Sunday, July 19, 2009
6:00pm | All Ages
Marymoor Park Amphitheatre
Death Cab For Cutie with Special Guests: Saturday, July 18, 2009, and by overwhelming demand a 2nd show has been added: Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 6:00pm at the Marymoor Park Amphitheatre.
Tickets: $35.00, not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale NOW at all Ticketbastard outlets, online at www.livenation.com and www.concertsatmarymoor.com.
While Olympia’s Letters works on the studio follow-up to last year’s “In Case we Lose What We Have”, they have been releasing various teasers. Last month they had a song on the latest Ball of Wax compilation (#15), a Seattle quarterly compilation put out by Levi Fuller. The track is called “Grand” and features Seattle’s Kieran Harrison-Buehlinger (Corespondents, Hecka Ar, etc) on the one-stringed Chinese instrument, the don bao. A version of “Grand” will be on the new album.
[audio:http://www.nwmusicblog.com/downloads/letters-grand.mp3]
Grand
Last month they also did a cassette tape-only release of improvised compositions called “Insta”; the album uses a ridiculous array of instruments and covers some serious genre ground. “Ground” is among the ground covered.
[audio:http://www.nwmusicblog.com/downloads/letters-ground.mp3]
Ground
The Shins: Monday, May 4, 2009 at 9:00pm (All Ages) and Tuesday, May 5 at 9:00pm (21+) at Showbox at the Market.
Tickets: $34.99, not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale Friday, March 27 at 10am at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone 206-628-0888, or the Showbox box office.
Fifteen months after abruptly closing its doors, the Crocodile has reopened. To kick things off the venue hosted a pair of free shows. On Thursday night Hypatia Lake, the Kindness Kind and the Quiet Ones welcomed the Crocodile back to the Seattle music scene. Last night Akimbo, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, and Patrol thoroughly blew out any dust that might have remained from the remodling.
First, the Belltown neighborhood hasn’t changed much. There is still no place to park and it’s full of weekend warriors from the burbs (as I walked to the venue I heard a woman yell, “Oh my god, my boobs are popping out.” as she tried to run across a cross walk before the light changed). The Crocodile on the other hand is almost unrecognizable. The entrance is now on Blanchard street (the doors at the bottom of the ramp near where the restrooms were that were never used. The old entrance on 2nd Ave now leads to a smokers pen.) When I walked in Patrol was already playing. One thing that hasn’t changed is the sound. The place still sounds fantastic. It’s great to see Jim Anderson at the sound board doing what he does best. The new stage runs along the south wall of the show room and seems much bigger. The new lighting is going to make every band look like huge stars. When you stand looking at the stage it’s easy to think you are in a much larger venue.
Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, AKA Tad Doyle’s new band, proved the sound system can easily handle the loudest, heaviest bands. And the sight lines are great. The huge column is now gone and there is a mezzanine (I think this mezzanine is what caused all the Neumos comparisons I overheard last night. Rumor has it that the bar in the mezzanine serves stiffer drinks). But the room does not have a good flow. The main bar is now opposite from the stage along what used to be the window in what was the cafe area. All night long people who were going to get drinks were running into people returning with drinks as they all tried to weave through the people watching the bands.
And what’s with the bathrooms? They seem way too swanky. Especially since at the end of the night they are still going to end up looking like the bathrooms at El Corazon.
I’ve only recently gotten into Akimbo. I’ve always thought they were great musicians, but never fell in love with their music. But damn are the fun to watch. The crowd was really into their set. Full-on moshing was going on and it made the place feel alive. Akimbo promised a Nirvana cover if anyone took a stage dive. And when the singer from Patrol did just that, the band kept their word played a version of “Breed” that whipped the crowd into a frenzy. I thought it was a fitting tribute to the house that grunge built.
This is not the old Crocodile. Some of the coziness has been lost, but overall I think the new version will be seen as superior to the original. I look forward to seeing many shows here.
We get a ton of press releases from all over the country, and do our best to pick through them to find bands from the NW or who are touring the NW. We’ll be doing a sporadic series of posts just throwing the releases out there (here) regardless of origin/desination. Without further ado, here is NWMB Press Release Roundup #1.
The release:
We’re excited to be working with DUBIOUS RANGER (www.dubiousranger.com). They are a San Francisco-based band with a funky new sound that mixes David Bowie, Pavement, Talking Heads and modern indie rock. We hope you’re excited about them too. But, so far, we’ve not gotten your feedback. Hence, this email because inquiring minds want to know.
Our take: Nice tight 80s sound, “Weapon” slightly reminiscent of Duran Duran.
[audio:http://www.shorefire.com/media/Autorail_20090114_170213.mp3]
The release:
Toubab Krewe have added another exciting festival to their summer itinerary. The Asheville-based quintet, which Jambase calls “the next surefire stars of our scene,” are set to play the second annual Rothbury festival (July 2-5), after the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival (June 11-14).
Our take: Not our cup o tea, but we “get” why they’re successful.
The band: Born Anchors NWMB Pick[audio:http://freedownloads.last.fm/download/265319434/In%2BDisguise.mp3]
The release:
The new single Disguise from the BORN ANCHORS upcoming album “Sprezzatura!” is available for free download for a week before its CD release! Here’s a special link to the fully mastered album, available in full before the official March 23rd street date: http://www.last.fm/music/Born Anchors/Sprezzatura
For more info about the band, here’s last Friday’s Song Of The Day interview at the legendary KEXP Blog: http://blog.kexp.org/blog/2009/03/13/song-of-the-day-born-anchors-in-disguise/
Our take: These new tracks are excellent. Catch Born Anchors at their Record Release Show @ Cha Cha April 5.
The release:
What do Silversun Pickups, Rogue Wave, Earlimart and Great Northern have in common? They’re all featured in GOOSEBERRIES, the new limited-edition book from Sterling Andrews, photographer and mastermind. This one-of-a-kind collection will be available in a 12″ hand-painted gatefold featuring the 12 individual band portraits along with a bonus DVD of time-lapse videos documenting Sterling’s painting process during the shoots coupled with exclusive artist interviews.
The band: The Juan MacLean[audio:http://girlieaction.com/thejuanmaclean/OneDayJamesCurdRemix.mp3]
The release:
If ever there was a musical act guaranteed to put a smile on your face, The Juan MacLean is it! In fact, so confident of their intent and ability to bring joy to the world, they actually called their latest dance jam “Happy House,” which nobody could dispute. The track had music lovers like our friends at The Fader “drooling like babies”, and Pitchfork noting that the song’s “dozen never-wasted minutes” were “happy and housey as all get out.”
Our take: The Human League, 2009
Get ready to celebrate St. Patty’s and the music of The Pogues this weekend when PacNW super tribute group K.M.R.I.A. play the Crystal Ballroom Saturday.
Paying tribute to the rowdy Irish folk-rock of The Pogues, K.M.R.I.A. “are a celebration of their virtuosity, songcraft, and spirit” according to the band’s myspace page. And with as much collective talent as they have, I think it might be wise to take them for their word.
K.M.R.I.A.’s all-star ensemble features Chris Funk and Jenny Conlee of The Decemberists, Ezra Holbrook of Dr. Theopolis, Hanz Araki of The Whyos & Paperboys, Jesse Emerson of Amelia, singer Casey Neill, and Scott McCaughey of R.E.M. and The Minus 5. McCaughey will be pulling double rock duty, playing in both of the night’s bands.
Getting their name from “Kiss My Royal Irish Ass,” a line originally in James Joyce’s Ulysses and later used in the Pogues’ song “Transmetropolitan,” the band only assemble their rock superpowers Captain Planet-style to play shows around Christmas and St. Patty’s Day.
The details:
K.M.R.I.A. and The Minus 5—Sat., March 14 at the Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Burnside St. Portland, 21 and over, Tickets $12, Doors open at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m., Tickets available at Crystal Ballroom box office or Ticketmaster
KEXP will broadcast live from the studios of ME Television in Austin, TX during the SXSW Music Festival. KEXP DJs, John Richards, Cheryl Waters and Kevin Cole will broadcast fifteen live musical performances by PJ Harvey & John Parish, Andrew Bird, M. Ward, Peter Bjorn and John, Gomez, BLK JKS, Elliott Brood, Akron/Family, First Communion Afterparty and more March 18th-20th, 11am-8pm.
Jsun Atoms of The Upsidedown has a smile that charms for miles, and it’s widely visable as he strides into the room to greet me. A handshake and man-hug later, we find ourselves on a cozy couch backstage at the Roseland Lounge. Upstairs, The Rebel Drones are cranking out their trademark sound, and Sleepy Sun is rallying in the next room as they take the stage next.
Alright, so this show is actually headlined by Les Claypool (ex of Primus) and Saul Williams (one of the bigger deals in the slam poetry world) and they both are worth checking out at any time. That being said, if you’ve got 30 extra bucks to burn head on down to the Showbox Sodo on March 11th at 7pm to see the lovelies of Yard Dogs Road Show. Started by nouveau-hobo Eddy Joe Cotton in 1998 as a 3-piece jug band, the group has expanded to include 13 members including the seriously deliciously Black and Blue Burlesque girls (I’m tres picky about my burlesque and they definitely bring it), an absolutely gorgeous singer/trombonist, Lily Rose Love (the only thing better than a hot lady trombonist is a hot lady playing the accordion, imho), and one of my favorite bellydancers on the face of this planet, Zoe Jakes. YDRS’s hobo cabaret/vaudeville/traveling circus/sideshow mouth-watering fabulosity will put butterflies in your bucket, sho ’nuff!
http://www.showboxonline.com/sodo/
