After a 1 year hiatus, I made it back to the
2016 Timbrrr!Music Festival in Leavenworth, WA on January 29th - 30th, 2016. (I can’t remember why I missed the 2015 festival). It was another fun lil’ festival. We had a
crew of 6 people this year, which was great, b/c there is a law of the universe
that states: the larger the festival-crew,
the more exponentially fun the festival !
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| The winter-wonderland of Leavenworth. |
The accommodations
We got a KOA
deluxe
cabin that sleeps 6 people, and I thought it was perfect for our crew. It was an upgrade from the basic cabin from 2
years ago (which was just bunk beds in a room). This deluxe model had
all the amenities: kitchenette,
bathroom, table, chairs, dishes, etc.
Cheap & effective.
The crew
The activities
There was actually snow on the ground this year, which was a
nice change from the 1
st annual 2014 Fest. We took a little sled and
a tube and did some fairly lame sledding down a little bank. It was fun, but
basically not worth the effort. Matt and
Jordan put the winter sports into this winter festival by going skiing on
Saturday, while the rest of us nursed hangovers and made an
epic journey to the
Safeway that was a field of snow away from our KOA cabin.
In the main venue they had a green-screen, which I realized rendered my green shirt invisible! I had fun with that for a while.
The Music
I ended up catching this band, who I think has 50% songs I
like, and 50% songs I hate. I think some of the songs have an interesting “sound”,
but others are just annoying droning or rambling crap.
I thought the set was awkward b/c it seemed like the
lead-singer was staring directly at
me the whole time and it freaked me
out! It’s probably that he is just one
of those performers who kinda looks at the same general area the whole time, and
his music is overall depressing, so he naturally isn’t really put on much of
stage presence, but it really seemed like he was glaring at me. I turned around
to see if there was something behind me worth looking at, and people behind me asked
if he was staring at them or me! To which we all had a good laugh.
I also had the realization that I cannot really relate to
his music at all, which is mostly about drug-addiction. And while I like a few
of the songs, I couldn’t help think how absurd it is that I even try to relate.
And visa-versa: how weird it is for this character to perform to a bunch of
people from a completely different history and place in life. He must think we
are all so lame. So all that was running through my head during this set, which
was lack-luster anyway. Thanks to KEXP, and other regional influences, including
this and the related festivals, this guy has risen from complete obscurity and is doing ok in the music biz (oddly
enough).
This band, fronted by my apparent doppelganger, is like mix of Bob Dylan and the Velvet Underground. The music is decent but I don’t know if I buy the whole act. I’m torn whether or not I appreciate the similarities between these bands or if I think they are too similar. Is it homage or rip-off? They have 1 song that is a very good Bob Dylan emulation. This is the 2nd time I have seen this band, as I saw them at Doe Bay Fest 2015.
Fruit Bats
Who cares. I’m sick of this band playing every
single festival. I believe this band had its day. That day is in the past.
I seem to remember this being ok. He got the crowd livened
up when he decided to go into the giant inflatable snowglobe and perform a few
songs in there, jumping around, etc. I’ve since seen this band’s name show up at
various other places: Sasquatch 2016, SXSW 2016, and Bumbershoot 2016.
This local Seattle shoe-gaze band has a solid album which I have
since listened to quite a bit. This set was good, and if you like shoe-gaze,
this band is definitely worth looking into.
Portland band. I remember being slightly intrigued to see
them, and overall disappointed by the set.
This local Seattle electro-pop band has some catchy tunes,
and festival listening-prep had me excited to see this band. Their set was fun
and I have since kept their very few available tunes in rotation. They have a
song ,
Jamais Vu, about
the Doe Bay Music festival which I think is cool and captures the vibe fairly
well. It is a fun adventurous jaunt of someone trying to go get some water, but
instead becomes lost in an intoxicating haze of the surrounding excitement. The
thing about this band that I cannot stand, is my perception of the annoying wholesomeness
of this band. Admittedly I know nothing of the people in this band, but based
on their lyrics I picture them as the squarest, straight-edge, boring people on
the planet. Like they were the house-band at a new-wave church and then
released an EP. But several of those songs are catchy and fun.
The rest of the sets I either missed completely, or just wasn’t
paying attention too.
And I’m happy to say that they have figured out the coat
situation! They had a cumbersome coat check system on the 1
st day
(lines, lines, lines), and moved to just plain-ole coat racks on the 2
nd
day (Ding! Ding! Ding!: they finally got the system figured-out: simple
free-for-all system. Yay!)
In Summary
Overall another good festival. A great winter festival! But the line-up wasn't as fun as
TimBRRR! 2014.
