Laura Musselman

Partman Parthorse

​SW's Reverb Local Music Festival
Saturday, Oct. 8
Ballard
All pics courtesy of our own Laura Musselman!

Laura Musselman

Mash Hall

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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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​It's a season of change. The leaves are turning, protesters have taken over Wall Street, and here in Seattle, a revolution of our own is brewing--Seattle bands, fans, and showgoers are losing that chip on their shoulder, forgoing snobby stares and icy detachment for friendly smiles and hearty high-fives.

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Laura Musselman

The Tractor spent the majority of Saturday night at capacity for Reverb Festival.

​By Chris Estey

As usual with the Reverb Festival, my first few hours were spent in the VIP tent. I hate to dangle that taunt before I begin describing the slurry highlights of my sloppified mind. But that's where I get my tipple poured into me to prepare for the packed shows, and a few doubles with old and new friends coming and going early got me primed before my very first Seattle Whiskey staff meeting. Um, Seattle Weekly.

I met Lunchbox, who helped cater (bartend) the event, rapped for me about organic farming and everything being connected, and didn't hesitate to replenish my small black cup between bouts of speaking with the young folks. Ian (in the Morrissey shirt) and Tall Matt, Madchester-inspired members of Stephanie and fellow pilgrims from the punk underbelly of Spokane ("SpokAnarchy"), were in the tent and getting raves from trustworthy scribes like Andrew Matson at The Seattle Times before their 4 p.m. set. Research into their bassy ennui-wonka has made me a new fan ("Freak Flag" and "Meds" combine coming-down bliss with steel-pad-on-nerves annoyance; opening for like-minded art-damage divas like the Parenthetical Girls is a perfect fit, and placed them at the top of my "check out more and more" list.) The writing staff of the Weekly all welcomed me aboard as we greedily sucked our libations and then all waved nicely when "the Money Guy" walked by (couldn't remember his name, but would be happy to help his kids with their English homework, yes sir).

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Laura Musselman

Gettin' down to Don't Talk to the Cops at Seattle Weekly's Reverb Local Music Festival on Saturday, Oct. 8, in Ballard.

​During her afternoon set at the Salmon Bay Eagles, Kaylee Cole, a blonde, couch-surfing pistol, informed her audience that it was at Reverb Fest 2009 that she decided she had to make Seattle home. (This is exactly why we don't tell tourists about the festival.) For any wandering artists who made their way to Ballard on Saturday, Seattle music put on its best, and would surely have been irresistible.

I'm biased, of course. The Weekly puts on Reverb, and I'm predisposed to call this thing the finest gift to rock since 180-gram vinyl*. But I can say with a straight face that the uniquely celebratory atmosphere at Reverb 2011 was the strongest in the fest's five-year-run. There's no bigger all-local music festival in Seattle. And the fact that there are hundreds of local musicians--even those such as Damien Jurado and Brent Amaker, not on the bill this year -- performing at, and wandering around, a small cluster of venues and lubricating the conversation and shenanigans with a bounty of complimentary booze -- gives Reverb a jovial, familial vibe.

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Gold Leaves plays the Tractor at 11 p.m., Saturday, as part of SW's Reverb Festival.

​Seventy Seattle bands will play on eight stages around Ballard on Saturday as part of Seattle Weekly's Reverb Festival, and I've got four free tickets. We're going to make this really, really, really simple. Send me an e-mail (ckornelis@seattleweekly.com) with your name and phone number, and I'll select one person at random who will receive all four tickets. Be sure to put "REVERB FEST TIX" in the subject.

Good luck!

To those of you who don't win, it's only $15 to see every band on the bill.

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The Trashy Trash DJs join 70 other Seattle bands at SW's Reverb Local Music Festival on Saturday, October 8. They play Bastille at 7:30 p.m.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.

What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for the Seattle scene?

Trashy Trash DJs' Same DNA: I think the legacy of the grunge explosion is definitely something that looms over the heads of people in the Seattle music scene. There's a sense of urgency to break out of the city and dominate, be it in sales or general industry hype--as in "Who will be the next Mix-a-Lot? Who will be the new Nirvana?" That's definitely left a hurdle for entertainers in Seattle to think about.

But I think there are a lot of forward-minded artists and promoters operating in the city who can relate to and respect the very DIY, "fuck what everyone else is doing" aspect of what made grunge great--the bubble of independence of creating something small and new without mimicking what everyone else is doing to be successful. I think that's the best part of the energy of this city, is that we all know what could happen if you fuck around and start something amazing.

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Shown here with Cobirds bandmate Rachel Flotard, Rusty Willoughby was a big part of the Seattle music scene when grunge exploded. Cobirds Unite play SW's Reverb Fest's Conor Byrne stage Oct. 8 at 12:30 a.m.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.

Seattle Weekly: What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for the Seattle scene?

Rusty Willoughby: I'm not sure about everyone else, but it shook me to the core and I hated playing music for a long time after watching what a bit of media attention did to the music community of this town. It was a shifting point, culturally, so I can see the interest from a purely archaeological perspective, or a music history perspective. But I was young and impressionable and it scared the crap out of me.

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Witch Gardens plays Reverb Fest's NY Fashion Academy stage at 9:30 p.m. this Saturday, October 8.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.

SW: What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for the Seattle scene?

Witch Gardens' Beth Corry: I'd say the grunge explosion did the Seattle scene many favors. Because of all of the musical activity here in the '90s, the city has essentially been set up to support and encourage musicians here. Between the vast community of musicians we have here and the support surrounding them, I think we have a lot to thank the grunge explosion for.

Do you hear many influences of the sound in today's bands?

Absolutely. Although grunge was a passing trend in some ways, to me it still sounds exactly like what Seattle feels like, and I think there are a lot of bands around today that embody that Seattle and Pacific Northwest sound. The underground/DIY music scene in Seattle is so diverse though that it certainly has all that and more going on right now.

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Jenny Jimenez

Kevin Barrans' Sons of Warren Oates joins 70 other Seattle bands at SW's Reverb Local Music Festival, Saturday in Ballard. Oates' Sons play Conor Byrne at 9:30 p.m.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.SW: What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for
the Seattle scene?

Maldives'/Sons of Warren Oates' Kevin Barrans: I think the legacy of the grunge explosion is simply that it put Seattle back in the minds of a music world that had somewhat forgotten about it. I think saying anything more than that is just reading too much into the situation. It was great new music at a time when Seattle and the rest of the world really needed it.

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