Saturday night, August 23, was a date I looked forward to for some time, for this night a rare reunion concert of the Posies was to occur at Seattle’s Triple Door. The lineup consisted of what was the original Posies, that is Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. The two formed The Posies while still in HS in Bellingham, WA and added a bassist and drummer a short time later. I saw their first performance in Seattle at a place called the Amazing Attic. The year was 1988. They dominated my music library through the early nineties before they went their separate ways a short time later.
The minute I heard the delectable harmonies of the two, all those memories came flooding back. Their songs have withstood the test of time. A couple songs they performed, Ironing Tuesdays and I May Hate You Sometimes came from their 1988 debut album Failure. Most songs were sung by Ken with harmonies by Jon and other than a few songs where Ken played a large grand piano, all songs were just the two of them with guitars.
This was the second show that was added due to popular demand and the club was maybe two-thirds full.
For the grand finale, local folk hero Star Anna joined them on stage an we had beautiful three-part harmony. But what was supposed to be the grand finale, ended up being a teaser, as Jon and Ken performed King Midas In Reverse before Ken announced that at their increased age, they can only play long enough before they need to pee.
The acoustics were impeccable and Jon and Ken clearly enjoyed playing with each other as much as everyone present enjoyed watching them.
The Posies will return to Seattle this October to perform at the Macefield Music Festival in Ballard.
Photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
