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• I’m really looking forward to this year’s Bumbershoot. I’ll come clean and admit one of the main reasons—this was my second year sitting on the Bumbershoot Advisory Board recommending rock and punk bands for the fest. I put a lot of time and effort into this year’s festival, and more importantly, they actually listened to me! And while the national line-up this year is pretty good, the local line-up is probably the best in the past decade. Luckily, one of the perks of getting involved in planning Bumbershoot is I’ve got a Platinum Pass to the whole weekend. I’m planning on being there every single day. And while this issue features Tablet’s guide to Bumbershoot, here’s my own personal guide to what’s gonna fucking rock.
Vaux walks the line between hardcore and commercial rock; they’re catchy, yet get totally screamy and hard. Himsa plays metal up your ass that will blow you away. Against Me! is an absolutely amazing folk punk rock band that you should not miss! Kane Hodder combines hardcore and indie rock with great results. The Briefs’ ‘77-style punk will make you pogo your butt off; they always put on a fantastic live show. The Catch is cute as hell and play wonderful Go-Go’s-esque pop; I think they rule. Mosh to Harkonen’s catchy, powerful hardcore, they bring on the rock. Hint Hint’s dance-punk/indie rock hybrid sound has their disc in heavy rotation on my CD player, come find out why. This may be your last chance to witness the Popular Shapes’ quirky spastic rock in action—too bad—because they have a totally unique sound. You can’t help but dance to the Fitness—their catchy songs and on-stage attitude will draw you in. I’ll be up front! The Girls will rock your booty with the perfect mix of punk and glam rock. Throw Rag’s brand of “sailor rock” combines punk and more rootsy rock; it’s fun drinkin’, fuckin’ and fightin’ music. Rise Against play tight, crunchy punk with screamed vocals; they’re one of the punkest bands playing this year’s ‘shoot and have a good new album out. The festival takes place at the Seattle Center September 3-6. For the full line-up and times, check out bumbershoot.org.
• Coming up in Olympia September 10-12 is the Yeah! Festival! They’ve rented out the Eagles’ Hall for a big fundraiser for Safeplace and the League of Pissed Off Voters (I love that name). There is a massive lineup for this weekend festival, including the Hunches, Glass Candy, Hint Hint, Amps For Christ, Mecca Normal, Xiu Xiu, the Gossip, Wives, the Makers, Scream Club, Anna Oxygen, Bangs, Decemberists, Biography of Ferns, Mirah, Numbers and Shoplifting. For pass info and the full line-up, check out killrockstars.com/yeah.
• The Rat City Roller Girls hosted one kick-ass fundraiser for buying uniforms—a car wash. Nothin’ like getting your car scrubbed down by a bunch of girls in bikinis and short shorts (and after a recent road trip down logging roads, my truck needed it). Seattle’s roller derby league is progressing nicely; they’ve been training hard and will be throwing a street skate event this month. On Saturday, September 25, in White Center there will be street races, booths and prizes. Check out ratcityrollergirls.com for all the details. In other roller derby news, a Portland league is starting up too—go P-town!
• Decibel is an annual Northwest electronic music festival and is coming up this month from September 23-26. This year’s Decibel promises to draw a wide variety of Northwest electronic musicians for panels, workshops and live shows at a number of Capital Hill venues like Chop Suey, Barca, Oseao and the Capitol Hill Arts Center. Musicians include FCS North, Scientific American, Plan B, Reggie Watts, Saba, Bruno Pronsato (AKA Bobby Karate), Murat, Richard Devine, Circle Square, DJ Minx, Codebase, the Fourth City National Laptop Battle Championship and really a whole hell of a lot more! For complete details check out dbfestival.com.
• Bangs from Olympia are breaking up; their last show is at the Yeah! Festival! As mentioned above, the Popular Shapes’ last show is at this year’s Bumbershoot festival.
• Down in Tacoma, some of the Ronson Family Switchblade guys are starting up a new band called Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers. It sounds promising, now if they’d only reform the Fuckers. And new in Seattle, the Sweet Sweet Action feature the rhythm section of the Midnight Thunder Express and have recently started playing out live, check ‘em out.
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SEPTEMBER ROCKS! - 9/1 Paybacks, Black Panties, Throwaway Angels @ Crocodile/Seattle 9/2 Zeke, Throwrag, Briefs @ Ash St. Saloon/Portland 9/3 Electric Eye, Gloryholes, Grannies @ Funhouse/Seattle 9/4 Spaghetti & the Meatballs, the Cinch, Mexican Blackbirds @ Funhouse/Seattle 9/4 Dead Moon, Charming Snakes, Husbands @ Hideaway/Seattle 9/4 Monster Magnet, Bongzilla @ Dantes/Portland 9/5 Infect, Undisputed Heavyweights, Old Man Smithers @ Funhouse/Seattle 9/8 Black Its, Flip Tops @ Twilight/Portland 9/9 Decemberists, Gossip, Deer Hoof, Xiu Xiu @ Neumo’s/Seattle 9/11 Recapture the Flag: Catheters, Insurgence, Botox Aftermath, Hollowpoints, Rabid Dogs, Dreadful Children, Authorities, American Eyes @ Vera/Seattle 9/13 GBH, Circle Jerks @ Showbox/Seattle (9/14 @ Roseland/Portland) 9/14 Gibby Hayes & His Problem @ Chop Suey/Seattle 9/16 Jesse Sykes @ Crocodile/Seattle 9/18 Rock Against Bush: Anti-Flag, Midtown, Strike Anywhere, Epoxies @ Roseland/Portland (9/19 @ Showbox/Seattle) 9/19 Mike Watt @ Berbati’s/Portland (9/21 @ Crocodile/Seattle) 9/23 Scissor Sisters @ Showbox/Seattle 9/23 Royal Pains, Johnny Cat @ Twilight/Portland 9/23 The Ex, Electrelane @ Berbati’s/Portland (9/25 @ Vera/Seattle) 9/23 Toys that Kill, Rivet Head, Berzerk @ Hideaway/Seattle 9/24 Spits, Tyco Party, Intelligence @ Hideaway/Seattle 9/25 Jodie Watts, Guitar Defamation League @ Monkey Pub/Seattle 9/26 Siouxsie & the Banshees @ Showbox/Seattle 9/29 The Toasters, Big D & The Kids/Mind Candy @ Hideaway/Seattle 9/30 Voodoo Glowskulls, Pistol Grip @ Nocturnal/Portland.
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