You're likely to hear lots of noise coming out of Olympia this weekend. While that might not be news to some, the strange sounds emanating from the city will be calculatedly noisy.
In its 19th year, the Olympia Experimental Music Festival features bands from near and far who favor experimentalism, texture, ambience, improvisation and psychedelia over straight-up rock 'n' roll. The three-day ordeal will take over all-ages venue Northern in Olympia June 28-30. The festival will feature 18 different acts - many from Olympia, and the rest mostly spanning from Seattle to Portland.
Saturday, June 29 brings Denver band Thinking Plague to Olympia. Founded in 1982, the Colorado-based band's unpredictable melodies and instrumentation will be right at home the South Sound.
Other bands that evening will include:
- 4-4:40 p.m.: Eagles are F'N' Crazy (Olympia)
- 5-5:40: Soup Purse (Portland)
- 6-6:40: Dead Air Fresheners (Portland, Olympia, Seattle)
- 7-7:40: Aural Resucitation Unit (Dubuque, Iowa)
- 8-8:40: 10,000 Tigers (Thollem McDonas from Palo Alto, Calif., Arrington de Dionyso from Olympia)
- 9-9:40: Tempered Steel (Seattle)
- 10-11: Thinking Plague (Cuneiform recording artists from Denver)
OLYMPIA EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL, June 28-20, Northern, 414 ½ Legion Way, Olympia, $8, Facebook