Photos by Lauren Khalfayan, find more of her work here.
Seattle’s latest festival, Day In Day Out, serves as a replacement for the two summer festivals that would usually occur in the city — Capitol Hill Block Party and Bumbershoot. In recent years, I’ve found the lineups to be somewhat underwhelming and to be completely honest I wasn’t *stoked* beyond belief when I saw the lineup for Day In Day Out, but there were a few standouts I wanted to check out.
The festival is hosted by the folks who put together Capitol Hill Block Party, but takes place on Bumbershoot’s terf at Seattle Center
. The festival hosts a single stage where artists like Kaytranada, Aminé, CVRCHES, and Blu DeTiger were set to perform, along with local standouts like Parisalexa, Chong the Nomad, and Travis Thompson. We are still currently in the midst of a pandemic though, which unfortunately threw a wrench into the planned lineup. Aminé, Parisalexa, and Big Wild all had to drop out of the festival day of or a few days prior due to Covid or health related issues. Of course, ticket holders were a little pissed. I myself wasn’t going to prioritize going super early like I had initially planned to for the Saturday lineup with the switch out, but when I did make it to the festival grounds in the early evening, I was pleasantly surprised.
With the space needle looming over head and the bass reverberating throughout the grounds, I could hear Travis Thompson in the midst of his set when I arrived. It was still light out and fans were jumping along in step with his lyrics, arms flying in the air in the pit, and further out spaced out on the grass were tumbling, twirling, dancing, and just having a good time. There’s a lot of pressure for festivals to live up to the hype when there’s money and time put into it from the ticket holder’s perspective, but everyone seemed to be having a genuinely amazing time being able to celebrate with their friends outside in the company of live music. There was a beauty in the lack of overcrowding as well. The festival had made a statement that they were selling fewer tickets in an effort to give people more space for social distancing. The lawn felt full and lively, but you could dance your heart out without worrying you’d smack someone in the face which was one of the most fun parts of the overall environment they created.
After Travis Thompson wrapped his set, Kaytranada was next on deck. One of the most cruel punishments of festivals is the inability to leave your spot at the barricade for fear of never making it back and suffering in excruciating boredom until the next set. This was not the case with Day In Day Out. Having a stellar DJ on deck, they played hit after hit to keep the energy up and the crowd dancing until Kaytranada was set to take the stage. I’m not sure if the audience was just not super familiar with Kaytranada’s catalogue (they were super into it!), but if they were, than Seattle is just not great with the whole call and response thing. While everyone was dancing and grooving, every time the mic went out for the crowd to finish the line, it was a no go. Somewhat of a vibe killer, but Kaytranada did not let it get to him — delivering a great set and a perfect end to the night (an early 10PM wrap).
Day 2 I got to the grounds on the early side, not realizing Chong the Nomad had gotten pushed back later with Big Wild’s last minute cancellation. I caught some of Tomo Nakayama’s set which was especially stellar considering he had notice as of that morning he would be performing. The grounds were pretty empty and I got myself a $10 Aperol spritz (not horrendous for a festival) and chilled in the beer garden, which took up about 50% of the field’s real estate.
When it was time for Chong the Nomad’s set, she burst onto the stage with an infectious energy. She’s the kind of person you would want to invite to every party you have ever because she’s just fun. An electronic music producer, her set was centered around getting the crowd (and inevitably, herself) moving. She set the perfect vibe for early in the day getting the energy up and everyone feeling good. She even played an intimate song acoustically on the ukulele — something that previously has never made an appearance in her set list.
Following Chong the Nomad was maybe the highlight of the festival for me — Blu DeTiger. She is the ultimate badass bass player and an effortless “cool girl” by default. While most of her catalog falls under the pop category, her basslines add an unexpected edge and she even ventured into a more rock leaning number for her latest release “Go Bad”. Track after track is incomparably catchy and her energy is effervescent.
Closing out the night were STRFKR and CHVRCHES (big no/limited vowels and all caps energy). STRFKR was very synth-y, very chill, but with some wild visuals. As a state where weed is legal, it made a lot of sense. CHVRCHES by far had the most headliner energy of any act I saw all weekend. Frontwoman Lauren Mayberry has an intensity and ferocity to her as she stalks and trots around the stage in her thick platforms. She’s almost aggressive with her delivery, which adds a unique layer to the group’s synth-pop/1975-esque feel.
STRFKR
Despite the cancellations and the less than ideal framework the festival had to operate under, I would consider Day In Day Out a success and a much needed moral boost for the local community. There is such a catharsis in experiencing live music, especially on such a large stage and scale, that I think people were desperate for. And whether or not their favorite artist actually performed or not, once they were there, they enjoyed every second of it. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see Day In Day Out as a festival ever again or if this was a one-off, in-the-time-of-Covid type situation, but it was a refreshing and reinvigorating experience regardless.
