1 SRG's Capitol Hill Block Party Recommendations!

Guess what this weekend is? That’s that right the 2009 Capitol Hill Block Party! I have been waiting patiently for this amazing collection of bands for some time, and now it’s finally here. The line-up is very stellar and diverse with tons of great local acts like Moondoggies, Akimbo, The Lonely Forest and Earth as well as some killer national acts such Deerhunter, Black Lips, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and the headliners The Jesus Lizard and Sonic Youth. It’s going to be a full weekend for the SRG as I plan on catching a good amount of the bands scheduled, and possibly drinking a few beers in the process (It’s supposed to be pretty warm!). Since I made my own schedule of the bands I plan on checking out I thought I’d share with everyone my recommendations. Here is my schedule:

Friday July 24: Main Stage

4:30 - The Dutchess and The Duke (local male/female folk rock duo)

5:15 - Spinerette (New band with Brody Dalle and Tony of The Distillers, Alain Johannes of Eleven and QOTSA, and Jack Irons of PJ and RHCP fame performed on the album but won’t be in the touring lineup…Boo!)

6:30 - Black Lips (Indie psych garage rock band, love their new record “200 Million Thousand”)

7:45 - Deerhunter (Indie noise rock band known for their intense live shows)

9:15 - Built To Spill (Great northwest indie vets, they even let the fans choose their set for the festival)

10:45 - The Jesus Lizard (These cult noise-rockers have regrouped and return to Seattle after being banned ten years ago. David Yow used to be nuts, hopefully he’ll be his old self.)

Neumos :: 21+

4:00 - Sgt Major III (The Fastbacks Kurt Bloch’s current project with Mike Musberger of The Posies on Drums)

5:00 - Band of Skulls (English Alt-Rock band, like what I have heard so far)

6:15 - The Blakes (Local indie band hopefully some overdue new material)

7:30 - Sleepy Eyes of Death (Amazing local electronic instrumental band. Pretty powerful stuff, you’ll be hooked)

8:45 - Earth (Yes! Seattle's kings of drone metal though today they are the more clean melodic kings of drone metal, less fuzz equally as heavy.)

Vera Stage

8:15 - Past Lives (Ex-members of The Blood Brothers, more straight ahead rock than the TBBs but still plenty of Jordan Blilie’s angsty screaming.)

9:30 - Starfucker (Electro-pop from Portland gets good reviews)

10:45 - Mika Miko (lo-fi female fronted punk band from LA)

Cha Cha :: 21+

9:45 - Born Anchors (Part of the Friday after party at the Cha Cha, heavily hyped local rock three-piece)

Saturday July 25: Main Stage

2:00 - Hey Marseilles (Popular local orchestral-pop band)

3:15 - Moondoggies (These Everett natives have blown up in Seattle in the last year or so with their brand of timeless folk rock. Really glad I was around for their first Seattle shows at the Blue Moon, they sold out the Croc in May, amazing!)

4:30 - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Indie band from New York, seems to be on everyone’s short list)

5:45 - PELA (Another Indie band from New York, KEXP loves these guys and rightfully so.)

7:15 - The Thermals (Portland’s pop rockers released a great record this year, also hope they repeat their Pitchfork Festival cover filled performance)

8:45 - The Gossip (Dance-punk from Olympia, have made it to the big time with their new record being produced by Rick Rubin)

10:30 - Sonic Youth (Do I need to say anything? Look for a set heavy on the new stuff but that’s cool)
Neumos :: 21+

3:00 - Hotels (Local new-wave, hum?)

5:15 - Akimbo (Energetic and heavy as fuck local hardcore veterans, with tons of hair flying around on stage!)

6:30 - The Maldives (Really twangy alt-country, but good.)

9:00 - Future of The Left (ex-McClusky members formed this band who rocks live!)

Vera Stage

2:00 - Wild Orchid Children (Energetic local indie noise band, will be seeing them for the first time sounds noisy!)

4:45 - New Faces (Another local act that gets much attention, great live)

7:15 - The Lonely Forest (These guys are young, but are destined for greatness. Energetic live show, but a little too high school drama for me sometimes, they show their age in lyrical content but not musicianship.)

8:45 - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (Pretty descent indie folk)

11:00 - Japandroids (They released a great record this year, noisy garage rock from Vancouver)

Comet Tavern :: 21+

11:00 - Hallways, The Curious Mystery (Great after party psychedelic bill at The Comet)

Cha Cha :: 21+

6:45 - Moonrats (Ex-member of Pretty Girls make Graves started this band in Seattle and moved it to LA, sounds interesting, lots of keyboards)

8:45 - Constant Lovers (Rocked opening for The Murder City Devils earlier in the year)

9:45 - Book of Black Earth (Brutal local blackened death metal band signed to Prosthetic Records)

Well that about wraps it up for my weekend, a ton of good stuff to see and lot of running around to do. That's why I love festivals so many bands see, so many new musical discoveries to make. I think there is a little bit for everyone’s taste at this one, and there's also a pretty damn good collection of bands from right here in our own backyard, which rules! I’ll probably be Twittering and Facebooking all weekend because I’m a geek like that, so say hello and we’ll grab a beer. Cheers and hope to see you there rocking out between Pike and Pine!

- SRG

PS. Expect a full wrap-up of the weekend festivities down the road, I might need to recover for a couple days though. \m/