NWMB Recommends - Seattle Concerts and Shows for April, 2008

OK, I know I’m waaay behind getting the rock out to you kiddies this month, but I have been so sidetracked with the upcoming Black Keys show at Showbox on the 5th that I just coudn’t come up with any other shows. Regardless, with a little help from LB, I’ve got a great list of shows for April. Highlights are… well the Black Keys of course, but also look for Scott H Biram coming to El Corozon on Sat the 19th, RJD2 on the 12th playing at Chop Suey and my recommended show of the month (besides Black Keys) is Thurs the 1oth at Neumos. Shackletons, The Hands, New Faces and Born Anchors all playing together for $8. YEAH!
Have I mentioned the Black Keys yet? Well they’re playing Saturday night the 5th.
The rest of the recommendations are after the break, full with band llinks so you can listen before you go! Please let us know if there are any others you recommend.

Popularity: 31%

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.

Popularity: 43%

Initial Sasquatch Lineup Announced

There are some huge names already confirmed for Sasquatch this year as well as some other huge unconfirmed. The official announcement for the preliminary lineup went out over the 107.7 airwaves this morning. Between that and some web scouring, here’s what I found for some of the bands to expect:

R.E.M., (Saturday)
Modest Mouse (Saturday)
The Cure (Sunday)
Death Cab for Cutie (Sunday)
The Flaming Lips (Monday)
Mars Volta -pending (Monday)
Michael Franti and Spearhead
MIA
Built to Spill
The Presidents of the United States of America
Tegan and Sara
Flight of the Conchords
The Blakes
The Hives
The Cops
Cold War Kids
The Cave Singers
The Breeders
Joshua Morrison
Heavenly States
Fleet Foxes
The Cops
Siberian
Ozomatli
65 Days of Static
David Bazan (aka Pedro the Lion)

I also found some others that are rumored to play, tho I haven’t actually heard the official word on them. Lots of local names in here, many made our favorite album/singles of the year listings…
New Pornographers, The National, Beirut, Dedue Fever, Fleet Foxes, The Breeders, Okkervil River, The Little Ones, The Grand Archives, David Bazan, Joshua Morrison, Throw the Statue, Kinski, Battles, Jamie Liddell, Ghostland Observatory, Matt Costa, Awesome, J. Tillman, The Heavenly States, 65 Days of Static, White Heaven?, Mates of State, Blue Scholars, Say Hi, Dyme Def, Siberian, The Shaky Hands

Looks like things are warmin up. Literally. Viva la Springtime!

-UPDATE-

Sasquatch posted the official lineup here

Popularity: 29%

King Cobra Grand Opening

King Cobra, the new venue in the space that was once the dance club Sugar, and operated by the people that ran Kincora, has announced four nights worth of grand opening events, plus part of their March calendar. From the press release…

4 NIGHTS OF RADNESS GRAND OPENING PARTIES

It Takes A Full Weekend To Celebrate Seattle’s Newest Rock Club!
February 19, 2008 (SEATTLE, WA): King Cobra, Seattle’s newest nightclub, live music venue and home for rock & roll, announces today the lineup for 4 Nights of Radness Grand Opening celebration, to take place February 28, 29, March 1, and March 2, 2008.

Thursday, February 28 $10
3 Inches of Blood
Book of Black Earth
Toxic Holocaust
Plaster
Doors 8pm, Show at 9pm
——————————
Friday, February 29 $7
Neutralboy
Android Hero
Rain City Shwillers
Bucklin
Doors at 8pm, Show at 9pm
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Saturday, March 1 $6
The Emeralds
Neon Nights
The Valkyries
Doors at 8pm, Show at 10pm
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Sunday, March 2 $8
Visqueen
Quadrillion
Super-secret surprise guest DJs!
Doors at 8pm, Show at 9pm
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More press release after the break……

Popularity: 65%

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.

Popularity: 34%

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

Popularity: 34%

Sound Off! The under 21 Battle of the Bands

For the seventh year running, EMP hosts the all under 21 NW Battle of the Bands Competition, Sound Off! The event is meant to give young performers a once in a lifetime chance to showcase to Seattle what they have. In the past, bands such as Schoolyard Heroes, Idiot Pilot, Mon Frere, The Lonely H, Dyme Def, Capitol Basement, The Lonely Forest and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head have all battled it out in the finals and into our playlists.

But before we get to the final, we get to work through The Semifinals (which should be noted, happen in THREE parts) begining this Sat the 9th and continuing on the 16th and the 23rd. The semi’s feature 4 bands apiece and the winner of each will proceed to the Final on sat Mar 1st. Each round costs all of 7 bucks for students and EMP members, 10 for the rest of us to get in. All shows happen in the Sky Church which is almost worth sitting and staring at even without a band playing.

Here’s the lineup for each of the “semi”finals with finals TBA.
I’ve heard most of the first night’s bands on KEXP’s Audioasis with Lisa Wood last Friday. I personally think New Faces have a solid shot. The lead singer-all of 16- has already come into a full rich baritone voice without any of the Peter Brady crackles. I have yet to listen to the bands for the remaining nights but I have links to all their MySpace pages if you want to hear them out.

With the track record that this event has, I’d recommend checking out as many of the rounds as you can.

Semifinals round 1 - Sat Feb 9th f- 8:00 features
The Batteries, Carnation, WA listen
The Dead Are Judged, Marysville, WA listen
New Faces, Port Townsend, WA listen
and
Southgate, Pendleton, OR listen

Semifinal round 2 Sat, Feb 16th - 8:00 features
KnowMads, Seattle, WA Listen
The Nextdoor Neighbors, Olympia, WA Listen
Pat Goodwin, Seattle, WA Listen
Scribes, Seattle, WA Listen

Semifinal Round “3″ Sat, February 23 features
Deer City, Issaquah, WA Listen
Kusikia, Tacoma, WA Listen
Man Down Medic, Seattle, WA Listen
Shotty, Kirkland, WA Listen

FINAL happen Sat March 1 - 8:00

Popularity: 28%

Spoils, Wah Wah Exit Wound, Friday January 18th, Blue Moon Tavern, FREE

SPOILS

The best rock & roll qua rock & roll band in Seattle. Existing in a realm void of the pre-requisite irony or blaspheming idolatory of which infects current popular music propagation.

Extracting themselves from their various other constituencies (Master Musicians of Bukkake, Earth, Asva), Milky Burgess, Diamond Vincent, and Don McGreevy rock free.

Primordial electric finger-picking, supergruv rhythm section, and vocalizations emanating from some being’s core.

Doped-up, sexed-up, and fog-imposed tributes to the pure romance of the hedonsitic side of things.

WAH WAH EXIT WOUND

The naysayers of progressive rock only indicate their unprogressive minds. Progenitors of progressive rock who use the term should operate with caution as well to avoid semantic pitfalls.

Compositions designed to frighten and challenge within pre-existing languages. Presented from the realms of ADD denial and dreams of schizophrenic absolution.

Funk in 9, drunken pirate sing-alongs, odes to solary ocular organs, and a complete musical thesis on one interpretation of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations.

“Her eyes were the color of the sun!”

As always, the show is free. Because the Blue Moon is a free venue. And bands still get paid. Funny how that works. Required attendance for anyone who claims to have interest in the archaic musical tool known as “guitar.” Phenomenological demonstrations of various methods.

Only two bands on the bill so everyone gets to open up a little bit.

10 p.m.

Popularity: 44%