SPF30: Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary Festival with Beach House, Clipping, Kyle Craft, Fastbacks, Jo Passed, Loma, LVL UP, METZ, Moaning, Mudhoney, Shabazz Palaces, Wolf Parade, plus Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its and The School of Rock West Seattle House Band along Alki Beach in West Seattle.

We are delighted to announce lineup details for SPF30 and Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary weekend, happening Friday, August 10th and Saturday, August 11th, 2018 in beautiful Seattle, Washington.

The festivities kick-off the evening of Friday, August 10th at 5pm, with The Afghan Whigs, Mass Gothic and Yuno playing a free, all-ages outdoor concert at the Mural Amphitheatre, presented by KEXP and Seattle Center.

Later that same evening, we are presenting A Night of Comedy From the Cast of Bob’s Burgers at The Moore Theatre, featuring H. Jon Benjamin, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, Larry Murphy and John Roberts. This is a ticketed event with proceeds to benefit Seattle’s YouthCare.

YouthCare works to end youth homelessness and to ensure that young people are valued for who they are and empowered to achieve their potential. Founded in 1974, YouthCare was one of the first programs to serve runaway and homeless youth on the West Coast. The goal was to help young people find safety today and build a future for tomorrow. Over the past four decades, YouthCare has defined best practices and developed programs that are a national standard for excellence. Using a youth-centered approach, they ensure that young people experiencing homelessness ages 12-24 have the hope, skills, and confidence to gain long-term stability.

Tickets for A Night of Comedy From the Cast of Bob’s Burgers will be $30 (plus fees). A special presale begins Wednesday, May 30th at 10am PT (presale code LOSER30), with tickets on sale to the general public Friday, June 1st at 10am PT. Tickets are available here. Doors are at 7pm, and the show is all-ages.

Then on Saturday, August 11th from noon-10pm, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society welcomes Sub Pop for SPF30, our 30th anniversary festival at West Seattle’s Alki Beach. SPF30 is an entirely free event featuring Beach House, Clipping, Kyle Craft, Fastbacks, Jo Passed, Loma, LVL UP, METZ, Moaning, Mudhoney, Shabazz Palaces, Wolf Parade, and a family stage featuring Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its and The School of Rock West Seattle House Band. The festival will feature four stages along incredibly scenic Alki Ave. in the Alki Beach neighborhood of West Seattle.

Seattle’s Alki Beach boasts some of the most awesome territorial (city/water/mountain) views the city has to offer, along with the occasional whale sighting, a somewhat diminutive replica of the Statue of Liberty, and some of the best local businesses to boot. We are stoked (and not a little surprised) that the city cleared the permits.

SPF30 will also have…A record fair-type event! A host of local nonprofit organizations! Food trucks! Beer gardens! (The food and beer and wine and soda or whatever, you will have to pay for! These parts are not free!) Good times and opportunities to embarrass yourself and those who’d always hoped for better for you! Plus, bands!

And closing out the weekend is a late show celebrating the unbelievably “coincidental” 15th anniversary of Pissed Jeans held at the Crocodile in Seattle. This show is 21 +, and doors are at 8pm. Tickets are $16 and available here.

It is our hope that SPF30 and Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary Weekend will serve as a super fun and sincere “thank you” to our local and global music community for supporting Sub Pop and our artists for the past 30 years (and the next 30!).

In addition to celebrating a dynamic, inspirational roster spanning three decades, we also wish to create a sense of uplifting togetherness where we not only listen to great music but we become better at listening to each other as well.

JULY 26 / AUGUST 2ND / AUGUST 9TH
SUB POP TURNTABLE SESSIONS  
KEXP Gathering Space • FREE • 6-8pm • ALL-AGES
The Sub Pop Turntable Sessions are three distinct panel discussions highlighting multiple facets of Sub Pop’s history in celebration of the label’s 30th anniversary. Each session will review snippets of past label happenings and works while discussing how they relate to the label and our society’s future. The first session will be on July 26th, featuring Sub Pop LOSER Scholarship winners. The next will be on August 2nd and will feature Seattle-based collective Black Constellation. And for the third session we’ll be bringing in the Sub Pop’s own Mudhoney, as they also celebrate their 30th anniversary this year as well.  Session 1: Sub Pop Loser Scholarship Winners. Session 2: Black Constellation. Session 3: Mudhoney’s 30th.

AUGUST 10TH
SUB POP’S BIG 30TH ANNIVERSARY KICK-OFF SHOWCASE  
THE MURAL AMPHITHEATRE • FREE!!! • 5PM • ALL-AGES
A special concert at the Mural presented by KEXP and Seattle Center with The Afghan Whigs, Mass Gothic, Yuno

A NIGHT OF COMEDY FROM THE CAST OF BOB’S BURGERS THE MOORE THEATRE •  $30 • 7PM DOOR • ALL-AGES
Featuring H. Jon Benjamin, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, Larry Murphy, John Roberts

AUGUST 11TH
SPF30: SUB POP’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL• ALKI BEACH, WEST SEATTLE • FREE!!! • NOON - 10PM • ALL-AGES
On four stages… with Mudhoney, Shabazz Palaces, Wolf Parade, Kyle Craft, Moaning, Beach House, Clipping, Fastbacks, METZ, LVL UP, Loma, Jo Passed, Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its, The School of Rock West Seattle House Band, and Special Guests.

THE CROCODILE • $16 • 8PM DOOR • 21 AND OVER
The Unbelievably “Coincidental” 15th anniversary of Pissed Jeans

More info and updates for you here:  spf30.subpop.com

To celebrate their European tour next week, Downtown Boys have shared their rendition of “Fotos Y Recuerdos”.  Originally recorded by The Pretenders as “Back in the Chain Gang,” the song was later covered - with Spanish lyrics - and further popularized by the late Tejano queen, Selena.
 
Downtown Boys, in a group statement, say of the track: “Fotos y recuerdos translates to photos and memories. The original singer of this version of song, Selena Quintanilla, reminds us that, while it often feels like history repeats itself, our mystic chords of memories - even memories of thoughts - become part our protection. Our most gracious fotos and recuerdos break history repeating itself by being endless. And yours can be for you and no one else.”
 
“Fotos Y Recuerdos” was recorded during the Cost of Living recording sessions with Guy Picciotto and Greg Norman at Electrical Audio in Chicago.

[Photo Credit: Michael Baca]

Downtown Boys Tour Dates + Ticket Links

Downtown Boys will resume their European tour schedule in support of Cost of Living next week. The dates span June 1st in Düdingen, Switzerland at Bad Bonn Kilbi Festival through June 9th at Hilavrenbeek, Netherlands’ Best Kept Secret Festival.
 
Jun. 01 - Düdingen, CH - Bad Bonn Kilbi Festival
Jun. 02 - Trento, IT - Urma Festival
Jun. 03 - Milan, IT - Zuma Festival
Jun. 04 - Brescia, IT - Latteria Molly
Jun. 05 - Torino, Italy - Blah Blah
Jun. 06 - Ravenna, IT - Beaches Brew Festival
Jun. 07 - Genova, IT - Teatro Al Trove
Jun. 09 - Hilvarenbeek, NL - Best Kept Secret Festival

Produced by Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, Downtown Boys recently released their highly anticipated and critically acclaimed third album, Cost of Living, on Sub Pop. Listen here, and buy it here.

 
What people are saying about Downtown Boys:
”Cost of Living, Downtown Boys’ third full-length, was written before this year’s inauguration, but its battle cries over centuries of injustices for marginalized people who have been left out of historical (and musical) narrative feels timeless” [Cost of Living, 8.5/10] -  Paste
 
“a fierce offering that takes aim at fascism, queerphobia, capitalism, and racism in a howl of cathartic energy.” [Cost of Living, 8.5/10] - Loud & Quiet
 
“Downtown Boys are an antidote to 2017, to Trump’s America, to oppression of all marginalized groups. The bi-lingual Chicana, queer and Latino outfit are also a punch to the larynx of tired, white-washed punk rock that’s turned so far towards its own privileged naval.” [Cost of Living] - Under The Radar

“Like a cross between X-Ray Spex and Rage Against The Machine as reinterpreted via US hardcore.” [Cost of Living] - Uncut
 
“Nobody writes like Ruiz and Joey DeFrancesco, who espouse strength in the face of oppression.”[Cost of Living, 4/5] - MOJO  
 
”Cost of Living is refined, an example of a band who can still make an album sound angry and alive under its surface sheen.” [Cost of Living] - Stereogum
 
”Cost of Living, the band’s third full album, does more than just chronicle what it’s like to be a non-straight and/or non-white working class person in America. It’s a declaration of war against the status quo.” [Cost of Living] - Uproxx
 
“It’s a pure punk attack, with driving guitars, bulldozing drums, Victoria Ruiz’s uninhibited shouts of anger for the oppressed, and of course the sax.” [Cost of Living] - Brooklyn Vegan
 
“Downtown Boys are an antidote to 2017.” [Cost of Living] - Under the Radar
 
“They craft a punk record that finds perfection between raw energy, handfuls of talent and something to say.” [Cost of Living,  8.0/10] - Northern Transmissions
 
”The Cost of Living feels so vital because it’s not just a document of the times, or a surface level scanning of issues. Unlike so much modern ‘political’ music that falls into a sardonic appreciation of the world, Downtown Boys are on the streets, marching, rioting, singing. They want to be in the thick of it, because that’s the only way things will change.” [Cost of Living, 4/5] - Spectrum Culture 
 
Cost of Living is a testament to our need for Downtown Boy’s spirit, and to the possibility of compassion in the quest for equality.” [Cost of Living] - The Fader
 
”Cost of Living will likely be remembered as a document of its time. However, Downtown Boys have done an admirable job of placing the specifics of their messages within the context of history, and infusing the record with a rich new musicality.” [Cost of Living] - SPIN

“A shot of pure adrenaline, Downtown Boys are an antidote to the carefully posed, cynical window of modern life. No time for frills, they’re true to their core. Start the riot.” [Cost of Living, 4/5] -  Upset