Local flavor and arena packing acts headline local music festival's ninth year
By Sydney Syverson
What happens when we mix up over 200 bands and about 20 venues across the Portland area? The biggest and most popular music festival in Portland: Musicfest Northwest. ?Charging into its ninth year, MFNW continues to dazzle music lovers from across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The festival kicks off on Sept. 16th with the band Fences and ends of Sept. 20th with the festival's biggest headliner, Modest Mouse.
General Admission wristbands cost $60 and will get you into any of the participating venues, although some are restricted to minors.
The trickiest part of MFNW is probably deciding which bands to go and see. It can be such a daunting task to sift through the over 200 artists and choose the best among them.
Because the venues are spread out, it can be difficult to get from point A to point B in time. Suggestions? Choose a handful of artists you want to see and really take the time to listen and appreciate those bands.
The purpose of the festival is to hear some awesome music, not run frantically from one venue to the next in order to hear half a song from each artist.
In recent years, MFNW has made an effort to get national bands (and in a couple cases international) instead of just regional ones to perform. This means some more well known bands are in attendance this year.
What began as a music festival featuring mostly local Portland bands is now a festival that showcases performers from all over; although unsurprisingly a good majority of the bands are from the Seattle area.
Because of the increase in artists from all over, the eclectic sound of the festival has become even more pronounced. There is a band for everyone, from the older alternative rock sound of The Get Up Kids to the garage rock of Monotonix to the lyrical indie vibe of Mimicking Birds.
Headliners have increased this year with bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Modest Mouse, and James Mercer of The Shins.
After all, these are the names that have made MFNW a must-attend event for people nationwide. They may be what has made the festival so popular, but they are not the reason the festival is good.
There are plenty of lesser-known artists that are equally as amped to perform (possibly more so in some cases) than the major bands.
One such instance is Mbilly which performs on Thursday, Sept. 17th at 8 p.m. at Ash Street Saloon. This band, which is a collaborative effort of about seven people, has a distinct country feel to it that is refreshing, light and dedicated to the art of story- telling.
The Prids is a Portland based band with a good size following of supporters and fans. They are set to take the stage at Holocene on Friday, Sept. 18th at 10 p.m. Their music has an indie pop feel to it and often displays political messages and opinions. Regardless of if you go to listen to the lyrics or the music, The Prids is known for its high energy performances that don't disappoint.
MFNW has made itself so successful because it gives local bands the opportunity to perform alongside more mainstream, established artists.
Take the initiative to go see a few bands that don't have a record label because after all, even Modest Mouse was unsigned at some point.
Whether or not you will be in attendance this September, there is simply no way to ignore the energy of Musicfest Northwest that is blowing into Portland this Fall.
Check out the festival's website for more information about tickets, times and lineup; www.musicfestnw.com.
