Tonight in Seattle: Xiu Xiu, festivals and more

There is a lot going on musically on this middle day of a three-day weekend. Most prominent are the Sunday editions of several large events. The Sasquatch! Festival will have a full day of music including performances by The Head and the Heart, Dyme Def, Deer Tick, and Wild Flag.  Seattle’s premier hardcore festival, Rainfest, will be bringing 16 bands to the Neumos stage. And, the massive Northwest Folklife Festival continues to bring a mixture of folk, string bands, and world music all around Seattle center. In addition, there is plenty going on at our city’s various live music venues.

Xiu Xiu, Yamantaka, Father Murphy @ Barboza | 5/27 | $10 Adv (Get Tickets) | Doors at 8 PM | 21+

Photo by Jan Durina

Xiu Xiu is a avant-garde pop group from San Jose California. Currently playing as a full 5-piece band, they have had several lineup changes, with singer/songwriter Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo remaining as the core of the band. Xiu Xiu’s music blends dark and personal lyrical content with a wide variety of electronics-heavy arrangements ranging from the dense and heavy to lighter synthpop. The band has recently been touring Europe behind the March release of their album Always (SSGMusic reported on the video for their single “Honeysuckle” here).

Also playing at this show are Toronto’s psychedelic 7-piece pan-Asian musical fusion collective Yamantaka / Sonic Titan, whose album you can stream here, and the dark folk of Father Murphy.

Other possible entertainments tonight include an alt-country show at the Tractor featuring Aaron Daniel and the Bloody Knuckles, local southern rockers White Trash Whiplash, and fun raucous outlaw country band The Shivering Denizens. The Crocodile has Birds & Batteries with Shenandoah Davis, and The Columbia City Theater has The K Beard Experience. And, over at the Funhouse, day three of their “Punk as folk” weekend features Chervona, Nu Klezmer Army, and the Sourmash Hug Band.