NWMB Recommends – Seattle Concerts for March

This March, Seattle has a huge lineup of great bands to continue where February left off. This month, again, I’d have to say that the High Dive in Fremont probably has the best schedule going – and beyond that – they’re GIVIN’ it away. Two free shows. One on St Patrick’s Day and another on March 8th with the Blakes and the Detroit Cobras! Other highlights of the month include the finals for Seattle’s SOUND OFF! the under 21 battle of the bands raging on at the EMP for the past month, Tiny Vipers at the Triple Door, and a rockin night on March 20th at Seattle’s newest venue, King Cobra. As always, I’ve got links to all recommended bands as well as some MP3’s hooked up so you can check out what we’re going on about.

What I’m Trying To Say is – Bring Back The Rock!

Rockin the ass out of Valentines day in Fremont.
It’s all a bit hazy, but it’s slowly coming back to me in bits and pieces. Valentines Night in Fremont, I attended what I’ve dubbed as the Unintentional Valentines Music Festival. The High Dive and Nectar both had 8-band lineups peppered with local favorites-both were considerably cheap to get into ($7 and &10 respectively)-and both are practically across the street from each other.
The High Dive was home to the Great Valentines Day Massacre. MC-ing the going-ons, along with Coz from presenters, Nada Mucho, was the (in)famous KEG. KEG IS “The Lone Ranger of Rock.” Everything you could possibly imagine from a person with such a title is doubly true for KEG. We even more appropriately titled him the Mayor of Rockville as he introduced himself to almost every individual in the crowd, shaking hands with his right while tossing his hair out of his eyes with the left. He paraded around the place decked to the teeth in butt-rock gear complete with ankle bandannas, skull headband, wristbands, bangles, spangles and obligatory rocker mascara. Even fingering his flying V as he went. KEG thanked each and everyone for coming. He even introduced us to Lake of Falcons, (who knocked the back wall out of the High Dive, but more on that later.) And all that’s not even the impressive part. Aside from being the one-man glam-rock show that he is, playing drum tracks and looping them along with rhythm guitar, then thrashing the ever living crap out of the stage, this guy has the best “rock-kick” I’ve ever seen. Seriously, we’re talking entire boot above the head, like 10 times a song. Fuckin’ A! And in the tiny 1/2 hour set that he played KEG pulled out every quintessential rocker move imaginable. From leaping off of chairs and monitors, to playing the guitar behind his head and with his teeth (not at the same time of course, he’s just a butt-rocker, not a god). The set ended with Keg’s sing-along tune, “What I’m Trying to Say is – Bring Back the Rock!” and left us all completely dumbfounded.
And all of this happened after Lake of Falcons broke in the night with an incredible-albeit short-set. I haven’t even gotten to that yet. Frig, I haven’t even left the High Dive yet. There’s still another venue to visit here. But first, lets talk about this Lake of Falcons.

Music for Lovers -Freemont’s Unintentional Valentines Day Music Festival

This Valentines day there is a strange anomaly happening in Fremont. Both Nectar and the High Dive have completely stellar line-ups scheduled consisting of sixteen, yes, count them, sixteen North West bands. 8 at each venue. Now the 2 places are not officially affiliated with each other, but they ARE officially right across the friggen street from each other. Now both are a great value on their own. Nectar is only running at $10 for the entire night. High Dive, even cheaper at $5 ($7 doors).

Now just consider this, pay the door fee at BOTH Nectar AND the High Dive. You would be dropping a total of $15 dollars and have access to all 16 bands. That means you can catch the Cops AND Partman Parthorse. Hell if you hate either, you have the option to head across the street and see someone you’ve never even heard of before.

It’s your very own valentines day music festival.
So, that’s the plan. Band listings are after the break. Both events start at 8:00

TONIGHT: Lake of Falcons, the Whore Moans, & the Hands

Not quite sure how I missed this in my December shows post earlier this week, but this great lineup takes place tonight (12/7), 8pm at the……….Healthy Times Fun Club! Yeah, not sure where that is either, but LoF has suggested sending them an email for directions. I’ll let you know when I get a response.

These are great local bands, and the price of admission is “suggested donation.” Soooooo, technically, you could pay nothing, but that’s no way to support local music, now is it?

Dude, UPDATE: So, apparently the Healthy Times Fun Club is a good ol’ fashioned house party-type venue. Literally. According to a post on KEXP’s blog, the HTFC is the basement of a local Seattle couple willing to have their home invaded and rawked by various musical outfits. For directions, their myspace says to send ‘em an email. If you’s is into the loud shit, electronic-mail yo’ ass over there. PRONTO.

Beep Repaired Throws Thxgiving Bash, I Show Up

Local label Beep Repaired hosted a Turkey Day concert at the Crocodile this past Wednesday (11/21), featuring four solid Seattle rock bands: Juhu Beach, Lake of Falcons, Unlearn, and the Bismarck. Only two of the four bands are currently signed to BR, but they’re cool like that, and asked a couple of their friends to round out the lineup. Admittedly, I was there mainly to see Lake of Falcons, whose old-school melodic-punk style has intrigued me ever since my sister introduced me to them a few years back while she was still actively affiliated with the BR family. But the whole show ended up being well worth the six bucks I paid to get in. Juhu Beach opened the show, and, having never heard them before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. They answered the bell with flying colors. This four-piece played with a lot of energy, featured some notable song writing, and even threw in a flurry of non-annoying intersong banter. AMAZING!

MORE Recommended Nov ‘07 Shows

While Kevin did a fantabulous job with this month’s upcoming shows, there were a few more that I wanted to call out:

The Ponys – I know, I know, this was already included, but for the love of god, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE support this band!  They’ve put out three (3) solid albums to date and their infectious garage rock—embellished with pop sensibilities—is sure to please.  Their latest release Turn The Lights Out is awesome, but check out the previous LP, Celebration Castle, for the real goods.  TONIGHT @ THE CROCODILE ($10).

Grand Archives (w/ Helio Sequence & Minus the Bear) – This show goes down at the Showbox (ugh, “at the Market”) Saturday Nov. 10th.  With three solid local bands on the bill, this will no doubt be good.  While Helio Sequence and Minus the Bear have received plenty of high marks before (and rightly so), it’s Grand Archives that whets my whistle.  Mat Brooke (of Band of Horses and Carissa’s Wierd fame) fronts this recently signed Sub Popper. $16 Adv / $18 DOS All Ages

These Arms Are Snakes – This band is so awesome, not even the fact that their name is just the 2nd most awesomest band name ever can diminish their awesomeness.  For fans of local post-hardcore (that just means it’s LOUD and AWESOME).  Part of ISIS’s 10-Year Anniversary Tour.  Wednesday Nov. 14th @ Neumo’s;$15 Adv All Ages.

Lake of Falcons – So, in case you were wondering, this is the band with the best name ever.  EVER.  Just think about it: A lake…of FALCONS.  Fashioning a “throwback” grungy sound with crunchy monster-guitars and dual vocals, it’s a pleasure to see them still booking shows.  They’ve been around on fantastic DIY label Beep Repaired for some time, but haven’t got their proper due.  A great chance to support the hard-hats of the local scene: Wednesday Nov 21st @ the Crocodile ($6).

Les Savy Fav – This is another of my favorites…Art-rockers from Brooklyn celebrate their first release in three years.  The bass lines will slice you into pieces, the guitars will make you squeal and you just might get some sort of ambiguous liquid thrown on you by satiric frontman Tim Harrington.  I love this band.  Friday Nov. 30th @ Neumo’s ($18 Adv)

The Cave Singers with Fleet Foxes - Can’t say enough about the beautiful, macabre folk of Seattle’s Cave Singers and the 70s AM radio-inspired musings of Fleet Foxes.  Check them out while they’re still under the radar. Friday Nov. 30th @ the Crocodile ($10)

That is all.