Let’s Dance, Checking out the Lineup for 2018’s Upstream Music Festival

4-2
4-2

Written by Julia Olson & Haley Parsons

2018 marks only the second year of Upstream Music Fest and this three-day festival/summit extravaganza, taking place June 1st—3rd, is once again delivering a lineup so stacked it’s hard not to get excited. Upstream is unique from other Seattle festivals in that most of it takes place at various small businesses around Pioneer Square. Although there is a larger stage for headliners, festival goers are welcome to pop in and out of smaller, intimate shows throughout the day/night as they please. Last year’s festival even included a free stage for visiting non-festival goers to enjoy. Although 2018’s festival includes some pretty rad touring bands, Upstream really separates itself from the pack by highlighting a variety of local bands, both big and small,  within it’s over 200 booked festival artists. If you are mulling on Upstream check out some lineup recommendations from the KXSU staff below. 


Strawberry Mountain 

These fellas are a Seattle synth-pop collective who have recently been gaining momentum in the local music community. Strawberry Mountain played MoPOP’s SoundOff! earlier this winter and although they didn’t take home the trophy, Strawberry Mountain’s new tracks and Live on KEXP session have been gaining some serious steam for the band’s complex yet dancey-fun take on psych-rock. — JULIA OLSON


Genders

I discovered the PDX babes, Genders, when I saw The Helio Sequence and was thrilled to see them on this lineup! Their sound can typically be described as psych-rock/dream-pop, but with a bit of an edge. They’re irresistibly cool in a kind of granola way and I would highly recommend listening to their only full length release, Get Lost, which sounds deeply personal and familiar, while also existing as something highly unusual and unique amongst other bands placed within the dream-pop genre. Genders are rumored to be releasing a new album in 2018 so fans at Upstream may have the opportunity to catch some brand-new material!  — HALEY PARSONS


The Flaming Lips

I LOVE THE FLAMING LIPS. Have you seen The Flaming Lips live? It’s like…picture the happiest you’ve ever been and…add a giant sparkly unicorn and streamers. Although The Flaming Lips has a rather large and daunting discography from which they could pull songs in a live setting, lead Wayne Coyne KNOWS just which songs to play for optimal good-vibes. To get an idea of what to expect simply listen to “Do You Realize?” over and over and over… — JULIA OLSON


Special Explosion 

I’m sooo excited to finally catch local band, Special Explosion, at Upstream! Their music is like the perfect soundtrack to a coming of age story set in any modern suburb and I totally love it. While being an example of typical Pacific Northwest indie iock, Special Explosion are more than a collage of their influences (Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, etc.), they’re a band dedicated to creating their own take on the sometimes tired and overdone genre of PNW indie. Special Explosion are just that, a special explosion of Northwest-specific roots striving to create a future for the sound, rather than trying to recreate something that has already been done. — HALEY PARSONS 


American Nudism

This band is a local DEEP CUT Upstream, I applaud you. Playing live at all of your favorite punk dives, American Nudism makes some stranggee yet very, very cool, dark synth-pop. American Nudism has a few releases you can check out via Bandcamp, but I might recommend their first release, Vol. 1 — JULIA OLSON 

American Nudism Bandcamp 


The Helio Sequence

Hailing from Beaverton, Oregon, The Helio Sequence is built on the backs of friends, Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel. Signed to Sub Pop, these guys have a sprawling discography that features soothing vocals and dazzling instrumentals. Some fans have been with them since the early 2000s, while interested passerbys at Upstream will likely dig their sometimes melancholy, but always easy to dance to set. To get a good sense of their sound, listen to “Deuces” from their most recent release The Helio Sequence. — HALEY PARSONS 


Tacocat

Perhaps Seattle’s best palindrome, Tacocat has been bringing that local flavor since 2012. From their songs “I Hate the Weekend” and “Men Explain Things to Me”, Tacocat’s music really encompasses all there is to know and feel about living in Seattle. Guaranteed to be a good time, you can catch me dancing along to Tacocat and scream singing along to this surf-rocktastic collective.  — JULIA OLSON 

Photo by Emma Pierce

You can find more Upstream details here: https://www.upstreammusicfest.com

Check out the full lineup below!

 


JULIA OLSON | quit your job | KXSU Head Music Reporter

HALEY PARSONS | ask me what I know about Salmon | KXSU Music Reporter

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

*

Tags: , , ,