attend the 2006 Decibel Festival in Seattle

I had gone to consecutive shows starting from Devo the previous Saturday before the festival. Combined with work, it made me very sleepless. But this was a solid A+ festival just like last year’s. I may not have gone to as many events, but I tried, and I was rewarded every time. It would be too numerous to name the highlights but certain artists that come to mind: Fax, Plankton Man, Nortec Collective, Jacob London, Green Velvet, Bola, and probably too many others I missed due to dealing with a cavalcade of friends visiting from afar.

This time, it definitely felt like an outside audience visiting moreso than previous years—which is great.

I too was a bit too busy this year and missed the entire thing. Next year I’ll be sure to sign up to be one of Ario’s Decible helpers, to make sure this doesn’t happen again. -CG

I totally missed the entire Decibel Festival this year. I was on call to lend gear for some visiting musicians (they ended up not needing it) but I didn’t even make it to one show. My mom was in town and it was b-day weekend so things just slipped by.

It’s not a matter of if I’m going as much as how many friends from out of town can I convince to come visit this weekend in addition to (or instead of) Bumbershoot.

Yeah yeah, I’m going to Bumbershoot too, mainly because I love the setting and crowds, and I live here. But given the Wooden Octopus Skull festival happening the following weekend as well as dB two weeks later, I’m not as super excited about Bshoot this time around as what has become Seattle’s month long come-to-autumn revelry.

Here’s a press release from festival organizer Nordic Soul ...

DECIBEL: International Festival of Electronic Music Performance, Arts and New Media

Seattle, WA – The third annual Decibel Festival promises to be the biggest edition yet, reflecting the burgeoning audience and growing interest in this adventurous multimedia event. Decibel Festival 2006 features over 80 electronic music artists from around the world, presented in 17 individual performance showcases spread out over four days. As part of a new visual arts focus, Decibel will host talented visual artists throughout the weekend, culminating in DB-Optical, a multimedia fusion of installations and live art. Decibel 2006 will also host DB-Conference, a series of audio and visual technology workshops,
product demonstrations, clinics and panel discussions held by leading industry professionals and educators. For more information please visit www.decibelfestival.com.

Preliminary 2006 Decibel line up

• Green Velvet (Chicago)
• Alex Smoke
  (U.K.)
• Dexter (Netherlands)
• Bola (U.K.)
• Thomas Fehlmann Dub Set (Germany)
• The Dead Texan (Belgium)
• Fax (Mexico)
• Telefon Tel Aviv (Chicago)
• Apparat (Germany)
• Taylor Deupree (New York)
• Funckarma (Netherlands)
• Richard Chartier (Washington D.C.)
• Subtle (San Francisco)
• Andreas Tilliander (Sweden)
• Jeremy Ellis (Detroit)
• Mokira (Sweden)
• Claude Vonstroke (San Francisco)
• Panoptica (Mexico)
• Kate Simko (Chicago)
• Jacob London (Seattle)
• Brett Johnson (U.S.)
• Latinsizer (Mexico)
• Tim Xavier (New York)
• Soultek (Chicago)
• Plankton Man (Los Angeles)
• Lusine (Seattle)
• Davide Squillace (Spain)
• Jerry Abstract (Seattle)
• Son Of Rose (Seattle)
• DJ Camea (New York)
• Nordic Soul (Seattle)
• Jon McMillion (Seattle)
• Yann Novak (Seattle)
• Randy Jones (Seattle)
• Sun Tzu Sound (Seattle)

• Neumos
• Broadway Performance Hall
• Chop Suey
• Baltic Room
• Barca
• Bad Juju Lounge

It’s easy for me as it’s in Seattle, but I plan to attend many of the shows in 2006. Here’s the Decibal Festival website. If you’re looking for a bit more background information, check out my post on festival organizer DJ Nordic Soul.