Last Saturday, Oct first, Seattle’s Highline Tavern hosted the Skatoberfest featuring five ska acts. The headliners this time was the Seattleites. This was my second time seeing them in a week, but they’ve already grown as a band. Added this time were some amazing vocalists with personality to boot. Their main singer (Joseph Quinone) not …
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Last Wednesday Sept 7, Seattle’s legendary Crocodile Cafe hosted a night of punk rock featuring Britain’s Subhumans. Subhumans didn’t come on stage as much as they ignited it. Front man Dick Lucas flitted about the stage like a lit firecracker, standing in one place no longer than a second or two. He didn’t sing as …
Friday night Sept 2 brought another night of beautiful ska music at yet another Seattle club. This time it was Georgetown Orbits and Seattleites at The Royal Room in SE Seattle — a club I have never been to before. Of course if they keep booking ska bands I’m sure it won’t be the last …
Wednesday night August 31 Seattle’s Nectar Lounge hosted another night of wonderful ska bands. This time the evening was headlined by Butt Dial, a band I’ve been meaning to check out. Butt Dial are wildly fun. They have a gimmick that includes wild costumes, rotating musicians (as in some musicians leaving the stage and being …
August 28 was a date I looked so forward to. The Living End, from Melbourne, Australia, were doing a US West Coast tour with a stop in Seattle. I have only seen The Living End at festivals. Once at End Fest on the Kitsap Peninsula in 2001 and at Warped Tour I think in 2006. …
On a hot August 19 night Darrel’s Tavern just north of Seattle hosted a night of Seattle hillbilly, celtic and folk punk bands. The headliner was Wages Of Sin. This Seattle quintet combined a bit of country, a bit of folk, a bit of punk and a heavy dose of Celtic and tossed it into …
Last Saturday night was a long anticipated event, the return of NJ ska band Streetlight Manifesto. SLM are a very tight band. They exude an energy on stage that is reflected in their music, but not in their physical actions. This is not a band that interacts much with their audience. They get up on …
Friday night July 8 Seattle’s foremost punk club, El Corazon, hosted one of punk’s foremost bands, the Dickies. Hailing from So Cal, the Dickies have been around since 1977 and are essentially the clowns, the satire of punk rock while still being punk. The band integrates numerous props in their performance including an anatomically correct …
On Saturday June 25 the long awaited return of So Cal’s Tiger Army came to El Corazon. The last time Tiger Army played in Seattle I think it was 2008 or 2009. The band took some time off, but Seattle hadn’t forgotten them. The club was packed and there was already a good crowd when …
Last Saturday I headed back to the Highline for a sweaty, rowdy night of pure punk rock. Headlining the event was Moral Crux, a band I’d seen once before and was totally blown away by. They blew me away again. Front man James Farris is the quintessential punk. Sporting short platinum spikes, tight leopard print …
Wednesday night April 27, Seattle’s Tractor Tavern hosted England’s Subways. Bursting with power and dripping with charisma, the band is led by they very boyish looking Billy Lunn. Add his brother Josh Morgan who thrashes the drum kit like a wild animal and Charlotte Cooper on bass. Charlotte was no slouch in the charm department. …
Night Two of the 2016 Seattle Ska Fest. The first band I saw was already on stage. The Mean Threes, a trio from Vancouver, BC, reminded me of a lot of sixties folk rock with provocative poetry and a reggae beat. Not a lot of on stage energy in this band, just laid back stuff …
Friday night April 22 I headed to Seattle’s Highline Bar for the first night of the 2016 Seattle Ska Fest. I’d been looking forward to this show for a long time that even the head cold I’d come down with earlier that day wouldn’t keep me away. Due to having to rescue my son whose …
Attention all you fans of punk pop, have you heard of the Subways? They’re an English punk pop trio and they’re coming to the Northwest this next week. Think New Found Glory meets the Runaways. They have a brand video out called Dirty Muddy Paws. Check it out here. They’re playing Seattle on April 27th …
Tuesday night February 9 marked the annual return of ska masters The Toasters. They embarked immediately on long time favorites, “I’m Running Right Through the World” and “Pirate Radio,” but it was when they played “Weekend In LA” that the dance floor really lit up. I didn’t see a still body on that dance floor. …
It’s January the first and it’s my first concert of the year. After being out until well past midnight seeing the fireworks shoot off the Space Needle, I was exhausted all the next day and wouldn’t have made the effort for any lesser band. But the Crocodile Cafe, in the heart of Seattle’s Belltown, was …
On Friday night December 18th I sacrificed seeing the new Star Wars on opening night to instead see Nick Lowe at Seattle’s Neptune Theater. The sacrifice was well worth it. Now white haired and bespectacled, Nick Lowe got on stage as a solo act for about the first two or three songs. Then the real …
The second night of my Skalloween celebration took me to Tim’s Tavern in north Seattle where three fabulous local ska bands were slated to play. Headlining were Wyoming transplants It Gets Worse, preceded by a band I saw for the first time, Smoking Bill, and opening the entire night was my own beloved Natalie Wouldn’t. …
My skalloween weekend began Friday night, Halloween Eve at Seattle’s Highline Bar on Capitol Hill. Headlining was Seattle’s own ska legends the Diablotones. After a fun-filled performance by the Skablins, the Diablotones hit the stage for a mix of funky, raunchy rock and roll ska. Singer/bassist Timmy Profit sang with a throaty growl, often sounding …
It’s Friday night a week before Halloween and the happening place is Darrell’s Tavern in Shoreline just north of Seattle. Playing were two of Seattle’s finest ska bands, Natalie Wouldn’t and the Georgetown Orbits. Natalie Wouldn’t played second and opened with a ska version of the Spider Man theme. The tiny club was filled with …
Thursday nights aren’t usually nights that draws large crowds to a concert, but Seattle’s Neptune hosted soon to be British legend, Frank Turner. Frank Turner, after playing to sell-out crowds in England, has finally made the breakthrough into the US. Imagine the poetry of Bob Dylan with the voice and charisma of Bruce Springsteen and …
The last time I saw Bowling For Soup was in 2009 at El Corazon. That’s the last time they played Seattle. Six long years I have awaited their return, and judging by the totally packed club and it being a Tuesday. It seems they were missed but not forgotten in Seattle. Bowling For Soup know …
On a muggy Sunday night of August 16, I ventured out to the Funhouse Lounge to see ska masters Mrs. Skannotto. After some really good rock and punk openers I finally was eager to settle into some ska and hear some brass. Singer Joe Harmon almost melted into his mic as he flitted about the …
On Saturday, after Bernie Sanders was so rudely prevented from speaking to a crowd gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Social Security, I headed to the campus of the University of Washington to their indoor sports arena, Hec Edmondson Pavilion. The 12000 seat complex was filled with no empty seat to be …
Saturday afternoon on August 8 I headed to downtown Seattle for a rally for social security. The guest speaker of note was to be democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The event was held in the Westlake Plaza, the traditional gathering place for political rallies and gatherings in Seattle. A half an hour before the event …
On the very hot Saturday night of August first I headed to the Nectar Lounge for some mighty fine ska/reggae music. The evening was headlined by the legendary Ernest Ranglin Ernest Ranglin is the godfather of ska/reggae and a guitar playing master. Without him there would be no Two Tone. At the ripe age of …
On Sunday night July 27 I attended my last concert for the month of July. Right on the heels of Stiff Little Fingers I saw the very wild Casualties show. The Casualties, a hard core punk band from NYC, came on stage and the first thing front man/singer Jorge Herrera did was take a cup …
Saturday night July 25th brought the return of two things Seattle hasn’t seen in a long time — rain and Stiff Little Fingers. The rain and cooler weather did nothing to prevent the swelter inside the tiny El Corazon caused by both poor ventilation and the onstage energy of the band reciprocated by the packed …
July has been a busy month for concerts. On the 21st I had the pleasure of seeing the Young Dubliners (only two of the members are actually from Ireland). They may not be looking young any more, but on stage their behavior and their music exhibit all the youthful exuberance that matched any of the …
This past July 18th was another scorcher in Seattle and I attended my fifth concert of the month. This time the headliner was the Phenomenauts. Bringing their science and and science fiction with them, the Bay Area’s Phenomenauts are all about having fun and perhaps teaching some science along the way. This band appears on …