#total fest

[kbga]

‘Magpies’ Tell All About Playing Last Total Fest

2015 Total Fest Interview with Magpies by Kbgaweb on Mixcloud

We sat down with Magpies a couple of weeks ago to talk about playing the last Total Fest ever. 

Here’s that interview, and stay tuned to KBGA 89.9FM for all your Total Fest updates.

[weirdmissoula]

Total Fest XIV = Last Total Fest

A lot of "ink” is gonna get spilled in the next few months as Missoula’s premiere music festival, Total Fest, gears up for its 14th installment. Probably even more so now, considering it was announced today (via Josh Vanek on Total Fest’s blog) that this year will be Total Fest’s last. For full disclosure, I’m on the planning committee for the festival this year and I knew about this news before today but it’s the kind of thing we felt really had to be delivered by Josh Vanek, the guy behind Wantage USA and the very guy who was behind Total Fest since its inception. 14 years is a long time to do something like this: a relatively thankless and stressful job that’s 100% a labor of love. Missoula has been lucky, for sure.  I’ve attended every Total Fest since moving to Missoula six years ago. Other than the stories of Jay’s Upstairs (a venue I never had the opportunity to be a part of), Total Fest was the kind of thing I heard about while still living in Minneapolis. I’ve heard similar things from people who’ve lived in Seattle and Portland. I viewed it as an achievement that this modest mountain college town could demand attention from its larger regional population centers. Total Fest and the work behind it really helped put Missoula on the map for countless touring bands that may have ignored us otherwise. After 14 years, I bet that influence is worth more than just a pat on the back and a hearty “thank you” to the Vaneks and every other organizator, Total Fest is one of the things that created the Missoula we have today. This, the final year, should be a celebration of everything that’s come and of everything that will be. Missoula is a better place because of what Total Fest has done. What with Camp Daze and the ZACC’s rock show resurgence, I’m pretty confident that Missoula can keep it going. Thanks everybody. Thanks Total Fest. 

[12xurecs]

[weirdmissoula]

Helms Alee, Swamp Ritual, Abe Coley, Chemical Lawns @ The ZACC, Thursday March 20th

SPRING IS HERE! At least in the sense that killer touring bands aren't turned away from out Great White North so the gates finally open and we'll be getting some really good shows all the way through fall. Total Fest alumni and all-around heavy hitting epic-ness Helms Alee are one such band and dude, they'll be playing the ZACC tonight.

Helms Alee, Swamp Ritual, Abe Coley, and Chemical Lawns play the Zoo Arts Community Center's basement (the ZACC) tonight, Thursday March 20th. As is every show at the ZACC, this one if 100% all-ages and there will be a no tolerance booze/drugs policy in effect so if that's the kind of party you need, do it before or after. Tickets were $6 in advance at Ear Candy but considering it's the day of the show they are now $8. Show gets rolling at 8pm.  

[weirdmissoula]

VAZ @ The Badlander, Monday Nov. 11th

Just because we couldn't stand the rest of the season praying some good touring bands would come through town, Total Fest alumni and NY art-noise-whatevercore veterans Vaz delivers and bruh, it's coming up soon. The Total Fest dudes themselves wrote a little diddy here and we're gonna defer to them any authority in speaking about this band. We like em', yeah, but we're not so intimately familiar and you, Missoula, deserve to know what's best.

This song is pretty cool:

<a href="http://vazmusic.bandcamp.com/album/chartreuse-bull" data-mce-href="http://vazmusic.bandcamp.com/album/chartreuse-bull">Chartreuse Bull by VAZ</a>

Vaz plays The Badlander (we're pretty sure there are no openers) on Monday, November 11th following Super Trivia Freakout (coincidentally hosted by me) around 10:30pm-11pm. It's FREE so clock that up to awesome. See you there!

[weirdmissoula]

The Bugs, Mountain Shark, Oll-Breds @ The ZACC (below), Wednesday Oct. 16th

In case you've been living under a rock for the last few years or merely a newbie regarding Missoula's live-good-music scene, you may be unawares that the good folks responsible for Total Fest are also behind a ton of other great shows that happen all over the year. This show featuring Portland's Bugs is just one such show. The Bugs are this tight, tiny, guitar-drum two-piece that as one of the Total Fest Joshes said, sound totally like The Urinals. I'm inclined to agree.

(for a better, more well-written deal, check out the Total Fest blog's entry on this show)

The Bugs, plus locals Oll Breds and Mountain Shark, are playing the ZACC on Wednesday, October 16th. Doors 8:30pm, show is shortly thereafter. $6 at the door. ALL AGES, bro.

[weirdmissoula]

HIGH LIFE 8-19-13 (Total Hangover Edition)

Total Fest was, once again, the best thing about Missoula summer. 40-something bands taking over the town and not one of them played that hippie shit we're usually known for. Yay! Check out an excerpt of one of my favorite performances from the thing in that video up above. Seawhores killed it. 

This playlist is partly made up of some of the records I purchased at the swap outside Big Dipper that Saturday morning. In fact, the majority of this show is vinyl. I don't do that very often anymore because two hours worth of records is kind of a bitch to move when you're strapping them to your back and biking to the station. Oh well. I'm pretty proud of how this thing turned out. Hopefully you do too.

HIGH LIFE is a radio show that is currently affiliated with the Weird Missoula blog and caters to the people that don’t just like noise, don’t just like skuzzy pop, don’t just like garage rock, and don’t just like fucked electronic music. We’re all over the place. We’re on every Monday afternoon from 2pm-4pm on 89.9FM KBGA in Missoula, Montana.

Here's the playlist: 

 Food Pyramid - GmbH  Candy Claws - Sunbeam Show  Hailu Mergia - Sewnetuwa  Julia Holter - Horns Surrounding Me  Kevin Ayers - Town Feeling  Esmerine - Learning To Craw"  The Barbarians - Moulty  Rotomagus - Fighting Cock  Randy Newman - Gone Dead Train  The Fugs - I Want to Know  Sagittarius - My World Fell Down  Ty Segall & White Fence - Time  The Mallard - A Form of Mercy  Mordecai - Scuzz  The Red Krayola - Hurricane Fighter Plane  Bad News from Houston - Red Dirt Meet  His Electro Blue Voice - Spit Dirt  Get Hustle - Silver Dollar  Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds - Lamont's Requiem  Fred Neil - The Dolphins  Exuma - Dambala  Dumisani Abraham Maraire - Misorodzi  Harry Nilsson - Vine Street  Eva Orleans - Neverend  Tom Verlaine - Days On the Mountain  Esmerine - Translator's Clos II

Stream it here: HIGH LIFE 8-19-13 (Total Hangover Edition) 

[bennythejetrodriguez420]

BTJR Thursday night at The Top Hat in Missoula at TOTAL FEST 12!