9/22/07 - Endfest 16 - Quest Field, Seattle, WA

[Mike]

The site's not as hot as the sounds

By Patrick MacDonald

Seattle Times music critic

The good thing about "Endfest 16": A great lineup.

The bad thing about "Endfest 16": It's in a parking lot. In late September. In Seattle. Where it rains a lot.

Oh, well, what can you do? It may well be worth it to stand on hard, wet pavement for hours on end to hear the Smashing Pumpkins' powerful new music and many classics; catch up on the original hardcore, tattooed bad boys, Social Distortion; find out what the always-stimulating Perry Farrell is up to with his new band, Satellite Party; and see if promising newcomers Against Me!, Paramore and Shiny Toy Guns can live up to the hype.

The Pumpkins alone are worth the ticket price, judging by their smashing reunion album, "Zeitgeist," another triumph for Billy Corgan. It's hard-rocking, well-written, varied and much in the spirit of past Pumpkin records, all of which came out in the '90s.

Some fans quibble that this isn't really a Smashing Pumpkins reunion, because only Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin remain from the original group, which broke up in 2000. But Corgan has always been the essence of the Pumpkins. He plays all the instruments but drums on the new disc, just as he did on most songs on the other five Pumpkins albums. And he has always held tight rein on the band, enforced by rigorous rehearsals.

The reconstituted Smashing Pumpkins, including new members Jeff Schroeder on guitar and Ginger Reyes on bass (supported on tour by keyboardist Lisa Harriton), has played more than 70 Corgan songs on its current tour, including hits, rarities and dozens of new songs. While tightly rehearsed, there's also been lots of improvisation, especially from Corgan on guitar.

Satellite Party is another instantly likable, irresistibly danceable, Eastern-influenced, hippie party band, in the tradition of Farrell's other groups, Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros.

"Have Against Me! made the year's best album?" Spin asked on the cover of its August issue, referring to "New Wave." The article says it's "the best rock album in ages," but that's a stretch. Spin liked the anti-war and other politically-oriented messages, but while the sentiments are worthwhile, the songwriting is artless and clumsy. And Tom Gabel's harsh vocals are an acquired taste.

Paramore's double-time tune "Misery Business" is getting airplay and chart action, probably as much for lead singer Hayley Williams' big red lips, multicolored hair and brash attitude as for the music. Williams is sure to be an eyeful onstage.

Shiny Toy Guns has an intriguing female lead singer, too, in Carah Charnow, but her delivery is more direct, in an almost robotic, electronica/dance music way. The L.A. band is big in dance clubs for its vibrant videos and its intense music.

Bright Eyes always arrives onstage with a bunch of new songs and, while they may be uneven, they're always interesting. Hot Hot Heat, our Canadian neighbors from Vancouver who've played here a lot, have a big local following. And the punky pop band The Used will have the parking lot pulsating with moshers crashing into each other. Watch out! You don't want to fall on that hard concrete!

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com

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Festival preview

Endfest 16 with Smashing Pumpkins, Social Distortion, Bright Eyes, Satellite Party, The Used, Hot Hot Heat, Shiny Toy Guns, Stray Light Run, Paramore, Against Me!, Minus The Bear, Moneta and End-A-Roke, noon Saturday, Qwest Field North Parking Lot, 800 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle; $39.50 (206-628-0888, http://www.ticketmaster.com; information, http://www.theend.com and http://www.qwestfield.com).

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/m ... est21.html

[Mike]

EndFest brings summer to a smashing close

By GENE STOUT
P-I POP MUSIC CRITIC

With the start of fall this Sunday, Endfest 16 is truly summer's last outdoor blast.

There's probably no need for sunscreen, but maybe we'll get a weekend of Indian summer weather before the clouds roll in for good.

It has been a jam-packed summer for outdoor shows, from the Sasquatch! Music Festival to Warped, Ozzfest, Bumbershoot and even the Puyallup Fair, which winds down this weekend after the last raspberry scone is sold.

The "Sweet Sixteen" rock festival sponsored by KNDD, 107.7 FM ("The End") features a full day of music, beginning with End-a-Roke (the station's own spin on karaoke) and concluding with headliners Bright Eyes, Social Distortion and The Smashing Pumpkins, led by Bill Corgan.

The festival made its debut in 1992 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in Silverdale to celebrate the first anniversary of KNDD, which went on the air in 1991 amid a dramatic shift in tastes following the explosion of grunge and alternative music. The first Endfest featured Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, L7, The Posies and other acts.

What's interesting about this year's festival, aside from the lineup of performers, is its location in the north parking lot at Qwest Field, rather than an outlying amphitheater. The obvious advantages to an in-city location are abundant parking, close proximity to Pioneer Square restaurants and watering holes, and no worries about a commute to the White River Amphitheatre or another relatively remote site.

Touring behind "Zeitgeist," the band's first all-new album since 2000, The Smashing Pumpkins are experiencing a rebirth, performing provocative, even epic concerts following a sold-out series of "residencies" last summer at the Orange Peel in Asheville, N.C., and the historic Fillmore in San Francisco.

The Pumpkins arrive in Seattle two months after the publication of "An Open Letter From Billy Corgan," purportedly written by Corgan, in the Stranger.

The letter reads: "We were once the most important band in the world, and everyone -- me, you, Courtney Love -- knew it.

"The Smashing Pumpkins drew the line between Black Sabbath, the Bee Gees, and the Cure, and that line caught a generation like a leash around a wayward puppy.

"We founded Alternative Nation, and the kids and advertisers flocked around. But because the band had become bloated, overbearing, headstrong, because it grew beyond my control, it had to die. I killed it before it killed me."

The Pumpkins subsequently sent out a tongue-in-the-cheek rebuttal titled "Still Believe Everything You Read?" after a number of national publications assumed the letter was legit and not a spoof and ran abbreviated quotes from it.

The Pumpkins' publicist tried to set the record straight with a number of clarifications, some just as funny as the original story.

"Another mistruth in this letter is the statement that the Pumpkins were once the most important band in the world," the statement said. "If the facts are what we are all seeking, everyone knows that Citizen Dick has always been and will forever be the most important band in the world."

Citizen Dick, of course, was a fictional band from the movie "Singles" featuring actor Matt Dillon and several members of Pearl Jam.

The rebuttal also stated: "It is a little-known fact that The Pumpkins' music is responsible for the swing dance craze of 1997."

The 10-hour show includes sets on multiple stages by Moneta, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, Minus the Bear, Against Me, Paramore, Stray Light Run and Shiny Toy Guns, as well as Hot Hot Heat, The Bravery, The Used, Satellite Party, Bright Eyes and Social Distortion.

Styles range from the graceful melodies of Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst to the raucous punk of Social Distortion.

Falling on the last day of summer, Endfest 16 is the perfect end-of-season blowout.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/332478_endfest21.html

[Mike]

Alt-music fest draws generations

By Marian Liu
Seattle Times staff reporter

Endfest 16 capped off the summer beautifully.

The sun broke through the clouds early on during Saturday's daylong festival, and stayed there till close to dinner time.

Since its inception with the Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth, the festival has celebrated alternative music. And now, almost two decades later, the headliners gathered in the Qwest Field parking lot paid tribute to the past. As Perry Farrell of Satellite Party said, there were a lot of "great O.G. people."

Along with Farrell, the former frontman of Jane's Addiction, headliners included Social Distortion and Smashing Pumpkins — groups who started before the festival was born. These bands have since influenced many groups in their wake.

This trend was well illustrated with the multigenerational audience. There were toddlers to teens, even babies in strollers. And these adolescents were not embarrassed to be seen with their parents. In fact, they shared the same musical roots.

"I was the coolest dad on earth," said 42-year-old pianist Todd Dunnigan, after he introduced his daughter to her favorite band, paramore, at the show. Dunnigan got that VIP access by being a performer in one of Endfest's two beer gardens. His style of stripped down alternative covers — of everybody from the Ramones to The Killers — drew quite a crowd.

Another pair of daddy-daughter duos caravanned to the show. Darron Arch convinced his 13-year-old daughter, Hanna, to check out Social Distortion as a reward for good grades. In turn, she introduced him to more recent bands like the Used and Shiny Toy Guns. Both planned on crowd surfing.

"I like the new stuff," said Arch, a 38-year-old supply chain manager from Sammamish, who donned checkerboard Vans shoes. His own father instilled him with a love for the Beatles and the Ramones.

The Arches traveled with , 47-year-old David Pearce and 13-year-old Aly. "This is different than anything else I've experienced," said David Pearce, a Microsoft program manager. "I've gone to concerts in stadiums, like with the Who and Zeppelin, but never totally outside. This is the way it should be."

The Qwest concert, at the edge of SODO between the stadium and the high rises, gave residents in nearby condos a free, staggeringly loud show — whether they wanted it not.

And luckily for fans, the sun cooperated on the last official day of summer, allowing the Endfesters to follow like lemmings across the multiple sprawling outdoor stages. Many wore tanks and flip flops.

Others arrived in clothes that reflected the music's older roots: mohawks, mullets and Doc Martens.

For all, the 10-hour show was an endurance test. For those who packed food, it was banned at the door. But, oily and overpriced arena food awaited them inside.

And when the sun went down when Social Distortion took the stage near the end, the dedicated kept bouncing to keep warm, while others withered into little huddles on the pavement — many even lying on each others' legs, staring into the night sky while dozing off to their favorite bands.

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825 or mliu@seattletimes.com

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... est24.html

[Mike]

There's some great pics from this gig up on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chona_k/se ... 119931566/