There's been an incredible current underfoot in our fair city these past few weeks, as two noteworthy nonprofits -- the Seattle Theater Group and 826 Seattle -- have been gearing up for their annual fundraising events. On April 28th, STG presented DOORS: Opening Doors to the Arts, a combination dinner, live show and paddle raise held at the Paramount Theater that funds dozens of incredible programs and community initiatives each year. Between the silent and live auctions and the actual straight-donation paddle raise that collectively brought in over $430,000.00 {!!!}, there was also a live show featuring some of the teachers, students, and performance groups that STG has been able to reach out and impact -- and a special performance from Allen Stone with members of the Seattle Rock Orchestra.
I'm almost not quite sure how to begin recounting last night's show at the Fremont Abbey {Round #83, with Damien Jurado, The Head and the Heart's Jonathan Russell, and members of Pretty Broken things, two painters, and a poet} in a way that conveys it with proper justice. So far as layperson's terms go, it was just a show: two forty-five minute sets on a stage, three lead singers trading off turns, with active art creation on the side and yes, even the poetry was good. But when you take two powerful frontmen and put them in such an intimate setting -- you're bound to win big. And I think I can speak for the entire sold-out room when I say that everybody won last night.
Between getting to see Damien Jurado's work showcased at such a tangible, stripped-away scale {both through selections from Maraqopa and long-standing favorites like "Sheets"} and Jonathan Russell's raw-yet-polished abandon {several new-to-me songs, a Bill Withers cover, and an incredible closing number about getting postcards you don't want that's been rattling in my brain since The Head and the Heart's Easy Street set last year}, we were taken on a collective journey through the soundscape that engaged both the audience and the other members on stage in a way you just don't see at a one-band-at-a-time rehearsed show. Such is the beauty of seeing performers in the round.
Latest comment by: imaginary victoria: "hey spiro, I didn't want to be disruptive to the performance and had to shoot "around" the folks sitting in front of us -- no, nothing I managed to get of her came out. :("
As expected, it was an incredible week and weekend full of shows, up to the brim with the sounds of the Magnetic Fields, Sharon Van Etten and The War On Drugs, and most notably, Nada Surf's show at the Neptune Theater. We went into Saturday's set with last month's performance {with Say Hi at the Tractor} fresh on our lips and minds, knowing it was going to be a tough night to beat -- but even with triple the crowd and a significantly more cavernous room, the band still managed to bring a good dose of incredible to the table. Matthew Caws & Co. pulled two hours of hits and B-sides from a wide cross-section of their catalog, gracing our ears with everything from tracks like "Blonde on Blonde" and "The Way You Wear Your Head" to "When I Was Young" and "No Snow" from their latest and greatest the stars are indifferent to astronomy, and proving for the umpteenth time that these indie rockers are a full-frontal force to be reckoned with.
Australia's An Horse opened up the night.
An Horse:
Remember how I told y'all to be at The High Dive on Friday to see the most excellent PDX band Blue Skies for Black Hearts take the stage? I hope at least some of you made it out, because they TOTALLY ROCKED IT. (duh, like they wouldn't)
Anyway! There was a last-minute band addition, so BS4BH played first, and super-early, starting their set just after 9pm. I am happy to report that even though the crowd was scarce, the boys gathered an impressive menagerie of dancing (in Seattle? WHAT?) groups near the stage by the time they were 2 songs in to the set. The boys in The Ames (the Belligham-based band that followed) seemed particularly impressed, and were very enthusiastic about getting down to some grooves. Again: dancing? in Seattle? WHAT. Just another of the many side-effects Blue Skies offers when rocking their audiences' socks off.
{More photos after the jump}
It was another amazing year for Dancing On The Valentine, Jenny George's annual leukemia and lymphoma Duran Duran cover night benefit concert. Friends and fans packed the Crocodile while we heard most excellent renditions of DD hits and B-sides from the likes of Lesli Wood, Daniel G. Harmann, Noddy, John Roderick, and Fly Moon Royalty. Show-stealers NighTraiN took the stage with Hotels for a mindblowing cover of "Come Undone," Princess brought metal sensibility to Duran Duran's music like we've never quite heard it before, and Exohxo and Katie Kate rounded out an incredibly successful night. The tally is still in the works, but rumor has it that a very impressive amount of money was raised for a donation. Nice work, Seattle!
In case you were up in the photo booth (thanks Ben "The Chauffeur" Haley and assistant) and missed one of the songs, here's a recap of who oh-so-amazingly did what! We got our photo booth on too, so if you see any errors here, please let us know and we'll update:
Lesli Wood with Jupe Jupe - Girls on Film / Wild Boys
Davidson Hart Kingsbery - Skin Trade / Do You Believe in Shame?
Daniel G. Harmann & the Trouble Starts - Planet Earth / Electric Barbarella / Secret Oktober
Noddy - Red Carpet Massacre / Big Thing / Someone Else Not Me
Hotels - Come Undone (with NighTraiN) / Save a Prayer / A View To A Kill / Late Bar
Princess - Careless Memories / New Religion
John Roderick - Lonely in Your Nightmare / Hold Back the Rain / The Chauffeur
Fly Moon Royalty - Read My Lips / All You Need is Now
Exohxo - Rio / The Reflex / New Moon on Monday / Union of the Snake
Katie Kate - Hungry Like the Wolf / Notorious / Ordinary World
And, here's some photos to prove it all happened:
Lesli Wood and Jupe Jupe:
Latest comment by: KenDarling: "What an amazing night! It really was great for the cause. Rumor is, a lot of money was raised and I literally bruised my hand while clapping on stage during Rio. Great night! "
The working subtitle for this photoessay was almost Fuck Everything Else, Indie Rock Wins Forever. Because there's no other way to say it: Nada Surf puts on one hell of a pulsing, swoonworthy, face-shredding rock show. And not just any kind of rock, mind you -- this is fully legit indie rock, a term that gets tossed around way too loosely these days. You just have to know it when you see it: in this case, Nada Surf delivers their particular take, with the kind of big-guitar storytelling madness that keeps the crowd moving for the duration of the set, while blowing out eardrums in the most beautiful of ways. Without hesitation, I'll even go so far as to say that Nada Surf comes damn close to giving bands like the Wrens a run for their money -- and those of you who know my personal dedication to all things Wrens know the {musical} gravity with which I speak when I make that kind of a statement.
To wit: the setlist was flawless, and opener Eric Elbogen {nee Say Hi} did a tremendous job warming up the crowd with his batch of attention-grabbing, carefully delivered songs. I only wish more people would have stopped their yammering to pay more mind to his set, but with a sold-out venue that's on their tip-toes readying to rock the fuck out, there's only so much you can expect past the first five or six rows.
Say Hi:
{This is part two of two in our best-of photo series of 2011. Take a peek over at part one here, and don't forget to check out our festival best-ofs part one and two as well!}
Favorite photo #5: Ocean Shores :: In a get-to-know-your-roots {PNW edition} kind of road trip, we hopped in the car one weekend with esteemed sometimes-imaginary photographer and fellow transplant Laura Musselman for a ride out to the water -- Ocean Shores, to be exact -- with jaunts to Aberdeen and Hoquiam on the way. It was all at once melancholy and sun-filled, juxtaposing sad, semi-abandoned mainstreets with a big, bright, full-fledged kite festival once we were beachside. Strange as it was for those two worlds to meet, it was definitely a day trip for the books, yielding a half-dozen photos that easily made our best-ofs for the year (like the one above). {more field trip photos} {Laura Musselman}
Favorite moment #5: Eef Barzelay {at the Madrona Ale House} :: The night after Eef Barzelay's headlining appearance at our Imaginary Holiday Spectacular, he played a much quieter affair as part of a private party at the Madrona Ale House. Abandoning the PA after three-quarters of a song, he sat down across the table from us, where he proceeded to stay for much of the show. The result? A very front-row seat for one of our favorite performances of the year. You can even hear a moderately decent recording of one of his Journey project tracks from the show over here and relive the moment along with us! {more photos of Eef} {Eef Barzelay / Clem Snide bandcamp}
Favorite photo #4: Lovesick Empire at Neumos :: This one happened so early in the year that it almost slipped through the great sort-through! Way back in January, Lovesick Empire played an AMAZING set at Neumos, and even though they're pushing forward with a slightly different lineup than seen here, they are still making some of the most kick-ass music coming out of Seattle today. It's huge-sounding, dirty, full of guitars, and cuts right to the point -- another one to add to your "do not miss under any circumstances" list of live bands to catch so that you don't regret it forever the morning after they've played. {more photos from the Neumos show} {Lovesick Empire FB}
Favorite moment #4: John Roderick's pre-City Arts house show :: We were the luckiest of all ducks to not only attend, but actually host a super-intimate house show with John Roderick out in Ballard this past October, where less than two dozen folks pulled together a potluck and a city of tealights for one of our favorite shows of the year. John held court in front of the mantel, singing and storytelling and taking requests for more time than we could keep track of (minutes? hours?) while the room swooned away with delight -- like Eef's Alehouse show, we even managed to sneak in a homemade recording, which you can take a listen to here. Honestly, there's not much we can think of for 2012 that's going to be able to top it. {more photos from the house show} {The Long Winters}
There were so many great times in 2011 that we've had to divide them up into little compartments just to review them all: there are the photos that captured everything in the perfect just-so kind of way, forever burning the days and nights into the backs of our minds and our notebooks, and the moments where the light was less than perfect but we were swept off our feet nonetheless. Even though we're likely forgetting some key {literal and metaphorical} snapshots from both categories, we've taken a crack at listing our favorites spanning back to January of this year.
Favorite photo-and-moment #10: Michael Lee {of The Young Evils} :: Just the other month -- was it November? -- we found ourselves at the Rendezvous in Belltown for a most-excellent set from our friends The Young Evils, who put on a performance so good that it left us practically beside ourselves at the thought of new music coming from their camp sometime in 2012. While they shook and swayed the stage, we managed to snap our tenth-most-favorite shot of the year in between applause and hollers of bass player Michael Lee, who was looking particularly dapper that evening all dolled-up in a suit and tie. His whole vibe had a very alt.indiepop.McCartney-esque slice to it, and we're so glad we managed to capture it in a photo! {more photos from the show} {The Young Evils}
Favorite moment(s)-and-photo(s) #10: the Market in the summertime :: Right around the time of the Eddie Vedder / Glen Hansard shows this year -- July, to be exact -- we found ourselves with a bit of free time and some friends visiting from out of town {namely one of our imaginary Austin liasons, Amanda}, which made for an excellent excuse to get our tourist on down at Pike Place Market. Even though the sun this summer was moderate and fleeting, we were able to soak up some of it on the sidewalks and benches on some of the most picturesque spots in town, by far making it one of our favorite little slices to remember 2011 by! {more photos from the Market}
Favorite photo #9: Heligoats :: Ah! Heligoats may just be our favorite knew-about-but-didn't-know-about-until-this-year act, which we happily discovered during his sets over the weekend of the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular. Seen above performing at Columbia City Theater earlier this month, Heligoats {in this incarnation as Chris Otepka, solo} stole our hearts and our kneesock-clad tapping toes all at once with his wordy, smart storylines and earnest, upbeat sound -- and to have this photo to remember it by makes it all the better! {more photos of the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular} {Heligoats official}
{This is part two of our one-two punch showcasing the best in festival moments and photos from 2011. Start from the beginning here, where you can see picks #10 - #6!}
Favorite photo #5: Wye Oak :: Standing in the pit at Sasquatch! at the small stage is always a treat -- you're right up next to the performers, and unless someone's career has exploded between the time they got booked and the time the festival rolls around, there's not too many people mobbing the area surrounding the stage. Such was the case for Wye Oak, and while they were already a good, established band then with a solid crowd turnout, we were able to get up-close-and-personal for their set to capture this mid-song moment. If you haven't seen one of their many appearances -- Sasquatch! 2011, the shows with the National at the Neptune last month, or from the "HOLY SHIT" file: that time they played with Shearwater at the Triple Door in 2010 -- get out to see them on mid-sized stages while you can. {more photos from Wye Oak's set at Sasquatch!} {Wye Oak official}
Favorite moment #5: Del :: So, technically, this happened *during* Austin City Limits and not *at* Austin City Limits proper, but we couldn't compile a best-of without mentioning Del.
One morning, while loading up on espresso and bagels while uploading photos pre-fest on a hundred-degree day in Austin, we met Del. And as it turns out, Del is just an artist in a corner at a cafe, akin to those writing furiously in a notebook -- only he doesn't blog it, "show" it, exist anywhere on the internet, or have openings in art galleries. This is just what he does, and after getting permission to take his photo and chatting with him for a bit, we learned that this inky artpile is Del's form of art-therapy journal-y processing. While it wasn't a We Are Augustines set or a moment in front of the stage with Elbow, it was nonetheless a highlight of our ACL trip and well-worth preserving here in our 2011 storyline!
Favorite photo(s)-and-moment #4: Sharon van Etten
Favorite moment-and-photo(s) #4: Aloe Blacc
What an amazing, amazing pair of sets these two put on at Sasquatch! this year. Sharon van Etten's sparse, gut-wrenching performance rang out all the way into the darkest corners of our hearts where the best reverb lies, and Aloe Blacc held up to every expectation we had going into the set. The fact that they both looked good doing what they both obviously love {and are so, so well-suited} to do just made capturing it in photo-form all that much easier. {more Sasquatch! 2011 photos} {more about Aloe Blacc} {SVE official}
It was a great weekend for the music books, with so many good shows going on around town -- and you can call us biased, but we really do think Friday's Imaginary Holiday Spectacular took the cake as the weekend-starter to top them all. We spent the night flitting between Santa Roderick's lap and the gorgeous theater proper with a hundred and fifty of our closest imaginary friends, with heartmeltingly good sets from some of our favorite bands: Heligoats opened the night up and managed to slay us with the achiest, best kind of hope; Temp Score and Mal de Mer kept the indie-pop party going mid-lineup, and the evening closed out with a solid, gorgeous set from Eef Barzelay. Between the bliss of getting to spend a party-show with such good folks, the full frontal ache of Eef's catalog, and the transition into "Wal-Mart Parking Lot" about midway through the set -- our polka-dotted holiday mixtape hearts were just about done-for.
Heligoats {Chris Otepka}:
Temp Score:
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The Drums + Craft Spells = total dance party!
The Drums + Craft Spells = total dance party!
The Drums + Craft Spells = total dance party!
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Willis Earl Beal wows small crowd at Barboza
Willis Earl Beal wows small crowd at Barboza
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