Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party, Part II

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This past weekend’s Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle featured some of the greatest and most acclaimed independent bands of the Northwest. The main stage gave us a glimpse of the ‘whose who’ in regional music, however neighboring it were the Neumos, Vera, Cha Cha and Havana stages; each of which featured up-and-coming, promising bands. Below are six special mentions:

Tanking the Neumos stage on Friday was the psycho-synth rap trio Champagne Champagne. The band’s heavy, purring bass and odd, twisting low-beats have been known to cause some difficulties on a live stage. However Neumos’s sound system was up to the challenge, and the group thrived, producing one of the most satisfying sets that I’ve personally heard from them. Pearl Dragon and Sir Thomas Grey (the two rappers) strode around in full command of the audience’s attention, While DJ Gajamagic spun hypnotizing beats that reverberated around the room.

 

Headlining the Cha Cha stage on Friday was rock/trash band Helms Alee, pushing the sound system to its limit. The red-lit, sweaty hubbub of Cha Cha’s basement provided an intimate setting for the trio as they blasted their way through an enthralling set. The energy of the room peaked alongside their rises in tempo and swayed during their melodic breakdowns.

A surprisingly interesting band, named Unnatural Helpers, showed their face on Friday at Neumos. The four-piece trash rock/surf combo energized the audience with their short, speed-up riffs and appeared very comfortable in their trashy-punk niche. Something about them seemed incredibly reminiscent of the Minutemen; however the Unnatural Helpers appear to move their songs along a little faster, fitting a good number of progressions into their pieces.

Black Breath, one of the few metalcore bands at the festival, played an explosive set on the Vera stage during the Saturday line-up. Their use of grind/trash breakdowns was appropriately weaved amongst some well-led melody and black metal-esque riding guitar. Often times I find myself a little tired of metal bands that rely exclusively on the appeal of their breakdowns, however Black Breath’s full-bodied song progression and varied use of pacing and movement proved to be very gratifying.

Headlining the Vera stage on Sunday was the acoustic indie-rock group Dutchess and the Duke, playing sweetly orchestrated thoughtful odes to how things suck. Their folksy, cheery nature and play style lay in an interesting contrast to the morbid subject material. To be fair, there were frequent moments of poignancy in both the demeanor and music, and though their song style lives somewhere in the 60’s; due to well constructed compositions the songs themselves are allowed to exist on their own.

Fresh Espresso is a four-piece glamrap troupe featuring P Smoov (voc, synth) from Mad Rad and Trent Moorman (drums) from Head Like a Kite. Their composition seems tighter formed than Mad Rad’s, however their abundant energy isn’t as wild and unfettered. The band closed the Block Party in style, playing a late night set on Sunday at Neumos to an entourage of worn-out yet persistent troopers. Fresh Espresso’s catchy electro-fused beats that filled the club were only matched by the cheers and hollers of the Block Party’s last standing.

Vistin the sites linked throughout this piece for info on where to see the individual bands or what’s coming up next at the venues that participated in this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party, and check the Block Party’s site at http://www.capitolhillblockparty.com for info on next year’s event.