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2024-11-10 Hardly Raining Freakout Festival XII returned to Seattle November 7-10, 2024. The four-day psychedelic music festival took place across eight venues, featuring over 100 bands. Previously contained within Ballard—Tractor Tavern, Sunset Tavern, Ballard Smoke Shop, Conor Byrne, and two rooms at the Salmon Bay Eagles Club—this year’s event added the High Dive and Nectar […]
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2024-08-11 Hardly Raining STG’s THING Festival returned for its fourth year—this time at a new location in Carnation, WA. Headliners included St. Vincent, Toro y Moi, and Black Pumas, supported by artists from the Pacific Northwest and around the world. See a gallery below, and check back soon for the full review!— Note: Unless otherwise
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2024-03-03 Hardly Raining The two-day Freakout Weekender returned to Belltown on March 2-3, 2024. The Weekender is a short-and-sweet version of Freakout‘s four-day fall festival, which includes a diverse selection of legacy artists, emerging and established Seattle groups, and bands from Latin America. It offers an ideal opportunity to explore new music. Held across four
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2023-11-06 Hardly Raining Now in its eleventh year, the four-day Freakout Festival returned to Ballard on November 2-5, 2023. The psychedelic music event provided an anything-goes experience where you could try a new band or genre, mosh, crowd-surf, or (ahem) expand your mind. Bands appeared on eight indoor stages throughout the nightlife area of the
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2023-11-09 Hardly Raining Acclaimed pianist and composer Brad Mehldau played the Neptune Theatre on November 9, 2023. His trio included Larry Grenadier (bass) and Jeff Ballard (drums). It was Mehldau’s first time back in Seattle since the pandemic. Fingers flying, Mehldau showcased his trademark chromaticism, contrapuntal improvisation, and odd-meter mastery. Ballard added clever, minimalistic drum
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2023-08-25 Hardly Raining THING Festival returned to Fort Worden for its third year on August 25-27, 2023. The nonprofit Seattle Theatre Group and Sasquatch! founder Adam Zacks produced the event. Overview The three-day festival featured a worldwide selection of musical artists, with an emphasis upon the U.S. Pacific Northwest. This year’s headliners included indie-folk Seattle
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2023-05-30 Hardly Raining Hermeto Pascoal Brazilian avant-garde jazz legend Hermeto Pascoal performed at the Neptune Theatre on May 30, 2023. The 86-year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist sang, and played keys and melodica. His band included André Marques (piano), Ajurinã Zwarg (drums, percussion), Fabio Pascoal (percussion), Itiberê Zwarg (bass), and Jota P. (saxophones, flute). The group played
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2023-02-17 Hardly Raining Bill Frisell FOUR and the Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet played an introspective jazz double bill at the Moore Theatre on February 17, 2023. Both artists have released their recent work on the iconic Blue Note label. Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire opened the evening, joined by Sam Harris (piano), Linda May Han Oh (bass), and Tim
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2022-11-13 Hardly Raining Seattle’s Freakout Festival returned to Ballard on November 10-13, 2022. This tenth iteration spanned four nights and six venues, along with a new outdoor stage that featured popular Seattle artists. It was a fantastic lineup from around the world, emphasizing bands from Latin America and the U.S. West Coast. On-brand for Freakout,
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09/12/2022 Hardly Raining Cigarettes After Sex returned to Seattle for the fifth time on September 12, 2022. The El Paso-then-Brooklyn-based dream-pop trio includes Greg Gonzalez (vocals, guitar), Jacob Tomsky (drums), and Randall Miller (bass). Like most of the band’s shows, this one was sold out. An hour-long entry line wrapped around the block outside the
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