Seattle-based songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist Rob Middleton has returned to the scene and is preparing an album’s worth of songs for release. Working with him on this project is Bill Ackerlund, an old friend from the ‘hood. Rob writes everything and performs everything. Bill is the engineer and co-producer. They have been gracious enough to …
Monday night April 15th Seattle’s Showbox SODO hosted the Godfathers of Punk — Bad Religion. Around since 1979, the only band considered being in the punk genre that rivals Bad Religion in longevity is Social Distortion. Social D was born in 1978 but didn’t release their first album until 1983. Bad Religion released their first …
Saturday night March 30 Seattle’s Neptune Theater hosted the legendary Mike Nesmith. Once one fourth of the sixties bubblegum band The Monkees, now an artist in his own right, Mike Nesmith came on stage spot on time at eight o’clock. There was no opening act, just Nesmith and a backup band. He opened with the …
Many people who discovered punk rock in the late 1970s or early 1980s have a variation on this story: “I was walking down the street, minding my own business, when a car slowed down and a meathead yelled ‘DEVO!’ Then a beer bottle hit me in the head and the car sped away.” By the …
A lot comes along between one’s early twenties and the midst of “thirtysomething” — careers, wives, children — but the spark of youthful, musical chemistry doesn’t always diminish over time. Some fourteen years and six albums after Left Hand Smoke made their first Seatown splash as local-radio darlings, the band certainly still has “It.” Through …
Seattle writer Chris Estey will chat with Richard Hell, a true King of Punk, live on stage Thursday, March 21, at the Rendezvous in Seattle (2322 2nd Avenue) at 7 PM as part of a show promoted by the University Bookstore. Richard Hell has a new book out called I Dreamed I Was A Very …
The lecture in which Pat Thomas will participate, sponsored by the Northwest Film Forum on 1960s/1970’s underground African American films on Saturday March 23rd in Seattle has been changed from 8 pm to 6 pm – the NEW time for this free event is 6 pm ! After two trips to London (May and October …
Reverend Horton Heat & Jello Biafra Rile Up a Sold Out Crowd At Seattle’s El Corazon, By Holly Homan
Friday night and I’m back at Seattle’s El Corazon. This night it’s The Reverend Horton Heat and the legendary Jello Biafra headlining. Preceding are Huntington Beach punks Guttermouth. I arrived quite early, but about fifteen minutes before Spitting Cobras were to take the stage, hunger pangs began to overtake me, so I left the club, …
On a drizzly Thursday night I ventured ten miles south to the University of Washington’s Science & Engineering Building for a seminar on Scrap the MAP. As many of you know, there has been a boycott started in the Seattle School district against the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) test that is forced on students …
Saturday night in Seattle and I attended yet another great show at El Corazon. This time it’s a rockabilly bash with a band called Whammy headlining. Most readers probably have never heard of Whammy, but most readers are familiar with the pedigree of at least two of the members. Tim Polecat (of Polecats fame) ground …
The last time I saw Camper Van Beethoven was maybe six or seven years ago and prior to that, the late eighties — probably 1988. I listened to them endlessly in 1988 and 1989, but then they split up, singer David Lowery started Cracker who received moderate airplay in the early nineties, until Camper Van …
Sunday February 17th I participated in a rally and march against the proposed coal train that’s being proposed to run through Seattle on its way up to the port of Everett before being shipped to China. The protest, held at Seattle’s Golden Gardens Park on the shores of Shilshole Bay, drew several hundred. Holding three-dimensional …
February 17th was the eve of President’s Day this year and what better way to celebrate than to see Seattle’s legendary Presidents of the United States of America — Presidents for short. The Showbox was packed solid for this second sold-out show and there were all ages present. I saw children ranging in age from …
Saturday night at Darrell’s Tavern in Shoreline, WA and once again the place is hopping with local talent. Seattle’s ska warriors The Georgetown Orbits were headlining and what better way to spend a Saturday night than to watch some ska. Front man and all-around charming entertainer, Darryl Grandison came on stage wearing a white SeaHawks …
Here in Seattle we have Dick’s Drive-In. Dick’s has been around since the mid-50s and hasn’t changed his menu since. He uses real beef for his burgers, real potatoes for his fries and real dairy for his ice cream and shakes. He hires locally and pays his employees about $1.50 above what the chain fast …
Man, I got it tough having to look at these views every day.
Most of you probably know that January 22, was the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade, but what many probably don’t know is one of the attorneys who argued in front of the Supreme Court for Roe v. Wade, is a woman named Sarah Weddington. In honor of this groundbreaking anniversary, Seattle’s Planned Parenthood hosted …
Recently, in a nearly unanimous vote, the staff at Seattle’s Garfield HS decided to refuse to administer the district’s Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. In doing this, educators at Garfield HS have struck out against the overuse and misuse of standardized tests. Seattle Schools spt. Jose Banda had this to say in an e …
I must admit, this is my current idea of “The horror….the HORROR!” (per J. Conrad, via F.F. Coppola) Courtesy of my weekly EMP member e-mail alert— TEATRO ZINZANNI DISCOUNT RETURN TO PARADISE See Jimi Hendrix come to life in Return to Paradise, Teatro ZinZanni’s tribute to the swinging sixties. Adding to the local musical flavor of …
It’s Saturday night and Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood is hopping with night life. In particular, the Nectar Lounge where Northwest ska band The Skablins headlined. The evening started out slow. The first band up was the slow and steady Island Bound. They were a six-piece who played more of a straight up reggae, but with a …
Two women, including one of my friends, lost most of their possessions when a U-Haul truck they were loading got hijacked early January 6. My friend lost all of her clothing, including a brand-new Christmas dress she hadn’t even worn yet. http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Its-like-being-down-and-having-somebody-kick-you-185821162.html Additional Info regarding the stolen UHaul truck: Incident report # is 13-6074 – …
The driving force behind Seattle band Sledgeback is Gabi Hun, a force of nature who began playing in punk bands in his native Hungary back in the early nineties. Sledgeback looks the part of seasoned punk rockers. They’ve been around the punk rock world a few times and they sport piercings and chains hanging off …
On Friday night, December 22, I ventured one mile north from home and set foot once again in Darrell’s Tavern. At the invitation of Seattle’s infamous funny gal, Cathy Sorbo, I decided I’d go see the burlesque show she was hosting. With my BGF in tow, a band was just finishing playing some Christmas tunes …
Seattle band Quickie— Lou Trez, Joe Wolf, Kelly Lichtenwald– has made some eye-catching (and controversial) videos over the years, most notably, “Bikini Barista,” which featured buxom coffee servers and drew in hundreds of thousands of views and attention from all over the world. They also had some success with Seattle Superhero Phoenix Jones. Still, my …
Wednesday night November 14th, a packed Studio Seven eagerly awaited New Jersey’s legendary Misfits to come on stage. Slowly, stage hands pulled off black cloths from the instruments and various stage props revealing towers with lit up skulls, a skeleton minus its head wrapped around one mic stand and skulls and crossbones wrapped around another. …
On Friday night I finally set foot in my neighborhood tavern to take in some fine live music. Darrel’s Tavern sits just north of Seattle’s city limits by a couple of miles. On this particular chilly night of November 9th, I experienced three great local bands, Spy Device, Jaguar Paw and the totally wild fun, …
This is what our taxes should be going for. Now if Boeing, Microssoft and the wealthy would pay taxes, these kids would have a home, get schooling, job training, medical care, etc. Pets have proven to be very therapeutic and can act as a stabilizer for people who suffer from mental illness (among other things). …
Sunday Night October 7, Studio Seven hosted The Koffin Kats — Detroit’s foremost psychobilly band. This is my third time seeing The Koffin Kats and I’ll see them again and again and again… The Koffin Kats need no introduction. They dive head first into their songs with Vic Victor serving up vocals while dancing a …
Tuesday night, October second, the legendary Joe Jackson played Seattle’s Moore Theater. I doubt anyone in this near sold out crowd was under the age of forty. This was a crowd who was well educated, had probably followed Jackson’s career from the get-go, and was very enthusiastic. The show began with just Jackson on electric …
Here’s an excellent graphic with Midday Veil’s West Coast Tour Schedule. Below are the three official videos and an improvisational session from Soundcloud. Enjoy. More information is available at www.MiddayVeil.com Here’s their brand new video, “Choreia”: Here, from Soundcloud.com, are some improvised recordings made inside the INTEGRATRON, an acoustically perfect wooden dome situated on a …