#VoltaireCHBP2016: Capitol Hill Block Party 2016 Day 1 Recap
By Nick Anderson
Capital Hill Block Party is twenty years old and it’s never looked better. Total cliche, but I figure if I follow it with another, maybe they’ll cancel each other out.
“To the living we owe respect, to the dead only the truth.” –Voltaire
Like the man said, let’s pay out some truth. The Block Party is not what it used to be. It won’t ever be again because that time is over. No more free entry, no more wandering wherever you want to, whenever you want to, for whatever you want to.
The Dip. Photo by Stephanie Dore.
But despair not. Because we owe the living respect and let me tell you, they’ve been doing one hell of a job earning it. This Friday, I watched the Dip pump out a set of blue-eyed soul that would impregnate your aunt. I watched as Pale Noise reinvented a style of rock and roll that I thought was long obsolete. I witnessed Pillar Point stir dark grooves into a churning crowd. I shared time with a friend (Hi Matt!) while the heathen harmonies of Amy Viking gave way to the dedicated fanbase of Astro King Phoenix‘s rhymes. And, finally, I sipped cheap beer atop the Capital Hill skyline while Dilly Dally proved that a new breed of rock and roll is ready to be recognized.
Pillar Point. Photo by Maddy Holmberg.
Dilly Dally. Photo by Sunny Martini.
As of this writing, Head Wound City is on the Vera Stage, screaming like sonic gunpowder. Sometimes the past collides with the future so quickly that the present is forgotten in the din. But it’s still there, always with us.
Head Wound City. Photo by Sunny Martini.
Regarding truth: Let it remember itself.
Regarding respect: Long live #CHBP2016
Check out more than 200 additional #CHBP2016 images on Flickr page.
One thought on “#VoltaireCHBP2016: Capitol Hill Block Party 2016 Day 1 Recap”