Black & Loud Fest at Neumos
On August 29, I had the pleasure of attending Black & Loud Fest here in Seattle. Black & Loud Fest is a two-day music festival that takes place in Seattle on the first day and Portland on the second day. The Seattle leg of the festival was held at the popular music venue Neumos, where organizers utilized all parts of the venue to host the festival efficiently. Barboza served as the side stage for smaller acts, Runaway provided a place of respite from the main action where attendees could rest while listening to DJs, and Neumos itself served as the main stage where the festival’s main attractions performed.
A music festival centered on Black artists is much needed in a region such as the Pacific Northwest. There aren’t many events in Seattle that uplift Black artists the way Black & Loud does. As a Black man in Seattle who loves attending music festivals and concerts, it was nice to be in a space where most of the people looked like me and where I didn’t have to worry about whether the person next to me was going to say the N-word just because it was “part of the song.”
When it came to the music, I was completely taken by surprise and found myself loving almost everyone on the lineup. The only performers I knew beforehand were the co-headliners: hometown heroes King Youngblood, who also founded the festival, and Iniko, who is known for the viral song “The King’s Affirmation.” I can promise you that the festival has something to appeal to most people—it features everything from metal, jazz, R&B, rap, and soul to alternative music. The one thing painfully missing from the lineup was an Afrobeats artist, but I’m sure you would be hard-pressed to find a local Afrobeats artist here in Seattle.
The standout performances included Down North, a multigenre-bending band with an energetic lead singer who commands your attention with their dance moves; Peter Collins, whose soft but soulful voice soothed the audience as he performed covers of songs that are anything but soft, along with some originals; and King Youngblood, an alt-rock outfit led by frontman and festival co-founder Cameron Lavi-Jones, whose charismatic vocals and powerful guitar riffs had the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs as they headbanged.
The main star of the show, of course, had to be Iniko. Her personality shone through with every dance move, getting the crowd to shout “ay” to the beat as she hit each move. The energy in the building was impeccable and strangely unique—one moment, you would see someone moshing, then headbanging, and then slowly swaying to smooth R&B. The whole festival felt like a family affair, with Cameron of King Youngblood and various members of his family working on both the production and public-facing sides of the festival.
The festival has the potential to grow even more. Given a couple more years, I can see it needing an even bigger space than Neumos. The organization of the festival went smoothly—all of the performances started on time, and there was always someone on stage. When one act finished, you could make your way to the other stage to see who was performing next. My only major criticism is that the festival ran a bit late, ending shortly after midnight. Still, it wasn’t all that bad when you could walk out of the venue and immediately be greeted by one of Seattle’s famous hot dog vendors.
This festival is a space where people from different cultures and backgrounds can come together and walk away with a new favorite local Black artist—I know I did. It was also a celebration of Black music and culture that I would readily recommend to others. Even though this was my first time attending, I’m sad that I missed the earlier festivals, and I will make sure not to make that mistake again.