Seattle band Quickie trades in bikini baristas for latex-clad superheroes! “Got a Jones to be a superhero, rise like a phoenix, fight like DeNiro,” begins the cheeky new anthem from Seattle power-trio, and apparent Phoenix Jones supporters, Quickie. “We have a real life superhero patrolling the streets of Seattle. Fighting crime. How could we not …
Originally I planned to see two legendary Seattle bands at Neumos, The Fastbacks and Mudhoney, but The Fastbacks cancelled so I saw just Mudhoney. When I arrived, the opener, Love Sick Empire, were in full swing. Front woman Alicia Amiri has an intense stage presence and gutsy pipes making her sound like a cross between …
You know, remembering back to anti-war and civil rights marches back in the day, I thought I was fairly good at estimating crowd sizes, but I was off by half. Thinking there were 1500 people at the rally, I texted that number to a friend in California. Later that evening, the local NPR station said …
In 1983, a Wichita, Kansas band called the Embarrassment released the album Death Travels West. Fourteen years later, the Kent 3 from Seattle put out a record called Stories of the New West. Coincidence? Yes, according to Kent 3 leader Viv Halogen, who informed me that he had never heard of the Embarrassment, or even …
In the news report above, two reporters try to explain the punk scene versus the new wave music scenes of Seattle in 1981. Although the report was pretty shallow, it also tried to discredit punk the way almost all the media did at the time. The reporters mentioned punk bands liked to use shock tactics …
[Update 3/3/2012: In the half year since this was originally posted, Holly has found a photo signed by Ray Davies, upon which he drew a moustache on his face and a copy of the dollar off coupon for “Give the Public What They Want” which was given away at the concert.] [Ed. Note – Shortly …
CYP2 Spring Retrospective from IHEARTCOMIX Records on Vimeo. The legendary LA based bi-weekly party, Check Yo Ponytail 2, is coming to Portland 10/26 at Branx, Seattle 10/27 at Neumos and Chicago 10/28 at The Mid!. Organized by Franki Chan (IHEARTCOMIX), Danny Johnson (Media Contender) and Zane Landreth, the CYP2 tour features an eclectic mix of …
Last night, September 6, 2011 I ventured out to a little club called The Highline. It’s a very friendly, cozy little place up a flight of stairs on Broadway in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. There I had the pleasure of viewing three great acts. First up was Pascal Briggs. This is my second time seeing …
B’shoot was exhausting, not to mention rather slight in the big names/next big things department. At this point I shouldn’t need to rely on Old Soul Artists (Mavis Staples, Dennis Coffey, Charles Bradley, hell, even Hall & Oates!) to provide my hardcore jollies at a big Seattle music festival, but I guess it’s come to …
Thanks to Timothy Riley for this tune from Seattle’s David Bazan:
I received this message today from Brent Amaker: My band Brent Amaker and the Rodeo has booked a tour in Europe next month and even with venues guaranteeing to pay us for shows, we still need help raising money for airfare and equipment rentals once we get there. Normally we finance tours as a band …
Night Two of Soundfest, this time at El Corazon which is on Eastlake under the Denny Way viaduct. When I arrived, Neutral Boy from Bremerton, WA, was just starting their set. These guys are more metal than punk, but they were quite good. They play it fast and they play it hard. The vocalist has …
On Saturday night (8/20/2011) John Doe and Exene Cervenka took the stage at Neumos in Seattle. The venue was filled but not packed, and many of fans crowded round the stage were, like me, middle aged. A modest looking man walked to the microphone on stage and fiddled with it for a moment then picked …
Longboat’s Igor Keller is, of course, a genius. This became clear last May when I beheld Beyond the Moon, a nifty song, video and nostalgia trinket of the 1960s space race. Keller’s talents also shine through his blog, Hideous Belltown, a first person blog of cosmpolitan stories and button-cute squirrel photos wherein he invites readers …
http://youtu.be/Y2hkp12fwb0 The early years of Lollapalooza were a stentorian, sensual, bacchanalian, coming out party for Pacific Northwest music and zeitgeist. Isolated by geography and a lack of relevance to the LA-New York pop culture axis, Portland and Seattle developed extreme expressions of solidarity with the burgeoning alternative movement: Grunge music, outrageously eccentric sexual personae, slackerdom …
Seattle pop-punk band Quickie has less than one month to get Jimmy Kimmel’s attention. Kimmel is co-sponsor of the Samsung AT&T Summer Krush contest, which is currently underway. The telecommunications giants are searching for a killer opening act for their Seattle “Summer Krush” concert (date to be determined). The winning band will not only open …
Early 1980s Seattle had a pretty active music scene. There were clubs like Baby O’s, Eagles Auditorium, Seattle Hippodrome, The Showbox, The Hall of Fame, among others. The only place still in existence is The Showbox. I was barely over twenty- one, but my best friend and sidekick Katie was still 20. Back then, the …
As soon as I’ve scrounged up enough money to buy a ticket, I’m going to Soundfest. There I’m going to see the likes of The Dickies, The Vandals, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, Reagan Youth, Stiff Little Fingers and so many more. Three days of punk, August 19-21 at venues across Seattle. …
According to the Seattle Times: “The FBI is investigating a “credible” lead in the D.B. Cooper skyjacking case, nearly 40 years after a tall, dark-complexioned man hijacked a Seattle-bound Boeing 727 on Thanksgiving Eve 1971 and parachuted into history from the rear of the plane with $200,000 in cash.” “We do have a promising lead,” …
This is a treasure trove of streaming recordings of live concerts in Seattle in the mid to late 90s. If you were there, this is a walk down memory lane. The site features classic Death Cab for Cutie, Juno, Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney, Dismemberment Plan and much, much more… www.indiepoplive.net
Updated July 4, 2011, from Culturemob.com – “The previous Guinness World Record for a gathering of zombies stood at 4,093, and was held by an event in New Jersey in October 2010. Seattle fans were confident that they could smash the East Coast’s record, however, having clocked an unofficial total of 4,233 on their 2010 …
Drummer Jimmy Cobb, alto saxophonist Sonny Fortune, bassist Buster Williams and guitarist Mike Stern range in age from 82 (Cobb) to 58 (Stern). Miles Davis, the man they play to honor, would have been 85 on May 26th. Sitting across from me at Seattle’s Jazz Alley, Tom Kipp wasn’t completely sure if four sidemen from …
Artdish is currently featuring an excellent review of the Seattle Opera’s current show, The Magic Flute: “Most of us have heard the conspiracy theory: Mozart, a lifelong Freemason, disclosed secret Masonic ceremonies in The Magic Flute and was subsequently whacked for his indiscretion at the tender age of 34. This is, of course, a load …
Speaking softly, the lead singer of Imari Tones introduces their song “Jesus Train” with palpable sincerity. In strong contrast his Flying V guitar speaks loudly and with considerable skill as he tears through meaty metal scales. Young and aggressive, this group is off to a good start and will hopefully keep the faith as they …
Seattle music industry legend Barbara Mitchell has been keeping a blog on food, music and booze called Devil’s Apricot: A Spirited Guide to Living. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must do so soon. Here are three spicy excerpts to whet your appetite: From Mai Tai tell you what’s happening?!? – “I was managing …
[New Seattle band, The NW Rivals, will play at at Cafe Venus in Seattle May 22, 2011. Here, in their own words, is the story of how this band came to be.] The NW Rivals are more than just your average band. Guitarist Steve Pearson, bassist Jack Hanan, drummer Mark Guenther and guitarist Jim Basnight …
This is such a fantastic album that I lack the clever, crisp, exacting, verbiage anyone would need to try and describe this work. This is fusion music in the best sense of the word. There’s urgent, powerful hip hop here in the form of living, urbane, rhythmic, visual poetry rapped mightily by Staxx Bros front …