Helsing Junction is an organic farm in rural Thurston County, outside of Olympia, Washington. Each year in August, K Records and Helsing Junction hold a concert event lovingly referred to as the Helsing Junction Sleepover. It’s the sort of event that everyone should get the chance to attend before they die. The natural surroundings at the farm are striking — fields of flowering plants, big sky, white fluffy clouds, the sounds of the PA bouncing off of the nearby tree-covered hills. Folks laze around in the grass listening to music, eating delicious food like marionberry compote on thick slices of multigrain toast, or tamales with pesto potato salad on the side. To escape the heat, concertgoers cross the street and take a dip in the Chehalis River, and at night after dance parties in the grass, they camp in the farm’s orchard. It’s an indie fairy tale — a near perfect weekend.
The fifth annual sleepover event was held August 21 through 23, 2009. This year Lasercave, a label out of Portland, joined K and Helsing in the festivities. Lasercave artists Brainstorm and Inside Voices both performed — I’m so glad they made the trip up I-5 to do so. Inside Voices played a subdued daytime set on Saturday. Their drummer wasn’t around, but they performed anyway and did a beautiful job. Brainstorm played later that night before Tender Forever. Adam, the drummer/singer, nearly caved in the stage with his furious pounding. He kept having to readjust his kit, and the stage was sinking ever so slightly as the bails of hay disintegrated below. Despite the fact all this was happening, the duo was super tight — their performance was definitely one of the highlights of the three-day festival.
Another highlight was the amazing set played by LAKE. LAKE’s sound is gorgeous, and if you haven’t heard them, it’s definitely about time you gave them a listen. Their sound is modern indie music’s response to Fleetwood Mac — a smooth, buttery dream. Checkout the Watch section of our site for a YouTube video of one of the songs played during their performance. Veterans of Helsing, they played their first night set this year, appearing just before Arrington De Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa on Friday evening.
Arrington De Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa was wild! He sings in Indonesian with insane, fiery passion, plays a baritone sax, and flails all over the stage. The crowd went completely crazy — it was like they were possessed. A group of about 10 people got on their knees and began bowing and hissing at Arrington during the latter part of the set. It sounds silly, but it was more surreal than comical when combined with the twisted music. At one point, there was an electrical problem that caused the lights and some of the amps to go out. The band continued playing as though nothing had happened — the fans continued to dance, and when the lights went back up their fervor reached frenzy stage.
Overall, Friday’s show was pretty great. Gary May, Pine Hill Haints, and Angelo Spencer had played before LAKE and Arrington DeDionyso. Angelo Spencer was a crowd favorite. It turns out his father was in the audience filming the show. When the last call for food came, Angelo translated the announcement for his father, who doesn’t speak English. It was cute — this is how informal everything was, like a family gathering of sorts. After the bands were done playing, people cuddled up in the grass to watch films and cartoons before retreating back to their tents.
Saturday’s daytime block was quiet and subdued. Jared Snyder, Alexander’s Real Time Band, Knot Pine Box, and Karl Blau performed. During Karl Blau’s set, Karl displayed a selkie doll that he had created with a doll head and some yarn. The selkie was eating a mermaid, and the mermaid’s red yarn intestines dangled out of its mouth. He said that he’d be selling the selkie at the merch table and said that he would sell it “to the right person.” After his performance, many of the concertgoers (including myself) ran across the street and went swimming in the Chehalis River. It was interesting to see all of the oddly fashionable indie kids without their uniforms on, splashing around in bathing suits or undergarments. The river was perfectly refreshing — clean and cool.
Saturday night’s performances started off with Christmas — a band I’ve never heard before but would very much like to hear again. Their reverb-soaked front woman and spirited band was one of the most energetic, sexy performances of the weekend. After them, Joey Casio set up shop on the grass, rather than on the stage, and passed out instruments to everyone. The crowd circled him, dancing crazily to the hard beats, playing their wooden instruments — it was like a mini daytime rave. After Desolation Wilderness, Brainstorm, and Tender Forever played, Casio returned to spin records at the late night dance party.
Sunday, the final day of the concert, was an extremely lazy day. Tired after two nights of sleeping in tents and partying late into the evening, folks with frizzy, hay filled hair basked in the sun, or lingered in the shade of the willow tree. Danny Kelly, Why I Must Be Careful, Calvin Johnson, The Blackberry Bushes, Mirah, and Kimya Dawson performed, and it was a beautiful day by anyone’s standards.
Mirah played new songs as well as some old ones. Her hair kept getting in her eyes. She borrowed a bobby pin from a fan, and when that didn’t work she ended up donning a gray cap for the rest of the set. During most of her performance, Calvin Johnson danced to the right of the stage, obviously immensely enjoying what he was hearing — this was interesting since he didn’t dance at all during his performance. Mirah closed out her set with a mesmerizing cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”
Kimya Dawson catered to the children and families in the audience. (Yes, there were kids there — such hip parents! My goodness. Welcome to Oly). She invited children up on stage, and they helped her sing songs from Alphabutt, as well as most of the rest of her set. During her set, Kimya stepped off stage and invited her friends from New York City, Pre-War Yard Sale, to play a couple of songs. Their young son joined them onstage, fearlessly singing along with his parents.
The mood of the whole weekend was one of summertime relaxation. Band members mingled and camped alongside fans. It was an ideal way to spend the weekend — supporting local music, local agriculture, and enjoying the last bit of summer before it gets whisked away in a chilly breeze.