More CHBP pictures from 2022 here

By Kali Herbst Minino

“I know music festivals can’t be free anymore, but I’m hoping to see an even bigger local push from Block Party for local artists and local businesses,” Avery Cochrane, a performer at this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party tells CHS.

The 25th year of the music festival takes place this weekend in the heart of Pike/Pine starting Friday and running through Sunday. Three days of sun, warm evenings, and lots of music are predicted.

The price of a one-day ticket to this year’s Block Party is sitting at $95, far above its origins as a free neighborhood event. The now three-day music festival that takes over the blocks around E Pike and Broadway has had split reviews from community members over its 25-year lifetime. Some business owners enjoy increased revenue while others struggle outside the fences put in place for the event. Tensions peaked in 2019 when the city asked for community feedback, but that seems to have faded during the recovery from the pandemic.

As the event has grown and ticket prices risen, so have efforts from CHBP organizers to engage with and support local artists and businesses.

Cochrane wasn’t expecting to receive an email from organizers about playing this year’s block party. She attended the event in 2018 and never necessarily had the ultimate goal of playing at it.

“It’s still weird seeing my name on there, and the font size for my name isn’t even that small, so I’m kind of mind-blown,” Cochrane said.

She is one of multiple Seattle artists Block Party reached out to. CHS talked with local artists Lane Lines, Mia Day, Acid Tongue, and Boaconstructor, and each of them say Block Party initiated the conversation to have them perform in 2023.

Kate Harris, associate producer and sponsorship director of CHBP says the local bookings are intentional.

“We love to see someone play the Vera Stage and then grow from there. We’ve had multiple artists come back, and to see them go from Barboza to playing an entire stage is pretty cool,” Harris said.

Businesses are part of the local push. In recent years, Harris says CHBP has focused on partnering with neighboring shops and creating free public events outside the gates including a popular skateboarding competition. They also have ticket promotions with nearby businesses, where spending a certain amount of money at the business also includes a ticket to Block Party. The promotion seems to be a success. Last year, nine businesses were featured on CHBP’s Instagram advertising the deal—that number has increased to 20 this year, and the nine from last year are all on that list.

Harris also says she focused specifically on the on-site presence of some local businesses. For example, Throwbacks Northwest will have clothing racks outside their shop and Wunderground Cafe will sell a mushroom cup.

Drip Tea, which is across from Neumos, has also partnered with CHBP to serve non-alcoholic beverages inspired by the live performers. Similarly to the local artists Drip Tea was contacted by CHBP.

“They’re [CHBP] accommodating, they’re friendly, every year is great business for us,” an owner at the shop said.

Supergenius Tattoo is a couple of feet away from Drip Tea, but they fall just outside of the tall Block Party fences. The shop is holding a flash event over Block Party weekend, and visitors can get flash tattoos that start at $50. Adam King, one of two shop managers, says the shop usually sees an uptick in sales during Block Party and that the flash event is “a business opportunity to have a good time.”

Last year, the view to Supergenius from inside CHBP was blocked by a tarp, making it less visible than originally communicated to Supergenius. King says Block Party has worked with the shop to ensure visibility this year, and Supergenius is also working with Block Party’s advertising team to get the shop’s name in advertisements.

“I’m optimistic,” King said.

But there is also a stark reality to the music business, especially for local artists who are juggling their careers, CHBP, and outside responsibilities at the same time.

Kaley Puckett, who goes by Puck, works as their own booking agent. Puck was not invited by Block Party, instead contacting organizers themselves by scouring the internet and talking to other artists in Seattle. Puck says they’re going in the red getting lodging and flights for their band members.

“All of that is coming out of pocket, so that’s pretty stressful,” Puck said. “To be honest I can’t afford this and this will probably be the last festival I perform at this year.”

Those fees are not CHBP-specific. Puck says that the festival’s pay is pretty average for someone with their experience, and that it’s 100% normal for artists to go in the red with costs.

“That really speaks to the economic structure of the music industry and why you keep having— like Taylor Swift has a lot of money to put on tours—but indie bands can’t get off the ground,” Puck said.

The reason Puck is still choosing to perform at Block Party despite the financial strain is for the visibility it offers.

“I will have more eyes on me,” Puck said. “Playing at CHBP, doing the best job I can, I’m really hoping that one of the music professionals in the room will—I’m hoping this will lead to me being booked to be an opener on a national tour.”

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Mandi Kimes, the vocalist and primary songwriter for Lane Lines, is performing on Friday and working 12 hour shifts for the other two days of the event. Lane Lines is their side hustle, not their main stream of income.

“Your body and mental health have to be in tip-top shape to go through the stamina of Block Party,” Kimes said. “It is a lot of trying to have logical conversations with people whose mental state is somewhere else.”

Having friends and family come to watch artists at Block Party involves high ticket prices. Michael Bradley, or Boaconstructor, won’t be inviting his friends to his show.

“A day pass is 80 or 90 bucks, isn’t it. I’m not going to ask a friend to spend almost a hundred dollars to come see me play,” Bradley said.

And for some, the challenges aren’t financial, but have to do with grief for the earlier years of the event. Guy Keltner, front man for Acid Tongue, attended Block Party in its early days and says the event has changed a lot. He’s excited to be part of an event that has become more electronic and dance-focused as a guitar group, but reminisces on Capitol Hill as a strong art community.

“I see a lot of the tech culture that is invading. It’s driven rent up, and the crowd that goes out now is more hungry to get drunk and dance than necessarily be a patron of culture,” Keltner said. “I really miss the old Capitol Hill. Going out there now, it just doesn’t feel the same anymore.”

CHS reported here on the 2023 CHBP lineup and the festival’s 25th year — with an asterisk. The Party returned after two years of pandemic cancellations in 2022 and mostly didn’t skip a beat under producer Daydream State, formed by ownership from Pike/Pine institutions including the Neumos and Barboza family, Lost Lake Cafe, the Comet, and Big Mario’s.

The Block Party’s origin is attributed to Jen Gapay of Thirsty Girl Productions, though a skate shop and longtime Pike/Pine business Crescent Down Works may have hosted some version of the event before Thirsty Girl’s first party in 1997.

For many businesses and parts of the neighborhood’s nightlife communities, the return of Block Party in 2022 brought an exciting burst of activity and welcomed opportunity to produce revenue after months facing the health and economic challenges of the pandemic. For others including some who live in the area, the Block Party is a headache of fenced-off streets and slow business.

In 2019, years of tensions between the festival, neighbors, and some of the area’s business community again bubbled up with the city’s event planning officials promising to take a new look at how the event impacts the neighborhood. Those promises — and the underlying tensions — have been mostly wiped away by larger concerns about survival of the neighborhood’s economic underpinnings and culture through the challenges of the pandemic.

Costs to produce the massive CHBP have also soared. Booking an eclectic mix of national and local acts that will fill the fenced-off streets but not turn Pike/Pine into a total zoo is only part of the job. Handling the politics and real needs of area residents and businesses is also now a key portion of the production.

Artists CHS spoke with hope CHBP will continue prioritizing local artists and said that music fans — inside and outside the fences — can also help by showing up to smaller music venues and events.

Block Party can also do more to help promote smaller artists. Cochrane recommended continuing to showcase smaller artists on CHBP’s Instagram, a recommendation that Mia Day, singer and songwriter, shared.

“All the bookers of these local venues giving us show offers outside of the festivals can help. So far the promoters of the festival have been doing a really good job of promoting all of us,” Day said.

Puck requested an accessible, visible application for local talent from CHBP and all other festivals. They also say there’s a lack of services for artists at the indie level in Seattle. But most importantly, people need to show up.

“We need people to come out to shows, we need the tech bros to come out to shows,” Puck said. “Rather than just going drinking with your buddies on a weekend, go and get a beer at a music venue.”

Capitol Hill Block Party 2023 takes place Friday, July 21st through Sunday, July 23rd. You can learn more and buy tickets at capitolhillblockparty.com.

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