Michael Reitmulder

Seattle

Music Reporter and Critic at Seattle Times

Music reporter/critic @seattletimes. SEA via MSP. Read stuff: https://t.co/biHX2WqZBE

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Articles

Our critic's thoughts on Seattle’s new waterfront concert series debut

4 days ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

It was one of those Seattle summer days so perfect it almost felt scripted. Under clear blue skies, Sodo was rocking Sunday afternoon as Mariners fans who packed T-Mobile Park were treated to another walk-off win. Sports fans mingled among the tourists queuing up at Ivar’s Acres of Clams and hopping pedicabs with drivers wearing superhero costumes along the renovated waterfront.
These are the top Seattle-area outdoor concerts to catch this summer

2 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

Summer concert season is officially upon us, whether or not the forecast agrees. The first major outdoor show of the season was a waterlogged affair when Kendrick Lamar and SZA brought one of the hottest tours of the year to a soggy Lumen Field this month. A little rain (or even a lot of it) couldn’t dampen spirits as open-air live music returned to the Pacific Northwest (though clearer skies should be on the horizon).
Review: Kendrick Lamar, SZA soar in Seattle stop of Grand National Tour

2 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

Rain pummeled the massive stage from which Kendrick Lamar stood at the top of the world. It wasn’t exactly a blue-sky welcome the Los Angeles rapper might be accustomed to, though he seemed genuinely delighted to be back on the West Coast as his Grand National Tour with SZA pulled into a sold-out Lumen Field Saturday.
Deep Sea Diver returns with Sub Pop debut, sold-out Showbox concert

3 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

Deep Sea Diver has been feeling the Seattle love for more than a decade, ever since Los Angeles transplant Jessica Dobson arrived in 2011 and started making a splash in local indie rock circles. “Seattle has always had a very welcoming presence,” said Dobson, the band’s principal songwriter, who felt “a little bit isolated” and put off by the “gatekeeping” she saw in L.A. “I’ve never really felt that in Seattle.
A stadium-sized K-pop tour and more top May and June shows

3 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

Summer concert season begins in grand fashion this weekend as the reigning king and queen of hip-hop and R&B bring one of the most anticipated tours of the year to our local NFL stadium. But it’s hardly the only big-time tour coming to town in the next few weeks as some of Washington’s favorite outdoor venues reopen their gates. These are some of the highest profile tours hitting the Seattle area.
Revered Seattle rock biographer gets tribute from city's music royalty

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

In the seven months since beloved Seattle music journalist Charles R. Cross died, it’s been hard not to feel the presence of the man who devoted himself to celebrating our region’s artistry and culture at a number of hometown shows teeming with Seattle centricity. Fittingly, the Seattle music community is rallying together for an all-star concert honoring the life and legacy of the esteemed rock biographer and longtime editor of grunge-era music magazine The Rocket.
2 WA music greats inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

Apparently, third time’s the charm for one of Seattle’s most storied rock bands. After missing the cut in its first two nominations, Soundgarden is going into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of a 2025 class that includes hip-hop innovators Outkast, Cyndi Lauper, The White Stripes, ‘70s rockers Bad Company, Joe Cocker and Chubby Checker. This year’s class was announced Sunday during an episode of “American Idol.” The 2025 induction ceremony will take place Nov.
Capitol Hill Block Party organizers cancel sibling festival

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

Amid the annual spring wave of festival and summer concert announcements, one of Seattle’s core music festivals, Day In Day Out, remained noticeably silent. On Wednesday, we learned why. Organizers Daydream State announced that the weekend-long event would not return for its fifth year this summer, pulling the plug after last year’s attendance slipped from 2023.
THING festival announces 2025 lineup, major shake-up

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

After four pandemic-interrupted years, THING festival organizer Adam Zacks is rewriting the script on Seattle Theatre Group’s annual summer bash — and bending the contours of the modern music festival. Instead of the three-day, multistage event held over one weekend, the intimate, family-friendly music festival will be parceled into several single-day blowouts on the first four Saturdays in August. The lineup still features THING’s signature mix of sonically diverse, indie-centric artists.
Sturgill Simpson slays Seattle club after canceling Spokane arena show

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Michael Rietmulder |Michael Reitmulder

Sturgill Simpson was supposed to be on the opposite side of the state, playing an arena six times larger than Showbox SoDo — a venue the country star outgrew about a decade ago. Yet there he was Saturday night, cozying up in the comparatively tiny hall for a three-hour barnburner in front of a riled-up crowd who still couldn’t believe they were a Gorge Amphitheatre headliner play a sweaty little Seattle rock club.