The following is an unedited review of Day 2 of the SP 20 festival submitted to the P-I's Web site for Internet-only publication.
Music review
SP 20 Day 2
When: Sunday
Where: Marymoor Park
By Travis Hay
Special to the P-I
REDMOND -- A reunited band from glory days of grunge and a group of Canadian rising stars stole the show during the final day of Sub Pop's 20th birthday celebration.
Green River, a band that broke up in the 1980s and reunited for SP 20, delivered the most anticipated set of the two-day festival. The group is largely credited with being one of the first grunge bands. Its membership consists of vocalist Mark Arm, guitarists Stone Gossard, Steve Turner and Bruce Fairweather, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Alex Shumway. If any of those names sound familiar it is because Gossard and Ament went on to be a parts of Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam, and Arm and Turner formed Mudhoney.
As for the reunion performance, Green River sounded better live nearly two decades after its breakup than the band ever did on record. Arm twisted and contorted his body while bellowing out guttural shrieks and screams. Meanwhile Gossard was all smiles while playing next to Turner. He was bouncing and hopping up and down while blazing through guitar riffs.
On the other side of the stage Ament and Fairweather wore Cheshire grins too when they weren't busy wailing away on their axes. Ament ran around his side of the stage in circles at times, barging around like an angry bull between bass notes.
As for Shumway, the drummer, he was having fun too. Near the end of the set, which included "Together We'll Never," "New God" and about 10 other songs, Shumway leapt into the crowd for some good old fashioned body surfing.
In a nod to what must have been stage banter from the band's heyday, Arm introduced Gossard and Turner as former members of The Ducky Boys and Ament and Fairweather as being from Deranged Diction. The reunion went off without a hitch.
Headliner Wolf Parade, which took the stage after Green River, captivated the crowd with a set that was a wonderful display of musicianship. The band was the only group that was allowed an encore during the festival.
Calling the Canadian quartet Sub Pop's Arcade Fire is not a stretch, and that's not just because both bands are from our neighbors to the north. Like Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade is critically adored, and rightfully so, and has gathered a loyal following. In fact, in some circles the group's latest album, "At Mount Zoomer," is a record of the year candidate. The band will perform a headlining set at Neumo's tonight at 8 p.m., tickets are $17.
Wolf Parade wasn't the only rising Sub Pop group on the bill Sunday. A trio of up-and-coming buzz bands also spent time on the main stage.
Portland rockers Blitzen Trapper woke the crowd out of its sunshine-induced daze early in the day. The band's sound could be described as a backwoods Northwest version of Southern rock. Drum-and-guitar duo No Age played noisy, spazzy rock and post-punk new-new wavers, Foals, created a party atmosphere with some catchy dance beats and fun grooves. Foals will join Wolf Parade at Neumo's tonight.
Another impressive band on the bill was Comets on Fire. The group's set was filled with loud, epic guitar rock that sonically bludgeoned the crowd with walls of psychedelic sounds. It wasn't so much of an intense experience as it was an impressive display of phenomenal guitar work.
Overall the second day of the SP 20 festival was filled with louder bands and a more solid lineup than the previous day, but strangely the crowd was noticeably smaller than the first day of the fest. That can likely be racked up to the absence of a mainstream act such as Flight of the Conchords, which helped the first day of the festival sell out.
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Music review
SP 20 Day 2
When: Sunday
Where: Marymoor Park
By Travis Hay
Special to the P-I
REDMOND -- A reunited band from glory days of grunge and a group of Canadian rising stars stole the show during the final day of Sub Pop's 20th birthday celebration.
Green River, a band that broke up in the 1980s and reunited for SP 20, delivered the most anticipated set of the two-day festival. The group is largely credited with being one of the first grunge bands. Its membership consists of vocalist Mark Arm, guitarists Stone Gossard, Steve Turner and Bruce Fairweather, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Alex Shumway. If any of those names sound familiar it is because Gossard and Ament went on to be a parts of Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam, and Arm and Turner formed Mudhoney.
As for the reunion performance, Green River sounded better live nearly two decades after its breakup than the band ever did on record. Arm twisted and contorted his body while bellowing out guttural shrieks and screams. Meanwhile Gossard was all smiles while playing next to Turner. He was bouncing and hopping up and down while blazing through guitar riffs.
On the other side of the stage Ament and Fairweather wore Cheshire grins too when they weren't busy wailing away on their axes. Ament ran around his side of the stage in circles at times, barging around like an angry bull between bass notes.
As for Shumway, the drummer, he was having fun too. Near the end of the set, which included "Together We'll Never," "New God" and about 10 other songs, Shumway leapt into the crowd for some good old fashioned body surfing.
In a nod to what must have been stage banter from the band's heyday, Arm introduced Gossard and Turner as former members of The Ducky Boys and Ament and Fairweather as being from Deranged Diction. The reunion went off without a hitch.
Headliner Wolf Parade, which took the stage after Green River, captivated the crowd with a set that was a wonderful display of musicianship. The band was the only group that was allowed an encore during the festival.
Calling the Canadian quartet Sub Pop's Arcade Fire is not a stretch, and that's not just because both bands are from our neighbors to the north. Like Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade is critically adored, and rightfully so, and has gathered a loyal following. In fact, in some circles the group's latest album, "At Mount Zoomer," is a record of the year candidate. The band will perform a headlining set at Neumo's tonight at 8 p.m., tickets are $17.
Wolf Parade wasn't the only rising Sub Pop group on the bill Sunday. A trio of up-and-coming buzz bands also spent time on the main stage.
Portland rockers Blitzen Trapper woke the crowd out of its sunshine-induced daze early in the day. The band's sound could be described as a backwoods Northwest version of Southern rock. Drum-and-guitar duo No Age played noisy, spazzy rock and post-punk new-new wavers, Foals, created a party atmosphere with some catchy dance beats and fun grooves. Foals will join Wolf Parade at Neumo's tonight.
Another impressive band on the bill was Comets on Fire. The group's set was filled with loud, epic guitar rock that sonically bludgeoned the crowd with walls of psychedelic sounds. It wasn't so much of an intense experience as it was an impressive display of phenomenal guitar work.
Overall the second day of the SP 20 festival was filled with louder bands and a more solid lineup than the previous day, but strangely the crowd was noticeably smaller than the first day of the fest. That can likely be racked up to the absence of a mainstream act such as Flight of the Conchords, which helped the first day of the festival sell out.