While the setting for this Saturday’s KEXP BBQ felt somewhat random, the quasi-park/industrial backyard was perfectly suited for a smallish outdoor festival. Guarded to the south by the looming spires of cranes, centrally located in the middle of nowhere/middle of Seattle, the day-long concert attracted a good-sized crowd of maybe 2,000 people, some of whom must’ve been on their way to or back from Hempfest at Myrtle Edwards.

Cave Singers were just getting started when I arrived. I’m used to seeing them in dimly-lit dens like the Croc and the Sunset, cramped places that accomodate their weary, jug-band-without-a-jug folk blues, so I wasn’t sure how they’d fill a big outdoor stage in broad daylight. Thanks to a deft house mix and some plain old playing, they sounded totally natural up there. The trio can go intimate and eerie, close like the hair on your neck standing up, or, as they did on Saturday, open up that intimacy to a rollicking, tent-revival-like level. They played a couple new tunes and their by-now-familiar favorites, all of which radiate a heavy, evocative aura, the band attuned like an antenna into the Indian burial site the BBQ stage doubtlessly sat atop of.

_Pela

NYC’s Pela is a KEXP buzz band du jour—I heard them on the station earlier that day, driving around in a friend’s car—and they showed why with a strong set. Singer Billy McCarthy has a cracked, manic shout of a voice a la Isaac Brock, and the band pummel out a similarly fractured sort of guitar-rock as the Mouse, boiled down to its most wiry, neck-vein-bulging kerrang. I described it to someone as “emo Modest Mouse,” which to him sounded like a slight, though I didn’t mean it as such. Pela is more soulful than emo; in considering Pela I realized what a fine line separates the two.

_{Blue Scholars}

Blue Scholars were the highlight of the afternoon. Backed by a six-piece band, they sounded unstoppable, larger than life and ready to take over the world. Seriously, every time I’ve seen these guys they sound stronger, more confident, Geo an in-control a frontman who can’t wait to mix partying with politicking, Sabzi making it all happen musically, kicking in backing vocals for emphasis. Here Sabzi was also on a small keyboard, slipping in slices of melody—playing samples, basically, but live with keys, repetitive and funky as hell, the perfect adaptation of jazz chops for a hiphop setting. It seems crowds expect more from the Scholars with each show, and when the band delivers, people absolutely erupt over it.

Compared to the bang-for-the-buck of Block Party, a $25 ticket seemed a bit steep for the punters. John Richards announced from the stage that the bands all played for gas money only; considering that most of them were local or on tour, that couldn’t have been very much. (And maybe that comment wasn’t meant to be taken literally.) I assume a majority of ticket revenue goes right back into KEXP’s coffers, which is a good enough cause. For some people, hitting the BBQ—this year the fifth annual—might be their sole donation to the station, which perhaps justifies the steep ticket price.

One serious complaint: WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH SUMMER WEATHER, SEATTLE? For serious. “The Northwest summer” gets a lot of hype, but so far, its been mostly rainy weekends and chilly nights. Grr.

There’s a bunch of great photos over at the KEXP blog.