IPO Seattle 2011: Day 1 Band Reviews & Videos
International Pop Overthrow
August 24-27 @ The Mix
David Bash is trying to bring back the Compact Disc. He was giving away his awesome three disc compilation for free at The Mix (6006 12th Ave S) during Seattle’s portion of the International Pop Overthrow (IPO) festival last weekend.
Featuring bands from the many cities David will take IPO in 2011,
including New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Liverpool and Toronto, the discs were gone by the third night of the Seattle festival, though, and pop music lovers who showed up late Friday or Saturday went home empty handed. (If you missed out, don’t fret. You can order this limited edition 66 track behemoth online.)
Attendees likely got a dose of great music they’d never heard before,
though. Here are short reviews of the performers and some YouTube
videos shot crudely on my Motorola Droid X.
The reviews and ratings are
my own
personal take so don’t cry yourself to sleep if I gave your band a poor
score. Serving dual roles as a promoter (NadaMucho.com helped David
bring IPO to Seattle the last three years) is never easy and this no
exception.
A= Destined for pop Stardom
B = Destined for pop Appreciation
C = Destined for pop Mediocrity
D = Destined for pop Obscurity
F = I hate your band
Day 1: Wednesday, October 24th
Koralee (Vancouver, BC, Canada) – B
Odd, sexy and confident. Backed sparsely by a upright bass player and a single drum. Beautiful voice that transcends common terrestrial sounds.
Capping Day (Seattle, WA) – B+
Spot on, pitch perfect harmonies. Perfect female double chorus vocals. Capping Day seemed happy to be playing and commented that it had “been awhile”. The crowd couldn’t tell.
Jess Grant (Seattle, WA) – C
Great professional musician, but his alt/pop/country vibe just didn’t do it for me. And he had the “Axel Rose” syndrome, meaning he felt compelled to sing through every second of every song.
Smile Brigade (Seattle, WA) – D
Their live set was not enjoyable. With each hushed-voice ballad I cringed and prayed the next band would cleanse my musical palette.
A poor man’s Dolour at best.
Julia Massey & the Five Finger Discount (Seattle, WA) – B-
Catchy material, executed slightly haphazardly. Great supporting cast but it is hard to take your eyes off the energetic front-woman.
Can you spot the Ah Ha "Take on Me" ripoff in this video?
Run From Cover (Tri Cities, WA) – A
This band can be and should be described as "Amazing" and "Epic!" When the band members without microphones care enough about the material to mouth the words with passion, the chemistry is at an all time high. Fun to watch.
More on IPO Seattle:
Editor’s note: Please send hate mail directly to timbasaraba@gmail.com. Praise can go to info@nadamucho.com.