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The review for Saturday of MusicFest NW is up on MelodyTrip. I went to The Helio Sequence show at the Crystal Ballroom.

And so MFNW is over for the year. I’m not sure I’d recommend MFNW if you don’t have a free press pass letting you into any show you feel like, the moment you feel like. Wristbands to attend all nights were $50 this year, and it did not guarantee that you’d get into any show. Any big show sold out pretty quickly and the lines to get into the larger venues often trailed down the block. A lot of people turned away, disappointed, when they discovered that the venues were already at capacity. Your choice, but I would find that pretty aggravating if I had invested $50.

BUT, I wanted to recommend two surprise awesome bands.

I was impressed by the 1900′s on Wednesday. This Chicago psych-pop band has got at least enough stage sass to capture the attention of a rapidly filling Berbati’s Pan.


1900's, Photo by Dominik Kolendo

And Portland’s Menomena, who played just before (and played a finale with) The Helio Sequence. I have never had the chance to enjoy watching such a manic, emphatic drummer before.