Boomjam organizers reflect on first event, look to future of music festival

The inaugural Boomjam Music Festival proved to be a fulfilling endeavor for producer Tucker Miller and an enjoyable experience for those performing on stage as well.

The Sept. 21 event in East Central featured 14 bands, both local and from outside the city, across two stages.

There was a mellow yet exciting energy in the air that Saturday, which Miller attributes to the immense amount of work done prior.

“All of our systems worked exactly how I intended them to and there were no major issues throughout the entire day that I had to address,” Miller said.

From fire department walk-throughs and vendor load-in, Miller is content with how smooth and calm things were on the production side.

“That’s what put the biggest smile on my face, just to see how the machine can operate at such a high level for year one, which I was not anticipating necessarily,” Miller said.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20.

In retrospect, Miller said the primary issues Boomjam faced were more technical than anything, with some mild speaker and audio issues.

He also believes the event has much more potential with a larger audience base and funding. Both are on Miller’s mind, but he also knows slow and steady is the best pace.

Those performing at Boomjam enjoyed the new event for many reasons.

“It was more than I thought it was going to be,” said Brayden Moore, lead singer of local rock band Shady Angels. “Tucker and the team did an amazing job of making us feel more than at home, comfortable and excited.”

Blues-rock artist Olivia Vika, of Vika & The Velvets, noticed the present love for local musicians such as herself and the band.

“It was awesome getting to play for people who just love live music and want to see growth in the Spokane music scene,” Vika said.

And Hayes Noble, a fast-rising rocker calling the Lilac City home, appreciated the family-based aspect of Boomjam, something Miller had on his mind heavily prior to the event.

“It was awesome; all the bands were great, and it was a super fun crowd,” Noble said. “It was really cool that they did it all ages, lots of kids came out.”

Less than two weeks later, Miller and his team are discussing how to make next year even smoother, bigger and better.

There are many options on the mind of Miller: looking for “more well-known” artists, an increase in food vendors, a change of location and more.

“We’re balancing a bunch of options, but it will still be a community experience, still something fun for people of all ages, still something that is going to be booking bands that give rise to emotional experiences and allow people to feel the entire spectrum of human emotion and hopefully curating a space that makes people feel comfortable to experience those things,” Miller said. “That’s what people have to look forward to in 2025, more of the same, more of more.”