MusicFest NorthWest - Friday Night

Sulking after having missed most of the music festival that took place in our own backyard last weekend, Seattlest ventured down I-5 to check out the northwest’s other early September music festival, Musicfest Northwest. We strolled over to Towne Lounge off SW Burnside St. Friday night for a roller coaster night of local sound and lots and lots cheap booze.

Eskimo & Sons started off the evening’s lineup, giving the venue a mixed dose of epic, atmospheric rock, tonal feedback and preciously darling vocals from an oh-so-cute and petite lead singer. The four piece group fronted by Danielle Sullivan then pulled a bunch of their friends on stage for some impromptu backup vocals, an effort that yielded little effect besides some young hipster folk standing awkwardly in the glow of stage lights. But they kicked out the jams in a more traditional manner with a bombastic final song that paved the way for the next Portland group, Starfucker.

The name of this band is not merely a clever ploy. No, no, these guys really do… fuck… stars(?). Imagine Ratatat’s long lost brother who chose a path of beating drums instead of shredding guitars. Throw in a sequencer looping some bips, beeps and bass lines and a couple of broken drumsticks and you have your raunchy celestial lover. Their receiver conked out a bit during their first few songs, but it didn’t keep them from melting faces with their high-velocity, cock-rocking rhythms.

The evening switched gears again with velvety voice Laura Gibson. This time, the transition was an extreme downshift from, say, fifth gear to park. Such soft, lullaby-whispering lyrics could easily be drowned out by conversations from the bar, but anyone who made the concerted effort to listen will find themselves treated to a series of angelic serenades. Then imagine such a voice thanking “Starfucker” for performing and it’s fun for the whole family!

Indie folksters Horse Feathers then took to the stage. Seattlest managed to see this group during a previous visit to Portland last month in the intimate living room turned technically stellar music venue at Mississippi Studios. The trio of multitalented musicians worked an array of instruments that include a celesta, cello, violin, mandolin and a saw to produce an epically dramatic and ethereal folk sound that seems to pervade the entire city block. Vocalist Justin Ringle adds passionately sincere lyrics to the mix in a manner that’s only comparable to screaming whispers. Unfortunately, “sawist” Peter Broderick announced that he would be leaving the band this fall to move to Europe. As one who’s skills really seemed to anchor out Horse Feather’s larger-than-life sound, it will be interesting to see how the group will replace him.

Sadly, Seattlest did not have the opportunity to see Dolorean because we were deceptively led to search for the meaning of life at the bottom of some beer bottles. Instead of getting a chance to check out more PDX music, we ended up talking to some Justin Timberlake fans that had flown in from Hawaii to attend the Portland show. Ah, the power of beer!

Thanks to Paige Richmond for the picture of Horse Feathers!