The music festival in Spokane this weekend has sold out for the past two years. This year, a band on a big-time label will play. And, the Seattle Weekly dedicated an entire article to the event. Volume has become a must for music fans in Spokane and beyond.
Volume is Friday and Saturday, at 10 different venues, with more than 80 bands and performers. Co-coordinator Leah Sottile says it’s kind of become a tastemaker for local music.
Sottile: “We book bands that aren’t huge, but they’re kind of up and coming. So people get out, and they might not know what they’re going to see, but they know they’re going to see something good.”
Something good this year includes a performance by a band on the successful Sub-Pop Records label - Rose Windows. They’ll play Saturday at Club 412.
Sottile says Volume appeals to a wide demographic this year. For example, there are three completely all ages stages. Acts like Marshall Tucker Band may please baby boomers or gen-x’ers. And for local music die-hards, the Terrible Buttons are playing their last show together.
Sottile: “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the joke, but you book a bill in Spokane and you book a great touring band, and everybody will stay for just the locals, and then leave for the touring band.”
Spokane music trends like that will take their own stage this year. Spokane Arts executive director Shannon Halberstadt will moderate a panel on the Spokane Scene. Sottile will be there, giving her assessment.
Sottile: “I think there’s just kind of a newfound seriousness to the music scene… people want to see the bands here succeed, they want to see our bands kind of as ambassadors about how great Spokane’s arts culture is. And just sort of an acceptance of our own identity as a city.”
Six panelists will discuss the arts scene Saturday afternoon at INK Art Space on Sprague. There are other new events this year, too, like a soul brunch on Saturday that’s a tribute to the late Som Jordan from the Flying Spiders.
Volume wristbands are on sale through Saturday, unless it sells out.
Copyright 2014 Spokane Public Radio