Bellingham's Music Magazine
Since 1998
Bellingham's Music Magazine
Since 1998
Silverstein’s headlining show at the Showbox Market on January 27, transported myself and the audience back to their infancy as a band with the 15th anniversary celebration of their first album When Broken is Easily Fixed. Support for the show … Continue reading
A line of eager attendees wrapped around The Crocodile for Bayside’s sold-out acoustic show on January 24. People sang Bayside songs and spoke about how they had always hoped to see Bayside in an acoustic setting as they waited in … Continue reading
Moorea Masa & The Mood, Raquel Rodriguez, Mōtus May 17 • Firefly Lounge Photo by Kelsea Hill The Firefly Lounge brought a large dose of strong and powerful soul to Bellingham on May 17, expanding on the former Green Frog’s well known weekly … Continue reading
Meece, Ludovico Boscoe’s • Feb. 10 Heavy rock rolled back to 118 W. Holly Street in February, where it was welcomed with open arms. Sean McKee, new co-owner of Boscoe’s (which replaced Swillery Whiskey Bar, which replaced Tubbs) is making … Continue reading
Reverend Horton Heat, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Big Sandy Jan. 22 • Wild Buffalo Big rock was back at the Wild Buffalo when Reverend Horton Heat, Voodoo Glow Skulls and Big Sandy rolled through town on their “Winter Wonderland Extravaganza” tour. … Continue reading
Subdued Stringband Jamboree Aug. 10-12 • Deming Log Show Grounds photo by David Johnson I pulled into the Deming Log Show campground area at about noon on Saturday. It was the first trickle of real blue sky any of us … Continue reading
The Sonics, Second Hand Suits June 30 • Wild Buffalo *photo by David Johnson The last day of June brought a special treat to Bellingham as garage/punk pioneers, The Sonics, rode through The Wild Buffalo with their trendsetting style of … Continue reading
Acorn Project (Rage the Ween), OSO Wild Buffalo • March 24 Another glorious Friday night in Bellingham as two local bands got together to put on one amazing show. The stage was set with stacked cubes and other projection screens … Continue reading
Raz Simone, Sango, Landon Wordswell, Sam Lachow, Mostafa Oct. 23 • WWU Home page photo: Raz Simone in a sea of happy fans during the show at WWU Oct. 23. PHOTO BY JOHNATHAN PENDLETON A veritable who’s who of the Bellingham hip … Continue reading
Special Explosion photo by Tommy Calderon Dog Mountain, Special Explosion, Itemfinder, Talktin and Easy July 22 • Make.Shift This was a fantastic show, one I had been looking forward to the show ever since it was announced and it didn’t disappoint. … Continue reading
Mary Lambert performed a beautiful set at WWU’s Lawnstock. PHOTO BY TOMMY CALDERON Lawnstock • June 4 • WWU Ever since the legendary AS Pop Music team (Megan Housekeeper and Jordan Swider just to name a couple) put on the first Lawnstock … Continue reading
The following live shows took place in Bellingham in December 2015, and were published in the January 2016 issue of What’s Up! Magazine Snoop Dogg Dec. 21 • Wild Buffalo The closer I got, the more the freezing air crackled … Continue reading
Croak, Red Giant, The Meridian Guide Nov. 20 • The Pitt The air was crisp and chilly as the usual group of house-show enthusiasts shivered their way into The Pitt, a relatively new house venue with not only loads of potential, … Continue reading
Fuzzy Math, Meridian Guide Oct. 10 • Alternative Library During another chilly fall evening in Bellingham, the towns original music lovers shuffled along, as they are accustomed to do, seeking out a dose of local music while making their way through … Continue reading
Hello, I’m Sorry Benevolence helloimsorry.bandcamp.com Benevolence is the sophomore, full-length release from local indie/surf/garage rockers Hello, I’m Sorry. Consisting of eight new tracks, the album is equal parts Yuck (Glow & Behold), The Orwells (Disgraceland), and Real Estate (Days), with … Continue reading
The Helio Sequence, Lost Lander, Eagle Teeth Sept. 20 • The Shakedown This show closed off a weekend of fantastic music with an excellent lineup of talented musicians. The stage was packed with the most gear I’d ever seen at The … Continue reading
Road to Rockstar Challenge Thursdays at the Wild Buffalo It is spring again, which brings many wonderful things to Bellingham; warm rain, flowers, longer days and the Road to Rockstar Challenge. Once a year KISM and What’s Up! invite local … Continue reading
The Scott Greene Support Rally March 8 • The Underground In what can only be described as a massive outpouring of love and emotion, 500 people jammed into the underground to join The Scott Greene support rally. Ten acts played … Continue reading
Shabazz Palaces, Porter Ray, Dave B, Kung Fu Grip Feb 20, WWU Viking Union Multipurpose Room Bathed in soft blue light amongst vibrating synths and drum claps, Ishmael Butler, aka Palaceer Lazaro, took the mic. “I was born on the understanding/stars … Continue reading
An urge to revisit my 13-year-old self came over me when I heard Hawthorne Heights were scheduled to play their entire album, The Silence in Black and White, to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The album has peaked at 56 on … Continue reading
The third annual NW Harvest Fest took place in Bow and the location was about as good as it gets, with natural features including a pond stocked with fish, lush vegetation, and tons of great spots to camp. Not to … Continue reading
It was a summer show in Bellingham, which means, regrettably, a lot of people missed out on a fantastic show. Seeing (formerly local band) Keaton Collective for the first time I was expecting some kind of tame indie band, but … Continue reading
Awesome shows are a great thing to behold, but when people can gather to enjoy a night of music to support a good cause it’s just that much sweeter. That’s exactly what happened Saturday, Aug. 23 at The Make.Shift as … Continue reading
On one of the most beautiful weekends of the summer I was thrilled to have the opportunity to volunteer at the Make.Shift Block Party, an annual fundraiser event supports Make.Shift and all of the art and music it helps bring … Continue reading
may 3 • wild buffalo It’s always special when a bigger band routes through Bellingham on a Friday or Saturday night, and Warpaint’s show had all the makings for a great one. First up was James Supercave (I wish touring … Continue reading
may 9 • wild buffalo I have narrowly missed seeing both Fresh Espresso and Flavr Blue in the past and have regretted it, so I made a point of putting this show on my calendar and showing up at the … Continue reading
april 20 • house show On April 20 I made the trek up to a special holiday house show to see Rubix Shoes and to celebrate my own religious tradition of getting my face rocked off as often as possible. … Continue reading
The Wild Buffalo transformed into Bellingham’s rendition of the Boiler Room on Thursday night when Star Slinger, Pinky Promise, and Cuff Lynx performed. Cuff Lynx, local analog shape shifters, opened up the show with high energy, encouraging the crowd to … Continue reading
april 11 • green frog Peter Case’s show at the Green Frog on April 11 began with “Put Down The Gun,” whose soft, finger-picked guitar make one think of driving on a sunny day in search of the “hiding place” … Continue reading
april 11 • wild buffalo The Wild Buffalo hosted intergalactic DJ/Producer Andreilien (Heyoka) and his unique brand of dubstyle bass music on April 11. Accompanied by other DJs including Kozmo, Jedi Training Camp and Dubjavu, there was more than enough … Continue reading
april 10 • the underground It’s Road to Rockstar time again. KISM 92.9 FM, Checkmate Music and What’s Up! Magazine bring local Bellingham bands to the stage to compete and over several weeks the crowd narrows the competing bands down … Continue reading
april 4 • swillery Before it was the Swillery Whiskey bar, or Tubbs, it was the Three Trees Coffee House. In high school, we’d go there for open mic nights to listen to artists swoon between sips of coffee and … Continue reading
april 5 • the shakedown Opening up this epic show were Tacos, which features ex-Sugar Sugar Sugar drummer Lupe Flores, along with Don Stewart on guitar. I’d been exposed to the two-piece through their live set on KEXP, which made … Continue reading
March 15 • loud house It was a drizzly night as show attendees made their way to the Loud House for a night of all Seattle bands. The show began with SuperProjection. SuperProjection songs are slow and self-aware, each chord … Continue reading
March 15 • the fairhaven The stage was host to hip-hop musicians from across northwest Washington on Saturday night for the Fairhaven’s Grand Opening weekend in the newly re-opened restaurant, bar and venue. Eli Hotep started the night with genuine, … Continue reading
feb. 26• mt. baker theatre It is no surprise that the show Ani DiFranco played at the Mount Baker Theatre was packed full of strong willed women, folk enthusiasts and a few little babes. As the lights dimmed and we … Continue reading
March 23 • the shakedown The vibes were ambient at The Shakedown Sunday night, but there was a tinge of anticipation on most all faces being that Sleepy Sun would take stage later in the night, Big Oil started off … Continue reading
march 15 • the swillery The night was alive at The Swillery, the debut of Chunky Wonder’s new EP, The Tune Pack, was unveiled with killer performances by talented L.A. funk-soul singer Steven Roth and the almighty Noise Toys. Chunky … Continue reading