Legendary Two Tone band The English Beat played to a packed audience Saturday night August 11th. From the entrance all the way to the stage was nothing but packed bodies waiting in anticipation for Dave Wakeling and friends to emerge. Wakeling came on stage commenting about our (rare) sunny day and thanking us for it, …
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The legendary Joe Jackson (the musician, not the shoeless ball player) is on tour in the US in September and October. His only Northwest date will be in Seattle on October second at the Moore Theater. Jackson, who started out in the punk/new wave scene over thirty years ago, has now switched to more eclectic …
August fifth, Saturday, was a beautiful day in the Seattle area. After a cloudy and rainy June and July, I welcomed the sunny, hot weather as I headed to The White River Amphitheater for the 2012 Warped Tour. For those of you unaware of what the Warped Tour is, allow me to briefly explain. The …
Monday night, July 30, I had the pleasure of not only setting foot inside The Triple Door in downtown Seattle for the first time, but also seeing new-comer Sarah Jarosz. Sarah Jarosz is only twenty-one, but her songs and musical capabilities sound like they could have come from someone twice her age. She holds a …
Sarah Jarosz may only be twenty-one years old, but she’s already on her way to stardom. She also holds more talent than almost any pop star of today combined. Jarosz plays an honest and pure form of country music that spills over into a more folky sound also. She not only writes all her songs, …
I remember laughing my head off when this first came out in the late seventies. I was in high school and knew little to nothing about Patti Smith at that time. I don’t think I’ve ever watched any Patti Smith vids from that era so I can’t state how accurate Gilda Radner’s portrayal is of …
Sunday Night July 22, Seattle’s tiny Chop Suey club hosted New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls. Chop Suey sits on the southern end of Seattle’s diverse Capitol Hill neighborhood and this night right on the edge of the annual Capitol Hill Block Party. The aforementioned is a musical event where several streets are cordoned off and several …
After seeing Poorsport on Friday the 20th of July, I headed to West Seattle to The Skylark Club. Seattle’s legendary ska masters, Easy Big Fella had reunited for their twentieth anniversary and were doing a few west coast shows. I arrived just as openers, Seattle’s Natalie Wouldn’t were being introduced. I was familiar with Natalie …
Friday afternoon July 20, I headed to the Seattle Center (home of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle) to witness Seattle’s Poorsport perform at The Bite of Seattle festival. The rain had finally stopped after dumping buckets all morning, but the clouds were still ever present and threatened to dump again at any moment. But this is …
This Sunday, New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls headline a show at Seattle’s Chop Suey on July 22. The Bouncing Souls play a unique brand of punk/pop that now many other bands try to copy, but few pull it off as well as the Bouncing Souls do. Their light-hearted songs transfer onto their stage performance with just …
Sunday July 15th, 2012 was a day I looked so forward to and now it’s gone. I wish it could have lasted forever. July 15th in Portland, OR was Ray Davies Day. The entire city, by decree of the mayor, designated this worthy affair to be so. The first event was at Portland’s historical Hollywood …
Portland, Oregon has done what no other US city has ever done (as far as I know), and that is declare by decree ad signed by the mayor, that July 15, 2012 was to be declared Ray Davies Day. To authenticate this, a ceremony was held at Portland’s historic Hollywood Theater, where the honored man …
When I learned there was going to be a fabulous ska show on the same night my hero, Ray Davies was playing, I was caught in a real dilemma. Of course I couldn’t NOT see my god, but the ska show was The Pietasters with Georgetown Orbits and Skablins opening. Solution: Pay for a choo …
Look out, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Real McKenzies, you’ve got competition. The Roughneck Riot’s new record, This Is Our Day, starts out with the catchy yet powerful “Ignorance Is Easy,” a song that seems so apropos in these times. This six-piece band hailing from Manchester, UK is one to look out for. The band mixes …
A new protest organization has sprung up in Seattle. They are The Student Debt Noise Brigade. SDNB have organized to rally and march to protest the rising cost of tuition and the staggering debt students must now endure if they want a college education. The #SDNB (Student Debt Noise Brigade) was formed by by Seattle …
Saturday night, July 7, Studio Seven hosted the Tonight We Unite hardcore punk rock show. Though psychobilly gods, The Nekromantix, played last, it’s a safe bet to say that there were two headliners, The Nekromantix and The Casualties. I’d say the Casualties stole the show. They came on stage all punked out with singer Jorge …
The King Blues have released their latest video for their new song “Wasted Words.” Even though the King Blues’ songwriter, Itch, still manages to come up with creative rhymes, the content is just another boyfriend/girlfriend breakup song with a synthetic female vocalist adding harmony. In other words, it’s just like 90% of the songs and …
The UK’s Dub Pistols have just released a video for their song “Alive.” The visuals in the video are intriguing as the band performs with a distinct reggae sound, but with a dub back beat. The song does, however, get monotonous after awhile. The overdub, electronic sounds don’t vary at all so it’s just the …
Wednesday night, June 27, The Chop Tops headlined a show at Seattle’s El Corazon. I was unfamiliar with the Chop Tops, but heard the show advertised on KGRG, liked what I heard, so decided to check them out. I was not disappointed. The Chop Tops are a psychobilly trio from Santa Cruz, California. This means …
The King Blues are breaking up. There are rumors of strife within the band. This CD will apparently be their last hurrah. Personally, I’m bummed. We need more bands out there protesting the fact that the wealth of the entire developed world is being concentrated on the top 1% and turning all developed countries into …
On Sunday June 24, 2012, I attended my first Pride Parade. Actually, that may not be entirely true. I remember attending a pride event in Seattle way back in 1979. But recently I received an invitation from my employer, Seattle Public Schools, to ride with them on their school bus, and since my younger son …
[Young Empires will perform in Portland on June 30 at Dante’s and in Seattle on June 29 at The Vera Project.] I like the jangly guitar sounds througout the song. The song reminded me of music which dominated the airwaves in the early eighties. Although the video itself is visually stunning, I don’t get the …
MXPX are still going strong in Seattle and that’s a good thing. They played a raucous show Saturday May 26th at Seattle’s El Corazon. The place was packed tighter than that proverbial tin of sardines. I was literally squished against the stage and couldn’t move even a fraction of an inch. MXPX came on stage …
Tuesday May 22 brought San Francisco punk band The Avengers back to Seattle. The Avengers is another band I want to throw in the faces of those who say women can’t rock. The vocals of Penelope Houston defy that mentality. Her voice is crystal clear, yet sharp as a razor and sung from the gut. …
May 18, 2012 will go down in infamy as one of the best shows I’ve seen! It will also be remembered as the night that cured the common cold. Really, I was sick all week, feeling totally punk, but not the good kind of punk, but now I feel human again. The Real McKenzies and …
Saturday night May 12, X headlined a show at Seattle’s Showbox Market. I’ve seen X play about half a dozen times over the last several years, not only as X, but also their alter egos, The Knitters. They never disappoint me. I believe X are the only American band from the birth of punk still …
On the evening of May fifth, the night of Cinco de Mayo and the night of the big moon, I headed to The Vera Project at the foot of Seattle’s Queen Anne Neighborhood. There three acts played with San Antonio’s Girl In A Coma headlining. Sara Radle, also from San Antonio, started things off with …
On Saturday, April 28, 2012, rallies put on by UniteWomen.org took place all over the country. I attended the Seattle event. My estimate is that probably between three and four hundred people of all ages, genders and backgrounds were in attendance. I even spotted a group of teenaged boys! There were a multitude of homemade …
Saturday night April 28th the stars all aligned and the moon was in the right phase and I took a trip back in time. Legendary cult figure Roy Loney played a fired up, good old-fashioned rock and roll show at Seattle’s Sunset Tavern. San Franciscan Roy Loney has been around a long time — since …
Perennial L.A. punk-rockers, X, are touring the West Coast right now, before heading to Europe to join Pearl Jam this summer. Now celebrating their 35th anniversary as a band, X is the last musical group out of the iconic “class of ’77,” which featured such greats as The Ramones, The Clash and The Sex Pistols, …