Capitol Hill Block Party 2011

Block Party has returned to Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood once again and day one did not disappoint. Friday’s line-up offered both local faves and international buzz bands. Gates opened early at 3pm and entrance lines were a breeze compared to years past. Early birds were able to catch Kurt Vile and the Violators set at 5pm. The long-haired guitar guru looked eerily reminiscent of grunge staples twenty years his prior who frequented the same streets Block Party took place on. Their main-stage set was certainly a kick-start to the weekend.
Meanwhile, the indoor stage at local venue Neumo’s featured Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up. It made sense to have their show inside a packed, sweaty, relatively small venue. Yet their intensity might have benefited a later set time. Howerver, as frontman Damian Abraham noted, you can’t complain when you get to play between the Cults and Yuck. Speaking of the later, the London 90’s throwback rock band put on a solid show featuring a healthy-portion of jams form their recently released self-titled album (and check out our interview with them here). Though their set did seem a bit less enthused than I might’ve hoped for, that might just be a stage-presence consistency with their sound or the result from months of international touring.
It’s been a whirl wind year for local Seattle band Head and the Heart. Just last summer, they self-released their self-titled album which sold an unprecedented amount of physical copies. Since then, they’ve toured the world and enlisted with SubPop. Indicative of their rise, last June I saw them in a little cafe in Spokane with no more than 20 people in attendance. This July, they masterfully maneuvered their 9:15 mainstage set to thousands of Block Party attendees. Finally, Austin, TX’s dance-rockers Ghostland Observatory held down the headlining spot at 10:45. When we talked to Ghostland recently, they gave us many details behind their mind blowing laser light show (run by the same guys who did the Tron premiere). While that laser show was an absolute spectacle to see indoors, watching the beams pour through six blocks deep of city space and turn Pike Street into psychedelic fantasy took things to the next leve.
Photos below.

[All photos courtesy of Bobby McHugh]