Do you know that Washington is one of the most vibrant music hubs in the US? It offers a pretty diverse landscape when it comes to festivals, live gigs, and musical events.
From contemporary pop to local indie bands, we are sure everyone can find their favorite event in this state.
Whether you’re a fan of Washington State concerts, the underground scene, or live festivals, the Evergreen State has it all.
It’s up to you to find your favorite city, the venue, and of course, the artist you want to listen to live. So, are you ready to jam?
Let’s discover the unique aspects of Washington’s music scene together!
Article Contents
Seattle’s Main Scene
Seattle is the biggest but also well-known city in Washington. It’s a part of the 90s grunge scene, featuring bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden.
But the city’s history started many years before the grunge era, especially with the development of big band ballrooms and jazz venues.
Many important jazz musicians performed at least once during the postwar era in the 60s and 70s, among them being Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, and Harry Everett Smith.
Still, Jimi Hendrix is the most popular musician from Seattle, even decades after his death.
During the 80s, many interesting genres emerged from Seattle’s scene, including grunge, rock, punk, and underground alternative genres.
As you suppose, the already mentioned grunge bands created the mainstream scene we know about.
Surely, it expanded into a more interesting hub, with many promising artists like Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Fleet Foxes, and many others.
This expansion created a chance for unique and experimental genres to appear. Knowing all these things, it’s not even surprising that the upcoming concerts in Washington are mostly set for Seattle.
Exploring Washington’s Music Venues
From small clubs to magnificent arenas, Washington offers many interesting venues to choose from.
For example, in Seattle, you can attend events at Moore Theatre, The Vera Project, Paramount Theatre, and many others.
Additionally, you can attend music events at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, the Gorge Amphitheatre in Grant County, Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, or the Capital Centre in Landover.
These are just a few Washington concert venues, but you can always explore and discover more, especially if you’re a fan of great musical events.
An Adventure Through Greatest Washington Genres
We already said that Seattle is one of the most significant cities in Washington State, especially for early jazz and grunge.
But if we explore the whole state, we’ll discover even more great genres and surely music names who were born, raised, or lived at some point in some of Washington’s cities.
Let’s start with jazz. Even though it’s not the most popular for this genre, Washington gave the world an open scene for many great performers like Kenny G, Diane Schuur, Ray Charles, Buddy Catlett, and surely Quincy Jones and Ray Charles to teach us a valuable lesson about quality music.
But what else happened in Washington?
Beautiful Country Scene
For people who love the country and alt-country, Washington is surely an important state. Many popular singers and musicians like Loretta Lynn, Wille Nelson, and Bonnie Guitar come from Washington.
Surely, there are many more like Michael Peterson, Neko Case, The Supersuckers, Brandy Clark, and James Otto.
If you’re a fan of this genre, you can recognize many of these names and sing some of their songs by heart. And best of all, even today, young people love country music.
That’s why this genre has been so popular for years, from the earliest beginnings of music until today.
Garage Rock and Grunge
Washington’s rock scene is very rich in performers and various genres and subgenres.
The band The Sonics is still one of the most influential performers, representing the garage rock of the state. Also, it’s worth mentioning The Wallers, The Kinsmen, Paul Revere and the Raiders.
But when talking about heavy metal, things get even more interesting because of Metal Church, Mentors, Alice in Chains, Death Squad, and Fifth Angel.
Other notable heavy metal performers are Heir Apparent, Sanctuary, Ceremonial Castings, Hoth, Casualty of God, Devilation, Bell Witch, and Edge of Oblivion. So, every heavy metal enthusiast can find their favorite band here.
On the other hand, when talking about punk rock and grunge, there are many other bands from different eras that redefined the local scene.
We can talk a lot about Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Pearl Jam – you probably know even more information related to them.
But when talking about Washington’s punk rock era, we must mention the riot grrrl genre with women-led punk acts, like Bikini Kill, The Gossip, and Thee Emergency, making a completely new turn in the local music scene.
Notable Hip-Hop Artists
Starting with Sir Mix-a-Lot, then Kid Sensation, Blue Scholars, Shabazz Palaces, but also Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Lil Mosey, we must say that Washington largely contributes to the global hip-hop scene.
The rap scene in this state is constantly evolving, which means that we can expect many young talents to emerge and conquer the charts, selling platinum copies of their albums.
So, if you’re a fan of this genre and enjoy traveling through the US, consider Washington as a great choice to attend exciting rap performances and festivals.
The Evergreen State Awaits You
Whether you are a fan of concerts, festivals, or small, intimate music events, Washington has everything to satisfy even your most sophisticated expectations.
As you can see, a number of music names from the global scene often perform in Seattle and then in smaller cities, contributing to the development of local culture.
Therefore, Washington can be your next favorite destination, where you will find a number of events that you will absolutely enjoy.
We recommend that you regularly follow the announcements of upcoming concerts and events because you certainly do not want to miss the best performances.
Research where the best tickets are sold and try to secure yours in time. This music scene is worth exploring, as not only local but also many international stars perform there.
