Oh, Jesus. And here I thought, with the gradual easing of spring into summer, and thus the passing of the unofficial beginning of festival season, that we were done with sustained festival announcements. I don’t know why I thought that, and I certainly don’t have anything against the festivals themselves — geographical distance just has a knack for rubbing like sandpaper, in this instance. Just look at this amazing congregation of artists, booked as though according to the most-played in my very own music library. But wait, I’ve never heard of this festival. Where is it taking place? Motherfucking Poland? Or even, Raleigh, North Carolina?! A single tear glides down the cheek as the designated day(s) come and go, though we faintly realize, it was never much of an opportunity at all — unless you have money and/or lots of vacation time.
But look, a festival in my neck of the woods, the Pacific Northwest! The lineup for MusicfestNW in Portland, OR has just been announced, and, apt for self-proclaiming to be the city’s largest, there are a solid number of massively (sort of) successful, or at least appreciated, bands scheduled. Among them: Animal Collective, Neko Case, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Superchunk, Deerhunter, Mount Eerie, Chromatics, Austra, and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. See the entire list here.
The multi-venue music side of things is set to take place September 3-8, while the associated (and relatively new) TechfestNW has the final three days to simultaneously engage one’s nerdery — featuring speakers from Digg, Twitter, Instagram, WordPress, ADX, and more. The “hackathon” scheduled for the 8th unfortunately won’t be complemented by a performance from The Prodigy. Hack the planet nonetheless? Adjust glasses; read details on that event here.
• MusicfestNW: http://musicfestnw.com
More about: Animal Collective, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Chromatics, Deerhunter, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mount Eerie, Neko Case, Superchunk
