Seattle Subsonic

REVERB Local Music Festival 2009 – Seattle’s best local music event – Sat, Oct 3rd, Ballard

September 18th, 2009

REVERB 2009  (formerly REVERBfest) will take over Ballard on Sat Oct 3rd, filling 10  neighborhood venues (including 4 all-ages) many of which, like The Sunset and Hattie’s Hat, are Ballard institutions while others, like the Salmon Bay Eagles Club and New York Fashion Academy are transforming themselves just for the event. The nice thing is that all of the venues are in the heart of old Ballard which makes it simple to hop from place to place and catch all your favorites.

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Now, I know it’s a pretty big claim, but I am 100% convinced that REVERBFest is the greatest thing to happen to the Seattle Music scene… ever.  This is a rare gem among music festivals in that the focus here is on showcasing our local artists. Not just Sub Pop bands or KEXP faves, not any one particular style or genre, but a huge variety of what the city has to offer. A welcome relief in the wake of the Bumbermonster. And it’s not going to cost you gobs of cash to get in. All you need to get access to everything is  a little writband which will cost you all of $8. Seriously, 8 clams for all this. Kudos, Seattle Weekly. You can pick one up here.

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In listening to the samples and band sites (found below),  I’ve found this year that each venue seems to have taken on it’s own vibe/genre. For example, if you’re looking for hip hop, you’ll want to get to the New York Fashion Academy for a taste of Fresh Espresso and Champagne Champagne. The Tractor is staying true to its roots and dishing the alt-country licks of bands like The Maldives. You can find the heavy hitters working the old pool room at the infamous Bit Saloon. These harder rockers include one of my current favorites, the Redwood Plan, lead by former Ms Led front , Lesli Wood. And, in a new twist, Volterra, the little tucked away Italian restaurant on Ballard Ave, will be featuring jazz and world type music definitely suited to their higher-end mahogany atmosphere.

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In addition to the 60 (+ -) bands  2 of Seattle’s mayor candidates for Mayor, Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan, will be appearing at the Conor Byrne at 8:30 p.m. to verbally berate each other and (hopefully) enlighten us all as to what they actually plan on doing about our city’s myriad of problems. Pretty important inclusion considering they will need to continue our namesake as the “City of Music” eh?

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Below you will find the schedule for the festival as it was on Sept 17th as well as links to most all of the bands sites and samples of some of my personal recommendations. The Weekly has done a much better job getting info out there this year and you can find a comprehensive schedule as well as loads  about the fest and bands here as well as a  great little flash player that samples most of the bands involved.

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The Sunset Tavern (5433 Ballard Ave NW)

3:30 – Little Cuts

4:30 – Katharine Hepburn’s Voice

5:30 – Born Anchors

6:30 – Telepathic Liberation Army

7:30 – Erik Blood

8:30 – Final Spins*

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9:30 – The Girls

10:30 – Unnatural Helpers* (Dirty Dumb Comical)

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11:30 – Coconut Coolouts* (Party Jail)

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12:30 – Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground

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Tractor Tavern (5213 Ballard Ave NW)

4:00 – Hallways

5:00 – Southside

6:00 – Brent Amaker & The Rodeo

7:00 – Raggedy Anns

8:00 – Fences

9:00 – Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme

10:00 – Widower

11:00 – Staxx Brothers

12:00 – The Maldives

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Ballard Loft (5105 Ballard Ave NW)

6:00 – Trashy Trash DJs

10:00 – DJ Taco Supreme

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Conor Byrne (5140 Ballard Ave NW)

7:30 – Kaylee Cole

8:30 – MAYORAL DEBATE

9:30 – Zera Marvel

10:30 – Barton Carroll

11:30 – Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs

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The Bit Saloon (4818 17th Ave NW)

6:00 – The Basements

7:00 - Levator

8:00 – Tea Cozies

9:00 – Redwood Plan* (Movers Shakers Makers)

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10:00 – The Keeper

11:00 – Mobile Slaughter Unit

12:00 – Midnight Idols

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Hattie’s Hat (5231 Ballard Ave NW)

(all-ages)

4:30 – Jet Sparks

5:30 – Lindsay Fuller

6:30 – Lonesome Shack

7:30 – Shana Cleveland

8:30 – Shenandoah Davis* (we camera)

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9:30 – Rusty Willoughby

10:30 – Hattie’s Hoot! featuring many special guests

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New York Fashion Academy (5201 Ballard Ave NW)

(all-ages)

4:00 – Fresh Espresso*(Big or Small)

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5:00- Grynch

6:30 – GMK

7:00 – SK

8:00 – Spaceman

9:00 – Fatal Lucciauno

10:00 – Thee Satisfaction* (Cabin Fever)

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11:00 Champagne Champagne* (Soda & pop rocks)

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Salmon Bay Eagles (5216 20th Ave NW)

(all-ages)

3:00 – Recess Monkey

4:00 - Visqueen (all- ages Record Release!)

5:00 – Wallpaper

6:00 – Valis

7:00 – The Lonely H

8:00 – Thee Emergency*(Attack of the Cobrasaurus)

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9:00 – Cute Lepers

10:00 – Shook Ones

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Mr. Spot’s Chai House (5463 Leary Ave NW)

(all-ages)

7:00 – Lady Drama

8:00 – Heatwarmer

9:00 – Kore Ionz

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Volterra (5411 Ballard Ave NW)

10:00 – Los Volcanes

5:00 – FOWM Jazz Combo and String Ensembles

6:00 – Greta Matassa

7:00 – Matt Jorgensen + 451

8:00 – Leif Totusek & Freestyle Candela

9:00 - Lushy