Fisherman’s Village Day Two Recap

I Will Keep Your Ghost at FVMF 2019 (Photo by Christine Mitchell)

Day two of Fisherman’s Village Music Festival saw a move from the core of downtown to the area surrounding the Scuttlebutt Brewery and Taproom, sandwiched between I-5 and the railroad tracks. And it was perfect timing weatherwise. The downpour of the previous night let up and the clouds parted in the afternoon. The sun filtered through, and folks were treated to a bit of heaven in the industrial area.

The new-to-the-fest Night Market area bustled with handmade and vintage goodies. There was the most incredible cake booth (which seemed to sell out in a matter of minutes…SO GOOD) along with bespoke, artisanal Star Wars lamps, gorgeous ceramic plant pots, and loads more to peruse and take home. And the music started there too, with Killinsworth singing her twee songs accompanied by her ukelele. She was the quietest artist to grace the Night Market stage on that day, however. Folks checking out vintage duds and handmade jewelry were due to be rocked in short order and for the rest of the night.

Meanwhile, the stage inside Scuttlebutt Brewing was warming to the incisively funny, yet dreamy goawaysun, who regaled the audience with songs about lonely boys, texting, and date rape drugs. She had a bubble machine, a smoke machine, and a partner in the form of Kyle Ledford on bass. Social commentary should always come clad in a shiny gold jacket.

Tellers was the first band on the Main Stage, and they filled the space admirably, drawing a decent-sized crowd that quickly fell under the spell of Sarah Feinberg’s hypnotizing vocals. Meanwhile, back at the Night Market, Oceanwires played a pounding set that invoved a giant stuffed giraffe getting punted into the crowd. Again, anyone expecting a chill time whilst shopping was to be sorely disappointed. But the beer garden there was digging it.

I Will Keep Your Ghost’s three members don’t take up a lot of space with instrumentation, but their performance put to bed any questions as to whether they belonged on the Fisherman’s Village Main Stage. Bryan Bradley’s stage presence was huge and forceful, and exhilarating to see and hear. It was the band’s best set yet. Actionesse blazed through their set in the Night Market, drawing a large crowd that was as enthusiastic about the music as Ian, Paddy, Joel, Olivia, and Jimmy themselves. Having just come home from tour found Actionesse sounding fantastic. Welcome home.

One of our favorite EDM artists right now is chong the nomad, and her set on the Scuttlebutt stage had people discussing the artist for the rest of the festival. Chong has an incredible sense of flow in her music, and her originals are just as gorgeous as her cover of Yvonne Elliman’s disco hit “If I Can’t Have You.” Her knob twists and ukelele skillz are unique and intriguing.

Everett’s favorite stoner-psych band The Moon Is Flat closed out the Night Market with what was probably the loudest set of the evening (which was saying something). This is the sort of band where the band members inhabit their music and bring the audience along for the ride, and Kirk Rutherford and co. did just that. Special thanks must be given to bassist Tyson Lee’s hair, the band’s secret weapon and sixth band member.

It was obvious that much of the crowd amassed at the Main Stage at this point were there to specifically see Travis Thompson, whose meteoric rise out of Kent and into a rap star is just beginning its trajectory. Thompson didn’t disappoint, giving an energetic, stage and crowd-canvassing performance that utilized a live band over just laptops. Keep an eye on this one, people.

The music continued on into the night, but we had to get some rest before the long haul of Fisherman’s Village Music Fest on Saturday. Take a gander into Friday’s photos below to get inside of the day’s performances. And check out Thursday’s Fisherman’s Village recap here!

Christine Mitchell has been poring over album liner notes pretty much since she acquired the skill of reading, and figured out the basic structure of rock songs at an early age. Whether it’s the needle popping into the first groove of the record, the beeps that signal the beginning (or end) of a cassette tape, or digital numbers ticking off the seconds from zero, music brings Christine happiness, ponderous thought, opportunities for almost scientific study, and sometimes a few tears. When she started attending live shows two decades ago, a whole new piece of the puzzle clicked in and she has been hooked ever since.