This year, the 25th annual Capitol Hill Block Party was one for discovery. I knew several of the artists on the lineup but there was quite a bit that I had either never heard of or had never seen perform before. With that, I jam-packed my daily schedules with 20 or more sets each day, giving myself around 15-20 minutes, at least, for every artist. I made sure to have breaks worked into my schedule too so that I could eat and stay hydrated. For the most part, though, I was running back and forth across the grounds pretty much non-stop.
As much as I scheduled and planned, everything derailed on Saturday, and I shifted gears and allowed myself to soak in the ambiance and have a bit of fun with some friends. That’s when I really noticed how much smoother a majority of things seemed to be running compared to last year. Personally, I didn’t find myself waiting in any line except maybe once or twice for the bathroom. Every other queue moved quickly, and staff were on top of it, being friendly yet firm in their service. As someone in the customer service field, and especially one that’s age restricted, I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of the security and bartenders who held it down all weekend.
25th Annual Capitol Hill Block Party festival grounds | Photo by Terra Nobody
Standout Performances for Capitol Hill Block Party 2023
Out of the 67 artists and bands that I had hoped to see throughout the weekend, I made it to a much more comfortable 42 sets. For some artists, I was able to see their full performance, some were fly-bys. Some artists truly astounded me, and some didn’t live up to the hype. There were new artists who stole my heart, and familiar favorites who graced the stages. I captured many of the performances on my Instagram story and highlighted them to relive over and over again, but here’s a breakdown of some of the standout performances from the 25th annual Capitol Hill Block Party.
The Ones Who Stole the Show
Channel Tres – Friday on the Main Stage
I had my heart set on being front and center for Channel Tres because not only do I love his music, but his performances are top tier. I saw him at the Showbox in December of 2022, and it was phenomenal. For this performance, he paired down his fleet of dancers to just two who helped make for a dynamic show. Channel Tres usually joins in and does quite a bit of choreography but for this performance he had to reel it in a bit considering he said he had surgery TWO DAYS prior to the show. Overall, the crowd was buzzing for the entire duration of his set, and my heart felt full walking away from the main stage.
N3ptune & Rusty Steve – Sunday on the Neumos Stage
First of all N3ptune has an intoxicating presence that towers over you in his platform boots. Mix that with a pleasing vocal tone and intentionality in his delivery and movement on stage and you have a recipe for success. Then you bring in Rusty Steve’s incendiary guitar playing, and it cranks everything up to 11. I’m pretty sure I saw some faces melting in the crowd. They even brought up Seattle-based TeZaTalks for a song, who had graced the Neumos stage last year for CHBP with an electric performance of her own.
N3ptune performing on the Neumos Stage on Sunday at Captiol Hill Block Party 2023 | Photo by Terra Nobody
Karma Rivera – Sunday on the Barboza Stage
Portland-based Karma Rivera isn’t fucking around when it comes to making sure her performance makes an impact on you. Throughout her set she was hopping down from the stage to connect with the growing audience. She even got a Seattle crowd to dance with her as she rocked a high energy set. I love the intimacy of Barboza because you can feel closer to the artist you’re seeing perform; Karma Rivera made sure that as an audience member, you felt seen. She made it feel like less of watching her perform her songs, and more like an interactive dance party where the crowd helped her create a memorable performance.
Rebecca Black – Friday on the Vera Stage
I saw a lot of really great performances, but honestly, for me, Rebecca Black is one that I keep thinking back to after the fact. Of course, I couldn’t wait to get down on Friday with her to her iconic song, but that wasn’t even the best part of her set. It’s obvious that she’s shed her claim to fame and found her sound, producing some incredible songs that make for a great show. I genuinely had so much fun watching her perform with her dancers– who at one point donned massive fake tits on their chests. This was just one of many extremely queer-positive sets that added to the safe and inclusive feeling of the festival.
Rebecca Black floats across the Vera Stage with help from her dancers at Capitol Hill Block Party 2023 | Photo by Terra Nobody
CHRVNS – Saturday on the Barboza Stage
Another wildly fun and intimate set at Barboza, the Bellingham-based CHRVNS (pronounced krEV-ans) had the basement turned up on Saturday night. At one point the whole crowd was just one big fluid wave as people bounced around with him. Being able to win over the crowd and dull all of the side conversations is a tough task and CHRVNS did just that.
The Ones Who Won Me Over
Mauvey – Friday on the Neumos Stage
As I was digging through the lineup, Mauvey stood out to me. He was the second set out of my entire schedule, and it was one that I ended up talking about all weekend. Not only did he have a stellar outfit, but his stage presence was incredible. Mauvey truly is an artist, not just a singer, not just a performer, but someone who clearly is creating art through their way of life. I was quite mesmerized throughout his set, and I’m pretty sure a big, cheesy grin never left my face once. These moments are why I stumble into random shows all the time, you never know what you’re going to hear.
Jawny – Saturday on the Vera Stage
I didn’t really know what to expect with Jawny. I had only sort of, kind of, heard of him before Block Party but every time his songs came up on my playlist, I always had to stop and check what it was because I was digging it. Well, that should have been the premonition because I thoroughly enjoyed watching Jawny perform. I saw other artists performing in his merch, and the crowd was singing along to most of his songs. He’s one of the artists who got me to dig through his whole discography since seeing them hit the stage.
Jawny lighting up the Vera Stage on Saturday at the 25th annual Capitol Hill Block Party | Photo by Terra Nobody
Liinks – Sunday on the Vera Stage
Canadian-duo Liinks hit the stage fairly early on Sunday, but they were bringing the late-night energy into the early afternoon sunshine. Even though there wasn’t a large crowd, they rocked the stage like it was a sold-out show. I loved their modern sound that was steeped heavily in a 90s aesthetic and approach.
The Ones I Wish I Would Have Seen More Of
Yonny – Sunday on Cafe Racer Stage
I’ve seen Yonny once before so it’s not like I haven’t seen him perform BUT I did really want to be there for his whole set because I really fuck with his music. At this point in the day though, Cafe Racer was running a little bit behind so unfortunately, I had to keep going on with my schedule because there were some other can’t-miss artists performing at the same time.
Yonny on stage at Cafe Racer on Sunday at Capitol Hill Block Party | Photo by Terra Nobody
Spill Tab – Saturday on the Vera Stage
Spill Tab was a set I had set my eyes on seeing and just didn’t end up making it over to the Vera Stage in time to catch a majority of their set. I did get to see a few songs and one that stood out to me was the ukulele cover of “Yeah” by Usher. However, I wish I would have gotten to see them perform more of their original songs.
Flesh Produce – Sunday on the Barboza stage
Literally in some of the last minutes of Capitol Hill Block Party, I found myself wandering down to Barboza to check out the last couple songs by Flesh Produce. Boy, oh boy, was I happy I popped in because they left a lasting impression that I still can’t get out of my head. The energy was insane, the music was fucking rad, and the crowd’s final reactions told me everything I needed to know about the moments of their set that I had missed.
Flesh Produce closing out the weekend with a rad set at Barboza on Sunday at Capitol Hill Block Party 2023 | Photo by Terra Nobody
Rapid Fire Highlights
There were some obvious front runners for a majority of concertgoers, the main two being Rico Nasty and Denzel Curry. Both put on incredible sets, but their performances weren’t high priority for me. Although Sofi Tukker was headlining Friday night, and they did have a massive crowd and great set, I expected more people to talk about their set throughout the weekend. Redveil was another highly anticipated set, and his crowd couldn’t stop gushing about it afterwards.
Friday
On Friday, I enjoyed seeing Empress Of have a lot of fun on the main stage. King Sheim blew me away at Cafe Racer. Daizha sang her ass off at Barboza, even though there were some technical difficulties with the microphone. Acid Tongue shredded on the Neumos stage, bringing out Shaina motherfuckin’ Shepherd to rock out with them. As well, Taylar Elizza Beth and her incredible dancers closed out Neumos with an insanely entertaining and engaging set serving Main Stage energy.
Taylar Elizza Beth with her dancers on stage at Neumos for Capitol Hill Block Party | Photo by Terra Nobody
Saturday
On Saturday, I arrived just in time for Samurai Del‘s set which he had curated to perfection, giving me a ton of energy and a variety of musical vibes including his collabs with alt-rocker Bvmmer. After grabbing my annual Bok a Bok meal, I caught Renforshort who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself, as I was thoroughly enjoying the performance. I listened to Between Friends from the Beer Garden while enjoying the Sofi Pukker drink special (tequila mixed with grapefruit ginger Guayaki). A majority of the day, though, I cooled off in Barboza with a rad set from Mr. Dinkles, a groovy performance from Talaya., as well as a high-energy performance from Crissy P.
A glimpse into the raucous set by Mr. Dinkles in Barboza for Capitol Hill Block Party 2023 | Photo by Terra Nobody
Sunday
Sunday wrapped up the weekend so perfectly with a stacked lineup. Lavenderhayez had a dreamy set in Neumos before I stepped out to the Main Stage for the intergalactic jazz ensemble i///u. The Della Kit created a tranquil environment inside Neumos. Kellan shredded on the keytar down in Barboza. Zia Victoria brought her bubbly energy and beautiful voice to the Vera Stage. Weep Wave gave me nostalgic vibes with their VCR player and intense shredding. MAVI brought his crew along to rock the stage with him. Art Gecko was a sunny spotlight that brightened the cave that is Barboza. Slayyyter was provocative, while Samara Lennoxx was theatrical. Brujita XO slayed the crowd down in Barboza and Fluencie raised them back from the dead to close out the entire weekend on the Neumos stage.
Samara Lennoxx bringing the drama to the Neumos stage at Capitol Hill Block Party | Photo by Terra Nobody
Overall, the 25th annual Capitol Hill Block Party felt like the picture perfect, summer in the city music festival. I discovered a lot of new music, soaked up an extraordinary amount of vitamin D, and got to party in the streets with my community. It’s really a beautiful thing, and I’m so grateful that I get to take part in it year after year. A big thank you to the entire CHBP team for curating and producing another stellar year for the legendary festival.
