This past weekend, Seattleites converged to partake of three days of indie bands, food trucks, and lots of alcohol. True to its name, Capitol Hill Block Party (CHBP) is less a festival and more a party that happens to include music.

Shy Girls’ opening set on Friday set the tone. Vocalist Dan Vidmar crooned over soulful, throwback R&B beats both sultry and groove-oriented. Later, Seattle production duo ODESZA would take the dance vibes even further, mixing tracks back and forth. The set ended abruptly, however, when one of its laptops fell onstage. The weekend’s two A$APs (Ferg and Rocky) brought some of the Party’s most energetic and excitable performances, but each MC had his own misstep, too: Ferg’s entrance in a bulletproof vest to the sound of gunshots after a speech about gun control was in hilariously poor taste, while Rocky asking his DJ to blast “Smells Like Teen Spirit” while he yelled “Give it up for Nirvana!” was too pandering. But hearing Ferg’s “Shabba” twice in a weekend is a typically a good sign of heavy partying—and hella fun—at hand.

And that it was, with acts like Star Slinger, Spoon, Angel Olsen, Manatee Commune, XXYYX, Chromeo, EMA, the Thermals, and many others providing an eclectic blend of everything from electro dance to blistering rock.

Such sonic variety—not to mention the colorful crowd—culminated during The War on Drugs’ hazy, sweltering, guitar-fueled set. While half the crowd bobbed their heads and went into appropriate trances during the scorcher “Red Eyes,” the other half took selfies and pontificated on when A$AP Rocky would come onstage. Someone inflated a condom and tossed it around the crowd like a balloon—a fleeting moment capturing both the beauty and the absurdity that is the Capitol Hill Block Party. DUSTY HENRY

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