The time has come once again for the Northwest Tune-Up Festival to descend upon Bellingham with an extensive lineup of regional and national headliners. They’ve made some changes this year, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to preview the offerings from a music fan’s point of view.
One of the biggest changes is the addition of single-day, music-only tickets. This is helpful if you’re a big fan of one of the headliners, but aren’t interested in the rest of the festival. Headliners will also be playing longer sets in 2024 compared to previous years. The different nights have clearly distinct styles, so you can approach it based on what’s interesting to you and have a pretty good chance of getting your money’s worth.
For example, the Friday night lineup is heavy on acoustic/roots vibes. Things kick off with the slick, almost poppy bluegrass of the Lil’ Smokies, followed by the excellent local Tom Petty tribute group, Petty or Not. After that it’s the quietly powerful singer-songwriter Indigo De Souza before Yonder Mountain String Band finishes up the night with hyper-virtuosic bluegrass. Although that’s quite a bit of variety, there are enough similarities that if you enjoy one act, you’ll want to stick around for the others.
Saturday night ditches the acoustic guitars and moves in a much more beat-heavy direction. Protoje and Tippy I open with dub reggae, then it’s the mystical, dramatic live electronics of Boise’s Magic Sword. Headliners are the uplifting, mostly electronic instrumentals of Emancipator, and hip-hop veteran Lupe Fiasco.
Sunday is something of a genre grab bag. The Moondoggies start it off with their harmony-laden indie rock. Then you get Saxsquatch, which as far as I can tell is basically a guy in a Sasquatch suit doing pop covers on the saxophone. (Sorry, but color me skeptical on that one as a live show.) After that, though, you get my personal favorite of the weekend, Dengue Fever. They were playing their unique style of Cambodian psych rock at the 3B the first night I ever saw live music in Bellingham, back in 2003. Finally, the festival wraps up with the influential producer and DJ RJD2.
Earlier in the day on Saturday and Sunday, local groups are playing on a side stage called Tune Town. This is in the Exhibitor Village section of the festival grounds, which means you don’t even need a ticket to check it out. Saturday’s acts are Serafima & The Shakedowns, Grizzly Troubadour and Analog Brass, while Sunday offers Virginia Rail, Checker Bloom (playing an acoustic set) and the Andy Bunn Trio.
Festival organizers are also promising afterparties with surprise performers (to be announced) every night of the festival. Friday’s afterparty will be at the Wild Buffalo, Saturday’s at Gruff and Sunday’s at the Structures Brewing Old Town location.
If Tune-Up isn’t your style, the same weekend also includes the Skagit Highland Games, with an abundance of excellent Celtic music on pipes, fiddles, harps, et cetera, including some nationally touring headliners.There are also a bunch of workshops and even something called an “instrument petting zoo,” to give kids a chance to try out some of the more unusual instruments. That happens at the Skagit County Fairgrounds. (Full disclosure: I’m playing at this with The Moving Hats.)
Jesse Stanton's music column, The Beat Goes On, appears weekly. Reach him at jsbhammusic@gmail.com; @JSBhamMusic. Check with individual venues to make sure events are still taking place as scheduled. Live music events in Whatcom County: http://www.cascadiadaily.com/category/living/arts-and-entertainment/music/music-calendar
