Recap in Crayon: MusicFestNW, Day 3

Day 3 of MusicFestNW was the first day to have bands headline at the outdoor Pioneer Square stage. Despite some heavy to light rain all night, the festival went on with only minor delays. 

Young The Giant

 Young The Giant played on the outdoor stage. It was raining. That's most of what I have to say about the show. The band didn't let the rain dampen their spirits (although they had a roof over them) and kept the mood of the crowd up. It was a pretty basic, uneventful set.

Fred Armisen

I went to this show thinking it would just be a stand-up set, but it turned out to be a strange 90-minute musical/comedy extravaganza. He played some music in character as the British punker Ian Rubbish, did some stand-up, played more music (as himself this time), had some guests join him on stage, showed unaired Portlandia sketches, and did a walk-around Q&A. Some of the guests he had were Bob Mould (who was playing a show later that night) and (randomly) Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer, who joined him for a performance of "Kiss Me". The whole thing was really laid back.

 

Bleached

I had only casually listened to Bleached before going to this show, but I enjoyed it a lot. These girls (and guy) can really produce that 60's garage-pop flavor. Lead singer Jennifer Clavin was like some blonde femme fatale you would see perform in a late-60's New York underground punk club. She downed a shot of tequila and added, "we'll be around after the show if anyone wants to do some more shots of tequila."

 

Tobacco

Tobacco is the frontman of Black Moth Super Rainbow and this show was basically a Black Moth Super Rainbow DJ set. The show was super packed and rowdy and we missed about 20 minutes of it waiting in line to get in. Apart from the group of people who were too fucked up (even for an electronic show) and kept collapsing in the middle of the dance floor, the set was amazing. It was cool to hear the sugary BMSR sound in a dancier beat. I haven't seen BMSR live, but I would imagine it's not as dancy and energetic as this show was.