Georgetown Music Festival... Not Just For Hookers Anymore!

Gooseninja.com had a wonderful weekend in Georgetown and the organizers of the Georgetown Music Festival have created an event with tremendous potential. Promoters billed the two-day indie fest as "150% more awesome than last year!" I can attest that it certainly was awesome. Should they continue to attract top local talent and new supporters, the Georgetown Music Festival will be one of the premiere Northwest music events.

South of Seattle's Industrial District, Georgetown makes a proper home for this genre. The burgeoning area has been called a"Capitol Hill of the Future," but I'm not buying it. Cap hill is too emo-punk. Georgetown is the kind of place Grunge comes from, very much like the Olympia scene in the 80s and 90s. Dirty warehouses surrounding a small pub scene. The Tacoma Screw company across the street from the festival grounds. A cheap Chinese/Japanese market selling warm food nearby. Gander on for the Rest!

T-shirts being sold at the festival read: GEORGETOWN, NOT JUST FOR HOOKERS ANYMORE. That said, the first person that Rob Tacoma (my spiritual advisor and guest for the day) saw upon exiting our taxi was indeed a working girl. Once past this aging harlot, we found a festival with two outdoor stages and two inside the Jules Mae Saloon. The Saloon stages, large enough for a slew of 3-piece bands, created a nice break from the sun. Especially when living off vodka-red bulls during a weekend of live music.

The scene was totally indie, totally Seattle. I was quickly whirled into an atmosphere complete with black-clad rocker chicks in sun hats, beer gardens, and roadies that looked like "Hacksaw" Jim Dugan. The tattoo-covered, heavily-pierced security lady manning the main beer garden was so rude, you wondered if the promoters paid her to up the festival's street-cred.

The Ranier (Main) Stage rests on the crumbling corner of 12th and Harney. Honking trucks roar along an I-5 overpass/on-ramp, which serves as backdrop. Nearby Boeing Field supplied steady air traffic and created yet another surreal experience for bands and supporters alike. The heat forced many into the Jules Mae, the kind of saloon where you drink Oly, admire a ten point and discuss NASCAR. Think Colonial Williamsburg meets a biker bar. The Jules Mae Stage was the setting for my favorite show of the weekend...The Hungry Pines!