decide.)

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Watch as Doug Martsch skillfully axes his way through "Paper Planes."

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