2012
Willamette Week is thrilled to announce the lineup for MusicfestNW 2012, now in its 12th year of showcasing the finest in national and regional music in one of the most compelling urban areas in the country.
MusicfestNW is once again returning to the historic Pioneer Courthouse Square—Portland’s civic living room—for three picturesque outdoor headlining performances at Levi’s Pioneer Stage headlined by shoegazing alternative rockers Silversun Pickups (Sunday, Sept. 9), mashup superstar Girl Talk (Saturday, Sept. 8), and the world music-tinged indie folk of Beirut (Friday, Sept. 7).
Beyond the Square, MusicfestNW will once again take over the city of Portland for five days, with 150 bands playing at 16 clubs all over the city. On Wednesday, Sept. 5, electropop upstarts Passion Pit headline the Crystal Ballroom (the band also plays the next night) and reunited post-hardcore titans Hot Snakes play the Roseland Theater. Critics’ darlings Ceremony, Julia Holter, Lightning Bolt, The Men, Trust, and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart will all be performing special sets of over the September weekend. The festival also features alt-country act Old 97’s playing their seminal record Too Far to Care front-to-back, the beautiful folk tunes of The Tallest Man on Earth, local atmospheric rockers The Helio Sequence, rising hip-hop phenoms Danny Brown and Yelawolf, A-Trak DJing on the Nike Sportswear stage, and the debut of the Red Bull Common Thread series featuring guitar heroes Dinosaur Jr. with sets from the bands’ two offshoots, Sebadoh and J. Mascis.
Willamette Week is also proud to announce the debut of its very own tech conference to coincide with MusicfestNW. Portland has a rich and underrated tech scene, and in its first year, Portland Digital eXperience (PDX) will extend the MusicfestNW beyond music to embrace the technology and startup community by featuring conversations with leading thinkers, both local and from outside Portland. The event, held September 6-8, will focus on individuals who exemplify an “attention to detail, creativity, and the craft of building compelling experiences.” Among the confirmed speakers are Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co., Evan Doll of Flipboard, James Keller of Walmart Labs, and Chris Teso of Chirpify.
Previous MFNW performances include: The National, The Decemberists, Smashing Pumpkins, Modest Mouse, Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, Explosions in the Sky, Sunny Day Real Estate, Spoon, Iron & Wine, M. Ward, Built to Spill, Arctic Monkeys, Cat Power, Panda Bear, Black Lips, Band of Horses and The Silver Jews.
Festival wristbands and tickets for shows at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Crystal Ballroom, Roseland Theater, and Aladdin Theater go on sale on Friday, June 1 via Cascade Tickets. Festival wristbands are on sale at two price points:
- $125 for an all-inclusive wristband that gets you into all three outdoor shows and the rest of the five-day festival.
- $75 for a ticket to one of the three outdoor shows (Silversun Pickups, Girl Talk, or Beirut) and a wristband for admission to the rest of the festival.
For further ticket information, see musicfestnw.com/tickets.
2012 Lineup
A-Trak
AAN
Alialujah Choir
And And And
Arrington De Dionyso
Beirut
Big Business
Big Freedia
Black Mountain
Blouse
Bobby Bare Jr.
Brainstorm
Brown Bird
Casey Neil & The Norway Rats
Ceremony
Cheap Girls
Chelsea Wolfe
Copy
Craft Spells
Crystal Antlers
Danny Brown
Dante vs. Zombies
Daughn Gibson
Defeater
Dinosaur Jr.
Dirtclodfight
DJ Beyondadoubt
DJ Cooky Parker
DJ Mr. Jonathan Toubin
Erik Koskinen
Evian Christ
Fort Lean
Fucked Up
Future Islands
Gardens & Villa
Girl Talk
Grandparents
Guantanamo Baywatch
Hazel
Headaches
Hey Marseilles
Holcombe Waller
Hosannas
Hot Snakes
Hungry Ghost
I Break Horses
J. Mascis
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
Joe Pug
John Maus
Joyce Manor
Julia Holter
Kendl Winter
King Khan & the Shrines
Lake
Lemolo
Lightning Bolt
LP
Mac Demarco
Mean Jeans
Menomena
Milo Greene
Mirroring
Moonface
Mrs. Magician
Naytronix
Nite Jewel
Old 97′s
Old Light
Omar Souleyman
Onuinu
Palmas
Passion Pit
Pete Krebs and the Gossamer Wings
Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three
Pure Bathing Culture
Purity Ring
Quest For Fire
Radiation City
Red Fang
Redd Kross
Sad Baby Wolf
Sandpeople
Sebadoh
Silversun Pickups
Snow Bud & The Flower People
Sloan
Starfucker
Stay Calm
Sun Angle
Swahili
Swans
Tanlines
Tender Forever
The Builders and The Butchers
The Curious Mystery
The Dangerous Boys Club
The Dimes
The Drowning Men
The Growlers
The Helio Sequence
The Men
The Needful Longings
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
The People’s Temple
The Soft Moon
The Suicide Notes
The Tallest Man On Earth
These United States
Touche Amore
Trampled By Turtles
Trust
Tyler Lyle
Typhoon
Vice Device
White Fang
White Lung
Xiu Xiu
Yelawolf
The first round of SXSW artists have been announced. Check out the list below. We already recommend The Young and Famous and Rosie and Me.
