Musikfest Picks Day 1, August 3rd

…and we’re off.  After a rain-drenched evening watching Trombone Shorty, the weather doesn’t look so great for tonight either.  Hopefully it holds out and people get down tonight because there’s one of the best free line-ups of the entire fest this evening.  You’ll also have to excuse me, I’m working through some technical difficulties with this new layout and the embedding, so for right now there’s only going to be links to tracks/playlists instead of embedded ones.  Hopefully that’ll be rectified by the end of the week.  Anyways, let’s get listening: North Side Brother Oliver – This South Carolina duo of brothers Andrew and Stephen Oliver fuse a sort of slow building psych rock and folk mentality into powerful melodies with intense, soulful singing.  They’ll be playing a set at 5:30pm at the small Lagerplatz stage. Check out their song “Castles“: https://soundcloud.com/forthright-records/brother-oliver-castles Dave Hause and the Mermaid – We caught Dave Hause opening for Beach Slang back in December and they were nothing short of amazing.  An old-school, Springsteen-like rock sensibility paired with a huge amount of energy, you’ll want to be at this show screaming along with songs like “Bury Me in Philly.”  Dave Hause takes the stage at 7pm at Liederplatz. Check out “Bury Me in Philly“: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9f7oWREXrg GGOOLLDD – Probably the show I’m most excited about for all of Musikfest, this electropop outfit from Milwaukee of all places has hints of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and CHVRCHES, sure to please any indie rock lover and fitting in with Musikfest’s ethos of trying to go with headlining acts like Grouplove that drive in younger crowds. GGOOLLDD goes on at 8:30pm at Plaza Tropical. Listen to their excellent song, “Undercovers”: https://soundcloud.com/ggoolldd/undercovers Slingshot Dakota – An annual favorite, this hard rocking drum-and-keyboard husband and wife duo from right here in Bethlehem always brings a crowd and a shitload of energy.  They’ve gotten noticed on the national stage, appearing at SXSW, on NPR’s First Watch, and in Rolling Stone.  Slingshot starts rocing out at 10pm at Plaza Tropical. Listen to Slingshot’s song “Paycheck”: https://soundcloud.com/slingshotdakota/paycheck-1 South Side Funky Dawgs Brass Band – We caught these guys at last year at Musikfest and they brought horns and a good time.  We’re glad to see them back in a bigger venue after being relegated to the Musikfest Cafe during a recent Levitt show and last night during the rain during preview night because their fun, easy-going sets are perfect for outdoor venues and dancing.  If you miss them tonight, don’t fret – they’ve got another set tomorrow evening.  You can catch them at 7pm at the Levitt Pavilion at Steelstacks. Check out part of the Funky Dawgz set at the 2016 Peach Fest: https://soundcloud.com/funky-dawgz-brass-band/the-place-to-be Brother Oliver – This South Carolina duo of brothers Andrew and Stephen Oliver fuse a sort of slow building psych rock and folk mentality into powerful melodies with intense, soulful singing.  Brother Oliver is playing inside the Artsquest Center at Lyrikplatz in the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas at 8pm Check out their song “Castles“: https://soundcloud.com/forthright-records/brother-oliver-castles And, as promised, here’s a Spotify playlist of bands playing this evening throughout all the Platzes!