How much do we love Tennis Pro? Let us count the ways …

1) “Imaginary Girl” is naturally, one of our favorite songs. EVER.

2) They donned dresses and makeup to sing their hearts out for us at our Exile in (Imaginary) Girlville 6^th Anniversary/Liz Phair cover night in 2008.

3) They interviewed The Cops for us in 2005! And then … got interviewed BY The Cops.

4. They continue to rock our socks off, leaving us exhausted from screaming until our throats are raw and dancing like maniacs during their sets.

5.) They joined us in 2004 for our Rockstar Suicide Karaoke Silent Auction Bash!

6.) AND! They are going to support us again by taking the stage at our upcoming Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Night on Friday, June 1 at Chop Suey.

We’re not sure exactly what will transpire, but rumors abound that Phil will be leading the vocal onslaught, with Sean & David grabbing the mic at some point to belt their Tennis Pro hearts out.

We have our own ideas about which New Wave hits they should sing for us, but Tennis Pro’s been known to buck the trends, so uh. We’ll just have to see what happens!

And hey! Did you know that there is a movie coming out starting Tennis Pro? It’s called Big in Japan, it’s directed by John Jeffcoat, and we kind of can’t wait for it to be released:

{photo of Phil Peterson at our Exile in (Imaginary) Girlville bash by Jeanine Anderson}

{Noddy at Dancing on the Valentine 7! photo by: Benjamin Haley}

So I have this beat-up CD of Noddy’s called Goddamn Heart Attack that I picked up at a show loooong ago (2006, I believe) when they opened for a band I no longer remember at High Dive (I *think*).

Anyway, Noddy has evolved a bit since then, but I will never forget the moment they took the stage and I fell for their pop-synthy tunes and pretty vocals. Every time a song from that CD pops up on my iTunes, I can’t help smiling—in fact, every time I’ve seen them play, my face starts to hurt from all the crazy, happy grinning.

On February 10^th of this year, Noddy played Dancing on the Valentine 7. Arriving in striped shirts inspired by vintage Duran Duran pictures (as shown above), they totally KILLED IT  on stage with covers of "Big Thing," "Red Carpet Massacre," and "Someone Else Not Me."

We think Noddy is the perfect choice to sing some New Wave karaoke with us!!! They’re still trying to narrow down exact choices, but let’s just say I’m super happy with the three song choices they’re juggling … maybe I’ll even drag out my Doc Martens for the occasion and pretend I’m at The Underground, circa 1987.

Get prepped for some hand-clapping Noddy goodness with their video for “Black Heart”:

As you may have heard, 2012 marks Three Imaginary Girls' 10th anniversary of being Seattle's sparkly indie-pop press and we can't think of a more imaginary way to celebrate than with a big bash with some of our favorite rockstars and YOU!

On Friday, June 1st at Chop Suey, we're going to host the biggest TIG birthday party of all imaginary time with some of Seattle's most stellar rockstars taking the karaoke mic to sing in the key of new wave, including:

Sean Nelson
Lesli Wood
Megan Seling
Jenny Jimenez
Shane Tutmarc
Alicia Amiri
Cristina Bautista
Anna Banana Lange
Jenny George

and members of:
Visqueen
The Young Evils
Exohxo
Tullycraft
Math & Physics Club
Tennis Pro
Mal de Mer
Black Nite Crash
Kithkin
The Mangles
Your Favorite Book
Noddy

It can't get any more astonishing, right?  Well, the rockstars aren't the only ones taking the mic, we want YOU to sing too! Throughout the night, audience members can volunteer to take the Chop Suey stage by storm to karaoke their favorite new wave hit.  Folks will be chosen first come, first served, so get there and turn in your song early (doors are at 8:30pm)!

To add to the birthday merriment, the evening is going to be hosted by imaginary Dana and Adrian LeFluer (of Iron Composer fame), who you might remember stealing the show as emcee at our 69 Love Songs cover night a few years back. 

Get your ticket to the night of new wave love and big imaginary fun now!

As an added bonus for those at the show,  you can be the first to pick up a copy of the Imaginary Zine! A printed old school zine recounting our first 10 years in stories and recounted memories from our imaginary friends. It will have a special (glow in the dark and sparkly) screenprinted cover (thanks Seattle Show Posters / 112 Printworks!) and a cd chock full of rare, live, or exclusive songs by some of our favorite local artists, including The Long Winters, BOAT, Exohxo, The Femurs, Tullycraft and MORE!  It's limited to a hand-numbered print run of only 333, so you should make plans to pick up your copy at the show.

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We are over-the-moon excited about this Friday night, when the Vera Project will be filled with indie-pop giddiness and sweet melodic musings of one of our favorite  bands, Allo Darlin', and stellar opening band The Wave Pictures.  

The night is also a celebration of Three Imaginary Girls 10th Anniversary!  This is the first show in our series of anniversary celebrations and we would love to mark this special event with you, Allo Darlin' and The Wave Pictures.

It's been over two years since Seattle has had our Allo Darlin' fix, when they sold out the Rendezvous on their first visit to the Pacific Northwest back in October, 2010.  Since then, they've recorded and released (just last month) their amazing sophomore effort, Europe.  It's beautiful and smart, with lush engulfing waves of orchestrated pop and moments subtle unassuming diary entries. The album is clever, while steering clear of pretentiousness or preciousness… and white vinyl versions of it will be for sale at the merch booth!

And don't just take our word for it.  KEXP, who knows a lot more about what's what, is in love with them too. If you've listened to 90.3fm/kexp.org recently, you've likely heard the first single from the album Europe, "Capriconia."  It's catchy, without losing its ability to tug at your heartstrings (that pull you home!!!) and bring a tear to your eye (don't worry, we wont tell anyone you got so touched).

The show is all-ages and doors are at 7.30pm.  Don't dilly-dally, because the opening band is The Wave Pictures, visiting us all the way from London (as well).  They have a freshly-released brand new album, chock full of pop songs that some have described as gawky, sublime pop… but I like to think of them as a sweet blend of Hefner, Clinic, and Jonathan Richman, with the wits of John Peel.  I predict that seeing their set will add points to your indie-coolness klout score.

There's going to be so much imaginary love at the Vera Project this Friday, this show is not to be missed.  I don't want you to truly regret missing this double-bill of UK radness and imaginary anniversary fun, so here's a couple more reasons you should go:

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{Allo Darlin' photo by Steve Louie}

We always been in awe of David Schmader for being such an amazing talent; he's good at just about everything: writing amazing works of art, producing and performing one-man plays, and emceeing events (just to name a few). And, we've always loved him because he's a super generous and friendly guy... and now we have another reason to adore him: 

He shares our love of Allo Darlin' and heartily recommends their upcoming show, next Friday (5/11) at the Vera Project!!!

David astutely wrote in The Stranger's Suggests column: London’s Allo Darlin’, led by escaped Australian Elizabeth Morris, who plays ukulele, writes songs about diagnosing relationships via Woody Allen’s cinematic archetypes and making chili, and is brilliant.

We couldn't agree more! We also couldn't be more honored by his kind words about the Allo Darlin' / Wave Pictures show, which also happens to be the first show in our 10th Anniversary celebration series.

Next time anyone crosses paths with David, tell him how brilliant he is (and buy him a beverage, at the very least).

Don't forget, there's still a couple days left to enter to win tickets to the Allo Darlin' show! Enter to win tickets before noon on May 3!

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We are super excited to be featured in the April, 2012 edition of City Arts Magazine!!!  For such a fine publication to take time out of its busy schedule to write something about our 10th anniversary... well... we're beside ourselves. Mark Baumgarten has earned a lifetime supply of imaginary hugs!

Unfortunately, City Arts wasn't able to allot multi-page spread to include the behind the scenes skinny on who we can really thank for making all the imaginary magic happen everyday.  You probably already know these staggeringly wonderful superstars, but I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out to my imaginary co-conspirators: Amie Simon and Victoria VanBruinisse.  It's fair to say that absolutely nothing would happen in the imaginary world without them.  It's also fair say that I would be a much lesser person without them.

Our amazing, steadfast, and kind calendar editor, Jason Doctor, has kept my favorite part of the site, our kick ass show calendar, up to date and packed with details for nearly all 10 of our imaginary years. My planner pants self would be lost without him (and his brilliantly dry wit).  I could go on for hours about Chris Estey. The fact that we've published thousands of his insights and opinions on Three Imaginary Girls over the years makes me beam with pride. If you haven't met him in person, can you believe that he's as sweet as he is clever?

And all of the amazing friends that volunteer their time and enthusiasm to keep the imaginary dream alive; Three Imaginary Girls is the luckiest website ever.  Reading the City Arts' article really made my day, mostly because it's given me a reason to tell all these folks (and YOU!) how much I adore them (and YOU!).

While we're lovefesting, if you have a Three Imaginary Girls-related memory to share with us for publishing in the Imaginary Zine, send it my way (liz @ Three Imaginary Girls . com) by end of day tomorrow!!!  Feel free to include mention of your favorite imaginary article, too!

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As we mentioned last week, Three Imaginary Girls is celebrating our 10th anniversary this year!!!

To celebrate the big ONE OH, we want to kick it old school with you and bring back our favorite way to celebrate most anything... Rockstar Karaoke!  In keeping with our Cure-inspired moniker and our love of all things synth-post-punk-pop and hair gel, the theme of the night will be New Wave and it's all going down on Friday, June 1 at Chop Suey!!!

It's been years since we hosted our last Rockstar Karaoke event, so in case you didn't get to experience one first hand, this is how we do it:  We gather up the finest indie-rockers in town and ask them to take the stage for one song and karaoke their hearts out as Seattle's best KJ (Karaoke Steve of Twilight Exit and Molly Maguires fame) plays the backing track.  There will also be a few open spots on the schedule for lucky audience members to participate throughout the night.  The air is filled with New Wave love and sing-alongs.

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Did you know that 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of Three Imaginary Girls?

We can't believe it either!  

To mark the big anniversary, we're going to celebrate it with a bunch of imaginary events throughout the year... 10 of them to be exact!  We're still firming some of them, so we can't do a full reveal, but let's just say that some rockstars should start working on their karaoke moves and you should make room in your wallet for the imaginary punch card (keep checking back for more anniversary party annoucements).

One of the 10th imagi-versary doo dahs we are working on right now is the first ever Imaginary Zine!  An old-fashioned photocopy cut and paste print zine with all of our favorite bits from the last 10 years.

The hard part is choosing said favorite bits, and that's where we could use some of your help.  Has there ever been an imaginary article that you recall as being your favorite, or you still giggle about, or was your first introduction to TIG?   

All of us around the imaginary office have been combing the archives to find *our* favorites, and boy oh boy is it tough. Personally, I haven't even made it passed the first five articles I've looked at (all written in 2002) and I'm stuck! Should my contribution to the zine recount the time I got to interview one of my favorite bands ever in a small English town? Or the first time I ever saw Tullycraft (back when they were just a band whose record I loved and loved) or reported on a Bright Eyes show?  Right now, I can't stop laughing about this line from embracey from our review of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives:

"I haven't felt this Ikea-rific since Lena Olin became a regular on Alias!" he drolly emoted, thoughts of Ingmar Bergman obviously racing through his head. "If I weren't vegetarian, I'd be tearin' up some Swedish meatballs, ok?"

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{Allo Darlin' photo by Steve Louie from the Imaginary Flickr Photo Pool - taken at their October, 2010 show at the Rendezvous}

It's barely 2012 and already we have news worthy of a shower of fireworks. Imaginary favorite Allo Darlin' are coming back to town!!!

Three Imaginary Girls is beyond excited to present their all-ages show at the Vera Project on Friday, May 11, 2012 as part of our big 10 year celebration (yes, can you believe it? TIG is turning 10!!!).  Don't delay, tickets go on sale at 10am on Wednesday {1/4/12}!!!

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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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