Comments on This is What Capitol Hill Block Party Looks Like

BS. That's an Obama rally.

nope, that is 1/10 the size of an obama rally.

and not nearly as racially diverse.

a sea of smelly hipsters... too boring for school...

Kids, cocaine is awesome.

Last year I enjoyed the headbanging of Himsa and the barbecue.

Not even an all-access bracelet tempted me this year. I hear they're letting in people who AREN'T EVEN FROM CAPITOL HILL.

Bogus.

wow. thanks.
glad i'm not there!

really really really really really glad.

Exactly. Why would I pay $18 to be surrounded by thousands of drunk screaming hipsters?

hahaha, swimming at the lake is soo much better than drinking $10 beers in a huge crowd of vapid posers listening to the stranger editors friends bands like it's some sort of privilege.

i was paying $4 for beer, which is about 1.2 as much as previous shows i've attended.

1/2, not 1.2

Are you kidding me, commenters? It looks like a lot of fun. I wish I could go.

There's always next year. I say that every year.

I hope some year they get smart and rearrange it so that crowds coming through the main entrance don't have to go *through* the crowds watching the main stage to get to the rest of the party. Brilliant layout!

i havent paid for cocaine since 88'

Seattle was built on hipsters

Get over it

Where's Waldobama?

I loved waiting 45 minutes in line to get in on Friday just in time to catch all the remaining horrible bands. Fortunately, I was able to bribe one of the security guards to let me and my friends cut through the line. Sorry, everyone who was ahead of me.

At that point, I sure needed a beer instead of listening to this crap - oh but there is a 20 minute line to get into the poorly placed beer garden followed by another 30 minute line to get beer.

Screw that. Fortunately the Cha had $2 tall boy PBRs - and better bands playing.

I WANT the CHBP to be awesome and excellent. I really really do. And I even bought tickets again this year even though I left early both days last year. Here's the deal - if that's a picture from Friday, I'm in the back with no possibility of getting anywhere closer to the stage due to an impressive crush of humanity. And I can't even HEAR the damn stage. Shouldn't live music be loud enough to appreciate?

So once again, I left early Friday and didn't even return Saturday. Even though I've been looking forward to the Hold Steady and DeVotchKa for weeks, I knew I'd just be disappointed. Thanks Stranger, thanks KEXP, I'll know better than to buy tickets next year.

YOU KIDS STAY OFF MY LAWN, you hear me?

To the people who didn't go: thank you. We did not miss you. Believe me. No one cares that you don't like crowds, or hipsters, or beer, or music. I know that the internet has made it so you can share you crotchety oldness with a much larger audience now, but that doesn't mean you should. Please go back to complaining about "Kids these days" in the privacy of your own hermitage. Thank you.

Also: the tickets went on sale in April. I don't feel sorry for people who had to wait in line to get one.

The only thing missing is a tanker truck full of gas and a book of matches.

Oh, exelizabeth, it's not a rant about kids these days. (Though that hipster blonde in the front does have an especially douchey headband on.) It's two things: quality of the purchase (I expect to be able to HEAR the bands I bought a ticket to see) and safety. Poor little Christopher Frizelle, who is NOT little, was lifted off his feet by the crowd. I had the same thing happen last year in the same spot. It's dangerous to put soooo many people into such a small space. I'm just saying it's not safe, and I no longer choose to participate by throwing my money around a death trap of an event. And I bought my tickets in April, thank you.

It saddens me to say I will also no longer go to the block party. I bought my tickets the day they went on sale. Yet it is organized SO poorly I couldn't deal with it. On Friday the 21+ wrist bands ran out early so I couldn't go to the Neumos stage, the one place I wanted to be. Staff didn't bother to shout this to the large groups of people who were still standing in line for a wrist band. Also they had no way of tracking the capacity. It was a HUGE mess.

Block parties are like Christmas; I am always hopeful and inspired in November, and somewhat disappointed and exhausted in January. I always promise myself of necessary changes in my approach to the next holiday, and I move on.
Kimya Dawson was amazing, truthful, inspiring, and a refreshing presence in the debunked world of "hip" music. Devothchka played wonderfully, but I was distracted by a group of 10 coked out hipsters splashing energy drink into the crowd while dancing in a fashion only severe inebriation can produce.
Block Parties should be about community, celebration, great music, shared interests and a great way to spend your free weekend. Sure sometimes we get sticky, and the music doesn't sound like a $100,000 home stereo system, but think about all of the other great things that did occur. People came out of there homes and tried to have a good time in their own way. Beer was consumed, businesses were supported, economy was stimulated, laughs were shared, connections were made, and all we had to do was spend $18 and wait in line for a bit? I can do that.