MusicfestNW Announces 2013 Lineup

Animal Collective, Shuggie Otis, Diplo, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fred Armisen and more headline the city-wide, summer-ending blowout.

Welp, I'm already exhausted.

This year's MusicfestNW lineup is out, and it's bigger than ever: Six days, 150 bands, 16 venues. As usual, Trevor Solomon has put together a stellar collection of talent (and I'm not just saying that because his office is in the same building, though this is where we remind you that WW puts on the festival), seemingly in an attempt to test the endurance of myself and the rest of the city. MFNW isn't always easy, but it's always worth it.

We'll get to the bands in a second, but here's the other pertinent info: The festival takes place Sept. 3-8 (with the coinciding technology portion, TechfestNW, returning for its second year on Sept. 6-8). Wristbands and tickets for individual shows at the Crystal Ballroom, Wonder Ballroom, Roseland Theater, Aladdin Theater and Pioneer Courthouse Square go on sale Friday, May 31, at 10 am PST through Cascade Tickets and the MFNW website. Here's how the pricing breaks down: $150 gets you an all-inclusive wristband which includes the entirety of MFNW, including the four (yes, four) Pioneer Square shows. For $90, you get one ticket to a single Square show—your choice of Animal Collective, Young the Giant, Neko Case or the Head and the Heart—and a wristband to the rest of the festival.

So, who—aside from the Square headliners mentioned above—is playing? If you're just dying to gaze upon the giant alphabetized list of everyone confirmed so far, scroll down. But here are the acts I'm making a priority on my own schedule: 

Shuggie Otis
He's this year's Rodriguez, a lost artist from the past resurrected in the present. Never mind that you're probably already familiar with him (via the Brothers Johnson cover of his "Strawberry Letter 23"), and that he already went through a period of rediscovery in 2001 when David Byrne reissued his '70s work through the Luaka Bop label: If the narrative comparing Otis to last year's septuagenarian darling helps this psychedelic soul-funk genius get to the level of recognition he deserves, it's worth propagating.

Animal Collective
In 2010, MFNW revealed Pioneer Square's potential as an awe-inspiring venue for live music, and there may be no band better suited to take advantage of the buildings surrounding "Portland's Living Room" and the big open sky above it than Maryland's premiere mind-warpers. 

Deerhunter
Have you heard their new album? It's prettay, prettay, prettay good. Plus, Bradford Cox is basically an honorary Portlander.

Joey Bada$$
At age 18, the Brooklyn MC is too young to actually remember hip-hop's golden age, which makes his expertly effortless throwback boom-bap all the more impressive.

Icona Pop
I don't know if they have more than one song, but if they played "I Love It" over and over again for an hour, I'd start a mosh pit every single time.

Fred & Toody Cole (Unplugged)
We've seen the grizzled grandparents of Portland punk in many iterations over the years, but I can't recall ever seeing them perform acoustically. Should be interesting, if not downright revelatory.  

Initial MFNW Lineup:

!!!
1939 Ensemble
Angel Olsen
Animal Collective
Antwon
Austra
Baroness
Beat Connection
Big Gigantic
Bison Bison
Bleached
Bleeding Rainbow
Bob Mould
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Brian Posehn
Broncho
Bruxa 
Charles Bradley
Chet Faker
Chill Crew
Chromatics
Chvrches
Cody ChesnuTT
Crushed Out
Dan Deacon
Deep Sea Diver
Deerhunter
Diana
Diplo
Dirtclodfight
Earth
Eyelids
FIDLAR
Flume
Frank Fairfield
Fred & Toody Cole (Unplugged)
Fred Armisen
G_Force
Gang$ign$
Gate
Gaytheist
Glass Candy
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Grieves
Hands
Hausu
Hiss Golden Messenger
Horse Feathers
Hostage Calm
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Icona Pop
Into It. Over It.
Joey Bada$$
John Vanderslice
Justin Townes Earle
K.Flay
Larry and his Flask
Like a Villain
Lonnie Winn
Lord Dying
Love as Laughter
Magic Fades
Mariachi El Bronx
Mean Jeans
Mike Donovan
Minden
Morning Ritual
Most Custom
Mt. Eerie
Murder By Death
Nacho Picasso
Naomi Punk
Neal Morgan
Neko Case
Odesza
Old Light
On An On
Onuinu
P.O.S.
Pacific Air
Pickwick
Poolside
Prefuse 73
Priory
Ra Ra Riot
Royal Canoe
Royal Thunder
Saves The Day
Shad
Shlohmo (DJ Set) 
Shuggie Otis
Sirah
Sonny & The Sunsets
Superchunk
Surfer Blood
Team Dresch
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
The Baseball Project
The Bronx
The Chicharones
The Dodos
The Head and The Heart
The Helio Sequence
The Joy Formidable
The Lonesome Billies
The Men
The Moondoggies
The Thermals
Titus Andronicus
Tobacco
TxE
Ty Segall
Typhoon
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Vice Device
Washed Out 
White Lung
Wooden Indian Burial Ground
Yob
Young The Giant
Youth Bitch
Youth Lagoon 

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.