Summer Meltdown: Musical ecstasy in Darrington

DARRINGTON — For the past few years, I’ve not been particularly interested in expanding my musical tastes.

The Summer Meltdown Festival here might have changed that for good.

The eclectic four-day event kicked off Thursday at Darrington Bluegrass Music Park. The festival, in its 18th year, features more than 40 acts.

Bassnectar, a legend in electronic music and dubstep, headlines today’s lineup of 12 performances from 1:45 p.m. to 3 a.m. — yes, that’s 3 in the morning. More than 4,000 people are expected to listen to acts that also include Trevor Hall, MarchFourth and Manatee Commune.

Bassnectar, a San Francisco DJ whose real name is Lorin Ashton, is the only reason why I became interested in the festival. That was shortsighted, in retrospect, because the opening night blew me away.

I fell in love with three day-one acts in particular: Fruition, Twiddle and Flowmotion.

They played folk-rock, reggae, Americana, funk, blues and soul — genres I don’t listen to in my free time. But I found them intoxicating at Meltdown.

Fruition, a festival-favorite folk-rock band from Portland, Oregon, told the crowd that Summer Meltdown is like a second home to them.

Twiddle, a jam rock band with improvisational wizardry that last played the festival in 2016, were just as enamored.

As luck would have it, I ran into Twiddle after their set. I told them their opening song, “Amydst the Myst,” was mesmerizing.

They were happy to be there.

“We just want to come back,” said Zdenek Gubb, the band’s bassist. “We want to hang out, too. This is one of the few festivals where we really love to do that. The vibe is great here.”

When Flowmotion — the festival’s founders — took the stage, the crowd’s energy levels seemed to skyrocket. They played old-time hippie and funk music that was hard not to enjoy.

While Flowmotion played, I chatted with fellow festival-goer Timothy Holmes, 51, of Bellingham. He’s been going to the festival off and on since it began in the San Juan Islands in the early 2000s. He’s seen it grow in good ways — higher-level artists and productions — and some bad — more security and safety concerns.

He said it’s transformed from a small backyard party that lost money to an ambitious weekend, but he’s never stopped enjoying it.

“The festival is being run like a for-profit corporate festival, which it had to be,” Holmes said. “The goal is to break even and pay good performers that you would enjoy to see. There didn’t use to be any chain-link fences and out-of-town security, but there are liabilities.

“It’s still all good, based on the location. It’s close to Seattle, close to Bellingham, on the river in the woods with this quantity of people. It’s still very park-like.”

The festival is a different world at nighttime. The forest comes alive with psychedelic lighting, and trippy art pieces are set up around the park and campground. My favorite was a digital stained-glass installment, made by Portland-based design collaborative Thirty Circles, called “Axis Mundi.”

One of its creators, Keenan McCune, told me the piece uses software that is a “forever random” algorithm, so it will always change.

“It has more variables than atoms in the universe,” McCune said.

Wow.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s sets, if you’ve never seen Bassnectar perform, you’re in for a treat.

Not only are his sets beautifully executed, they pack some punch. People will be surprised by how much low-end bass his sound carries. There’s a reason why his fans follow him around the country with cult-like devotion.

I thought I had an idea of what to expect of Summer Meltdown — hippies, beautiful scenery and a diverse lineup — but it was all that and much more.

I came to appreciate the festival’s community more than anything else. Every person I talked to was friendly, nonjudgmental and passionate about their favorite bands.

It rubbed off on me. It reminded me to keep an open mind, enjoy the moment and let the music take me for a ride.

If you go

What: Summer Meltdown

Where: Darrington Bluegrass Music Park, 42501 Highway 530

When: Through Sunday

Tickets: Two-day pass (Saturday and Sunday) is $220, Sunday is $120. Two-day youth pass is $85, Sunday is $53.

More: www.summermeltdownfest.com