Now that you’ve all purchased your City Arts Fest wristbands (you did get yours, correct?), you surely need some help choosing what acts/presentations/events to attend during Seattle’s Last Best Festival of the Year. Enter your trusty SunBreak staff to offer their picks for Fest must-sees.
Robyn w/YACHT @ The Paramount
Katelyn: In the car, at my desk, at every party where I have even half an ounce of control over the playlist: I’ve been having Moments to Robyn’s defiantly hopeful dance pop album Body Talk nonstop since it dropped in late 2010. This is the can’t-miss performance of the entire festival, Ryan Adams included.
Josh: Show up at the Paramount early enough to see YACHT (off kilter musical motivational speeches/cult recruitment, with cowbell) open for for Robyn.
The Ecstasy of Influence @ Town Hall
MvB: Because this is an arts fest, there will also be poetry. Luckily it’s from irrepressible Heather McHugh, and three of her students: Kary Wayson, Kate Lebo, and Erika Wilder. Music sneaks in through the back door when McHugh’s poems are sung by the bluegrass trio The Half Brothers.
Crystal Castles w/Crypts, Nightmare Fortress @ Showbox SoDo
Josh: If you’re still standing after the interesting pairing of dance pop that is Robyn and YACHT, make the hike to ShowDo to have your eardrums assaulted while Crystal Castles strobe light you into seizures. One of the few bands that might actually benefit (instead of suffer) from the echo-y cavernous space of this venue. Hey, it worked on Skins…
The Felice Brothers w/Gil Landry (of Old Crow Medicine Show), Shelby Earl, Gabriel Mintz @ The Crocodile
Tamara: Rootsy Americana-rockers the Felice Brothers always put on a lively gig, complete with songs about whiskey, lovers, and questionable characters, and featuring a healthy dose of down-home instruments (fiddles, washboards). But rumor is the guys have a new musical direction that includes synth, horns, and…acid jazz? That alone makes this my pick for the night: I’ve gotta hear it to believe it.
The Cops w/Birthday Suits, Strong Killings, Nazca Lines@ the Comet Tavern
Tony: Michael Jaworski’s raging post-punk quartet The Cops play a live show as pin-point sharp as it is electrifying. They’re so good, it makes me wonder why there aren’t as many Cops sound-alike bands in town as there are, say, Head and the Heart sound-alike bands.
Mad Rad w/Katie Kate, Helluvastate, Slow Dance @ Neumos
Tony: I wonder if Mad Rad’s hushed acoustic set of fragile folk ballads will go over with a rowdy City Arts Fest crowd…Kidding. It’s always worth watching Seattle’s electro-trash hedonists work themselves into a lather.
Allen Stone w/Fly Moon Royalty@ The Triple Door
Katelyn: Allen Stone looks like my dad circa 1976, glasses included. Head to the Triple Door for some serious stylish redheaded soul.
The Horde and the Harem w/Exohxo, Elk and Boar, The Nameless @ The Rendezvous
Seth: Horde and the Harem put on a good show. They’ve got two frontmen, one who acts all cool and like “I-don’t-even-care” and another who flirts with the ladies. The tag team effect works.