Givers and (Show) Takers

Oddly enough, last night was my first show of 2011, but it certainly did not disappoint!  I went with two of my bestest concert buds, Tron and the Felarcanator.  Was also supposed to meet up with the roomie, but we continued our trend of Not Seeing Each Other, Ever.  Anyway, tickets were originally purchased due to the fact that Ra Ra Riot was headlining, and well...duh, but it had the added benefit of showcasing Pepper Rabbit (who I saw with Freelance Whales late last year) and some random other band, Givers.

Pepper Rabbit kicked the night off, and I enjoyed them from the balcony, whiskey ginger in hand.  They had quite the crowd watching, as you can see...normally opening acts at Neumos have 2 or 3 rows at the front and an empty backfield as people try and consume as many libations as possible before the headliners come on.  The Los Angeles based band is certainly worth checking out if you get a chance.

Next came the Givers, which imho were clearly the stars of the night.  From Lafayette, Louisiana, they had a great indie pop dance sound.  Super high energy, the drummer was a beast, and Tiffany, the girl of the group was a real show stopper.  She played the xylophone, drums and a ukulele and was very good at all of them (particularly the drums). You can tell they're still in the process of refining their music and have made vast strides since the release of their EP, to what today's version of Up Up Up sounds like.  Full album coming out soon...should be some really good stuff!

After the Givers left the stage, Ra Ra Riot came on.  Don't let me give you the impression that they were a bad show, au contraire, they certainly put on quite the performance.  They played some older stuff and some songs off The Rhumb Line, which I was more familiar with.  The cellist and violinist, both women, were not only quite formidable string players, they were also rather attractive (bonus!), each in their own way, a sultry cellist with a great voice, and the super upbeat cute girl next door violist who must have snapped 30+ horsehairs on her bow, given the fervor with which she played.   Their encore, fantastique aussi!

                     

I'll be in Cali for 10 days at the beginning of Feb, spending time with the ToA, but when I get back, it's Smith Westerns, Macklemore, Fresh Espresso, Girl Talk, The Naked & Famous and the Foals (tell me you're not jealous and I won't believe you).  I'm going to try and get my D90 in and get some real shots, rather than this iPhone garbage...

My Oh My!!

Seattle sports teams and I have had a tempestuous past.  The Seahawks were cool until, needing a scapegoat for their disappointing loss in Super Bowl, their ENTIRE fanbase took a personal vendetta against my Steelers.  So yeah, make the playoffs with a losing record this year, see if I care.  Go Black & Yellow!

On the other hand, the only "real" professional team to win a national championship for Seattle, The Sonics, bailed on Seattle for the Midwest.  This has left Key Arena largely empty for the past several years, although our WNBA team, the Storm, have recently done rather well for themselves there.

Then there are the Mariners.  Although they have been mis-rib since I've come to town in 2005, managing only one winning season, still falling short of making the playoffs (69-93, 78-84, 88-74, 61-101, 85-77, 61-101), I've still had some amazing times at Mariners games with the besties.  I love it when their eyes glaze over as they transport themselves back to a better time - 1995, when Griffey was young (which did not, unfortunately, preclude him from being hurt) the Mariners were the talk of the town and Dave Niehaus was electrically, emphatically and emotionally describing the games to a rapt Seattle audience.  

Unfortunately those days are over, and Dave Niehaus recently passed away, marking a sad day for a lot of my own close friends, and a morose nail in the coffin for that era of Mariner baseball.  Thankfully, another local Seattle-ite, hip-hop artist Ben Haggerty, aka Macklemore, teamed up with Ryan Lewis to release a tribute song to the announcing legend.  I heard it and couldn't help but feel like it's fitting.  Brother, Dirty Curty, Timbo, Yoshida, Drewseph (edit: and Jascha) and to all the Seattle Mariner and Niehaus fans...this post is for you.

Merry Christmas a day early from the Dowkstar...

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - My Oh My by Siegs

International Musiks are hot in Seattle tonight

Miike Snow, Deadmau5 and Holy Fuck are all headlining various locations around Seattle (SoDo, Paramount and Neumos, respectively).  I'm headed to see Miike Snow, but wish I could clone myself for the other ACL performer, Canuck DJ Deadmau5, so I could attempt to duplicate the dance off I had with Car at the Zync stage this past Saturday....or the wondrous Holy Fuck (also Canadian!) that played an amazing set at Sasquatch, and for which I was relatively coherent.

Miike Snow and Holy Fuck have been posted about before, but Deadmau5 is a MUST SEE SHOW when he's in town, so you should get to know some of his stuff.

I pulled his song, Animal Rights off the This Song is Sick Blog...it's a collab with Wolfgang Gartner.  Give it a minute to get going, and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Deadmau5/ Wolfgang Gartner - Animal Rights (Myndset Bootleg) by MYNDSET

a chilly fall in the northwest?

Snow in Seattle is rare, even in the thick of winter, but as it turns out, the stars have aligned and we'll actually be getting some this October! Ok, perhaps it will be Miike Snow, and not Snow snow....but still cool, methinks, aaaaaaand...my friend Les just let me know there is a ticket waiting for me, one month from today @ the Showbox at the Market.  Thanks Les! (and Kate)!

Actually, the band makes frequent appearances in Seattle, and has performed across the city on several occasions over the past year.  I was lucky enough to make it to one of their shows last year with my friends Sean and Erica.  The crowd was fantastic, and I think it has something to do with the odd persona of the oft-masked Swedish trio, Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson and Ponstus Winnberg; the masks add to their mysterious stage presence while the ffffffffat beats and light show put everyone in a great mood.

As you can tell, their concerts are great, but don't count out the work they do in the studio.  They've done some work with Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn and John, as well as this excellent remix of Vampire Weekend's The Kids Don't Stand a Chance.  Check them out, you won't be disappointed.


Miike Snow - Vampire Weekend VS Miike Snow - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance by telilys

Cap Hill Block Party Tonight!

Block party starts in just 2 hours!  There are a bunch of great bands, and I hope I find some cool local stuff before the headliners come Holy Fuck! (yes!)), Yeahsayers and the big boys, MGMT.  I hope MGMT puts on a better show than they did at Sasquatch, as I was kinda disappointed with their energy there.

In case you don't know Holy Fuck!, you should.  My buddy Foxy introduced these guys to me back when I was in the 404.  Lovely Allen is one of my favorites.  Check it!

The Lo-cal Lo-down

So today we've got two awesome bands from Seattle, both of which will be at the Capitol Hill Block Party, near the end of this month (July 23rd - 25th), which I highly recommend attending.  These come on the rec from my girl Ace, who is totally hooked up with the Seattle music scene.  Big up yourself, chica.

Probably best to start with Mad Rad.  Now I'm not saying they're rowdy, but they were temporarily banned from a majority of Capitol Hill, after a run in with Neumo's security.  This energy translates into their music, which spans a number of genres and my itunes lists as "other."  There's a lot of hip hop influence, but that doesn't count out the rock or indie feel to a lot of their songs.  I like the first half of their 2008 White Gold album a bit more than the back-end, with songs like My Product, Superdope! and Glitzerland.

Now we get to Fresh Espresso.  Notice how one of the members looks like P Smoov from the Mad Rad pic above?  There's a reason for that.  Same dude....go figure.  He's paired up with MC Rik Rude (originally in Michigan, now chillin in the Bay) to lay some pretty dope tracks.  I think the Seattle Subsonic guys do a great job describing their unique style:

"they get one hand waving in the air while the other simultaneously strokes the nodding chin"

 Diamond Pistols seems to be the crowd favorite on their debut album Glamour.  While you're at it, check out their tribute to Styx, Vader Rap.  So tight!