Genesee Beer was one of the many fine sponsors of this year's Reverb Fest.

​As you may have guessed, we here at SW all enjoyed Saturday Night's Reverb festival. But some Reverb attendees really, really "enjoyed" Reverb Fest 2011. Around midnight I found these fine kids grubbing down on (Reverb Fest sponsor) PopChips at light speed outside the Tractor and attempted to ask them the Reverb questionnaire we asked of the bands in this months' Reverb Monthly:

Tell me your names, what you've been drinking and the best band you've seen so far:

"I'm Jenny and I've been drinking tequila, PBR, Rainier. Best band tonight? Curtains for You."

"I'm Shinequa and I've been drinking vodka, vodka, and more vodka and I agree with Jenny: Curtains for You, YEAHHHHH, Curtains for You!"

"I'm Brian and tonight I've liked tequila, whiskey, Genesee, PBR, Manny's . . . everything. My best, favorite band is Spurm!"

How long have you guys been here?:
Shinequa: "All day, alll day long . . . "
Jenny: "Since like 3 p.m.???"

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Laura Musselman

Some dudes and some strings on some steps on Ballard Avenue, Reverb Fest Saturday.

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I caught bits of about a dozen sets, but I'll stick to the highlights for the sake of brevity. Here we go:

At 1 in the afternoon, The Art of Hip Hop--a Tacoma workshop that teaches kids to craft verses and perform--put their term's worth of material on display at the New York Fashion Academy. "Uplifting" would be a great word to describe the show, the climax being the moment teacher Darren "Scooter" Spencer appeared onstage with one of the students to perform a duet, explaining he "didn't know I had a son a year ago" as he gestured to his charismatic stage partner, who'd performed several songs already. They had at last come together and bonded through the workshop; their song (with chorus "like father, like son") was somewhere between inspiring and eye-watering.

Dyme Def played another early set at the NYFA. The trio is nearly fantastical in their cockiness (Brainstorm was wearing a shirt that said "If I was you, I'd hate me"--an official Dyme Def shirt w/ logo) which is actually a great part of their live set, leaving you pumped up on residual confidence. The microphone levels kept sliding off balance--Brainstorm's verses especially sounded quiet--but I still felt good about show.

More after the jump...

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Todd Hamm

Don't Talk to the Cops! (L-R): DJ BlesOne, Emecks, Gatsby (Larry Mizell, Jr.)

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"This is what we do when we get off of work," says DJ BlesOne at a table in the upper room at Cafe Vita's main coffee house. "This is us opening a Budweiser and hanging out by the pool with our friends; this is our eighties beer commercial."

Bles is sitting with his Don't Talk to the Cops! bandmates Emecks and Gatsby (Larry Mizell, Jr.), the latter of whom is his other half in Mash Hall; two of this year's Reverb Fest. bands at one table.

"We're hustlers, but when it comes to music, that's not a hustle, that's our escape," adds Mizell. "That's us having fun, not us trying to pay the rent.

The band is laying out the set of ethics that guide them as artists, most of which seem to follow the principles instilled in BlesOne and Emecks over a lifetime of b-boy breakdancing and organized dance. The rap game is too standoffish in their minds, so they fall back on what they've learned from the dance world: "It's about competing with each other to be the best, but not stepping on each other," says Bles.

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​We will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of the REVERB Local Music Festival--our annual mashup of 60-plus Seattle bands, Ballard, and affordable beer--so we'll be pulling out all the stops. We'll release more details about lineup, stages, etc., as we get closer to summer. But for now, SAVE THE DATE for Oct. 8. REVERB must not be missed!

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​At SW's REVERB Music Festival last month, fans voted to send Seattle's Massy Ferguson on an all-expense paid trip to Iceland's Airwaves Festival in Reykjavík, courtesy of KEXP, SW, and Iceland Airwaves. Now that they're home, bassist/vocalist Ethan Anderson recently filled us in on Icelandic music, Icelandic women, and Icelanders who look like John Roderick.

Here's the abridged version of Anderson's telling of Massy Ferguson's time in Rekjavic:

The whole thing was, holy shit we're in Iceland! Holy shit we're at the blue lagoon (natural hot springs w/a DJ)! Holy shit we're playing a show at Iceland!

The festival was pretty amazing. It was somewhere around 200 bands from all over, but mostly Iceland. It felt like a much bigger version of the Ballard's Reverb Fest. I could see a serious connection to it. The thing is, too, it rained the whole time we were there. It felt eerily like Seattle in November. There are a lot of parallels between the two towns. There was a ton of people from Seattle there, too just like, "Hey we come to Airwaves Festival every year, too."

There was a guy on the street and I went up to him and was like, "Hey, John Roderick!" And it wasn't John Roderick. His name was John Roger, and he looked just like him. It was the weirdest thing. And I kept running into the guy, too, which was crazy.

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Even though I didn't actually do any of the work, watching Hobosexual's Ben Harwood shred like an axe-wielding Cousin It made me hungry -- both he and drummer Jeff Silva were glistening with sweat from the exertion of playing those ridiculously long bluesy metal songs of theirs. Toward the end of the set, Harwood thanked the audience for sticking around even though half the amps on the right side of the stage were not functional and the vocals were fading in and out. I'd argue that the audience's continued enthusiasm says more about the skill of the band than anything else, but hey.

I followed my hunger pangs to the Salmon Bay Eagles Club, where my lovely friends were kind enough to let me pick at the massive eight-dollar Oktoberfest platters. They were truly monstrous: heaps of vinegary potatoes, carrots, baked beans and sausage came served on a king-sized bed of sauerkraut. The highlight of the whole thing, though, was the peach cobbler, which came topped with a fluffy dollop of whipped cream. We feasted in the corner while the club's salty regulars eyed the invading masses of indie kids with varying degrees of bemusement and suspicion.

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Renee McMahon

Sol performing at New York Fashion Academy

​6:30 p.m., Sol: Kicking off a venue is no simple task, but after just a handful of songs had a steady stream of fans checking out the flashing lights and bobbing to the beat. His performance of "Need Your Love" near the end of the set--a track he previewed for me a while back that blew my mind--was definitely a highlight of my festival. That new record is going to pop.

8 p.m., Eighty4 Fly: This was my first shot at catching more than a couple songs from one of my favorite local emcees, but due to some DJ issues--namely the flu--the set got pushed back half an hour and left just 20 minutes for Fly World. Lace Cadence and I-Tones joined him, and the few songs that were performed sounded on point. Tragically, there just weren't many of them on this occasion.

9 p.m., The Loft: Between the towering highs of karaoke dominated by SW Managing Editor Mike Seely--all I can say is "Faith Hill"--and the abysmal lows of the Husky Football game, my trip to the Loft was a both welcome and depressing break from the (real) music.

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Saturday was a dingy day Saturday but inside Ballard clubs it was bright and hot with all the energy of the Reverb Festival. Here's just a couple of shots of the action. Be sure to click through to the full slideshow -- you won't want to miss a thing.

Renee McMahon

The Low Hums

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Laura Musselman

Taking a break.

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Renee McMahon

Sol.

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Laura Musselman

The wicked Young Evils

​4:00pm, Tractor Tavern: I introduce and watch Ivan & Alyosha's set. Impressively, for this early of an hour, the Tractor fills up, and it turns out to be a great way to kick off REVERB Fest. I&A's fluent folk-pop is easy on the ears; last night the duo played with three backing musicians -- a bassist, an extra guitarist, and a drummer. Initially the lineup disappointed me -- I usually prefer to see only the original players in a band -- but the full band only rounded out Ivan & Alyosha's beautifully melodic sound. And, as Paige pointed out earlier today, "Easy to Love" is a damn near perfect pop song.

5:45pm, Hattie's Hat: I'm squished into the back hallway of Hattie's selling wristbands. It's packed and sweaty. I pass the time riffing with the comedian Anthony C., who's serving as emcee for the Hattie's stage; we create fake slogans for Pop Chips, one of REVERB Fest's many sponsors. Some samples:

• Pop Chips: They're Wonderful!


• Pop Chips: Little Baked Pieces of Jesus

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Renee McMahon

Sol played the New York Fashion Academy as part of Seattle Weekly's REVERB Local Music Festival on Saturday, October 9.

​Thanks to everyone who made REVERB 2010 another great night of local music and camaraderie. I'm biased, of course, but I've come to look forward to this night on a personal and professional level. And I'm humbled to see so many other folks -- from fans to bands -- making it a regular part of their fall. Thanks for bringing such a great vibe, y'all.

Few more notes on sets:

Feral Children, The Sunset: You could argue that Feral Children's on-stage antics are disingenuous, that lead singer Jeff Keenan topples over his drums, and flails into the audience on a consistent basis for the sport of it. But the rabid look in eye tells me otherwise. While he's assaulting his instruments and chanting furiously, his bandmates are trampling along in focused lockstep. They're a crazy mashup of instability and stoicism.

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