Summer Meltdown

Ten years of music magic

By Carey Ross · Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Admittedly, after growing in size exponentially and high-tailing it to Darrington, Wash. when Whatcom County was no longer large enough to contain it, we can hardly consider Summer Meltdown to be our little local event anymore. However, with roots in Whatcom County and a roster that still draws from talent in our proverbial backyard, this is one homegrown music festival we are only too proud to claim as our own. And, so far, the powers that be at Meltdown don’t seem to mind, so until they take umbrage of some sort, we will continue to insist upon retaining some sort of ownership of this now-ginormous event.

Now in its 10th year, Meltdown (or MDX, as it is known this year) has grown into the kind of event fans plan vacations around and folks come from far and wide to attend. The lure of the festival is many-pronged yet simple: a weekend’s worth of bands of all stripes, styles and genres (although they tend to fall into the feel-good, danceworthy category) set in a location that calls for camping and camaraderie, all served up with a heaping helping of Meltdown’s now-trademark hospitality. It’s closer than the Gorge and considerably more laid back than, say, last weekend’s Capital Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot, or any other big-city, multi-day musical affair. Granted, Bumbershoot headliner Bob Dylan won’t be setting up shop on the MDX stage, but in the time it takes you to find parking near the Seattle Center, you can probably travel to Darrington’s Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheater, set up your tent, find your friends and start sussing out the music. Not a terrible trade off.

And while Mr. Dylan may not be at this year’s Meltdown (we’ll save that for the festival’s 20th anniversary), with all the bands slated to play, you certainly won’t miss him one bit. To wit: this year’s headliner is none other than the Presidents of the United States of America. If you are not familiar with this band, you’ve either 1. been living in a different country, one outside the reach of popular music, since, oh, the early ’90s or 2. you’ve developed a wicked case of musical amnesia. Either way, this is the band that is responsible for such sing-along anthems as “Lump,” “Peaches,” “Kitty,” and my personal favorite, “Stranger,” which features lyrics comprised solely of lines from the Stranger’s “I Saw You” ads. Lyrically lightweight though their songs might be, the Presidents lucked into a formula that spoke to the masses and their career involves a double-platinum-selling album, two Grammy nods, and the ability to draw crowds from far and wide to this day.

But the Presidents aren’t the only reason to pack up the pup tent and journey to Darrington. Also on the roster of headliners is Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk. Now, I’ll admit, I’m not exactly clear as to what makes “dumpstaphunk” different from regular funk, but with a name like Neville at the helm, such details don’t much matter. Son of Aaron and nephew of the rest of the musical dynasty that is the Neville brothers, Ivan has capitalized on the family business while managing to carve out a niche all his own. Before forming his own band (the aforementioned Dumpstaphunkers), Ivan released four solo albums, charted a couple of Billboard hits, appeared on several Neville Brothers recordings, played on a couple of Rolling Stones albums, toured with Keith Richards, recorded with Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, and Robbie Roberston, among others, and was even a member of the Spin Doctors for a couple of years. With his own band, he’s toured extensively (including a couple of past stops in Bellingham) and added his own chapters to the Neville musical biography.

However, no Meltdown festival—MDX or any other iteration—would be complete without an appearance by the event’s founders and organizers, Flowmotion. As the Summer Meltdown has been their baby—from the germ of an idea to overall vision to execution year in and year out (along with a whole army of dedicated volunteers, of course)—it’s only right that their performance is one of the weekend’s highlights every year. And, while you might make the assumption that Flowmotion nabs the coveted headlining slot every year due to the fact that it’s their festival and they’ll headline if they want to, you’d be foolish to do so—not to mention the fact that jumping to such a conclusion is ample proof of your utter unfamiliarity with this band. While their music is loosely classified as rock ’n’ roll, in reality, it’s a bit harder to pin down than that, but it’s rooted in impeccable musicianship, a willingness to get funky and/or jam it out when necessary—not to mention an absolutely killer live show.

But headliners alone do not a weekend of music make, so expect to find the likes of Hot Buttered Rum, the Everyone Orchestra, EOTO, Five Alarm Funk, Dehli 2 Dublin, Panda Conspiracy, Dept. of Energy, Spanish For 100, and more. Bellingham is also represented at MDX, in the form of Acorn Project, the Librarians, and Robert Sarazin Blake—who, after years of his Subdued Stringband Jamboree sharing taking place the same weekend as Summer Meltdown, has finally managed to work out this particular scheduling glitch (Stringband takes place Aug. 13-14) and can finally partake of Meltdown, as can everyone else who formerly had to choose between the two events.

With so much going on, and so many bands from which to choose, is it any wonder that those of us who knew Meltdown when still want to lay claim to it?