0 [LIVE REVIEW] Red Sparowes / Caspian @ Neumos (4/29/10)

Words and Videos by Nik Christofferson

Back on the 29th of April, LA post-rock quintet Red Sparowes along with Massachusetts natives Caspian took over Neumos for an overall enjoyable, sometimes epic, but as you would expect mostly yawn-filled evening of post-rock. Both bands are on tour in support of solid and relatively recent releases. Red Sparowes made available ”The Fear is Excruciating, but Therein Lies the Answer” via Sargent House earlier in the year, and Caspian dropped “Tertia” in late 2009. Both are well respected in their field, but it was Caspian who stole the show by shear deafening force and killer light show. While gangly guitarist Philip Jamieson and company unleashed massive waves of core shaking beauty, Red Sparowes effortlessly played nice instead, with their typical heavy mellow vibe. Not having the same complete annihilation quality as Caspian, Red Sparowes just couldn’t hold my attention as the “shit, it’s way past my bedtime” thoughts distracted from an otherwise flawless performance. I can tell you the crowd was certainly stoked on everything they were hearing. I’m even listening to ”The Fear is Excruciating, but Therein Lies the Answer” on vinyl as I write this, and damn is it great-- in the right context of course.

There are a number of talented bands currently boasting the sonically heavy instrumental sound commonly associated with the silly sub-genres of post-rock and post-metal, too bad most are just too boring to watch live; unless of course your name is Russian Circles. So for my next post-rock experience, I will be setting the mood by bringing with me to the venue a comfy lawn chair, blanket, and maybe, just maybe my own personal morphine drip bag to enhance the malaise.

The much hyped Fang Island opened with I’m hoping at least somewhere close to as much enthusiasm contained on their breakout self-titled record. I was tardy and missed’em. Bummer.

0 Night 2: Pearl Jam @ Key Arena (9-22-09)

Photo courtesy of Ryan Trager

Main Set: Sometimes, Why Go, All Night, The Fixer, Dissident, Johnny Guitar, Faithfull, Lukin, Not For You/(Modern Girl), No Way, Unthought Known, Unemployable, Comatose, Insignificance, Present Tense, Got Some, Go

First Encore: Just Breathe, The End, Black, In My Tree, Spin The Black Circle

Second Encore: Supersonic, Do The Evolution, The Real Me, Porch, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star Spangled Banner)

Highlights:

- NO WAY makes first appearance since Yield Tour in 1998, only the 4th time they have played it live ever.

Played previously:

9-7-98 Virginia Beach, VA USA

and now...

9-22-09 Seattle, WA USA

- "I'm a good tipper" speech:

- “Supersonic” lyrics are changed to reference the Seattle Supersonics.

- “Just Breathe” and “The End” is accompanied by the Octava String Quartet, including April Cameron.

- “The Real Me” is accompanied by the Syncopated Taint Horn Quartet.

More photos courtesy of Ryan Trager:

Full review coming soon, along with more photos.....

0 SRG Bumbershoot 2009 Recommendations

Bumbershoot is next weekend already! I can't believe Labor Day weekend has come so soon. Seattle's long running arts and music festival is always guaranteed to have something for everyone including a multitude of great bands. The only downside to the weekend long event is that it comes at the end of August and usually signals the end of our Summer in Seattle, quite bittersweet. Of course it'll stay warm for another month but it's usually one of the last outdoor concerts in the area, thus one of the last times to watch live music, sip on a frosty beer and soak up some sun rays all at the same time. In preparation for the weekend, and a means of sorting through the long list of musical acts descending on Seattle Center I'd like to give my recommendations on whom to check out.

Death Bells by Soulsavers with Mark Lanegan

This year my wife and I have decided to forgo the first two days or at least the first day in order to spend some quality time together doing something different. For my money this years festival is totally lacking in proper headlining acts (which hasn't been all that uncommon in past years as Bumbershoot usually attempts to increase their attendance by booking mainstream pop/rock acts), and compared to last years ridiculous trifecta of mainstage headliners (Beck/Band of Horses, Stone Temple Pilots/The Black Keys, Death Cab/Superchunk) it's just plain underwhelming as Sheryl Crow, and Jason Mraz close the show Saturday and Sunday. Monday is much stronger with the pride of Issaquah, WA Modest Mouse, as headliner. This doesn't mean that there is a lack of other awesome bands playing throughout the weekend.

Gunpowder by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

Saturday's highlights include Past Lives, Akimbo, The Whore Moans, Elvis Perkins, and The Long Winters. Sunday is better with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mt St. Helens Vietnam Band, No Age, Dave Alvin, and The Helio Sequence. Monday is by far the strongest day in my opinion, highlighted by Mark Lanegan with the Soulsavers, 3 Inches of Blood, The Cave Singers, Dead Confederate, and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears being worth the price of admission.

Battles And Brotherhood by 3 Inches of Blood

Summer Light by The Cave Singers

Of course there is also a ton of other stuff to do besides music at Bumbershoot. If nothing else show up and check out the awesome concert posters at FLATSTOCK 22, where amazing screen print concert poster artists sell their creations. I buy one or two every year, and have my house walls lined with framed awesomeness. You can also check out a bunch of great comedians like Patton Oswalt, chow on fair food, and enjoy the many entertaining buskers who perform all over the grounds. I love the vibe and freedom of festivals especially ones that take place in the shadow of the Space Needle. I hope to see you there, and if you spot me running around say hello. Below is my full recommended schedule pieced together at Bumbershoot.org. Cheers!!

Get full line-up here and Flatstock 22 info here.

0 Jay Reatard's West Coast Indie Record Store Tour

Tonight I ran down to Sonic Boom Records to catch garage rocker Jay Reatard play his second set in as many days as part of his west coast independent record store tour. Yesterday he played at Easy Street (QA), and tonight Sonic Boom (Ballard). Jay Reatard is touring in support of his excellant 2nd solo record on Matador Records "Watch Me Fail". The new record is a killer slab of lo-fi garage punk with pop sensibilities. Jay Reatard has a history of churning material with recklass abandon mostly in the form of 7" singles and EP's. The fact that he decided to release a second full length has surprised many of his fans.

Just like his show back in May at the Crocodile, tonight Jay Reatard and his full time rythm section churned out song after song without much rest. The songs in live form are played at extreme volumes and in my mind showcase much more of Jay's guitar skills and musical talent. He chooses to record in lo-fi, which I believe bogs down much of the power his songs posess. Non the less "Watch Me Fail" is a great record, and his live show even better. He had a nice mosh pit going at that last Croc show and I'm sure he will again when he makes his way back to Seattle in October. Here are some iPhone pics and his awesome new video for "It Ain't Gonna Save Me".

0 Last Friday: Pissed Jeans at Chop Suey

All Photos and Videos Taken By Palmer Sather 

I think the pics and videos speak for themselves. Pissed Jeans destroyed last Friday, their brand of raunchy, abrasive, and heavy as hell noise punk was a breath of fresh air and an excellant capper to my night of 3 shows. If only Sub Pop would sign more bands like this. Once again all pics and video shot by Palmer Sather, I put him to work and as I was busy pounding PBR tall boys and and rocking the fuck out!!

0 Last Friday: Suck Machine at Chop Suey

All Photos Taken By Palmer Sather

Last Friday I was met with an unexpected surprise. The opener for Pissed Jeans was punk rock cover band Suck Machine which features none other than Kurt Bloch of The Fastbacks and Sgt. Major III, Andrew McKeag of the Presidents, and Mike Musberger and Drew Church of the Supersuckers. They totally ripped it up! Check out the slideshow of pics taken by Palmer Sather.

1 Last Friday: The Flaming Lips @ Marymoor Park

All Photos taken by Palmer Sather

The Flaming Lips show at Marymoor last Friday was everything I hoped it would be and more. Once again Wayne Coyne and crew created another visually spectacular experience that was equal parts circus and acid flashback. The show was very similar to their headlining set at Sasquatch in 2008 sans the huge UFO, the Teletubbies who lined the stage, and the topless dancing women. This go around I guess you could say the stage show was a little more (or less?) stripped down with no giant UFO or topless women. The show did feature an opening sequence on the big screen that featured an animated naked dancing woman who eventually sat spread eagle with a bright glowing vagina that grew to fill the entire screen. The parents next to me covered their daughter’s eyes, which was pretty amusing. The Flaming Lips also sprayed the crowd with just as much confetti and giant balloons as always.

Wayne was up to his usual shenanigans; he crowd surfed in the giant hamster ball, shot plenty of confetti with his arsenal of confetti guns, and even performed a song riding on the shoulders of a gorilla. The set list was full of fan favorites such as “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”, “Fight Test”, and “Yoshimi Versus the Pink Robots”. They even broke out a song from their soon to be released double album “Embryonic”. “Convinced of the Hex” was very impressive live and was highlighted with heavy use of the smoke machine. Wayne also was very talkative mentioning how happy he was that Obama was in office and that every time he sees his face on TV it basically blows his mind that he is our president, at one point he even mentioned that the Flaming Lips opened for the Melvins their first time in Seattle; which would have been something crazy! Overall The Flaming Lips put on a hell of a show, just like I knew they would. They are just so damn much fun!

Did any of you go last Friday, I want to hear your thoughts on either this last show or a previous one. I know there are people out there who saw The Flaming Lips at Moe's back in the day. Please share, Cheers!

One last side note: once again all photos were taken by my brother in law Palmer Sather, his tenacity can be viewed below in the slideshow.

Set List (pretty close anyway):


1. Intro
2. Race for the Prize
3. Silver Trembling Hands
4. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
5. Fight Test
6. Bad Days
7. Enthusiasm for Life
8. Convinced of the Hex
9. Vein of Stars
10. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
11. Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung
12. The W.A.N.D.
13. She Don't Use Jelly


Encore:
14. Do You Realize??

0 Last Friday: The Moondoggies at the Mural

All Photos Taken by Palmer Sather

The Moondoggies performed an early set on Friday as part of KEXP and Seattle Center presents Concerts at the Mural. The show was a free event like the others and also included Johnny and the Moon, and the Fruit Bats. The Moondoggies played their typical onslaught of catchy folk rock to an endearing and packed crowd basking in the evening sun. The set featured crowd favorites like "Ain't No Lord", "Black Shoe", "Changing" and the unreleased but sure t0 be classic "What Took So Long" (My personal favorite).

I love the free mural shows! They have a very cool vibe with friends and families picnicking and relaxing for an evening of great live music. This was my first stop, and a perfect primer for the full evening of shows I had planned. The pictures below were taken by my brother-in-law Palmer Sather. He was my sidekick for the evening and did a great job capturing our adventures.

"What Took So Long"

0 Last Thursday: The Dead Weather at The Paramount Theater

Last Thursday The Dead Weather made their Seattle debut at the Paramount Theater, and the current Jack White project’s live show was nothing short of rock and roll excess. The stage show was riveting, and was everything you’d expect from a high profile rock band. The Dead Weather obviously has worked hard on their hour plus stage performance. Everything from Alison Mosshart’s choreographed movements to the captivating light show; the entire performance was extremely tight, and polished. On a side note Alison Mosshart is a superstar! She gets compared to Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but she is in a league all by herself, incredible performer.

From the first notes of “60 Feet Tall” to the last of “New Pony”, The Dead Weather played an inspired set of songs from their debut album “Horehound” also including “Hang Me From the Heavens” and main set closer “Will There Be Enough Water?”. This supergroup of polished musicians including larger than life rock star Jack White, sassy front woman Alison Mosshart (The Kills), bass player Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs), and guitarist/keyboardist Dean Fertita (QOTSA) is a winning combination.

The Dead Weather’s songs are swampy, erotic, gothic and bluesy all at the same time. Anchored by Jack White and Jack Lawrence’s thunderous backend, Fertita’s layers of heavy guitars and keyboards, and Alison Mosshart’s strong bravado The Dead Weather are extremely dark and moody; maybe even a little menacing in a live setting. Bottom line they were totally impressive sonically as well as artistically. Throw in a crowd pleasing moment of Jack White showing off his ridiculous guitar skills and a lip to lip duet between White and Mosshart; it was an unyielding rock and roll experience.

Set List:

60 Feet Tall
Bone House
Hang You From The Heavens
You Just Can't Win (Them cover)
So Far From Your Weapon
I Cut Like A Buffalo
A Child of a Few Hours is Burning To Death
No Hassle Night
Rocking Horse
Will There Be Enough Water?

Encore:

Forever My Queen (Pentagram cover)
Treat Me Like Your Mother
New Pony

1 Mudhoney @ West Seattle Summer Fest

One more quick post during my lunch break because they're is so much going on. I've known about this for quite awhile, but forgot to post because I knew I couldn't attend. I'll be lounging on a beach for a week on the northshore of Oahu next week instead. Anyways, there is a fun event this weekend in West Seattle much like the Fremont Solstice and U-District Street Fair. The West Seattle Summer Fest takes place on that awesome California Ave strip where Easy Street Records and the West-5 are located. It's a street fair with all sorts of cool stuff, food, and of course music. The headliner on Friday is none other one of Seattle's best Mudhoney!! It's alot of fun, Mudhoney will rock your socks off, and Easy Street has great deals on Vinyl!! I attended a few years ago when John Doe of X was there. He played a great acoustic set of a bunch of X songs and his own songs as well, but the highlight was the vast amounts of vinyl and cd's for sale outside Easy Street for super cheap. I think the records were $1 a piece, great travelers! Check out all the info at http://www.westseattlefestival.com/.

Here's the details from Easy Street's site about their sale:

The West Seattle Summerfest starts tomorrow (Friday) and continues through the weekend in the West Seattle Junction! Stop by and say hi and take advantage of rock-bottom prices on used LPs ($1 each/12 for $10), CDs ($2 each/3 for $5) and DVDs ($3 each/4 for $10) displayed outside of our WS store. The highlight of the fest's free music lineup is undoubtedly Mudhoney, playing Friday at 8:10 pm on the Alaska Stage (42nd & Alaska).

See ya in a week!

-SRG

0 Vote for Built To Spill's CHBP Setlist

By now hopefully you've heard the line-up for this years Capitol Hill Block Party taking place July 24th-25th. I won't dive too much into this years amazing bill until it gets closer to the show, but one of the Northwest's favorite long running indie bands Built To Spill has decided to let their fans choose the songs they'll play during their Friday night CHBP set. Pretty cool if you ask me! You can vote at The Stranger's Line Out blog but your vote has to be in by July 18th (Hopefully they won't mind if I help out). Just click on the link below and make a difference:

2 [KILLER SHOW(S) ALERT] SRG's July 2009 Concert Recommendations

Holy Crap! There are a ton of good shows scheduled in July so far. I have taken the liberty of scouring the calendars of all the best venues in Seattle, along with ticket sellers and various Seattle publications to compile this list of seattlerockguy.com concert recommendations. These are shows that I am personally attending, thinking about attending, or might attend if something else isn't conflicting. I get a lot of folks asking me about what shows are coming up, and which ones I am attending, so this list just about says it all. Again this is a biased list, this is only stuff I dig but again I think I have pretty good taste in music. Contact me if you want to know more about these shows, and leave some comments if I missed anything or you have other recommendations to share. Seattle Rock City!

Late June/July Concert Recommendations:

6/30 Pentagram, Nactmystium @ Studio Seven

- Legends of doom metal Pentagram and the future legends of psychedelic black metal on the same bill, kick ass!

7/1-2 Heiress @ Rendevouz and @ Comet Tavern

- Do you miss Himsa as much as I do? Catch John Pettibone’s new project two days in a row.

7/2 See Me River, Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death @ Chop Suey

- Kerry Zetel of Das llamas newish doom folk band with noise rock from Spencer Moody of Murder City Devils, excellent local music showcase.

7/3 Summer Slaughter Tour with Necrophagist, Suffocation, Darkest Hour and more @ King Cat Theater

- How can you go wrong with death metal legends Suffocation and Dying Fetus, Necrophagist, Darkest Hour, Origin, and Beneath the Massacre all on the same bill. This tour always features up and coming metal bands too. Who will be the next big thing?

7/3 Dirty Projectors @ Chop Suey

- Much hyped experimental indie band gets lots of love from KEXP, see them in a intimate setting before their new record “Bitte Orca” moves them up in the world.

7/8 Jim Rose Circus vs. Jake the Snake Roberts @ Showbox at the Market

- Very intrigued about this non-music event and odd combo of washed up WWF wrestler and Seattle’s own Jim Rose Circus. Jim Rose’s circus sideshow was made famous by his tours in the early nineties with Lollapalooza and Nine Inch Nails. I’d expect this to be a little on the crazy side.

7/9 Skeletonwitch, Saviours @ Chop Suey

- Skeletonwitch just got done recording their new record here in Seattle at Stone Gossard’s Studio Litho in my neighborhood with legendary grunge producer Jack Endino. They play speed thrash metal like it’s supposed to be played. Also on the bill is very cool stoner thrash band Saviours.

7/11 Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes): A Drink for the Kids Finale Benefit for Vera Project @ Neumos

- The Fleet Foxes are one of Seattle’s biggest bands at the moment lead by the hypnotizing vocals of Robin Pecknold. Supposedly he has a bunch of solo stuff for a possible solo record and I’m assuming will play some of those songs along with FF classics here to benefit the Vera Project.

7/11 No Depression Festival with Gillian Welch, Iron and Wine and more @ Marymoor Park

- A whole slew of folk artists get together at Marymoor Park, Iron and Wine should be the highlight.

7/12 Abigail Williams, Goatwhore, Daath, and Abysmal Dawn @ El Corazon

- Goatwhore is worth the price of admission, their southern tinged blackened death metal is as evil as their name suggests. The others make for a solid but sort of generic synth and melodic black/death metal lineup.

7/14 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival with Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Killswitch Engage, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Job for a Cowboy, Trivium and more @ White River Amphitheater

- SLAYER with a bunch of metal’s brightest and most accessible acts.

7/16 Wolves in the Throne Room with Minsk, Ninth Moon Black, Samothrace @ Neumos

- Excellent local black metal from Wolves in the Throne Room, and killer sludge from Minsk. Really good show here!

7/17 The Decemberists , Andrew Bird, Blind Pilot @ Marymoor Park

- Hazards of Love is an interesting listen, with sudo Black Sabbath riffs and prog rock elements it was even better live at Sasquatch.

7/17 YOB, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, Lesbian @ El Corazon

- 3 of the heaviest bands around! PDX’s YOB reunited after Middian was caught up in some legal nonsense over their name, BOTSC is Tad Doyle’s ridiculously heavy new project and Lesbian is one of Seattle’s best metal acts right now. Check it!

7/17 Social Distortion @ Showbox Sodo

- Punk legends, always a fun show.

7/18-19 Death Cab for Cutie, The New Pornographers, Ra Ra Riot @ Marymoor Park

- Really liked “Narrow Stairs”, there is something about DCFC that draws me in, maybe I’m a sucker for pop rock?

7/19 Red Fang, Helms Alee, Black Eyes and Neckties @ Comet Tavern

- This show is the one I am looking forward to almost as much as the CHBP. Red Fang is one of best metal bands coming out of Portland right now, and they get to share the stage with the best stoner metal band in Seattle right now Helms Alee which features Ben Verellen of Harkonen. Last time I saw Helms Alee it was at the Comet standing right next to the speaker. Best fucking show ever!

7/23 Flight To Mars (UFO tribute featuring Mike McCready of Pearl Jam)

- Rockin’ good time from Mike McCready’s UFO tribute band, come out and support CCFA.

7/24 Candlebox and Soul Asylum @ Snoqualmie Casino

- Wouldn’t probably ever set foot in this casino or waste money on this show, but it was intriguing enough to add to the list. What’s up with the 90’s band resurgence, some are welcome but not too sure about these hacks.

7/24 Clutch, Baroness @ King Cat Theater

- Too bad this is conflicting with The Jesus Lizard, otherwise I would be front row center for this stoner rock goodness.

7/24 Warning: Danger! @ The Funhouse

- Local hardcore punk with an amusing shtik. Warning: Danger! ain’t nothin’ to fuck with!

7/24-25 Capitol Hill Block Party featuring Sonic Youth, The Jesus Lizard, The Gossip, The Black Lips, The Thermals, Built to Spill, The Moondoggies, Earth, Akimbo, Pela, Deerhunter, Spinnerette, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and many more great bands.

- Hands down best local festival this year, kudos to the CHBP team for curating such a diverse and strong lineup.

7/27 Gomez with Mother Hips @ Showbox at the Market

- Going on tour with Pearl Jam in Europe, must be better than that one Grey’s Anatomy song suggests. Intriguing but probably won’t be in attendance, maybe I’ll see what the hypes about this fall, crossing my fingers.

7/31 Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands @ Sunset Tavern

- Have yet to see Ex-Screaming Trees drummers rock-country project just hear a lot of good things.

7/31 Blitzen Trapper, Throw Me the Statue @ Seattle Center

- Free show put on by KEXP with Portland's resident folk rockers and Seattle's lo-fi indie poppers.