Seven bands, nine hours, sixty-eight degrees, three rounds of busking, and a good helping of some straight-out wonderfulness: it all adds up to this year's No Depression Festival up at the lush, lovely Marymoor park in Redmond. With stellar sets from bands like The Swell Season, the Cave Singers, Alejandro Escovedo, and Sera Cahoone -- well, it's tough to find anything bad to say. We got our indie roots on all day, and through part of the night -- without a curfew, I'm quite sure Glen Hansard and Co. would have sang us straight through to the sunrise.

Sera Cahoone, warming up the post-Maldives crowd.

more...

Check it out!

We're giving away two tickets to this year's No Depression festival!

On August 21st, the grounds of Marymoor Park (Redmond, WA) will be graced with not just one or two, but seven swoonworthy acts to fit the taste of every alt.americana, alt.country, and modern-folk indie-roots enthusiast within driving distance. Performers like Lucinda Williams and the Cave Singers will be sharing the stage at the second annual installment of ND, following in the footsteps of stellar sets from last year's big name headliners -- Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, and Jessica Lea Mayfield, just to name a few.

Did we forget to mention that the Swell Season is headling? Silly us! If you haven't bought yourself some tickets already -- and even if you already have -- you might want to take a moment right now to enter our ticket giveaway. Send an email to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line SummerIsTheSwellestSeason and tell us why you think we should send you off to the Park for the day!

The only full-font fine-print is that entries must be recieved by midnight on Wednesday, August 11th to be entered into the drawing. Winners will be announced on Friday, August 13th. There's no catch! You can even bring your underagers, since No Depression is an all-ages event.

more...

Lost at the festival, where could they be?
At any ole place where the wi-fi is free.

It's true, our favorite part of the summer is the avalanche of festival possibilities. There's little better in the world than dozens of your new favorite bands playing one after the other on a sunny day in an exotic locale. This edition of the Imaginary Mixtape we share tracks from some of the cutest bands playing the Athens Popfest {August 10-14 in Athens, GA} and take a consoling look back at the amazing Indietracks festival line up {takes place each year at the end of July in the UK - fingers crossed next year we can make the trip?}. But, we start off the podcast looking at some awesome August events in Seattle. Get ready to mark up your calendars!

You can listen to a stream or download the MP3 version of the podcast on the imaginary bandcamp page. Bandcamp prohibits tracks longer than 25 minutes {I think it's some regulation against jam bands?}, so the podcast is split into three sections for those that like to listen via the bandcamp stream.

PART 1: Preview of some Seattle shows and events in August

PART 2: Athens Popfest preview

PART 3: Looking back at the UK festival, Indietracks

 

If you are the type that likes to listen to podcasts in itunes, download the .m4a file here {one single file with fancy chapters even!} and then open it in your itunes {Thanks to Jigsaw Records for hosting it!}.

Tracklisting: Imaginary Mixtape - August 2010:

more...

 

(The National plays with Okkervil River at the Concerts at the Marymoor in Redmond, WA on September 11, 2010.)

I'm a latecomer to The National, the band that somehow sounds like a son of L. Cohen fronting a farm of Radiohead fans with both acoustic instruments and electronic gizmos. I first heard them on the quite excellent Live At KEXP Volume Four benefit compilation with the short, simmering "Start A War." Considering that smorgasbord also had Vampire Weekend's must-replay-frequently "A-Punk" and Sharon Jones' "Let Them Knock," the fact it was my favorite song on there was pretty impressive. Well, OK, to me, anyways.

 

more...

WOAH Babes! Like pop? PDX Pop Now! has put together a pretty great festival to celebrate their seventh year of supporting the Portland music scene. The dates are July 30th through August 1st, at Rotture. Think it's worth the trip?

Aan / AgesAndAges / AndAndAnd / Asss / Atriarch / AU / Autistic Youth / Ben Darwish / Billygoat / Blue Cranes / Blue Horns / Brainstorm / Cloudy October / Defect Defect / Da’Rel Junior / Eternal Tapestry / Fear No Music / Get Hustle / Grey Anne / Guantanamo Baywatch/ Hockey / Hosannas / I Can Lick Any Son of A Bitch In The House / Jackie-O Motherfucker/ Joey Casio / Joggers / Krebsic Orkestar / Kung Pao Chickens / Kusikia / Lewi Longmire / Luck One / Michael The Blind / Operative / Parenthetical Girls / Please Step Out of The Vehicle /Reporter / Rollerball / Shoeshine Blue / Skeletron / Soup Purse / SubArachnoid Space / Tiny Knives / Tu Fawning / The Tumblers / Typhoon / Wampire / Why I Must Be Careful / Ylang Ylang

more...

at Gorge Amphitheater

Pavement (Courtesy: Victoria Vanbruinisse for City Arts Magazine)

Every Memorial Day Weekend, scruffy hipsters and hippies alike who lack the cash to drop on a desert jaunt -- complete with $5 bottles of water and scorching heat -- descend upon the Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA (yes, that's really the name) for the 3-day Sasquatch! Music Festival.  There are considerably less stages and less big names, but the views are gorge-ous (har har), and you can easily find all of the previous year's blogworthy acts and at least a couple legendary ones before the weekend is through.  And since this is Washington, the festival organizers provide a free water bottle refill station to save plastic.  And did I mention it's beautiful out there?

This year my Concert Companion (hereafter known as the CC) and I packed the car full of hoagies, Coronas, yogurt, fiber bars and a nice sturdy tent, and set out Friday night on the 2 1/2-hour trip from Seattle to George.  In the morning we woke up to sunny skies and a slew of young, unwashed, bleary-eyed yet still really attractive festivalgoers.  Everyone was friendly and out to have a good time.  Some entrepreunerial folks set up a grill with hot dogs, tacos and breakfast burritos in preparation for the drunk munchies.  Once you've all shared the same lineup of Portapotties, had a few beers, and brushed your teeth together in a makeshift sink, the camaraderie pretty much starts a-flowin'.

And now, here's a breakdown of noteworthy events, day-by-day...

more...

Hey guys? I know most of y'all are wrapped up in SIFF, but I wanted to remind you that Seattle’s True Independent Film Festival starts today! I'm certainly not complaining that Seattle has TWO awesome film festivals at the same time, but of course it’s always a challenge to fit some STIFF films into an already packed SIFF schedule. However, this year, I’m determined to try.

Running from Friday, 6/4 through Sunday, June 13, STIFF packs in 160 shorts & features (many by local directors) at 4 venues - AND you can see all of them for the low All Access Pass price of $50! The lineup looks great this year, but of course I zeroed in on some the horror films.

The Book of Zombie: Mormon! Zombies!! Hell yes!!! Screens Monday, June 7, 1:30pm at The Rendevous (Jewelbox Theater), and again Friday, June 11, 9:15pm at the Northwest Film Forum.

more...

{Photo by Dave Lichterman from the TIG Flickr Photo Pool}

I feel like we've been speculating forever! Finally, the official first round of line-up announcements has been made with sweet promises of over 60 bands on 3 stages. Let's see how savvy our rumor mill was... here's what was just announced:

Friday:
MGMT, Yeasayer, Holy Fuck, Shabazz Palaces, Bear In Heaven, Head Like A Kite, Macklemore, Unnatural Helpers, Jaguar Love, Champagne Champagne, Fences, Chris Pureka, Stay Hi Brothers, The Physics, Candit, J.Pinder, Hella Dope, Mahjongg, Police Teeth, Naomi Punk, USF

Saturday:
Atmosphere, Blonde Redhead, !!!, Blitzen Trapper, Mad Rad, Obits, Here We Go Magic, Zola Jesus, Night Marchers, Past Lives, The Redwood Plan, THEESatisfaction, Beach Fossils, Grand Hallway, The Drowning Men, Cold Lake, Air 2 a Bird, Black Breath, Grynch/Spaceman/State of the Artist, Eastern Grip

Sunday:
The Dead Weather, Blue Scholars, The Dutchess and the Duke, Harlem, Cynic, Fresh Espresso, Victor Shade, Truckasaurus, Villagers, Flexions, Globes, Steel Tigers of Death

More to be announced soon…

Discounted $60 three-day passes on sale now for a limited time
$23 single-day tickets available starting Friday June 4th
($25 via online day of show, $30 cash at the door)
Advance tickets available here: thestranger.com/blockpartytickets

What do you think? Are you freaking out? Who do you want to be on the list of bands in the next announcement?

more...

{Folklife Photo: Amelia Gyde / TIG flickr photo pool}

Could this weekend have been any more fun-a-licous? We had peeps at all points on the Washington-state dial and reports are that it was the best time ever. There was SIFF, Sasquatch, Folk Life, and that Rad Snafu (Nada Surf-ish) show at the Crocodile.

What did you do? Do you have any stories or photos to share?

May is a magical month here in Seattle. We've got spots of sun teasing us with summer promises, Sasquatch anticipation running rampant, and the warm glows of SIFF oozing with the best international indie films. There's only one reason we'd ever want to leave our emerald city bubble during this sweet spot of the year... a good ole fashioned PopFest!

This year, the month of May brought with it two very enticing reasons to head elsewhere: The New York City Popfest {May 20-23, 2010} and the San Francisco Popfest {May 27-30, 2010}. To mark these special events, we've gathered up some of our favorite songs by folks playing these festivals which includes a couple cover songs, a not-yet-released Math & Physics Club song and some rarities to up the popfest ante.  If you were one of the lucky folks that caught any of the NYC or SF Popfest shows, let us know how it went!

***Listen to the Imaginary Popfest Podcast MP3***
{To download the podcast, right click on the link above
and save to your computer}

more...