Missoula’s DIY music scene is a cyclical beast. Venues come and go. Musicians and show-goers will lament the impending death of independent music culture, and then some savvy, wild mover-and-shaker will find a way to book a new spot or take over an old bar or warehouse, or someone will open up their house as the latest spot for underground house shows. This cycle always feels precarious, and the makeup of the scene always changes, but its mercurial quality never leads to extinction. The DIY music scene is a cockroach—probably by nature.
But it does require someone (or several someones) to innovate and keep it afloat. Most recently, Daisy Chain Presents has been a prominent driver in cultivating the DIY scene, which probably needed a little CPR anyway even if the pandemic hadn’t thrown a wrench in things. Dónal Lakatua, a co-founder of Daisy Chain, has been heavily involved in the DIY music scene for several years now, and is often seen photographing independent shows. He and his crew were inspired by past beloved independent music festivals such as Total Fest and Camp Daze, but also the wildly successful Julia Louis Dreyfest, which is set in Billings and just wrapped up its 10th year.
“That was a big thing that inspired us last year was trying to make something like that happen here,” Lakatua says. “Trying to carry over the hype from Dreyfest and bringing it to Missoula and carrying on the torch from previous iterations of the Missoula DIY festival.”
Daisy Chain Presents launched early last summer and hit the ground running, booking several shows around town, even co-hosting a mayoral candidate panel, and putting on their first music festival called Power Strip, a one-day fest featuring about 10 bands at the American Legion Hall. This weekend marks its inaugural Daisy Chain Fest. It features 29 musical artists—mostly Montana bands (and some regional), with headliners Dean Johnson, Desolation Horse and Idaho Green. It takes place at six venues: Western Cider, the ZACC, and VFW, but also a 4th Street block party and nearby porch show, and a late show at the American Legion Hall.
Lakatua says he’s also inspired by Tree Fort, Boise’s annual music festival, which he also has been photographing every year. It takes place at venues around town, which means show-goers get a chance to see the city and be immersed in the community. That’s one of the goals of Daisy Chain, too.
“I think it’s a really intense, direct way for people to experience my favorite part of Missoula,” Lakatua says. “Maybe even for the first time.”
Daisy Chain Presents tends to host shows on either the punk/hardcore/metal side of things or the alt-folk side, and you can count on those genres at Daisy Fest, as well as more danceable rock bands, singer-songwriters and block party DJs, so there’s probably something for almost anyone. Don’t miss Seattle’s Dean Johnson, who manages to have a gorgeous voice and hi-country sound but a little bit of edge, too. Missoula favorites Cosmic Sans are high-energy fun. And, if you like garage punk that’s fun, not derivative and has a long history in Montana (though they now live in Brooklyn) do not—I repeat: do not—miss Idaho Green, who close out the festival.
