(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

More images from Day Two, below

Capitol Hill Block Party 2013 takes a more soulful turn on Day Two with a bill built around headliners Pickwick. It might seem like a needed respite after a hot and heavy start to the party on Day One. Don’t be fooled. Even if you promise yourself to take it a little more easy after a lack of pace on Friday, CHBP Saturday will probably suck you in. Fortunately, things will be a little more cool on the weather front leaving you with enough in the tank to make it to Sunday.

With a Day One sellout under their belts, organizers have been pleased with the logistics around the festivals tweaked layout and upgraded sound approach — even with some asking for the dial to be turned back to 11 like past Block Parties. Most of the first day’s music buzz has been, predictably, around the party kickoff antics of STRFKR and Girl Talk. We’ll see if Day Two brings some lesser known names to the forefront. Tickets for both Saturday and Sunday remain available.

You can follow @jseattle on Twitter and watch this open thread as Day Two takes the stage and fills the clubs. Let us know if you see anything — or anybody — interesting, too. You can email us or call/txt (206) 399-5959. Keep track of all our CHS CHBP coverage here.

• CHBP’s Steve Manning tells CHS he is pleased with how Friday’s sold-out festival ran, adding that the organizers have been making small logistical changes like the location of port-a-potties and the orientation of the first aid tent. “We’re always streamlining it trying to make it better,” he said. Manning said he was especially happy with the projection of images on the walls of several buildings within the concert area. “It really feels like you’re inside of a festival and less like you’re in a neighborhood,” he said.
  Continue reading →

(Images: CHS)

On Tuesday afternoon, while the Neumos crew bustled around Capitol Hill planning this weekend’s Capitol Hill Block Party, artist Crystal Barbre sat smoking a cigarette waiting for her scissor lift to recharge.

With murals, the hardest part isn’t the actual painting, she explained, it’s all the logistical distractions you don’t have to worry about when you’re doing your art in the studio — permits, scissor lift maintenance and not blocking the fire exit.

The prominent distraction? Passing pedestrians, all eager to share their opinion on her work.

Barbre said pedestrians are her favorite distraction. Continue reading →

(Image: CHS)

Secure your parking and buy some sunscreen, we’ve entered the countdown to the 2013 Capitol Hill Block Party. As usual, there are plenty of firsts — including the first competing festival — and a few changes in the annual Block Party that draws more than 30,000 music fans to the streets of Pike/Pine. Here’s a rundown of what’s new and what’s out in 2013.

(Image: Suzi Pratt/CHBP with permission to CHS)

Got an awesome sound goin’ down
We hope headliners the Flaming Lips are appreciative. This year, organizers are planning upgrades to the sound systems to ensure less bass thumping permeating through the neighborhood. In previous years the main stage had only one speaker tower on each side of the stage. According to festival spokesperson Olivia Gouveia, this year’s main stage will also have a tower near Neumos to more evenly distribute the sound which will keep each speaker volume lower.

Other new additions this year include a three-camera set-up on the main stage which will broadcast performances over a big screen behind the main stage as well as the festival schedule. The same video feed will be playing in the VIP area.

Block Party officials say party-goers and anybody needing to pass through the area will find an optimized layout with reconfigured — and expanded — beer gardens. The beer garden has been widened and pushed back to end at Neumos with hopes of alleviating the congestion of past festivals. A second beer garden will replace the old VIP zone next to Poquitos and across from Lost Lake.

Competition in Carnation
For the first time in its modern incarnation of a big-time music fest (here’s how it used to be), CHBP will face some nearby music festival competition for its ticket dollars — $49.70 with fees in 2013. The Timber! Outdoor Music Festival in Carnation will share the last weekend of July with the Block Party. Gouveia said CHBP planners aren’t worried about the competing festival.

Three-day passes for the Block Party have sold out, but single day tickets are still available. Be advised: According to @CHBlockParty, Chromatics, Glass Candy and Big Black Delta are no longer playing due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

2013, by the way, will mark the 17th Block Party and the second under the leadership of Neumos chief Jason Lajeunesse who bought out partners Marcus Charles and Dave Meinert for ownership of the festival following the 2011 edition.

Continue reading →

(Image: CHS)

With six weeks to go before the big festival celebrates its second year under “new management,” Capitol Hill Block Party organizers are holding a community meeting next week to talk logistics, hear concerns and solve any problems for residents and area businesses about to get rocked by the annual celebration of music — and now arts — that draws more than 30,000 party-goers to Pike/Pine every July.

Hi everyone!
Capitol Hill Block Party will be holding a neighborhood meeting, June 19th, 4PM, upstairs at Caffe Vita (1005 East Pike Street), in preparation for the 2013 Capitol Hill Block Party, July 26-28th.

We’ll be using this time to go over all changes to this year’s festival, and to address any questions that the neighborhood may have.  If you have anything in specific you would like us to address, feel free to respond to this message.

Olivia
Capitol Hill Block Party

In recent years, the members of the Neumos family who produce Block Party have tried to go the extra mile to patch rough relationships with some residents and businesses around the festival’s gates who are negatively affected by the three-day event. The 2012 edition with the expanded arts offerings and additions like Sunday’s family day was remarkable for the seeming lack of complaint compared to past years. With increased opportunities for local businesses to have a presence inside the gates and more outreach, merchants, studios and salons along E Pike apparently have found it in their hearts to accept if not embrace the popular festival. Some local businesses told CHS last year they benefitted from increased marketing at the event as well as free promotion in the Stranger which continues to provide ticket services for the festival.

Block Party officials say this year’s logistics won’t differ much from the changes made in 2012, but party-goers and anybody needing to pass through the area will find an optimized layout with reconfigured — and expanded — beer gardens. The “original beer garden” — not a bad name for your next bar, by the way — that used to bottleneck with the main stage crowd has been widened and pushed back to end at Neumos with hopes of alleviating the congestion of past festivals. Meanwhile, a second beer garden will replace the old VIP zone next to Poquitos and across from Lost Lake.

Where will Block Party VIPs hang out now? Maybe CHS will get lucky and find out.

2013’s Block Party will be headlined by the The Flaming Lips and will include acts Girl Talk, Pickwick and Purity Ring. You have three more days to make your group’s pitch to be part of the festival.

You can see our coverage of CHBP 2012 here:  Day One | Day Two | Day Three