So, it’s September and you’ve been to Pitchfork. You’ve been to Bumbershoot. You’ve even been to Coachella earlier in the spring. And something seems to be missing. Something is perceptibly wrong. But what could it be? Simple: Indie Music Festival Withdrawal. As the summer festival season winds down, IMFW Syndrome has been known to strike thousands of music fans across the world without warning. There’s no longer a festival to look forward to. No more organic burritos to eat, no more crappy camp sites where drunk hippie dudes try to work out the tabs to a Violent Femmes song into the wee hours of the morning while you and 5,000 new friends try to sleep. UNTIL NOW.
Or rather since 2001. After the dissolution of Portland, Oregon’s North By Northwest Festival in 2000, the alternative paper Willamette Week teamed up with local music impresarios to create Musicfest NW. Occurring this year from September 16-19, the festival takes place in a number of Portland venues, and Seattle’s KEXP will broadcast performances over the weekend. The lineup is long and strong, with more to be added. So if you’re experiencing summer festival withdrawal, take a look at the roster for Musicfest NW. It’s one of the last chances you’ll get this year to get your Fest on.
Bad Brains, Sunny Day Real Estate, Girl Talk, Explosions In Sky, Will Sheff (of Okkervil River), The Get Up Kids, Dirty Three, Monotonix, Mudhoney, Frightened Rabbit, Dillinger Four, Twilight Sad, Swollen Members, Grand Duchy, Beach House, John Vanderslice, The Long Winters, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Pink Mountaintops, OM, Portugal The Man, Viva Voce, The Builders and The Butchers, Langhorne Slim, Bobby Bare Jr., Chairlift, Loch Lomond, Team Dresch, Erase Errata, J.D. Twitch (Optimo), Eluvium, Youth Group, Titus Andronicus, The Zeros, Mount Eerie, Trash Talk, Despise You, Crom, Japanther, Mayer Hawthorne & The County, Grouper, Richard Swift, Austin Lucas, Amazing Baby, Brother Reade, Love Language, Anders Parker, The Morning Benders, The Miniature Tigers, Common Market, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Say Hi, Rocky Votolato, Cymbals Eats Guitars, Copy, Red Fang, Saviours, Norfolk & Western, Nurses, Explode Into Colors, Portland Cello Project, Guidance Counselor, Fences