The entrance to Timber Music Festival
After driving an hour east of Seattle, through beautiful country on highways lined by towering evergreen trees, parking the car, and loading down with the necessary gear for the weekend, we finally arrived at a long, narrow bridge that spans a serene river. The bridge, which creaks and wobbles as we cross, marks the entrance to the heart of the Timber music festival, a demarcation that tells you just about everything you need to know about the event.
These music festival visionaries seem to have a different idea of what it means to have a live music experience. Patrons camp deep in the Washington woods and are prone to skipping a set or two of music to sit around a campfire or take a dip in the cool waters of the nearby river. However, that shouldn’t imply the festival creators don’t emphasize music here; this year’s lineup boasted music legend J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., local hero Damien Jurado, soul giant Charles Bradley, and the Seattle Rock Orchestra playing Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds in its entirety.
A slew of local rising artists rounded out the bill with notable performances by Tea Cozies, The Shivas, Smokey Brights, and Cumulus. With an increasing number of appearances on festival bills such as the Bumbershoot and high praise from publications such as SPIN, Cumulus’ pop perfect songs are garnering the kind of attention they deserve. The band bridges the gap between the sugary late 90s punk and modern day emotive indie pop. Rest assured, there’s something for everyone within these tunes.
Save for the magnetic performance of Charles Bradley, no band drew and moved a crowd like Smokey Brights, who performed their rocked up folk to a sizable throng of concertgoers who danced and cheered throughout the set. Props should be given to long time Smokey Brights fan, Seattle DJ, and Tea Cozies guest keyboardist Rian Souleles, who bravely took center stage and started breaking it down before being joined by many more. It’s remarkable what an enthusiastic crowd can do for a live set.
Although Smokey Brights felt like a high point at the time, the set proved to be a warm up to the euphoric experience of Charles Bradley. As a friend put it after the set, “You’d have to be dead inside not to have enjoyed that.” Even if soul music isn’t on your active indie rock playlist, watching Bradley dance, shimmy, and toss his microphone stand around while espousing his deepest heartaches and heartbreaks transcends preferences.
Bradley communicated the universal nature of love, specifically stating that it didn’t matter what religion one practiced and sharing his believe that we are all equal as humans—a powerful statement in light of the current atrocities in Gaza. The set was bolstered by the intimacy of a guy proposing to his girlfriend in the second row before being pulled up onto the stage where they proceeded to dance for the remainder of the song. The set culminated in an epic encore before Bradley came down from the stage, and wandered through the crowd doling out big hugs to enthusiastic fans.
While Bradley’s set was an amazing pinnacle of the weekend, the closers for both nights brought their own special performances, which both took place at the remote campfire stage, shrouded in the woods at an amphitheater. The first night, Damien Jurado performed a powerful and convincing set of ethereal acoustic song culled from across his discography, including fan favorites “Ohio” and “Arkasas,” as well as selections from his most recent effort, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son. Jurado called attention to the festival itself, claiming it was the best he’d ever played.
Alternative rock legend J Mascis closed out the second night with a blistering yet introspective set of distorted guitar jams. The beautiful noise rose to a meditative and resonant hum that carried festivalgoers through the final night. Ultimately, Timber proves its value by offering not only quality music, but also a total atmosphere that embraces excellent music while providing relaxing and enjoyable environments in which to experience it. I’m a convert, and money and time willing, I’ll be back next year. If you live in the area, you have no excuse, and you’re fortunate to have such a wonderful event nearby.
All photos © Bryan Parker & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
