‘Resident’ (Image: CHS)
The Capitol Hill Block Party’s Jason Lajeunesse appeared on KEXP Tuesday morning to announce the big names appearing at the 2012 edition of the festival that fills blocks of Pike/Pine with music and fun every July. A partial lineup is below.
The announcement comes a few weeks earlier than 2011 when the festival went through a sometimes contentious process to secure its permit to continue the expanded three-day format of the event.
The 2012 marketing for the event has played with the theme of end times and left a few confused that the festival might actually be coming to an end. While it won’t be the end, there will be some big changes coming for Block Party as it matures into a festival drawing nearly 30,000 to Capitol Hill.
Last year, we dug into the incredible logistics of hosting an event smack in the middle of Pike/Pine here and posted this round-up of crowd-sourced pictures from the 2011 CHBP as TV on the Radio, Explosions in the Sky, Ghostland Observatory and Thurston Moore topped the lineup.
Here is the partial 2012 lineup with Neko Case leading the way. We’ll sort out who’s playing when and tell you more about the changes for the July 20-22nd Block Party soon. You can buy tickets and learn more at capitolhillblockparty.com.
Neko Case // Major Lazer // Fitz And The Tantrums // Phantogram // The Lumineers // Grimes // Aesop Rock w/ Rob Sonic & DJ Big Wiz // Diplo // Youth Lagoon // Thee Oh Sees // Cloud Nothings // Twin Shadow // Dam-Funk // Spoek Mathambo // Doomtree // Porcelain Raft // White Arrows // Trust // El Ten Eleven // Yuna // Light Asylum // King Tuff // Psychic Paramount // Jaill // Onuinu // Black Breath // Blouse // Absolute Monarchs // Crystal Stilts // Yawn // The Coathangers // Deadkill // Sandrider // Eighteen Individual Eyes // Pollens // Nightmare Fortress // Colonies // Yukon Blonde // John Maus // Blue Sky Black Death // Nacho Picasso // Kris Orlowski // Lemolo // Kithkin // Hot Bodies In Motion // Kung Foo Grip // Tropical Punk // Nu Sensae // Night Beats // Freighms // Tom Eddy // Dude York // Stephanie // NUDE // FEET // Blood Red Dancers // Space Needles // Skarp // Pony Time // Murmurs // Mass Games // Slow Dance // Crypts // Crime Wave // Trash Fire // Vox Mod // Mama Utah // Silly Goose // Underground Revival
and much much more.
Lajeunesse may not admit that CHBP is nearing it’s final days, but with crap lineups like this I don’t see it being around much longer.
this festival and the hill in general are so dominated by talentless hipsters that there is no chance of quality music making it to the disappointed ears of its attendees. people continue to pray to the hipster fashion gods and worship these anorexic tattooed wastes of life because there seem to be no alternatives, however there are so many quality bands in seattle that don’t fit this contrived agenda that are being suppressed. the reason hipster music is so appealing, especially to other hipster musicians, is because it relies on reverb and distortion to mask glaring inadequacies, and the most important aspect of the music is to act and look like you don’t give a shit. for these aforementioned talentless losers, hearing this kind of music is a reaffirmation that they don’t suck, and that the shitty music they are making is actually good. anyone who can actually sing, who has a grasp of unique and ground-breaking song structures, or who openly gives a fuck about their sound rather than which of their tattoos will be showing when they play their instruments, is kept down. capital hill would benefit greatly from opening its doors and its ears to different forms of music, but the bookers and club owners are so far up their own underfed skinny jean-clad asses that this will never happen. this is why the line up sucks, and this is why this scene is stagnating and repeating itself.
tell us how you really feel
I always make sure to leave the Hill the weekend of this thing.
ditto. noted. july 20-22, get off of the hill.
says the fat kid that listens to maroon5.
You spelled Capitol Hill wrong.
While I’ve definitely needed to take “breaks” from the festival due to overcrowding in the past, I’ve always ultimately had a blast. We’re lucky to have an event like this in our neighborhood.
This line-up is fantastic and loaded with up-and-coming bands that will be exciting to experience live; it definitely encourages one to explore new music. I’m not sure where all the negativity is coming from in the comments.
This isn’t the FINAL lineup. They promise 100 bands, and this is only ~70. I’m hoping for a few more headliners, and some better hip hop acts. I also wish festival organizers would stop thinking people want to hear Aesop Rock.
There’s no point in leaving the entire hill. If you’re not in a few blocks radius of the event, like up on 15th, Broadway, 19th, south of Broadway on Pike/Pine, you’d hardly know it’s there. It brings a lot of people out but they are all concentrated in a few blocks radius. I’d say Bumpershoot down at Seattle Center has more of an impact on the hill than BP. Bumpershoot I can hear all the way up here on 15th and see the bus loads of people coming through. That’s no where near true for BP.
Fine with me, leaves more space for the rest of us. I live 1 block from the entrance to the block party and it was fantastic last year getting to hear Explosions in the Sky warming up in the afternoon from my apt, and then later walking over to watch them perform as the sun set. Noise was not a problem at all unless you go to bed at 9pm on a Friday, and traffic was not a problem – just bike for those few days (which is good advice for any time in the summer on Capitol Hill).
I’m looking forward to joining the ‘Party for the 7th or so year in a row. As a resident who lives within a short walk of the festival, I haven’t noticed any more traffic (foot or car) during the CHBP on my block than I typically do on a Friday or Saturday night. I commend the organizers for really listening and responding to many of the comments that have been offered.
Oye. There’s no Bumpershoot festival in Seattle. There is one called Bumbershoot. Look up the dictionary definition and you’ll see why it’s called that. :-)
Last year, outreach to the residents of the Pike/11th neighborhood was greatly improved compared to previous years, but this year I have yet to see notice of a public meeting. Also in previous years, the promoters have offered assistance to local retailers negatively affected by the three day festival.
Are there plans to offer similar outreach/assistance this year and who can I contact as a community liaison?
this person has a great point. only hipster losers would bother to post comments disagreeing with such a salient argument.