The 2010 Capitol Hill Block Party kicked off bigger, better and more crowded than ever with the crowd numbering right around 10,000 people every day. This year's festival expanded to three days, four stages and over 60 musical acts. This made it obviously impossible for one person to see everything. This year's lineup made deciding what acts to catch a very tough thing to do.
The Block Party has always sought to highlight diverse, independent, local acts and this year was no different. This year, in addition to all the local talent, many acts were brought in from New York and big name headliners MGMT, Atmosphere and the Dead Weather were on hand to close out the Main Stage on their respective days.
This year the Block Party took over Pike Street between Broadway and 12th atop Capitol Hill. Amazingly, the weather decided to cooperate the entire weekend in usually unpredictable Seattle with sun, blue skies and highs in the low to upper eighties.
The four stages included a small, 21+, indoor stage at the dimly lit, red hued, Cha Cha Lounge, Capitol Hill's premier concert venue, Neumos, also 21+, the all-ages intimate, outdoor Vera Stage and of course, the Main Stage. Security seemed on the ball and organized, and the Block Party seemed to go off with very few hitches, the most notable coming at the very beginning of the weekend, just as the mad rush arrived.
On Friday, day one, the gates opened at three, but few were off work at that point. I arrived around 5pm, right smack dab in the middle of everyone else. The ticket distribution system was quite a let down. Most everyone ordered their tickets online and they were held at Will Call. The problem with this method is that when everyone showed up to pick up their tickets, Will Call was split into only two lines, one for last name A-L and one for M-Z. This is all fine until you realize you're at the back of a line that's at least 500 people long and there are only three or four people working Will Call for said line. Needless to say, I really wanted to catch Bear In Heaven on the Main Stage, but the half-an-hour to forty minutes I spent in line thought otherwise. So, sadly, no Bear In Heaven for me.
I made it to the Main Stage in time to catch Yeasayer. All throughout the weekend, Seattle area politicians took to the stage to introduce various acts. Jay Inslee, a long time Seattle area Congressman, took to the stage to introduce them erroneously as "The Yeasayers." This prompted the band to ask the audience "Who the fuck are The Yeasayers?"
As soon as they started their set, the crowd packed in tight. Their danceable New York brand electronic post-punk got everyone moving who had room to move. A balcony stage left was full of who I would assume were the apartment tenants and friends rocking out and enjoying the view from above. I bet just about anyone down below wished they had that spot. They focused on material from their excellent album, Odd Blood. Their performance of "Ambling Alp" shimmered in the sun. One issue I quickly noticed, which would become a recurring theme for the Main Stage throughout the whole weekend, was that they never could seem to get the sound mix right. It was either too quiet or overkill. I shrugged it off as just a typical issue of an outdoor concert not set in an amphitheater.
I left Yeasayer, weaving my way back through the crowd, and headed towards Neumos to catch Head Like A Kite.
It took me so long to get over to Neumos, I was sadly able to catch only a few minutes of Head Like A Kite, but their performance left me wanting more. Neumos was crowded, hot and had industrial fans going full blast. Head Like A Kite rocked their signature electronic infused glam punk with reckless abandon. The cityscape backdrop was also a nice touch. Drummer Trent Moorman had quite possibly the busiest schedule of any musician at the Block Party. In addition to playing skins for Head Like A Kite, he also played with Fresh Espresso and Mad Rad.
After the short time at Neumos, I was off to the Vera Stage to catch Jaguar Love. The Vera Stage was situated up and around the corner from the Main Stage, and Neumos and served as a great getaway and less crowded alternative. Jaguar Love is the current group of former Blood Brothers members Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato and former Pretty Girls Make Graves drummer Jay Clark. They still possess much of the post-hardcore sound that made you love or hate the Blood Brothers. At the Vera Stage, they convinced the audience they put every ounce of their being into their performance. During manic performances of "Bats Over the Pacific Ocean" and "Highways of Gold," Whitney stood perched above the crowd, on the photo pit bench howling into the mic as only he can. Can't say it was one of the best performances of the weekend, but it was definitely one of the most energetic.
Due to the late start to the day, I was only able to catch those three acts before it was time for the Friday headliner, MGMT. By this time, many had been drinking all day and although many were wasted, most kept it cool. Extreme drunkenness coupled with the sheer size of the MGMT crowd was not a good combination. I saw people falling down, I got an elbow in my neck and many seemed on the verge of being crushed.
MGMT took the stage on time and played everything a fan could hope to hear from Oracular Spectacular and everything you wouldn't want to hear from their lackluster and disappointing sophomore effort, Congratulations. Once again, the speakers were crackling as MGMT tore through "Song for Dan Treacy," "Flash Delirium" and "Of Moons, Birds and Monsters." The crowd came alive at the first lines of "Weekend Wars." The stage was bathed in a sea of blue and purple light during "Electric Feel." By this time the crowd qualified as half mosh pit, half dance party. Closing in on midnight, they closed out with the one, two, three punch of "Time to Pretend," "Brian Eno" and an all-inclusive Pike Street sing-a-long of "Kids."
As I headed home, I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed in day one. I was really hoping day two would turn out better. Fortunately it did.
