Volume Musical Festival 2024 began about a week ago with a rockin' pre-show at the Chameleon and concluded Saturday with a night full of performances from local and regional talent, but we're still reminiscing on all of the good times. Here are some memorable highlights from our time at Volume's epic comeback.
FAVORITE SET
Since catching Seattle rapper Oblé Reed’s set at the Chameleon in May, I’ve been itching for another. Thankfully, Reed put on a lively set at the Washington Cracker Building that satiated my craving for some yelling and jumping around. (MP)
While Oblé’s energetic set was certainly in the running for this category, it was the more gorgeously subdued sounds of another Seattleite that provided my personal Volume high point. Sera Cahoone’s well-attended set at Q Lounge on Saturday night showcased her elite level folk/Americana singer-songwriter grace. With gorgeous accompaniment on pedal steel guitar by Moscow native JB Kardong, Cahoone’s songs about life, love and home radiated warmth like a tender embrace from a friend. (SS)
BEST BAND I FINALLY SAW
Despite our Music Editor Seth constantly sporting Itchy Kitty shirts and spreading the good word to me, I had never caught an Itchy Kitty set. I admitted this to the group I was with at Volume and was told I had to go to the Big Dipper for the local punk group’s late-night Friday set. As I wrote in my recap of Friday night, I’m a convert and will now spread the good word of Itchy Kitty to the uninitiated as well. (MP)
While The Bed Heads have officially been around less than a year, the positive buzz the band has been generating in the scene means I really should’ve caught one of their sets by now. With that in mind, I kicked off Volume by catching the group’s early Friday set at Zola. Their warmhearted indie folk generated great casual hangout vibes that got Volume started on the right note. (SS)
BEST STAGE PROP
Seattle beach rock band Warren Dunes brought a bubble machine to Volume that certainly added to the effervescent vibes of the group’s set at the Washington Cracker Building. There’s nothing like running through a wall of bubbles while listening to the buoyant, swirling synths of Warren Dunes. (MP)
BEST METHOD OF TRANSPORTATION
Shoutout to my own two feet for getting me through Volume weekend. Though the venues are all close to one another in theory, some were a bit too far to justify walking (the Zola to The District trek is rough), plus paying for lot parking at different locations got expensive real quick because of a lack of available street parking. Unless organizers figure out a Treefort Treeline public transportation system next year, I’m gonna have to get some insoles and keep on truckin’. (MP)
MOST SLEPT-ON BAND
It’s tough out there for rock bands that don’t have vocals because you immediately get put in a different box than a “normal” band for most listeners. With that said, Pretending We’re Just Like Them deserves to be a bigger deal in the local scene. As the group’s Friday evening set at Mootsy’s once again demonstrated, the trio’s atmospheric instrumental creations are top notch, calling to mind a heavier version of Explosions in the Sky. Check them out in a non-Volume setting if you’ve yet to take the plunge. (SS)
LEAST PUNCTUAL
The main relaunch growing pain for Volume on its first night back was keeping a tight schedule. A decent handful of sets didn’t start at their scheduled times because the prior band played too long and changeover windows were too short. Those issues make it incredibly tough to try and maximize your musical time at a multiple-venue festival like this. It’s disheartening to leave one set early to journey to a different stage only to get there and have to wait through 15 minutes of sound check. Bands like Heat Speak ended up with incredibly short sets because the folks running the stage didn’t kick off the prior band who played for way, way too long.
While the problem was mostly rectified for Saturday night, there was still some overcorrection, like Sera Cahoone’s wonderful set at Q Lounge being cut off 10 minutes early for no good reason despite being the last act on the stage. At a fest like Volume, time must be of the essence. (SS)
MOM’S VOLUME POWER RANKINGS
My mom, who lives in Montana, happened to be visiting town this past weekend, so I dragged her along to Volume. Here were her favorite acts.
1. Sera Cahoone at Q Lounge
2. Heat Speak at Q Lounge
3. Vika & the Velvets at Washington Cracker Building
4. Oblé Reed at Washington Cracker Building
5. Malachi Burrow at Saranac Commons
My mom has good taste. (SS)
CRAZIEST, POSSIBLY SLEEP-DEPRIVED HALLUCINATION
As someone who attended the pre-party, both nights of Volume and a couple of non-Volume shows in between, I ran on fumes and Red Bull the entire weekend. So I’m not sure if the man-sized leprechaun I saw walking on Main Avenue around midnight on Saturday was indeed a hallucination or an enthusiastic, well-dressed Volume-goer, but it gave me a good laugh regardless. (MP)
MOST LIKELY TO CROWDSURF
There are few constants in this life, but we’re all aware of the basic ones: Death, taxes, and Jang the Goon is 100% gonna crowd surf if he’s at an Itchy Kitty show. (SS)
MOST TEAR-JERKING SET
So many people showed up for Karli Fairbanks’ set at Zola Saturday evening. I was bumping elbows with people and we were crammed onto the dance floor like sardines while Fairbanks sang songs about her complicated love for the Lilac City. The combination of Fairbanks’ deft songwriting and being surrounded by people who clearly have a ton of love for her was enough to bring tears to my eyes in adoration for Spokane and the strong ties within the music scene. And I think that's exactly what Volume should be about. (MP)
