Boat parties are one of the more unique experiences during Decibel Festival. It is a concept no less elegant for its simplicity – put some hundred odd music fans on a recreational trawler with two or three strong opening DJs and ship them out to sea for an afternoon. Toss in some relatively reasonably priced drinks and some recently legalized party favors brought from home and it is a proper soiree.
The musical guests of the day were Andy Warren & Ginkgo, Roman Flügel, and DJ Tennis. The genres of choice interwove a little contemporary techno with sensible deep house and a little popular remixing thrown in for good measure. Their respective sets were not especially distinct though above the lapping waves and raucous cheer, it was possible to discern subtle shifts in tone; DJ Tennis favored more psychedelic timbres and instrumentation while Flügel embraced more biting rhythms common to acid house. Whatever their styling inclinations, every performer delivered spectacularly. The DJs seemed to delight in the casual setting that promised something of a respite from having to sweat it out during a large scale show and it was perhaps the only time during the festival you could see a Bloody Mary next to a musician’s setup. The crowd was relatively young and largely of the free-spirit variety, opting to either dance in the open sea air atop the bow platform, jive on the stage-facing floor (brilliantly lit by strings of ornate lights), sip on cocktails recessed in the stern of the lower level or simply find open seating with which to chat up a stranger. Outside, seafaring visions of Seattle scrolled by – past the waterside homes of Lake Union, through the Montlake Cut, out beyond the rather picturesque inlets of the University of Washington and onto the open waters of Union Bay and Lake Washington. In the distance were the snow caps of the Cascades. It was, to quote an enthralled attendee, “good music, good people, good sights….a goddamn good time.”
While we navigated the home stretch, paddle boarders waved and even shimmied in a show of good spirit. Gasworks Park was full of sunbathing locals making good on the weather and from below deck, a remix of Bob Marley’s “One Love” floated into realization to the approval of the crowd. It was the most pleasant way to celebrate upon the last day of Decibel Festival.
