All set for day 2 of Bumbershoot? Saturday, September 2nd has more cool electronic music to experience. The festival turned 46 this year, and it wants to dance with you. Or just dance.
Big Wild released his debut EP, Invincible, this year. Rejoice. Really, rejoice. The DJ (Jackson Stell) has done some great remixes of Odesza and Hundred Waters, as well.
Following Big Wild, Dillon Francis headlines your Saturday night. I’ve waited for something new from him for *one* long year. And he has delivered with
G-Eazy on “Say Less.”
Beloved Seattle quartet, Tacocat, pretty much just off their Coachella debut this year, play the Fisher Green Stage. I also enjoy their Faceboook page, which provides pictorial evidence that this band loves animals – just like I do!
They nearly won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording with “Drinkee.” The duo, Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern, got major attention with the song, which is sung in Portuguese. They’re repped by some of the same folks who worked with Scissor Sisters, so I have high hopes for this group.
Bumbershoot is here!! All Labor Day weekend, musicians, visual artists, comedians, films/filmmakers and writers take over Seattle Center. We never miss the event, and we always want you to join us as we explore loads of cool stuff. And some tasty food. Did we mention you can get food? (There’s a detailed list of food for sale right over here). And beer? And you can just have fun. So plan ahead and keep your strength up. You’ll need it as you explore all the cool things to do this year. Important: Get your mobile app and keep up to date with what’s happening, and informed of any late-breaking news.
A few music highlights for Friday, broken down by stages, include the following:
Los Angeles, California quartet famous for “Pumped Up Kicks.” Singer-songwriter shared these sentiments earlier this summer. Thank you, Mark:
We live in a trying time right now. Racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and religious persecution are more rampant than ever. This record was made in defiance against those cancerous ideas. Hopefully it makes you feel as it made us feel when we were working on it – that life is beautiful. And love will always be bigger than politics.
Foster the People’s third album, Sacred Hearts Club, was released in July 2017!
Talented and Grammy-winning Flume returns to Seattle! He’s worked with quite the variety artists, from Beck to Vince Staples to Tove Lo. Don’t miss him.
Eighteen-year-old DJ Whethan continues his Good Nights Tour with a stop in Seattle. He’s played other summer festivals (Coachella, SXSW) this year, and he should receive a very warm welcome at Bumbershoot. Electronic music has become extremely popular in our city.
You like heavy bass? Have no idea what that is? Find out when California’s JAUZ appears at KeyArena. JAUZ will most likely have a pretty awesome light show, too.
Led by Joe Gregory, the quartet J GRGRY is one of the best-known bands in Seattle. An intriguing band, their moodier sounds will be a juxtaposition to the summer day. . . not that this is bad. If they do a song called “eFlower,” though, it should just hit the spot.
Always a favorite here at Back Beat Seattle, ZZ Ward lists sauce as her music genre on Facebook. Somehow this makes sense. Ward joins Kaleo – great match – on the road this fall
Day 2 of Watershed with 10 artists performing on the Main and Next From Nashville stages. Darius Rucker headlined on the Main stage with Bailey Bryan opening. Bryan headlined the Tractor Tavern in Seattle on August 15th. Lots of sun and a festive atmosphere. The photos are shown in reverse chronological order – from the headliners in the evening on each stage, to the openers in the early afternoon.
Get ready for Louisiana’s Lost Bayou Ramblers to cause some serious stomping at the Sunset this Thursday, August 24th. The Cajun band will, I am certain, perform song new songs from their ninth release, Kalenda. Kalenda, which also features title track “Kalenda,” gets its name from the dance (there’s a championship of it!). Also, the Caribbean dance is a stick fight! How cool is that? Anyway, please leave any sticks at home, and dance in a matter however it moves you. Lost Bayou Ramblers has played lovely music since 1999, when brothers Louis and Andre Michot decided to do their own thing. Accordion fans will get to hear Andre Michot play the Cajun accordion; Michot is actually one of the only Cajun accordion builders! The group’s worked with actress-singer Scarlett Johansson on 2012’s Mammoth Waltz tracks “Coteau Guidry” and “Coteau Guidry Reprise.” If she likes them, you’ll like them.
Show Preview:Swans @ the Neptune, Fr. 8/25 ~Dagmar
Swans
It’s the end of Swans as we’ve known them. The beyond experimental band (what would that be? Answer: Swans. Naturally) returns to Seattle this Friday, August 25th as headliners at the Neptune. Now, it doesn’t matter where Swans plays, they’ll be awesome anywhere, but the Neptune, perhaps mostly due to its stained glass images of Roman gods, seems such a fantastic spot for them. One’s of Aphrodite, goddess of sex. Magnificently, there has always been something sacrosanct about Swans’ music and sacred about their shows. It’s not just the extreme volume they perform at, it’s that ability to express what is holy and godlike. And do it with a strange and terrifying beauty; their shows are more like a possession than just any old show. Extensive songs evolve with true beauty, and this show is one of the last bandleader Michael Gira will do with the current Swans lineup. Swans will not completely disappear, as Gira has said, “I will continue to use the name Swans, but will revert to a cast of revolving contributors, drawing on a pool of men and women I’ve worked with along the way (and new ones too). . . In addition to new music, I’ll be working on making sure the Swans catalog is all reissued properly and stays in print in the best possible form and packaging (which is just as important to me as the music itself)”. That’s great news. Also, a documentary about Swans, called Swans, Where Does A Body End?, is set for a 2018 release.
