Oh Gossip…have you truly foresaken your loyal fans? Well, I really can’t give them too hard a time. The Gossip remains pretty steadfast in all their punk rock morals even as popularity continues to swirl around them. You should know this by how often I gush in this blog. But I am disappointed that they’ve decided to pull out of the Siren Music Fest with the nebulous scheduling conflicts excuse. Gossip, you belong to us and I know that jetsetting around the world may be fun and all but we need a little QT here at home every so often ok? Otherwise we might have to break up.
Luckily, our ex came back into the picture to save the day. My absolute favorite band ever, the band that pretty much shaped the lives of every dyke like me in their mid to late 20s, Team Dresch, will be headlining instead. Will this make the crowd a little older, a tad more nostalgic perhaps? I’m sure. But it will also really feel like a Portland festival. Despite that most of their songs are 10 years old they are still so good that everyone in the vicinity of a TD show feels the call of Dr. Dance and simply cannot refrain from busting a move. And they might even have new material as they have been promising a real get together instead of these couple of sporadic reunion shows. Can it truly be the time for Team Dresch’s triumphant return? I hope so. These builders of Portland homocore can only make Siren Nation more gay, more Portland, and more awesome. It’s like welcoming a long lost lover home. Ah, I missed you.
I’ll be covering the fest more in the coming weeks leading up to its November 1 kickoff so stay tuned. Besides the headliner drama there’s plenty of other fantastic bands like Swan Island, Mirah, Swallows and more. To find out more about SN visit their website at www.sirennation.org.