Fisherman’s Village Music Festival kicks off on a high note
Published 1:00 pm Saturday, April 1, 2017
This is no April Fool’s joke: I’ve lived in Everett for five years, but had never gone to the Fisherman’s Village Music Festival.
That is, until yesterday.
The three-day Everett multi-genre music festival powered by the Everett Music Initiative kicked off March 31 at Tony V’s Garage, Black Lab Gallery and The Anchor Pub, all on Hewitt Avenue. The festival, now in its fourth year, has more than 60 bands playing throughout the weekend.
I had my pick of 18 acts to listen to on Friday alone.
Two bands were on my must-see list: Tellers and Thunderpussy. Both were recommendations from The Herald’s What Radio blogger Steven Graham. With Tellers playing at 8 p.m. and Thunderpussy at 11:30 p.m., seeing both bands was going to be easy peasy.
I met up with my Herald colleague Ben Watanabe, a Fisherman’s Village veteran, so I wasn’t without a guide to the local music scene.
Sadly, we missed Tellers because while the bands at Tony V’s were on schedule, the acts at The Anchor were off. Half the time I didn’t know which band was playing at the pub until the set was over. We literally got back to Tony V’s just in time to hear Tellers play their last note. So much for easy peasy.
Dig into the gritty punk of @wildpowwers @fshrmansvillage #fvmf #fvmf17 pic.twitter.com/hiJOGkSTRW
— The Herald (@EverettHerald) April 1, 2017
It turns out Ben is friends with the Everett band Fauna Shade, one of the acts featured in this week’s A&E section, so I got to meet all three members: Scotty Smith, Richie Owen and Derek Johnston. Richie recommended we see Fruit Juice.
We managed to catch songs from Sleeping Lessons, Wild Powwers, Correspondents with Gabriel Mintz, Fruit Juice and My Goodness. While Ben left after My Goodness, I stayed for Thunderpussy. I wasn’t about to miss both of my must-see bands.
Haunting sounds of Gabriel Mintz @fshrmansvillage #fvmf #fvmf17 pic.twitter.com/NLIhuHhkwt
— The Herald (@EverettHerald) April 1, 2017
Out of the six bands I saw last night, I liked Fruit Juice and Thunderpussy the most. Olympia’s Fruit Juice had a quirky psychedelic pop sound that reminded me of Of Montreal and Passion Pit. Seattle’s Thunderpussy is a funky all-women rock ‘n’ roll band that really knows how to put on a show. Wow! No wonder the band was Steven’s top recommendation.
Perhaps even more than Friday’s lineup, I got a kick out of seeing several of the festival’s bands out and about because they were also there for the music. In addition to the guys from Fauna Shade, I recognized Lara Hilgemann from Wild Powwers and Jake McCaffray and Quillian Fins’nsea from Fruit Juice.
After my first Fisherman’s fest experience, I now get what founder Ryan Crowther was talking about when he called the festival weekend “one of those times during the year when I feel proud to call Everett home.”
With a festival like Fisherman’s, it’s good to live in Everett.
If you go
Fisherman’s Village Music Festival continues April 1 and April 2 in downtown Everett at Tony V’s Garage, Black Lab Gallery and The Anchor Pub and on April 1 at the Everett Performing Arts Center.
Ticket sales and will-call are at Tony V’s on Friday and Sunday and at EPAC on Saturday. If you don’t already have all-weekend wristbands ($40) one-day wristbands are $20. One-day, one-venue cover tickets are available at Tony V’s and The Anchor.
For more information, go to www.thefishermansvillage.com.
