tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82159333123689067662024-02-19T09:02:03.385-08:00Virtual SoundSeattle music blog with NW music shows and more. I'm all about free shows!Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-86273484247263265572017-01-26T06:59:00.000-08:002017-01-26T06:59:23.106-08:00Goodby Fly Moon Royalty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Fly Moon Royalty has been one of my favorite bands since I first saw them at Bumbershoot in 2011. In a year when I saw 370+ performances, they stood out. Here's a brief bit from the Bumbershoot 2011 performance, the first time I ever saw them:<br />
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I loved the sound the first time I heard it. Adro Boo has a great voice and is amazing live, and her writing is intense and awesome. Action Jackson on the keys and sequencers provides a better band setting for Adra's songs than most full live outfits do. Jackson's riffs and sounds worked very well for me, and the combination of Adra & Action Jackson was one of the best things in Seattle. The dancers are nice too, but they are awesome live with or without dancers. At the better shows the audience dances enough to make up for any lack of dancers on the stage.<br /><br />
I kept an eye out for Fly Moon Royalty and was able to catch a couple of free shows in 2012, one at <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2012/08/fly-moon-royalty-legendary-oaks-and.html">the Mural Amphitheater</a> and one at <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2012/08/fly-moon-royalty-at-goddess-fest.html">Goddess Fest</a> held at an obscure area in Woodland Park (the park, not the zoo).<br /><br />
They were well worth keeping track of, putting out a couple of great albums and adding great songs to their live sets. They did an Out-to-Lunch show this Summer that was fun. Honestly, they're one of my top 3 local acts and I was hoping they'd break out nationally, they were talented enough to deserve it.<br /><br />
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Unfortunately, in the late Fall of 2016 they announced their final show coming up on December 23. Dang, too many of my favorite local acts only get so far, look like they are poised to blow up, but then it never happens and they wind it down. Don't Talk to the Cops was similar - I loved them, every time I saw them it was an off the charts sweaty dance-fest, pretty much like Fly Moon Royalty as far as that goes. They split up this year too.<br /><br />
Sadly enough I didn't even make it to their final show. Sigh. Well, both Adra Boo and Action Jackson are way too talented to stop after one band, so I look forward to seeing what they get up to next, and I hope it's much more the success they deserve, they are amazingly talented and I'd love to see them get rewarded for their brilliance.
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Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-10113395539135592222016-06-04T15:48:00.000-07:002016-07-09T15:51:54.581-07:00BigBldgBash 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The kids and a cousin and I all went to Big Building Bash or Big Bldg Bash 2015 and enjoyed it immensely, enough so that I made a point of getting tickets for 2016. This year I went with my daughter and my other daughter's boyfriend on June 4 and we had a great time.<br />
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The bash is held in an odd sorta DIY/industrial building down by where the Spokane St. Viaduct crosses Highway 99. It's surrounded by the 270 degree turn from Eastbound on Alaskan Way to Northbound on Highway 99, a big huge flying concrete monstrosity that circles the block up above. The main parking area is across the street directly under the Spokane St. Viaduct. The surrounding neighborhood and the space itself are quite unique.<br />
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You enter the Big Building's lot from the West end, on the North side from the surface street just south of the Spokane St. Viaduct, into the lot next to the Big Building. A couple or three food trucks line the area and there are tables and benches. One of the venues is just inside the building here and usually has the garage door rolled open so you can hear things mildly well.<br />
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You can see the "front" side of the Big Building in this photo, it's the blue-greenish building in the middle right, below the Highway 99 Viaduct.
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You go in the door and the first space is to the right, the one with the garage door opening to where you just were. They set up 2 stages, one at each end, so the bands can overlap setup and tear down a little more, making for tighter turn-arounds and more bands overall. Further down the hall stairs led up to another performance space, this one is on the North side of the building. The rooms up here look like artists spaces and small dance practice spaces. If you skip the stairs and continue past on the first level you get to the loading bay which is the largest stage, or rather the 2 largest stages. In 2016 they put a big bar area in between the two stages in the loading bay, and also opened up another outdoor space at the East end of the building. They also had another path from the big loading bay to some vendor/artist tables, a bar, and a DJ.<br />
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It took some wandering about to figure out where all of the spaces were, it was a bit of a maze of hallways and back areas. This description doesn't do the space justice, it really is a Big Building and this year they had blacklight art installed in the main hall past the stairs up towards the bathrooms that gave the section a surreal dark-and-light-at-the-same-time feel. Suspended geometric structures made of orange and green UV driven pigments that glowed brightly provided most of the light. The occasional white cotton shirt or teeth glowing brightly in the crowd below as they shuffled through the hallway, edging past each other, provided the remaining light. The hallway had a somewhat ethereal feel to it. You could see well enough to get around, but it was dark enough for details to fade in the corners, making everything feel a little vague.<br />
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It was a gorgeous hot day and there was a dense selection of great bands playing a wide variety of music. Most of the time 2 or 3 bands were playing at the same time and a wide range of music was available. Soft folky stuff with harmonies, cranky bluesy stuff, thrashy punkish sweaty sets and angry metal head bangers, pop, synths, singer songwriters and the hard to describe in between bits, you could find good music and bands you'd never heard of before kicking ass all over the place. A bit more slide guitar than usual maybe, but that seems like the new norm since we saw the same at <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2016/05/fishermans-village-2016.html">Fisherman's Village in Everett</a>.
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So many good bands, but I didn't take much in the way of pictures or videos though. I'll go ahead and use whatever I can find off the internet (OK, off of flickr anyway) to illustrate my blog. <br />
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High points in no particular order:<br />
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<li>Black Plastic Clouds played the fest again this year. They were one of my favorite discoveries last year so it was good to see them again, still rocking out and working the crowd into a sweat.</li>
<li>Cloud Person (another repeat) put on a great set, and they had a child of a band member join them on-stage, it was just about the cutest most endearing thing I've ever seen.<br />
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<li>Crazy Eyes loud and swaggering on the back stage, smashing away at the electric piano and rocking out with a good grinding pounding electric sound.<br />
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<li>Wild Powwers playing fast, tight rock and roll - great vocals, standout drumming, driving bass and a great almost classic guitar-oriented-rock sound<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZld33t3F11Ld_ZT8XL9zqSUyoYbXTzUgc0kQ59PAqQQk_Yi6s4b8XojAtyHFmEym068zuOBqTqQ-9Vdo5y2V-8S8_00NOdTY1zHHuu_xrAd42W6XnkKIAE5hmHZ6XcK0pcEwyHNQm1Ok6/s1600/27878390125_0c465f911d_z.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZld33t3F11Ld_ZT8XL9zqSUyoYbXTzUgc0kQ59PAqQQk_Yi6s4b8XojAtyHFmEym068zuOBqTqQ-9Vdo5y2V-8S8_00NOdTY1zHHuu_xrAd42W6XnkKIAE5hmHZ6XcK0pcEwyHNQm1Ok6/s640/27878390125_0c465f911d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></li>
<li>Pillar Point's spacey synths and good driving beats and haunting sound, one of the better fits with the venue.</li>
<li>& Yet playing a tight set, different sound with the strings, extremely well written songs. Like Pillar Point and Black PLastic Clouds for that matter, Pillar Point also played back to back in festivals, playing both 2015 and 2016. I actually got a video of them <b>last</b> year.<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="364" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DX4JNf8bMQw" width="640"></iframe></li>
<li>The later shows outside when it got dark, especially the ones with the lasers and fog, were outstanding.</li>
<li>The back stage, the furthest from the front that was also outdoors, had odd flame towers - 20+ foot tool metal towers that vent flaming propane clouds above us under computer control. They setup a demo where you played a kind of "Simon" like game where you had to repeat a sequence of taps in 1 of 4 colored quadrants on a translucent drum head looking device, each success leading to a repeat of the sequence with another random quadrant selected making it harder and harder to repeat without errors. Eventually the player would botch it, missing a note or playing the wrong one, and the flame towers would erupt with five clouds of furiously burning propane above our heads, rising up towards the level of the nearby Alaskan Way Viaduct, baking us with additional heat fort a few seconds. Basically 5 fireballs would erupt and we'd all break out in sweat, then they'd dissipate in a few seconds and the game would begin again.</li>
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I'm convinced that the obscure local festivals - Big Bldg Bash, Macefield Fest, Fisherman's Village - provide by far the best value in music. Huge lineups of great local bands in local venues, not like the corporate polished mega-shows at all, very much unique personal efforts that reflect their neighborhoods and the Seattle music scene with opportunities to see more local bands than you even knew existed. I see plenty of shows and these are the ones that stick in my memory and define the year in music for me when I look back after the fact. West Seattle Fest and Timber Fest also fit this mold, Van's Fest is also the sort of thing I'm talking about and I'm sure I'm leaving many equivalents out. I recommend finding the more obscure smaller scale non-corporate festivals and support them with your ticket money and enthusiasm, you won't be disappointed.</div>
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Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Industrial District, Seattle, WA, USA47.571227430903768 -122.3389005661010247.568549430903765 -122.34394306610102 47.573905430903771 -122.33385806610102tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-27702213116109106122016-05-25T00:10:00.000-07:002016-05-28T10:46:53.826-07:00KEXP: Seattle's Living Room<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I needed to settle in with WiFi for a bit to catch up on work so I drove over to the KEXP studio public space.<br />
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Plenty of reasonably comfortable couches and chairs, KEXP playing over the nice sound system, espresso counter, this is Seattle's living room.<br />
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I got my usual coffee drink, settled in and took care of the electronic work. The WiFi worked fine, so I was able to get done in time to join the group let into the hall outside the studio to watch an interesting performance.</div>
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Gerald Collier, Friselle and John Doe each performed some Woody Guthrie material and spoke about Guthrie's influence.
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The performance was mic'ed and produced extremely well, the sound we got through the speakers in the hallway was exceptional. A crew of 3 or 4 cameras operators stood and squatted in the middle of the circle of musicians, filming and taking pohotos. We had been warned not to try to take any photos or they'd remove us, so the photos available from KEXP are all I've got. They took enough footage and I'm sure they recorded the whole thing on multitrack equipment so with any luck they'll provide the performance video at some point. KEXP's videos have wonderful sound and clean clear video.<br />
Not that this video has much to do with the performance we saw, but it's a nice example of KEXP's video ouput.
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Perhaps 30 of us, from geezers like me to 4 year olds being held by their dad all stood rapt and listened. Then the performance ended and we went back into the public area, Seattle's living room. I pulled the laptop out to get back to work in a better frame of mind than usual, I have to say I enjoy getting to hang out at the KEXP space.
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</div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0KEXP, Seattle, WA, USA47.622823050902163 -122.3550689220428547.622488550902162 -122.35569942204285 47.623157550902164 -122.35443842204285tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-3090959966042137752016-05-21T21:58:00.000-07:002016-07-09T14:42:05.314-07:00Fisherman's Village 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Carina and I made it to all 3 days of Fisherman's Village Music Festival in Everett. I'd missed it previously and regretted it, they had a great lineup of local talent. We made up for it this year, seeing all kinds of new (to me) bands, different styles, great venues, we had a blast.<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualsound/27164616835/in/datetaken/" title="187"><img alt="187" height="360" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7492/27164616835_26484b4bac_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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I didn't track band names, no notes or anything. That's be too much like work! That means I have tow work out who the bands are by looking at the schedule and relying on my weak memory. I think this is Bear Mountain based on their late Saturday slot in the historic Everett Theater. Probably.<br />
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Bands I know more about or have seen before are easier to track. I recognize Julia Massey and the 5 Finger Discount, we saw her/them at the Anchor pub. Great set!
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Julia Massey had been highly recommended to me and I'd never quite managed to catch a set so it was satisfying to finally catch them. They're great just like my distant cousin told me. Fun local act having a good time performing for an appreciative audience, Fisherman's Village delivered and then some.<br />
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Star Anna played an intense, intimate set at the Anchor. I've seen her at Bumbershoot and looked forward to this set, I'm glad we made it. The Anchor is actually several blocks from the rest of the festival, and by this time (Sunday) our feet were getting sore. We drove the car down to the waterfront and back a few times to save our energy and I'm glad we did. We eventually wore out, but not before seeing Star Anna putting on a show and I suspect we might not have made it without the car to save our energy.<br />
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We also got some nice sushi next door at <a href="http://www.jramenandsushi.com/">J Ramen and Sushi</a>. That and the tea warmed us up and got us motivated to stay for more music. <br />
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It was a cold and occasionally wet festival, which is unfortunate when there's an outdoor stage. It's still fun when the band is good, like Fauna Shade, for example.<br />
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But even for local heroes like Fauna Shade, fewer people show up when it's raining and crowd energy tends to be a little more muted. Harder to be hot when you're cold? Great set and the crowd enjoyed it, but if it had been 20 degrees warmer we'd have all been dancing and moshing and there would have been twice as many people. Outdoor Festivals in the greater Puget Sound area face this risk, at least we had some cooperative evening weather, anyway.
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We did get a little bit of action at Zippy's early Saturday, catching Tobias the Owl, a personal favorite, Robert Blake, and Johanna Warren
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The indoor stages were great. The historic Everett Theater is an awesome venue.
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Plenty of room up front for the crowd to get in close and dance. The Ramblin' Years definitely had us packing the aisles and the front area, dancing and having a great time.
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Grace Love and the True Loves played a spectacular set at the Everett Theater late Friday night.<br />
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They brought down the house, powerful music and powerful vocal performance, tight band with chops, the guitar and horn section are standout and the bass, drums and keys fill in the sound and rive the beat and the whole thing just has us dancing and jumping and yelling, definitely a peak experience.
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I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all of the great bands we saw at Tony V's Garage.<br />
Many of our favorite new discoveries were here all weekend. Skyemonkey, Sundries, Hollers, Cracker Factory, Campion, Sphyramid and Leava all played great sets.
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<br />Notice the dude playing a slide in this picture. There were more slide players at this festival than any other event I've ever seen.<br />
I've been writing this post by wandering through my pictures to trigger my memory. This has the interesting effect of generating content in backwards order. Sunday bands are first up in my photo stream, then Saturday, and now I'm finishing up with Friday, the first day of the festival. Slightly odd how the minor tech details can dictate how you create something.
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Port Gardner, Everett, WA, USA47.978769309320917 -122.2081696987152147.978104809320918 -122.20943019871521 47.979433809320916 -122.20690919871521tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-62243393536724558292016-04-15T21:03:00.000-07:002016-07-09T16:10:34.674-07:00EMP Pop Conference Get UR Freak On<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a longer version of a blog I already published; I spent some time talking and thinking about the theme - transgression and weirdness - in this one, ended up editing it out at the time but I wanted to publish the longer and more opinionated version, so here it is.<br />
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<a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2015/05/2015-emp-sound-off-ruled-like-it-always.html" target="_blank">I've mentioned that I like to take engineers visiting from out of town out to see some local music</a>. Recently the EMP held the annual Pop Conference with the theme "Get UR Freak On: Music, Weirdness and Transgression" and booked TacocaT, Chastity Belt, S and Childbirth for an opening show in the Sky Church.<br />
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This is the sort of different musical experience available in Seattle that would be hard to come by in most cities. The top few cities have comparable and better - NY, Chicago, LA, and a few other huge cities have truly varied and huge music scenes, but few cities under 1 million have the variety and depth and deep bench that Seattle has. This is <b>exactly</b> the sort of show I look for to take the visiting engineers - it's even all ages!<br />
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There are challenges, though. The Get UR Freak On theme and sexual content and tone are generally not appropriate in a business environment. On the show web page there were links for the bands & one of the links led directly to "<a href="https://childbirth.bandcamp.com/track/i-only-fucked-you-as-a-joke" target="_blank">I Only Fucked You as a Joke</a>"<br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3451757165/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/track=910764362/transparent=true/" style="border-width: 0px; height: 42px; width: 653px;"></iframe><a href="https://childbirth.bandcamp.com/track/i-only-fucked-you-as-a-joke" target="_blank">From the album <b>it's a girl!</b></a><br />
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://childbirth.bandcamp.com/track/i-only-fucked-you-as-a-joke" target="_blank"><img alt="Childbirth album "it's a girl!" on Bandcamp" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Ji1duKvtFGO-md9CnkC7QRi0xRrNvAur6dGFlgoo5tTJFMcsBti4j9jxFMeAbGIS_opo_MVNphgLL7LbkTMb6F_5skaeRiKtEeus6SS0T2RKP2TTzYKaTmo9N3QkxZrNZKH-vTv53gaz/s400/chidbirth+its+a+grl.png" width="390" /></a></span></div>
<b><br /></b>While this is a valid artistic expression and probably more common than anyone wants to admit (and a great song!), this is inappropriate in a business context.<br />
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On the other hand, we're talking a business context in Seattle, after all. And I've had mild problems with boundaries on occasion too, I overshare on occasion and... well, I talked myself into it.<br />
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I mitigated the risk of triggering corporate pain and HR investigations (can you tell I work at a large corporation?) by adding a "BTW If you follow the links and listen to the bands, use headphones. Some of this stuff is NSFW - REALLY!" clause to the email and sent it out to 10 coworkers at Cisco. I wouldn't try that with a larger list or a list that included more people that I didn't know well, but I felt safe in forwarding it to my coworkers, we're all adults with reasonable senses of humor.<br />
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It was a great call, of course, but that was never in doubt as far as bands go. About the only thing that didn't go well is that we took so long eating dinner before the show that we missed Childbirth - dang, they had songs I wanted to hear live. Better luck next time, I'll have to keep an eye out for them.<br />
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We managed to make it for a classic S set: introspective and haunting, guitar driven without wailing, more a reverb and space approach. Sometimes the lyrics were more out front with multiple parts, sometimes the lyrics faded into the songs yet echoed with emotions felt from a distance or remembered with fading intensity. The instruments change up on occasion for some keyboards but the haunting quality and the feeling of remembered emotional intensity remains.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIpKkSuTo1qtqUAjFIyJtMW2_WReeQAXQbV86GYSphKm6LhTIdJKzHqagQ-SPYy-1PxlZVTgnpzGJuRA6M5adMkWW4BVRRp0Lu2seod1ZZhfEeSL8ovWpGXsnHaQNqTr8_BV9xb7Pn8N_/s1600/Pop+Conference+S.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIpKkSuTo1qtqUAjFIyJtMW2_WReeQAXQbV86GYSphKm6LhTIdJKzHqagQ-SPYy-1PxlZVTgnpzGJuRA6M5adMkWW4BVRRp0Lu2seod1ZZhfEeSL8ovWpGXsnHaQNqTr8_BV9xb7Pn8N_/s640/Pop+Conference+S.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The EMP Sky Church is a great place to see a show, nobody is very far from the performers and the sound is excellent. My cell phone shot above doesn't do it justice, but it gives you some idea of where we are and the scale of the performance space, anyway. I found a nice creative commons photo from Joe Mabel (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/7943225@N02" target="_blank">here's his flickr page</a>)<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg/640px-S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg/640px-S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg" /></a></div>
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I enjoyed it but the Indian engineers were subdued - it's kinda subdued music as far as that goes, I suppose. They were looking for more active music, stronger beats and motion and dancing preferred. Dancy pop music would be more up their alley.</div>
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Chastity Belt was up next and while they're not poppy, they certainly brought a higher energy level, louder beat and more positive subject matter to the table. Chastity Belt is more guitar oriented rock and roll, loud with backbeat and a full sound - rhythm and lead guitar, bass, drums and solid rock and roll vocals. Not pretty and polished, more powerful and sneering or laughing - sometimes with us, sometimes at us, a committed performance with a fuck you if you don't like it attitude. That very attitude makes it more appealing and evocative. I just convinced myself they're punk rock too (coming from me that's a complement) but I've never sweated the categories all that much..</div>
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They use irony and hit subjects that aren't often covered, or cover them from an angle different from what you're used to. Rock and roll was originally about transgression and so was punk and so is Chastity Belt if you look at it that way. Chastity Belt holds up the great "outsider music" tradition of providing a voice for an attitude, a point of view, and excluded people that is usually drowned out and preached against and trivialized or worse still demonized.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAy8snONm_0-IFW2Ms78SMJJnMFQOmwAyXvBHmYOTAvtgDzPGjnZ8tYn3q8cFZmsKxocyxR-7SbDPZ41mhUgGGqt1o1ZekHrRPyVg4g-WtucPe4zpUKnyIMDXV3rm0Pt835z5Fs4kr2P5F/s1600/Pop+Conference+Chastity+Belt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAy8snONm_0-IFW2Ms78SMJJnMFQOmwAyXvBHmYOTAvtgDzPGjnZ8tYn3q8cFZmsKxocyxR-7SbDPZ41mhUgGGqt1o1ZekHrRPyVg4g-WtucPe4zpUKnyIMDXV3rm0Pt835z5Fs4kr2P5F/s640/Pop+Conference+Chastity+Belt.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Since my cell phone photo is lame as usual I dug up another creative commons photo so you can see what we saw. Heck, with my nearsightedness we're probably seeing more than I saw at the show in this photo, it's got details! (This photo is from Joe Mabel again; <a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/7943225@N02" target="_blank">his flickr</a>)</div>
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<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChastity_Belt_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_04_(17239409565).jpg" title="Joe Mabel [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Chastity Belt - Pop Conference 2015 - 04 (17239409565)" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Chastity_Belt_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_04_%2817239409565%29.jpg/640px-Chastity_Belt_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_04_%2817239409565%29.jpg" /></a><br />
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The vocals in Chastity Belt are classic rock and roll, not pretty but expressive, able to get raw, to surge to a powerful crescendo and wind it back, but used in a pretty aggressive manner. This is not subtle music, this is loud amplified music that knows it's load and amplified and likes it and has a swagger or maybe a strut.</div>
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Fun set, talented band worth seeing in a great venue.</div>
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Next up was the sheer (surf?) pop sweetness of TacocaT. This was the perfect for the visiting engineers. Well executed songs, guitar driven with a great beat, very dance friendly. Bright and exuberant, TacocaT has so much fun you can't help but have fun too.</div>
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I have no idea if the visiting engineers were able to hear the vocals and understand them, they all speak and understand English very well but getting TacocaT's word play and underlying meaning can be challenging. Figuring out cultural references the first time you hear a song in a live setting in a non-native tongue would be challenging.</div>
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That's OK, they loved the show based on the music and the beat and the performer's visual appeal and what they got of the word play, it was a wonderful upbeat fun set. TacocaT always puts on a great live show - you should see them outdoors on a sunny day with a bubble machine!<br />
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Knowing what the songs are about, they are another example of songs that are "outside" of the usual POV for rock and roll. Most rock and roll has a leering attitude towards women; when Ted Nugent's song sang "Hey Baby" it was followed by "Get into the back of my car." Direct and brutal and not even remarkable back then. When TacocaT sings "Hey Girl" their purpose is exactly 180 degrees in the opposite direction: to push back on street harassment, not glorify and justify it.</div>
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The booking for this show delivered. Get UR Freak On indeed. All of the bands are out of the rock and roll mainstream in a way that seems like it shouldn't be a mainstream criteria at all: they're groups with reversed sex ratios. Some are all women, some have a token dude. This is the exact opposite of the commercial reality in the business of music. Check out Coachella and Sasquatch where the norm is all dude bands (5 out of 6) and the cutting edge bands have one woman. All-woman-bands are unusual at festivals and that's not because there aren't a ridiculous number of talented all-women-bands out there. Anybody not mired in their privilege knows that there's structural, cultural, financial, and who knows how many other roadblocks and barriers placed in the way of creative outsiders.<br />
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Music can be a serious business that moves the cultural consensus and penetrates our careful structures of falsehoods and prejudices and silences and taboos that allow us to ignore our privileges. Ignorance of privilege and it's relative plausible deniability are important elements in helping us continue to behave as ignorant privileged assholes. I swim in privilege and I have a hard time seeing it - our culture is just that good at hiding it and normalizing it and justifying it and misdirection, and it's hard to motivate myself to give up on the illusion that I'm better than most and earned the good stuff that privilege brings.<br />
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When someone steps outside of the fake cultural construct it forces us to see our privilege or at least makes it harder to miss. Not to get all meta and cosmic about it, but music can provide access to the marginalized and disrespected, allowing them to pull back the curtain a bit.<br />
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Men have been writing and performing explicitly raunchy songs about sex with violent overtones and outright rape for decades. A few women do songs about taboo subjects like menstruation and being sex positive and they're the ones who are transgressive? This brings the ludicrous nature of things, how out of balance it is, into a clearer focus, and at the same time it increases the cultural space available for previously taboo topics. Rock and roll and the outsider music genres like it (blues, hip hop, rap, genres originally considered transgressive that have been mainstreamed) allow us to see some of the problems and illusions and fallacies of our situation if we're paying attention.<br />
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Thanks to three kick ass bands for providing a great show and a different perspective and challenging me to try to get out of my comfort zone, It ain't easy and it's never particularly done, but I'm better for the attempts.</div>
Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Experience Music Project, Seattle, WA 98109, USA47.621488799999987 -122.3481049000000122.099454299999987 -163.6566989 73.143523299999984 -81.03951090000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-53889029191702070532015-10-13T21:07:00.001-07:002015-10-13T21:44:49.467-07:00Shane Diamanti Headlines the Vera Project Friday October 16<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'd only done two interviews on my blog, but Shane Diamanti saw <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2011/05/interview-with-knowmads-mcs-tom-wilson.html" target="_blank">the Knowmads interview</a> and hit me up. Shane was a teenager in High School in Lynnwood and had a bit of viral success in early 2013 with his Dictionary Freestyle Rap.<br />
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This is a Dictionary Freestyle I did during hip hop club! I hope everyone can enjoy! Our hip hop adviser just start throwing me random words out of the dictionary and I went off of that and it came out pretty dope! There are some parts where it's muted because our hip hop adviser said I couldn't upload it unless I muted the part's I swore so I did! But hope everyone will enjoy the freestyle I did over Sunshine by Atmosphere!<br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shane.diamanti">Shane Diamanti</a> on Thursday, May 2, 2013</blockquote>
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I was a bit flattered and happy to interview Shane. Shane dreamed of being a successful performer and wasn't shy about reaching out. I wondered how things would go for him, if he'd ever achieve his dream of headlining shows.<br />
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A couple years later in early 2015 Shane got in touch and let me know that it was going pretty well! He had a show at El Corazon in May, and if he wasn't headlining at least it was his EP Release Show. <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2015/05/shane-diamanti-upcoming-ep-release-show.html" target="_blank">I went ahead and interviewed him before the show</a> and while I missed that show I was able to catch him opening for Mark Battles at the Vera Project a month or two later.<br />
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Talking to Shane before he managed to make some of his dreams come true and seeing how he worked towards them, in some ways the worst things that happened to him were the best things. They got him out of his comfort zone, motivated him like nobody's business, and inspired his music. It wasn't clear to me how he might achieve his dreams, and I doubt it was clear to him when he was still in High School, but in adversity he found his commitment to his craft and pursued that like a maniac and the rest is just the details.<br />
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So the latest news is that Shane is headlining a show this Friday at the Vera Project.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1AhEm6oDp2VSV9FsHMC-Ym0gqCqWy-s8YXqsUCEYq9iJodeNUq19Se9VCWzX5iIAS5Bnm4vrc8veX3U6fmiA-5FRj96W51qYSK0eFFI7koe3OlDutH747RXi3D2-9w9l1GwHosb1_NqR/s1600/shane2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1AhEm6oDp2VSV9FsHMC-Ym0gqCqWy-s8YXqsUCEYq9iJodeNUq19Se9VCWzX5iIAS5Bnm4vrc8veX3U6fmiA-5FRj96W51qYSK0eFFI7koe3OlDutH747RXi3D2-9w9l1GwHosb1_NqR/s640/shane2.png" width="417" /></a><br />
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I'll be there. I'm signed up as the show photographer, but that's probably wishful thinking. If any of the key slots needs to be filled I'll end up doing that instead, so I may end up at the front door or in concessions or roaming security, we'll see. In any event I'll end up helping out with cleanup and I'll sneak into the show room and catch some of the show at least. If you make it to the show, say hi!</div>
Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, WA, USA47.623046659197307 -122.3539844476516747.622712159197306 -122.35461494765167 47.623381159197308 -122.35335394765167tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-47201575845993944352015-07-09T21:57:00.000-07:002015-07-10T08:49:01.438-07:00Musical Plans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There are interesting musical options over the next few days. After some thought I'm planning an ambitious weekend, hopefully it'll work.<br />
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It starts with Friday's Out To Lunch show by the Maldives, one of my favorite local acts (I've got lots of favorites). I saw them at the first Run Vera Run event at Seward Park, at an Out To Lunch show on Harbor Steps a few years back with my daughter, and at Bumbershoot more than once. Jason Dodson also does an occasional solo bit too. Here's a photo by Joe Mabel of the Maldives at the Ballard Seafood Fest, as you can see they have a fairly large band. Fun band, well rehearsed, alt-country songs, good stuff.<a data-flickr-embed="false" data-footer="true" data-header="false" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmabel/4788861956/in/photolist-8ibaPs-8i82nn-8i8B3v-8i88xK-8i8kfn-8ibMPj-8i8p2F-8ibzXm-8ic1k9-8i7Utr-8i8goT-8ibsrs-8i8KbP-8ibdfq-8i8F3P-fJ3Qwa-8naNZY-8n7Fxk-8n7Fyg-8wTY44-54XEy5-54XEqJ-54XEPo-8n8bBR-8nbjPu-8nbjtN-6SWTk7-54Ts6x-6SSNoM-54TsiP-8z92jy-8ydmGH-8ygppE-8ydmEi-8ydmBe-8ygps9-8z92q3-8ygpn7-8ygpjb-6SSNJx-6SSVgV-6SWStU-6SWQNE-6U4XsM-6SWNbS-6U8YNf-6SSMiR-6SSLbX-6U4XyZ-6SWRPC" title="The Maldives 05"><img alt="The Maldives 05" height="425" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4120/4788861956_0bb7771841_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></div>
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The weather looks to be hot and sunny, so maybe we'll stop for a beer on the way back to the office since I'm working the regular 9 to 5 gig in the office downtown.<br />
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After work I head over to the Vera Project where I'm volunteering - running sound, so I'll plug microphones in for the Youth Speaks event. This will be poetry and spoken word with a DJ so it's probably some music to, but pre-recorded so the microphone setup isn't too complex. No band to mic, just a few mics for spoken word performers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27lAWA6FsJ0HXk4l-xNpn1qjqx-0D241ghKUhmFr-a3u1NIZvmIfe7OrjEKW8bynUEqOobovMcgOaY5ff15YBrDvgEpphPM02wV4Q-GDStUAguWclJi_d0ybk7PHv8RDXsEo9nGTYHAQT/s1600/yspeak.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27lAWA6FsJ0HXk4l-xNpn1qjqx-0D241ghKUhmFr-a3u1NIZvmIfe7OrjEKW8bynUEqOobovMcgOaY5ff15YBrDvgEpphPM02wV4Q-GDStUAguWclJi_d0ybk7PHv8RDXsEo9nGTYHAQT/s1600/yspeak.png" /></a></div>
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I'll miss the Friday night West Seattle Summerfest with Pony Time, The Shivas, La Luz, Lance Romance doing a DJ set and the Thermals headlining - solid lineup and a free show so I hate to miss it, but I still have Saturday.<br />
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The West Seattle Summerfest lineup on Saturday includes Sisters, Naked Giants, Wimps, Black Whales, S, The Fame Riot, Kithkin, Vox Mod and the Cave Singers and more. It lasts from Noon to late but I don't, so I figure my son Ben and I can go and see 2 or 3 bands. Maybe Naked Giants, Wimps and Black Whales in the late afternoon, for example. Here's a picture of Naked Giants (at least I think it's Naked Giants, it's from the EMP Sound Off! this Spring)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5NM_Xha3IiXxoYh0_G03_syqEnilPEAhL3kMzIkD4X44SBc_mE3E1Qve0kgLU2BBiGxfwH7TJ66O-41WX9IEaJl-5dmAYKTFSHAo8CyLPi4ZLNbJgdHkxnqOT4FiuSeZHBkll-xhN5CX/s1600/ngiants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5NM_Xha3IiXxoYh0_G03_syqEnilPEAhL3kMzIkD4X44SBc_mE3E1Qve0kgLU2BBiGxfwH7TJ66O-41WX9IEaJl-5dmAYKTFSHAo8CyLPi4ZLNbJgdHkxnqOT4FiuSeZHBkll-xhN5CX/s1600/ngiants.jpg" /></a></div>
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From here the logistics are slightly tricky. My son is 17 which is fine for West Seattle Summerfest, but the Minus 5 are playing the Tractor Tavern (21+) so my son can't go. I'll have to get him home but leave myself in Ballard. If I drive all the way home from West Seattle to drop Ben off I'm probably not going to be energetic and motivated enough to get our of the house and drive back to Seattle in the evening.<br />
<br />
Looks like I need to have Ben head home with a sister, or put him on the bus. That way I can see the Minus 5 with McCaughey and whoever - I saw them at Bumbershoot several years back and really don't want to miss the chance to see them again. They already canceled a Tractor show to go play a show with Tweedy (it may have been a Young Fresh Fellows show that was cancelled, my memory is uncertain).<br />
<br />
I can't find pictures from Young Fresh Fellows or Minus 5 shows I've been to, so I'll post an odd (crappy) video of Scott McCaughey doing a Minus 5 song called "Oh Sht Man." Great song, lousy video but the audio is OK. This was from a many hours long "show" with Robyn Hitchcock and other local Seattle luminaries at the Cyclops in Belltown. I think it was really more of a rehearsal than a show - they didn't charge anything and just played an insane number of songs. Hitchcock said they were auditioning the place as a hangout to work on their performance to replace an older hangout they used to use in Belltown.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HpCrC5wZT1Y" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
West Seattle Summerfest is a personal favorite - I remember seeing Shelby Earl doing her different songs with a simple stripped down approach, her music that had something - and this was in 2010, before the albums and NPR love and Amazon's "Best Album You Might Have Missed" award. You can see some amazing, memorable bands and it's free<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f4SaXhWZRnM" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
There's a nice circularity here - I led off with the Out To Lunch series, wandered over to Shelby Earl via West Seattle Summerfest, and now of course I can't stop until I also point out that Shelby Earl is playing a free Out To Lunch show on Wednesday August 19 at Two Union Square.<a href="http://www.downtownseattle.com/Summer/otl/" target="_blank"> It's worth checking out the web site, there are so many good bands playing like Fly Moon Royalty, Naomi Wachira, the Staxx Brothers, Craft Spells, McTuff, The Dusty 45s, Lee Oskar, Tubaluba, Bleach Bear, Vaudeville Etiquette, St. Paul De Vence, Industrial Revelation, Clinton Fearon and the Boogie Brown Band, Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme and more.</a><br />
<br />
Here's the overall West Seattle Summerfest schedule, this is a great lineup of local talent for free. I may miss most of it but I encourage anybody who has the time to see as many bands as possible.<br />
<table class="wp-table-reloaded wp-table-reloaded-id-15" id="wp-table-reloaded-id-15-no-1" style="background-color: #cdcdcd; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 1px; clear: both; color: #343733; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; margin: 10px 0px; width: 665px;"><thead>
<tr class="row-1 odd alt"><th class="column-1 sorting_disabled" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="background-color: #e6eeee; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(61, 61, 61) !important; font-size: 9.60000038146973px; padding: 4px 8px; width: 267px;">Band</th><th class="column-3 sorting_disabled" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="background-color: #e6eeee; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(61, 61, 61) !important; font-size: 9.60000038146973px; padding: 4px 8px; width: 162px;">Day</th><th class="column-4 sorting_disabled" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="background-color: #e6eeee; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(61, 61, 61) !important; font-size: 9.60000038146973px; padding: 4px 8px; width: 187px;">2015 Set time</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr class="row-2 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.gibraltartheband.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Gibraltar</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">3:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-3 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.eveningbellband.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Evening Bell</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">4:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-4 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://pony-time.bandcamp.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Pony Time</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">5:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-5 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.deepcreepband.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Deep Creep</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">6:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-6 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.theshivas.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">The Shivas</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">7:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-7 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.hardlyart.com/laluz.html" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">La Luz</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">8:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-8 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lance-Mercer-Photography/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">DJ Lance Romance</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">9:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-9 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.thethermals.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">The Thermals</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">FRIDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">9:30</td></tr>
<tr class="row-10 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.sisterstheband.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Sisters</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">11:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-11 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.pigsnoutband.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Pig Snout</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">12:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-12 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://navvi.bandcamp.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Navvi</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">1:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-13 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://timbrebarons.bandcamp.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Timbre Barons</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">2:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-14 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://nakedgiants.bandcamp.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Naked Giants</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">3:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-15 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.thesewimps.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Wimps</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">4:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-16 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.blackwhales.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Black Whales</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">5:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-17 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.hardlyart.com/s.html" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">S</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">6:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-18 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.thefameriot.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">The Fame Riot</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">7:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-19 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.kithkin.bandcamp.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Kithkin</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">8:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-20 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.voxmod.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Vox Mod</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">9:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-21 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.thecavesingers.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">The Cave Singers</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SATURDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">9:30</td></tr>
<tr class="row-22 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://solvents.bandcamp.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">The Solvents</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SUNDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">1:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-23 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MemphisRadioKings" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Memphis Radio Kings</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SUNDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">2:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-24 even"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.stereoembers.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Stereo Embers</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SUNDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">3:00</td></tr>
<tr class="row-25 alt odd"><td class="column-1" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://sick-sad-world.bandcamp.com/" style="color: #b20838; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">Sick Sad World</a></td><td class="column-3" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">SUNDAY</td><td class="column-4" style="background: rgb(45, 225, 255); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3d3d3d; padding: 4px 8px; vertical-align: top;">4:00</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-32996848111962311382015-05-17T12:39:00.002-07:002015-05-17T12:41:11.422-07:00TacocaT, Chastity Belt, S and Childbirth at the EMP Pop Conference<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2015/05/2015-emp-sound-off-ruled-like-it-always.html" target="_blank">I've mentioned that I like to take engineers visiting from out of town out to see some local music</a>. Recently the EMP held the annual Pop Conference with the theme "Get UR Freak On: Music, Weirdness and Transgression" and booked TacocaT, Chastity Belt, S and Childbirth for an opening show in the Sky Church.<br />
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This is the sort of different musical experience available in Seattle that would be hard to come by in most cities. The top few cities have comparable and better - NY, Chicago, LA, and a few other huge cities have truly varied and huge music scenes, but few cities under 1 million have the variety and depth and deep bench that Seattle has. This is <b>exactly</b> the sort of show I look for to take the visiting engineers - it's even all ages!<br />
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There are challenges, though. The Get UR Freak On theme and sexual content and tone are generally not appropriate in a business environment. On the show web page there were links for the bands & one of the links led directly to "<a href="https://childbirth.bandcamp.com/track/i-only-fucked-you-as-a-joke" target="_blank">I Only Fucked You as a Joke</a>"<br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3451757165/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/track=910764362/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 42px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://childbirth.bandcamp.com/album/its-a-girl">It's a Girl! by CHILDBIRTH</a></iframe><a href="https://childbirth.bandcamp.com/track/i-only-fucked-you-as-a-joke" target="_blank">From the album <b>it's a girl!</b></a><br />
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://childbirth.bandcamp.com/track/i-only-fucked-you-as-a-joke" target="_blank"><img alt="Childbirth album "it's a girl!" on Bandcamp" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Ji1duKvtFGO-md9CnkC7QRi0xRrNvAur6dGFlgoo5tTJFMcsBti4j9jxFMeAbGIS_opo_MVNphgLL7LbkTMb6F_5skaeRiKtEeus6SS0T2RKP2TTzYKaTmo9N3QkxZrNZKH-vTv53gaz/s400/chidbirth+its+a+grl.png" width="390" /></a></span></div>
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While this is a valid artistic expression and probably more common than anyone wants to admit (and a great song!), this is inappropriate in a business context.<br />
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On the other hand, we're talking a business context in Seattle, after all. And I've had mild problems with boundaries on occasion too, I overshare on occasion and... well, I talked myself into it.<br />
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I mitigated the risk of triggering corporate pain and HR investigations (can you tell I work at a large corporation?) by adding a "BTW If you follow the links and listen to the bands, use headphones. Some of this stuff is NSFW - REALLY!" clause to the email and sent it out to 10 coworkers at Cisco. I wouldn't try that with a larger list or a list that included more people that I didn't know well, but I felt safe in forwarding it to my coworkers, we're all adults with reasonable senses of humor.<br />
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It was a great call, of course, but that was never in doubt as far as bands go. About the only thing that didn't go well is that we took so long eating dinner before the show that we missed Childbirth - dang, they had songs I wanted to hear live. Better luck next time, I'll have to keep an eye out for them.<br />
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We managed to make it for a classic S set: introspective and haunting, guitar driven without wailing, more a reverb and space approach. Sometimes the lyrics were more out front with multiple parts, sometimes the lyrics faded into the songs yet echoed with emotions felt from a distance or remembered with fading intensity. The instruments change up on occasion for some keyboards but the haunting quality and the feeling of remembered emotional intensity remains.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIpKkSuTo1qtqUAjFIyJtMW2_WReeQAXQbV86GYSphKm6LhTIdJKzHqagQ-SPYy-1PxlZVTgnpzGJuRA6M5adMkWW4BVRRp0Lu2seod1ZZhfEeSL8ovWpGXsnHaQNqTr8_BV9xb7Pn8N_/s1600/Pop+Conference+S.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIpKkSuTo1qtqUAjFIyJtMW2_WReeQAXQbV86GYSphKm6LhTIdJKzHqagQ-SPYy-1PxlZVTgnpzGJuRA6M5adMkWW4BVRRp0Lu2seod1ZZhfEeSL8ovWpGXsnHaQNqTr8_BV9xb7Pn8N_/s640/Pop+Conference+S.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.empmuseum.org/at-the-museum/museum-features/sky-church.aspx" target="_blank">The EMP Sky Church is a great place to see a show</a>, nobody is very far from the performers and the sound is excellent. My cell phone shot above doesn't do it justice, but it gives you some idea of where we are and the scale of the performance space, anyway. I found a nice creative commons photo from Joe Mabel (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/7943225@N02" target="_blank">here's his flickr page</a>)<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg/640px-S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg/640px-S_(Jenn_Ghetto_and_band)_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_40_(17205540676).jpg" /></a></div>
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I enjoyed it but the Indian engineers were subdued - it's kinda subdued music as far as that goes, I suppose. They were looking for more active music, stronger beats and motion and dancing preferred. Dancy pop music would be more up their alley.</div>
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Chastity Belt was up next and while they're not poppy, they certainly brought a higher energy level, louder beat and more positive subject matter to the table. Chastity Belt is more guitar oriented rock and roll, loud with backbeat and a full sound - rhythm and lead guitar, bass, drums and solid rock and roll vocals. Not pretty and polished, more powerful and sneering or laughing - sometimes with us, sometimes at us, a committed performance with a fuck you if you don't like it attitude. That very attitude makes it more appealing and evocative. I just convinced myself they're punk rock too (coming from me that's a compliment) but I've never sweated the categories all that much..</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAy8snONm_0-IFW2Ms78SMJJnMFQOmwAyXvBHmYOTAvtgDzPGjnZ8tYn3q8cFZmsKxocyxR-7SbDPZ41mhUgGGqt1o1ZekHrRPyVg4g-WtucPe4zpUKnyIMDXV3rm0Pt835z5Fs4kr2P5F/s1600/Pop+Conference+Chastity+Belt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAy8snONm_0-IFW2Ms78SMJJnMFQOmwAyXvBHmYOTAvtgDzPGjnZ8tYn3q8cFZmsKxocyxR-7SbDPZ41mhUgGGqt1o1ZekHrRPyVg4g-WtucPe4zpUKnyIMDXV3rm0Pt835z5Fs4kr2P5F/s640/Pop+Conference+Chastity+Belt.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Since my cell phone photo is lame as usual I dug up another creative commons photo so you can see what we saw. Heck, with my nearsightedness we're probably seeing more than I saw at the show in this photo, it's got details! (This photo is from Joe Mabel again; <a href="https://www.flickr.com/people/7943225@N02" target="_blank">his flickr</a>)</div>
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<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChastity_Belt_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_04_(17239409565).jpg" title="Joe Mabel [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Chastity Belt - Pop Conference 2015 - 04 (17239409565)" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Chastity_Belt_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_04_%2817239409565%29.jpg/640px-Chastity_Belt_-_Pop_Conference_2015_-_04_%2817239409565%29.jpg" /></a>
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The vocals in Chastity Belt are classic rock and roll, not pretty but expressive, able to get a bit raw, to surge to a powerful crescendo and wind it back, but used in a pretty aggressive manner. This is not subtle music, this is loud amplified music that knows it's load and amplified and likes it and has a swagger or maybe a strut.</div>
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Fun set, talented band worth seeing in a great venue.</div>
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Next up was the sheer (surf?) pop sweetness of TacocaT. This was the perfect for the visiting engineers. Well executed songs, guitar driven with a great beat, very dance friendly. Bright and exuberant, TacocaT has so much fun you can't help but have fun too.</div>
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I have no idea if the visiting engineers were able to hear the vocals and understand them, they all speak and understand English very well but getting TacocaT's word play and underlying meaning can be challenging. Figuring out cultural references the first time you hear a song in a live setting in a non-native tongue would be challenging. </div>
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That's OK, they loved the show based on the music and the beat and the performer's visual appeal and what they got of the word play, it was a wonderful upbeat fun set. TacocaT always puts on a great live show - you should see them outdoors on a sunny day with a bubble machine!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-d_rYrJHqgGRaB0sdYCtRpNcG3b50kOpceSxxtQkvcw8kx3pnWtR0eVBpgasD4NXhrB0BhftQDoEWGbPOUcytv55C9gufjjc8df9TpFWqvPSn8V7_-GDtFKOvbHjpOvN3hX5yrmhglZle/w1215-h730-no/20150417_230645-ANIMATION.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-d_rYrJHqgGRaB0sdYCtRpNcG3b50kOpceSxxtQkvcw8kx3pnWtR0eVBpgasD4NXhrB0BhftQDoEWGbPOUcytv55C9gufjjc8df9TpFWqvPSn8V7_-GDtFKOvbHjpOvN3hX5yrmhglZle/w1215-h730-no/20150417_230645-ANIMATION.gif" height="384" width="640" /></a></div>
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Thanks to three kick ass bands for providing a great show and a different perspective and entertaining some friends who flew pretty much all the way around the world for the privilege. I love showing Seattle's music scene off, especially when the bands are so talented and fun. Another great show!</div>
Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0EMP Museum, 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA47.6214824 -122.3481244999999822.099447899999998 -163.65671849999998 73.1435169 -81.039530499999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-13860040529095689212015-05-16T14:44:00.002-07:002015-05-16T14:44:41.100-07:002015 EMP Sound Off! Ruled Like It Always Does<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I work with engineers from India who visit Seattle for a few months and work on assorted technical issues around our Mediasense media recording server appliance. As a total local music geek, I've taken it upon myself to make sure they get a good introduction to the Seattle music scene before they head back home.<br />
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It's tricky - finding a good show that fits 4 or 5 schedules, making sure we have some way to get there and back, making sure it's not too weird or offbeat (I like that stuff but many don't), the venue's not too dive-ish, etc. All ages shows tend to be a good bet, less drinking and more focus on the music<br />
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Every Spring the all-ages EMP Sound Off! shows happen in February with the Finals in March (more or less). This is reliably one of my favorite sets of shows every year. I love getting to know new bands and I'll get to see 12 bands I've never heard of (well, this year I'd heard of 2 but that's an outlier, never happened before). The EMP chooses great bands from a variety of genres out of a large number of applicants and the talent is always amazing.<br />
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Each of the 3 semifinal shows has 4 bands, for example we saw Bleachbear, Supersoaked, Champagne Babylon and Night Space. The bands go on in a random order and play for about 40 minutes each.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNUpDa9I-e6ojdyQO4kreC6xmFc4n33uuahrrUuHzOJS-VPpJY4ahC23Y-_C4JO4IxiHiuGk2ayIYcrfClQEZ4Ph7hGkliLIo2tWMIvd4BYd_HFWaEN4PFYtb6JwLSvGDqgY51At8mr-J/s1600/Bleachbear.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNUpDa9I-e6ojdyQO4kreC6xmFc4n33uuahrrUuHzOJS-VPpJY4ahC23Y-_C4JO4IxiHiuGk2ayIYcrfClQEZ4Ph7hGkliLIo2tWMIvd4BYd_HFWaEN4PFYtb6JwLSvGDqgY51At8mr-J/s400/Bleachbear.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bleachbear winning their Semifinal round</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMOvqEmGn_2s5gmMhZljggw_WAXMjJcGnkyI8QOzvzP7UnxxMsnKQYtU7wgtTxvduqqWDeJSzAKTbyQFe3xEpuwlXlskSozB6yS7R2QnOhHdodyn65p3mhFCppAP8qHjPniMiFl00UKnW/s1600/Champagne+Babylon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMOvqEmGn_2s5gmMhZljggw_WAXMjJcGnkyI8QOzvzP7UnxxMsnKQYtU7wgtTxvduqqWDeJSzAKTbyQFe3xEpuwlXlskSozB6yS7R2QnOhHdodyn65p3mhFCppAP8qHjPniMiFl00UKnW/s400/Champagne+Babylon.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Champagne Babylon got the Wild Card runner up spot</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvLTzxpXTdv3uRNKWjWDju24EEMkEO1nge_iZSmgxrwc_OiwfZguKkn6rAsSit23tXGXvLkUbcgOeB5rkJiCcDyRpa_Mh8mzvROfR7THC70e24kXDeO80k16Nrsrhqqr08qED6TyygwwE/s1600/Super+Soacked.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvLTzxpXTdv3uRNKWjWDju24EEMkEO1nge_iZSmgxrwc_OiwfZguKkn6rAsSit23tXGXvLkUbcgOeB5rkJiCcDyRpa_Mh8mzvROfR7THC70e24kXDeO80k16Nrsrhqqr08qED6TyygwwE/s400/Super+Soacked.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super Soaked rocking out</td></tr>
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The judges gather after the show and award a winner and a runner up. There's also an audience participation award; we (the audience) scream for each band and the band with the loudest fans gets some additional prizes. The winner of each of the 3 semifinals goes to the finals. One band from the 3 wild card (runner up) teams is also selected bringing the total to 4 bands.<br />
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Once again the 4 bands play in random order and the judges award the title and we all cheer and head home happy and sweaty after another great night of music.<br />
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The winner gets studio time and equipment and a performance slot at Bumbershoot. There were a couple of additional festivals with buyers in attendance signing up bands for the year's regional festivals.<br />
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This year the energy was very positive and we had a wide range of acts and styles of music. I enjoyed the heck out of it and every single band I saw is worth keeping an eye on. Bleachbear, Naked Giants, Emma Lee Toyoda and One Above None Below have all been getting gigs around town & that's just the shows I noticed.<br />
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In the finals One Above and None Below came from the Wild Card slot to win it all with an electric performance against intense competition - intensely happy and upbeat competition, every single act seemed to be having the time of their life and obviously enjoyed getting to play for us.<br />
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The peak acts got us dancing and sweating and having a great time, and every act was interesting and different and unique. It was a memorable introduction to the all-ages Seattle music scene for the engineers who'd flown around the globe from almost the exact opposite side.</div>
Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0EMP Museum, 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109, USA47.6214824 -122.3481244999999822.099447899999998 -163.65671849999998 73.1435169 -81.039530499999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-12320016964258354032015-05-16T13:22:00.000-07:002015-05-16T13:45:56.292-07:00Shane Diamanti: Upcoming EP Release Show at El Corazon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Shane Diamanti has a sold out EP Release show this Friday May 22 at El Corazón.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQnAU1UfmsLAQFNHoubu7aG797dSDjgqtJQIkpABrJ6-55q4nHo45xik9EIy_d3R-Q3vAyJbFQZPZJhYS-kFuDUQznVTqNLr_NNcnXitW-Jck1VlzwJBv6p_scT_QqdkJ_5Yvp1ySX_ka/s1600/diamanti+poster+5-22-15.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQnAU1UfmsLAQFNHoubu7aG797dSDjgqtJQIkpABrJ6-55q4nHo45xik9EIy_d3R-Q3vAyJbFQZPZJhYS-kFuDUQznVTqNLr_NNcnXitW-Jck1VlzwJBv6p_scT_QqdkJ_5Yvp1ySX_ka/s640/diamanti+poster+5-22-15.png" width="555" /></a></div>
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I interviewed Shane two years ago and figured it was time to check back in.<br />
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<b>It’s been a couple of years, what've you been up to?</b><br />
<b>Shane: </b>I did “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/shane.diamanti/videos/576003875777913/?pnref=story" target="_blank">Dictionary Freestyle</a>” on Facebook and that blew me up (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/shane.diamanti/videos/576003875777913/?pnref=story" target="_blank">over 1,000 likes & 100 shares, feel free to check it out and give it some love</a>), I got tons of messages, I walked around my city and people knew who I was. That was crazy.<br />
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I went and saw Sam Lachow, he came up to was like “I’m a fan of you man” “What?” “Yeah, your dictionary free style!” what the heck, and Raz Simone came up to me “I know who you are.” I look up to these guys, it was cool.<br />
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I wrote a lot but I wasn't recording for a while.<br />
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<b>Shane “worked” the Sam Lachow w/Gifted Gab & BFA show at the Neptune in November of 2014 from the audience</b><br />
<b>Shane: </b>I met people that night, when Sam called for people to get on stage they yelled “pick Shane” and Sam said “I know Shane, get up here Shane” and people might’ve been rapping and having fun, but I was talking to everyone on stage so I could get the connections. I already knew Ariana DeBoo and I was talking to Sam’s saxophone player and we’re cool now, I was just talking to him today. I talked to Raz that day, Sam, to all of them.<br />
<br />
That inspired me – damn, I could be on that stage again! The last time I did shows was in High School and only 30 people came, it wasn't that cool.<br />
<br />
I’m going to book a show, I booked it at El Corazón lounge – when I messaged them first they were like “you want a weekday?” and I said “you want it to sell out?” and they said “all right, you can have a Friday.”
<br />
<br />
It’s about to sell out. (<b>It sold out weeks ago now.</b>)<br />
<br />
I’m excited for that, I’ve never headlined before, this is my first headline.<br />
<br />
<b>Who are you playing with? </b><br />
<br />
<b>Shane: </b>Ronnie Dylan & Dyllyn Greenwood, my DJ Jay Battle & Ronnie Dylan’s DJ is Jake Crocker<br />
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<b>Release show? </b><br />
<br />
<b>Shane: </b>Yes, my EP release, my first professional recorded EP. I always recorded in my room but now I’m recording down at Jay Battle place. It’s called “Changed My Mind.” Over time I changed my mind about what style I should have, so I was like I should just have an EP with every style, trying something out.<br />
<br />
I’m still going to do stuff off my album, I’m working on getting that out next year in December. I’m working on a mixtape that IS my style so people know what my style is like. I’ve been trying to get a whole bunch of music written. I’ve been working for this for six years.<br />
<br />
I always dreamt this stuff – one day I’m going to be on the radio, I’m about to be on the radio. One day I’m going to sell out a show, I’m going to sell out a show! (Sure enough, he sold out the show).<br />
<br />
I always dreamt this stuff, but now I’m about to do it so now I gotta make dreams that are even higher. Next year I want to have an album release in December and I want to sell out the Neptune. That’s my goal.<br />
<br />
I want this show to be for the fans. They’re not really my fans, I call them friends. I took the bus to Olympia, Lacey, Everett, Arlington, Marysville, I’m going to Wenatchee taking the train this weekend, to meet everybody. It’s one thing to send someone a link “yeah, come to my show” but it’s another thing to meet them in person, hand them their ticket and see their face. They’re happy to meet me and I’m like “I’m happy to meet you!” it goes both ways.<br />
<br />
It’s going to be crazy!
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Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0El Corazon, Seattle, WA, USA47.618702103031396 -122.3293801055225547.618618603031393 -122.32953760552255 47.6187856030314 -122.32922260552255tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-9906586336630625482015-03-10T08:01:00.004-07:002015-03-10T15:26:24.852-07:00Sebastian Mehenka covers "A Sky Full of Stars"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My wife pointed out Sebastian Mehenka's work on YouTube to me and I enjoyed it. His video of "A Sky Full of Stars" in particular was well done. He covered it for his girlfriend and his clear earnest vocals carry the romantic song with a nice effects presence making it sound like he's singing in a large echoing room. The piano playing is nice and I'm pretty impressed by the visual content too. There are some interesting ideas and themes. BTW was that a shrimp or a lobster scooting along? Surprising yet fitting visual element, somehow.<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZsOdvFVBPVU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/SebastianMehenka" target="_blank">He has other content worth checking out too</a>.<br />
Sebastian lives somewhere off in Canada near Toronto, nowhere near where I live, so YouTube may be the only way I'd ever see Sebastian's work. I always enjoy it when I stumble across nicely crafted music and listen to something unanticipated that I like.</div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-73716732778736467902014-04-03T20:53:00.000-07:002014-04-09T08:41:21.667-07:00Katie McNally Trio at a Bothell house show<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Through work contacts I heard that katie McNally, a talented fiddler, was playing a house show in Bothell, which is right next door to the town I live in on the north end of Lake Washington. Dana and I went and had a great time. Katie McNally described herself as mostly a Scottish-style fiddler then proceeded to play all kinds of different music that I'm pretty sure included Scottish and Cape Breton and Galacian music, plus something written by a Bengali in a European style (the details elude me, I should've taken notes), her own compositions, and more. <br /><br />
Katie was interesting to listen to as she introduced songs and told stories, and then the playing started and I was transported. I grew up listening to bluegrass music on my dad's stereo back in the sixties. He recorded some at the monthly Saturday Maltby Bluegrass Jam - which is still running 50 years later, amazingly enough. Every weekend we'd listen to the KRAB live Bluegrass show - late at night, live on the radio for hours on end. There was always a fiddle and a guitar, usually a banjo, more often than not a singer or three, and occasional percussion. Katie's music wasn't exactly the same, rather it's one of the main roots of the folk music I grew up listening to, filtered through Appalachia and recordings from the thirties. The music has continued to grow and thrive in parallel and some of the more interesting pieces were composed by Katie - they sounded old school as heck, like I'd grown up listening to riffs stolen from them, and I'd never heard them before. That immediate familiarity and comfort stands out. I was listening to music played by someone I'd never met playing songs I'd never heard and it felt like I was coming home to the familiar haunts I'd grown up in.<br /><br />
It was evocative - it took me back to my childhood growing up in Edmonds - the instruments were different, Katie's trio mostly played with a violin, viola and grand piano; sometimes with 2 fiddles, but it was hauntingly familiar. The reels and amazing string duets and the interplay with the complex piano arrangements all added different elements, and the viola often switched to pezacata and struck approaches to get a variety of sounds. He also played some of the softest accompaniment I've ever heard, very subtle stuff. It paid off to listen very intently, and the room as very quiet, even the younger kids mesmerized by the performance.<br /><br />
The dynamics were interesting and the quiet bits would build both in volume and rhythm to peaks with the musicians wailing away, then Katie thumping out a beat on the carpet as they are all sawing and playing away to bring it back home and wind the parts back together. Underneath it all there was the frequent return to the strings winding around each other, skipping along and playing off each other, converging on notes then playing intervals against each other, multi-string violin bowing increasing the volume and intensity and complexity as the music comes alive at the touch of the fingers of the musicians.<br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuNypzs9sSCEGaVFPI7BCj7E9Ockt-z0etu6nSMTu3-Xz7AivhmY36qWorv_02YpZmLtQH2g1EOyidqSuvnPA67kq3VDZsi6CriU0HMQu9I76LlrbvBLvkJkBmdZ0nDhshGiwAqMSYoa7/s1600/KatieMcNally.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuNypzs9sSCEGaVFPI7BCj7E9Ockt-z0etu6nSMTu3-Xz7AivhmY36qWorv_02YpZmLtQH2g1EOyidqSuvnPA67kq3VDZsi6CriU0HMQu9I76LlrbvBLvkJkBmdZ0nDhshGiwAqMSYoa7/s1600/KatieMcNally.png" /></a><br />
The talent and precision was breathtaking and the songs were powerful; we all enjoyed the show. The pianist and the viola/2nd fiddle player each took the spotlight for a bit and performed a solo number - the pianist calling himself a poseur for playing a Galician tune on a piano, since pianos are not authentic Galician instruments. Poseur or not, it was inspired. He played with rhythms and nearly percussive approaches on the keys - I really don't have a good vocabulary to describe it. The solo piano number was amazing and the sideman did a classic Brahms number that was tasty and we had a break - and opened the windows, it was very warm - and the trio played a second set.<br /><br />
The empathy the musicians had for each other bordering on telepathy, the way they could play with tempos and alternate transitions on scales, playing with tempo without losing each other, reflecting tempos and rhythms and passages across instruments gave the live performance a very organic spontaneous feel - structured and well rehearsed yet with plenty of room to improvise and respond to each other.<br /><br /> The trio did a number of reels that were thrilling - moving briskly and precisely, pretty soon zipping along, and Katey stomping (now on a carpet protector, better sound!) the beat out to drive it on to a powerful climax. We all wipe a bit of sweat off our brows, catch our breath, and Katie explains the next bit - how she wrote it for a large group (an oddly instrumented large group) and had to cut it down for the trio - and they proceed to wreck us all over again.<br /><br />The intensity of the music, the singing strings on the leads and multiple string bowings for chords and the dynamics from quiet to loud and back again in the same song, the jazzy and quiet but essential piano accompaniment, the occasionally interesting left hand rhythms all combine to make this unique and fascinating - time flies and the show is over way too soon, even with a few songs in an encore.<br /><br />There are so many elements and I'm already forgetting many - I'd swear the pianist said he was playing a Macedonian number in 22/8 time, I think I recall obscure arkestars from roughly that neck of the woods into crazy time signatures. Crazy signature or not the music was enthralling and beautiful. The tuning was rapid but consistent between songs and the humidity was brutal on the bows with many broken bowstrings, or are they threads? One song used a simplified D-G-D-G tuning (if I recall) and Katie made getting into and out of that tuning quickly while keeping the patter going seem effortless so even with fairly major tuning changes the show moved right along.<br />
<br />It's rare that I stay engaged with music that has no verbal component - no lyrics, no voices singing, that's OK we had strings singing and crying and laughing and a piano chuckling and pounding and alternating and playing and themes running around all over the place. The show was very satisfying and I'm glad I got the tip from work, I don't see enough variety and I surely don't see enough good fiddle music. Musicians this talented are worth seeing no matter what they're playing, so getting to hear the old familiar music from my childhood or at least it's cousins played that well made me realize how much I miss hearing some of the varieties of music I grew up on. Time to get out to Maltby for another bluegrass fix, I think. Maybe that will hold me until McNally gets back to town.
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2JUREM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00B2JUREM&linkCode=as2&tag=vir07-20"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00B2JUREM&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=vir07-20" ></a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=vir07-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00B2JUREM" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
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</div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Bothell, WA, USA47.765781962920244 -122.2032022476196347.763113962920244 -122.20824474761963 47.768449962920243 -122.19815974761963tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-32391594124220818322014-03-13T22:46:00.000-07:002014-04-08T22:38:09.580-07:00Iska Dhaaf album release with Don't Talk to the Cops at Neumos on My BirthdayIska Dhaaf's CD Release Show with Don't Talk to the Cops is on my birthday! I love that lineup.<br />
I didn't get video, just some cell phone shots.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFx6vA_vBRIoLXZ40_jGKZa5-fAw6h9Ws0WthVV731gItn6qKhHhC2P_slO-qxP83xTG3qr-CcZ_pS9c0VQ-7nyilR-tuHr8WUNIovn3vJb1y_vx3AbRX8hCK4JvJY879EDoH50k5bUDRR/s1600/IskaDhaafNeumos1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFx6vA_vBRIoLXZ40_jGKZa5-fAw6h9Ws0WthVV731gItn6qKhHhC2P_slO-qxP83xTG3qr-CcZ_pS9c0VQ-7nyilR-tuHr8WUNIovn3vJb1y_vx3AbRX8hCK4JvJY879EDoH50k5bUDRR/s640/IskaDhaafNeumos1.png" /></a></div><br />
I didn't even get cell phone photos of Don't Talk to the Cops, I was too busy dancing and moshing and having fun. I first saw Don't Talk to the Cops at Reverb in October 2011.
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They had Hollis with them for a couple numbers, fun show!<br /> I kept track and went to see them again when I got the chance like at Bumbershoot in 2012:
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and at Heartland last year:
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not to mention a few Vera Project shows.
<br />One show in particular - at the Redmond Firehouse, a classic DTTTC show with Mash Hall overtones, great sweaty show with the audience dancing and having a great time:
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<br />There was an opening act I'd never heard of called "Iska Dhaaf" and they stood out immediately, their song "Happiness" is a haunting instant classic:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/F-_1n22yAHs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />Droney guitar, up front percussive work - stripped down lineup, each instrument prominent, simple and powerful. The vocals and especially the occasional two part sections and tasty reverb and echo give it a dreamy indirect feeling. The dynamics, the transitions from the haunting quieter bit to the louder more percussion driven sections and the final bridge of happiness gives it more progression, more of a completed arc. This song slips into your emotions and memories like the soundtrack for the bit that was about happiness, but wasn't really very happy at all. You're glad it's the bittersweet echo of that feeling, better in retrospect than while you're living through it.<br /><br />
After the fact I read that Nathan Quiroga (<a href="http://youtu.be/SwLefqd27aQ">I saw him quite a few times</a> as <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualsound/5424688868/">Buffalo Madonna</a> in <a href="http://youtu.be/HpdbpVvJgDI">Mad Rad</a>) and <a href="http://youtu.be/9ap5z_HzoKo">Benjamin Verdoes of local indie favorites Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band</a> are Isk Dhaaf, so they're a bit of a Northwest indie super-group, which is cool.<br ><br >
I was looking forward to the birthday show, and they didn't let me down. I didn't record any videos, but the show was great and we had fun, good sweaty fun.<br /><br />
I posted the videos from the Redmond Firehouse show a year ago and never paid too much attention after that. When I was writing this I noticed that I have 1,687 views of the youtube video from the Iska Dhaaf show at the Redmond Firehouse. I never gave it much promotion or anything, probably just mentioned it once or twice on a blog, but that's a high level of viewing - for, me at least. I only have one video with more views (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis from 2 years ago) so that's quite a few views for a fairly unknown band.<br /><br />I suspect Iska Dhaaf may be breaking out quickly to regional success, and with their contacts and history I wouldn't be surprised to see national success pretty soon. Success is a fickle and unreliable thing, you never know how it will go, so I hope they're enjoying playing cool music for appreciative audiences as much as I enjoyed getting to hear it!Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Minor, Seattle, WA, USA47.6122534036305 -122.3136019706726147.6109154036305 -122.31612347067261 47.613591403630494 -122.31108047067261tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-78963644660937870232014-03-01T22:39:00.000-08:002014-03-06T23:51:19.842-08:002014 EMP Sound Off! FinalsAfter three great weeks of shows with <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-1.html">Laser Fox winning week 1</a>, <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-2.html">Thee Samedi winning week 2</a> and <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-3.html">Otieno Terry winning week 3</a>. Fauna Shade took the wild card slot to round out our four final competitors.<br /><br />
Unlike the prior 3 shows, which were held on the 3rd floor, the finals were in the Sky Church and Chipotle was serving tasty tacos gratis. Chipotle is one of my favorite local businesses, they sponsor many great local music and arts related events like the EMP Sound Off! and they donate free food to the Vera project too, and they have good vegetarian and vegan options. Good restaurant with it's heart in the right place, I appreciated having good tacos at the show.<br /><br /> After some munching we moved into the Sky Church and Laser Fox opened up the Finals show and put on a solid set.
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Opening is a tough slot - the crowd is cold, and even if you do get them warmed up some, when the last couple bands (3 & 4) play your performance won't be remembered as well. Laser Fox put on a good show and worked the crowd, getting some "Laser Fox" chants going. Nice way to open the show, but winning from this slot is tough.<br /><br />
Next up was Thee Samedi. The second slot is better than the first - Laser Fox warmed the crowd up, so Thee Samedi got to start from there and see if they could work them up any more - and they cranked up the crowd even further.
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The music was thrashier than Laser Fox and the showmanship was more towards the transgressive and somewhat brutal end of the spectrum, which definitely got the crowd moshing and raising a ruckus. They were into it and appreciative. The showmanship is mostly from Noah, the front man who thrashes around, sometimes on the floor, and does odd things with a microphone. He's also prone to minor self flagellation too.<br />
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There was <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12601426284/">less blood than in the semifinals</a>, but still more blood than anybody else in the venue. The band was a good solid loud power trio, cranking out thrashy fast hard tunes and having a good time pounding out the aggressive in your face music.<br />
<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12922046093/player/5c6b608a3c" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br />Definitely a hit with the crowd, we'd have to wait until the bands finished up before we'd find out what the judges thought.<br /><br />
Next up was Fauna Shade, a fun guitar oriented trio from Everett. The drummer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/eduardo.contreras.5243?fref=ts">Eduardo Contreras</a> is a friend of mine from the Vera Project. We hung out there quite a bit at Veracity shows and member meetings and main stage shows over a few years. He's busier working in Everett and playing in a band so he doesn't get back to the Vera much recently & it's great to see his band doing well.<br /><br />
The follow-on effect gave Fauna Shade the opportunity to build on the energy from the earlier acts, and they took it. I was definitely rooting for Eduardo's band, not to take anything away from anybody else's bands, they're all awesome, I just know Eduardo well.<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12922360194/player/c3d9cf1ef5" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
The band was tight and the reverb was cranked up - on the vocals more than anything. I enjoy the band's sound and already have several favorite songs - I managed to see them once in Everett, then of course in the Sound Off! semifinals, so I knew I liked the sound.
<br /><br />Fauna Shade rolls with the classic power trio with guitarist/vocalist lineup and the singer/guitarist is the face of the band, playing and singing and engaging the rapidly intensifying mosh pit in front of him. <iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12922054383/player/1828bdf908" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
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The bassist is more introverted, focusing on his instrument and getting all kinds of odd scratches, shrieks and piercing sounds out of it then filling the bottom end as another shaggy reverb-drenched song kicks off and amps the crowd intensity up some more.
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The band goes form spacey noise to tight intros into complex songs, clicking into and out of sections of song with well rehearsed tight transitions, making it all look easy and most of all fun. The guitarist was obviously enjoying himself and engaging with the audience with more energy than I noticed in the prior shows - he stepped up his game and really nailed my favorite songs, getting me and the crowd screaming and thrashing and sweating. Eduardo played a good tight set and the rhythm section was solid and so was the guitar. The best technical performance of the evening so far and while the showmanship wasn't in your face and aggressive - playing guitar and singing does pin you down to one spot much of the time - the music was so good and rollicking that the show kicked our asses anyway.<br /><br />
I love a good rock and roll show put on by a band that has decided on a good approach that is new yet feels classic and I enjoyed the heck out of Fauna Shades performance. In my mind they were the best so far, and had set the bar good and high for Otieno Terry. OT (as we chanted his name, oops maybe a spoiler) had put on an awesome show in the semifinals so we knew they were fully capable of nailing it and bringing the house down. Were they going to be that on tonight?<br /><br />
Otieno came out and kicked it off with a solo a cappela number, which is a ballsy move. With no musical accompaniment and no rhythm section we weren't moving much and there wasn't exactly a groove. Otieno basically had to nail everything, hit every note, get those phrases down and the intense emotions across with his voice and his stage presence and nothing else. He was more than up to it, and the crowd loved it. After the opening number the band came out and the rhythm section started thumping away at the low end, the pianist playing some jazz influenced chord progressions and an intricate lead figures here and there, and the dude on the end - who is pretty much my all time greatest side-man at this point - brought the cool factor up by an order of magnitude through his own stage presence. <iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12921926665/player/85c0452996" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br />
I've never noticed someone so good at bringing his A game to a performance yet somehow never deflecting the spotlight from the lead (Otieno) - the perfect side man. I didn't catch his name, if anybody knows it add it to the comments. <br /><br />
I liked the way the backing band was in suits and ties and slacks, they even had nice dress shoes: they looked sharp.<br /><br />The band was ridiculously talented - my favorite bassist of the night, dude was popping and thumping strings and having a great time driving the beat that you just couldn't resist down into your guts - that's where I always feel that punchy low bass that just makes you move. The crowd was intense and the set was great. The pianist was tasty, playing intricate passages and augmenting the sound, sometimes playing fairly minimally, other times holding up a chunk of the rhythm, very nice work that gave the band a different and better or perhaps cleaner sound than most of the live bands I see.<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12922030573/player/898e3dc7da" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
Otieno was on his game, taking us along through the emotional rigors of the stories his songs told - and boy can he communicate that emotion!<br /><br />
I also can't help circling back to the side man that I have a man crush on. The cool suit and the backing group made me think a little of the old rat pack; I grew up on Dean Martin's variety show with the singers in their sharp suits telling funny stories and alternating leads vs. side roles. OT's band's approach was that kind of an old school approach, although with more of a smaller set of more inspired musicians rather than the rat pack's larger bands where the inspiration was more in the arrangements. These guys would've fit right in with the rat pack.<br />
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When they got the 3 part vocals going it was pretty darn cool, these guys have an effortless style and the sound was great and very much their own. Fauna Shade set the bar high on musicianship and Otieno Terry pushed it a little higher while putting on a powerful show across the board. I was rooting for Fauna Shade but unfortunately OT was just off the scale. Well, unfortunately for Fauna Shade and it's winning ambitions; for the rest of us it was a musical blessing, music as a spiritual connection. By the end of the dancing and yelling and clapping and bouncing my feet hurt and I was sweaty and grinning - another great show, there's so much talent making music in Seattle it never stops amazing me.<br /><br />
With the performances finished we hit the usual post-show pause while the judges tally scores and the audience expressed its appreciation for the bands and the audience appreciation award went to Thee Samedi, a well earned award. Finally the judges results were announced and Otieno Terry won it, and deservedly so. Fauna Shade came in second which was great too.<br /><br />
Another great Sound Off! this year, filled with talented bands and great sets and memorable performances and the killer songs. Very well run, judging was spot on, all in all this was an awesome series of shows.<br /><br />
The best part is that now there are 12 more bands on my list of cool bands to keep an eye out for so I can see how they're doing and what they're up to. You can never have too many band crushes or too many opportunities to see great bands, so it's all good!<br /><br />
Kudos to the EMP and the Sound Board and all the volunteers who put this event on, and the Studios who sponsored the event like Fastback Studios, London Bridge Studios, Robert Lang studios, and the Snoqualmie Tribe and BNSF and Talking Rain. Thanks to all of you for helping put on a great Sound Off! this year, I enjoyed it immensely.
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com2EMP Museum, 325 5th Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109, United States47.6214824 -122.3481244999999822.099447899999998 -163.65671849999998 73.1435169 -81.039530499999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-71316237212832624722014-02-26T22:00:00.000-08:002014-03-01T10:53:31.801-08:00Tom Brosseau, Shelby Earl and Jon Sands at the Fremont AbbeyI've heard good things about the Fremont Abbey, but I had never managed to catch a show there. Then I saw that Shelby Earl was playing there with Tom Brosseau. Tickets were $10, or $12 for the second row, or $14 for the first row. I got the last 3 tickets in the first row. Time to check the venue out!<br /><br />
After work I caught the 5 from the office to Fremont and wandered around until I figured out where the Fremont Abbey is. It's in a building that looks like a church, or an abbey I suppose. Brilliant insight there! I had visions of a large open space, but it was actually in the bottom floor in a fairly small room. Dana drove the car down and joined me for the show.<br /><br />
Jon Sands, a poet from New York city, led things off. Seattle is probably one of the more poet friendly towns around, and Fremont is even more poet friendly than the Seattle norm, so it was a <b>really</b> friendly crowd. Sands liked the attention and feedback and kept us amused and occupied. Sands did a bit of verbal riffing and poetry, and Shelby Earl came out and played a guitar backing for one poem, and Sands went about (as he put it) spreading magic. He told stories and blushed at the racier bits of his own poems (those front row seats are nice!), and obviously was thrilled by the audience's positive reaction. He had fun with the single folks in a crowd participation bit and worked well both in the intro and between acts. In the small scale venue with a couple of very folky/singer songwriter acts Sands was a good fit and added entertainment and kept us engaged.<br /><br />
Next Shelby Earl took the stage with Anna-Lisa Notter. Shelby sings leads and pays guitar and Anna-Lisa sings backup, sometimes a separate line or repeat but more often a harmony with Shelby's voice.<br /><br />
"Everyone Belongs to Someone" is one of my favorites, Shelby's and Anna-Lisa's voices play off of each other wonderfully, giving the titular vocal an aching quality - you know it's a lament well before it circles to the ultimate "who belongs to me?" This is one of my favorite songs, it's beautiful in the intimate stripped down version at the abbey and it's beautiful in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhKk98jJDRk">full band version at the Sunset</a>. Shelby is the master of the slower tempos, her songs build over the longer slower measures to a powerful impact. They resonate and you still hear and feel them long after the show is over.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjqJQcYdakK33lZ36DI_QbQPssGny7b8bwKzWY0ep3PKYp2K8EeRnCIs-BIU5R_-PDxKkpCY8RcVRhCbFgGKYa7u1dVy0W6VsH6vFNuyqrAyb6PH1FbLDtFwVIZZVHH2tp9R_YqVrDyhn/s1600/shelby+fremont.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjqJQcYdakK33lZ36DI_QbQPssGny7b8bwKzWY0ep3PKYp2K8EeRnCIs-BIU5R_-PDxKkpCY8RcVRhCbFgGKYa7u1dVy0W6VsH6vFNuyqrAyb6PH1FbLDtFwVIZZVHH2tp9R_YqVrDyhn/s640/shelby+fremont.png" /></a><br /><br />
Shelby played some new stuff & "James" was great, a complex love song with another one of those classic heartbreaking Shelby Earl endings. Her voice was excellent all night, and when she and Anna-Lisa hit some of the sadder intervals it just does something to your heart and soul. The best songs leaves me somewhat breathless because I forget to breath while they hit the peaks and valleys of emotion. We're right next to the stage on one side and the audience is very quiet and attentive, focused on the performance. Sea of Glass is another great song. I keep thinking that - Swift Arrows is an <b>another</b> great song. The mics and amplification and speakers are all working perfectly well and the abbey is a fairly small short space (more wide than deep) so it doesn't need all that much amplification or volume. The full version of Burn the Boats (not yet released) is another great song. Shelby's acoustic guitar and the vocals and Anna-Lisa came through very clean and clear in the mix. Shelby's songs are heartrending and moving and her performance is beautiful both technically and lyrically. She has still more songs she's working on and the taste we got made us hungry for more. She's managed to get good coverage <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/02/02/270419787/music-for-folks-whove-been-through-a-few-things?ft=1&f=1039&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed">more than once</a> <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/04/08/135240235/shelby-earl-a-sweetly-sour-sound">from NPR.</a>, her songs and albums are awesome and her performances are great. Keep an eye out for her shows, they're always worth seeing and she may not be playing small venues for too long.<br /><br />
Next we got a passionate reading from Jon Sands, dedicated to his older brother that Jon wrote for his brother's wedding. It was a good romantic reading and prepped us nicely for Tom Brosseau.<br /><br />
Brosseau has a wonderful voice, a tenor that was very nuanced in the clean sound of the abbey. He can sound old and weary when he wants, young and energetic too. Mostly he just sounds very wise. That voice is gorgeous and the patter was interesting, including a bit of a road story.<br />
After a few songs Brosseau announced a sepecial guest - Mark Pickerel. Mark's a local celebrity from Ellensburg who played in Screaming Trees 3 decades ago (my how time flies) and is a fixture on the local scene, frequently playing as Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands and occasionally - like now - solo with a guitar. He basically pwned Brosseau and Earl in 2 sentences with one of the most efficient bits of patter I've ever heard, then kicked into an inspired "I Study Horses" that Mark says Brosseau had requested. Inspired choice, it's a great song and showcases Pickerel's baritone voice. I didn't get video, but KEXP has a nice full band version I'll embed.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/M7AIL_DBWr8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
Tasty, brilliant performance of a powerful song that worked extremely well done solo with acoustic guitar.<br /><br />
Finally Brosseau came back on and finished his set with beautiful songs and a voice that you can't help falling in love with. Since I didn't record anything I'll embed this KEXP video of Brosseau.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hbFBxBch3EE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>After a couple songs for an encore the show ended with the crowd sharing a glow and huge smiles. The performers hung around to sell & sign merch so we got to hang & visit and enjoy the afterglow together for a while longer. Pretty amazing talent and a moving show, Wednesday ended up going extremely well, even better than I expected. Mark Pickerel as a guest star is going to enhance any show, and the quality of the performers, performances, and venue sound were nothing short of amazing.
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Fremont, Seattle, WA, USA47.659235841158484 -122.3497467499541947.659068841158486 -122.35006174995419 47.659402841158482 -122.34943174995419tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-91967958955390328662014-02-22T22:16:00.000-08:002014-02-28T07:45:14.760-08:00EMP Sound Off! Round 3<a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-1.html">The first</a> <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-2.html">two Sound Off! shows</a> were epic, featuring great music and great showmanship and an embarrassment of riches. Laser Fox came out ahead in round 1 and Thee Samedi took round 2. Now for round 3!<br /><br />
I ended up volunteering to help the Vera Project load in at the Triple Door for the gala in the afternoon, then running out and picking up Greg and heading back downtown to see the show. We parked in my office's underground secured lot and walked over to the EMP and headed up the SF stairs to the venue. Coming off the stairs we stopped by the Vera table and said hello. I didn't end up tabling for the Vera Project so I didn't get a seat between acts after all. Dang.<br /><br />
First up was Calico the Band who drove 10 hours from Boise to play for us and brought plenty of supporters.<br />
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The instruments were acoustic, upright bass and acoustic guitars and fiddles and banjos and mandolins. At least I think they used a mandolin, they switched around freely. They also had a drum set that was played standing up on occasion and another drum up front.
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They had a more percussion driven approach than I'd anticipated and got the audience cranked up quickly. The energy level was high and the band was very good, with a rich sound and good vocals and a presentation that just pulled you right in to the stomping beats and fun music. The lady on the keyboards was the "front-woman" handling the majority of the vocals and her charisma put them over. They put in a solid set that warmed up the crowd and had us dancing and yelling, but they had the difficult challenge of winning from the opening slot. The next band had a better chance simply because Calico the Band warmed up the audience. Unfortunate, but somebody had to go first.<br /><br />
Next up was K Sneak. I saw her at a Knowmads show a few years back, if I remember correctly. Oh yeah, I remember, the Japan benefit show in 2011 when she was in 9th grade.
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She's grown and matured and had a good time working the crowd and rapping, good to see her getting some love and attention and rewards for sticking to it and working at it.
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A hip hop act with a prerecorded track or sequence has a challenge keeping the EMP crowd engaged; bands like Tommy Cassidy add a full band to the rapping so the sequencing is minimal and the performance has more going on. K Sneak was fearless and carried her set and filled the stage like she'd been doing it for years (at least 3 so far!).
<br /><iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/9004731@N04/12770176704/player/9f3dbaea5d" height="640" width="427" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br />Good flow and an assortment of fast and interesting rhythms along with some nice cover choices got the crowd into it and enjoying it. Two good sets with 2 more bands to go.<br /><br />
Next up was Fauna Shade. My friend Eduard Contreras plays drums in the band and I enjoy their sound, which Troy Nelson described as "reverb drenched" or something like that - and he wasn't wrong.<br /> <iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/9004731@N04/12769992023/player/092fd426ae" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br />
I enjoy their sound and already have a couple of favorite songs that I enjoy hearing live, so they had me and a corner of the crowd by the stage dancing away and having a sweaty good time. The crowd intensity definitely spiked up with the distorted loud guitar driven sound and the bass lines occasionally replaced by psychedelic sounding string scrapes with Eduardo pounding away keeping time and tempo. Greg (the photographer) mentioned that he was particularly impressed by Eduardo's drumming, and he doesn't give out all that many compliments. Great sound, great rhythm, tight band in a fun groove. Without a pure lead vocalist the guitarist vocalist was somewhat rooted to the vocal mic which made it harder to put on a show while also playing and singing, so the music got much of the focus.<br />
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Fauna Shade finished off a great set and our corner of the crowd wiped the sweat off of our brows and re-hydrated aggressively. Things were looking good for Fauna Shade, I was leaning towards them as the best act of the night but it was tough, all the acts were good.<br /><br />
Then Otieno Terry came out. He opened with an a cappella vocal that showcased his beautiful rich voice and got the front row and the center of the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. <br />
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Then the band came out and finished the takeover, and we went on an awesome musical journey. Soul music and thumb popping bass lines, crooned sections with rich backing parts and the occasional doo-wop overtones and brilliant piano work all just served to amplify the charisma and effect of Otieno's performance.<br />
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The band was dressed in nice suits with dark slacks and grey sport jackets and ties and looked sharp, and also a bit like a throwback to the rat pack days. The backing vocalist in particular was talented and a great addition to the sound and attitude of the band, and his whistling was phenomenal.<br />
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Yet even that and consistently hot musicianship didn't come close to overshadowing Otieno, who gave each of his band mates a chance to shine - then emphatically took back the spot light to bring the show home. Intense soulful lyrics and a joyful performance made sure that the musical journey took us exactly where we all wanted to be even if we hadn't known it. This was one of those commanding performances that sucked us in and took us along with Otieno through the emotional wringer that he sang so powerfully to us about. The final number got the crowd screaming and moving and roaring, and once again the night ended with a band strutting off the stage on top of the world, conquerors of several hundred adoring sweating fans, and the inevitable confirmation of the judges that Otieno Terry was going to the finals was almost anti-climatic. They were eff-ing off the charts in a style I haven't seen anybody do, much less do well, in ages, and the judging has been pretty good (if maybe a little biased towards the later acts, just like the crowds). Fauna Shade got the wild card slot, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed until Sunday afternoon.<br />
<br /><br /><b>Update</b>: Fauna Shade did indeed get into the finals as the wild card band. Hot damn! Now we get to see Laser Fox, Thee Samedi, Otieno Terry and Fauna Shade at next weeks EMP Sound Off! finals. This is going to be a great show, and I have no idea who's going to win. They're all talented and amazingly fun so the audience is going to have a great time no matter what!
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com2Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, WA, USA47.621195415582477 -122.3483357154663147.61985741558248 -122.35085721546631 47.622533415582474 -122.34581421546631tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-474422179982106202014-02-22T12:01:00.000-08:002014-02-22T12:01:00.057-08:00My Blogging StyleFor my New Years Resolution in 2011 I decided to record and photograph and blog about <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html">every show I went to that year</a>. It was fun and interesting and thrilling and hard work. I blogged just over 100 times that year and saw more than 380 acts.<br /><br />
Committing to recording and blogging every show made things a bit of a production, almost a job. This inevitably diminished my enthusiasm to go out and listen to music somewhat since I had to have enough energy to also record it and take pictures and blog about it immediately before I forget the details. The rate decreased until I finally threw in the towel and started going to shows as a fan again last year. No requirement to blog or record anything. 2013 was my most media free Bumbershoot in a while.<br /><br />
My blogging ran out of gas and I posted <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2013/08/mudhoney-plays-kexp-friday-in-august.html">my last blog in August 2013 for Mudhoney's free Mural Amphitheater show</a>.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uMnrwCvxE0E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
If you're paying attention you'll notice the Mudhoney video is from Bumbershoot rather than the Mural show.<br />
I continued to go to an occasional show though not too often. As the New Year rolled around I decided to get tickets to the EMP Sound Off! shows. I got my friend Charles Oppelt to go with me and he took some wonderful pictures and the show was fun and energetic and <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-1.html">I decided to blog about it</a>. The next week was arguably even better so <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-2.html">I blogged about that too</a>. I enjoyed blogging again after the layoff, and I got a pretty large amount of traffic for some reason. I even got linked by <a href="http://www.seattleweekly.com/music/reverb/951258-129/kexp-gets-live-streaming-video-new">the Seattle Weekly</a>, a first for me! It was due to Charles' awesome photo of Noah Fowler really, <iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12601426284/player/0d6df8cb55" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>but I was happy to get the traffic.<br /><br />
Speaking of traffic, my EMP Sound Off! blogs got more traffic faster than any of my blogs ever did before which was gratifying on some level. Don't get me wrong, I'm only talking about hundreds of views so it's not going to make me wealthy - heck, it's not going to make me any money at all, it's just a hobby. I do get some ego inflation out of viewers and it encourages me and predisposes to blog more.<br /><br />
My live show blogs are all pretty similar and largely follow the sequence of acts in the show and comment on each, always saying something positive.<br /><br />
At the end of the year I did <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2012/01/2011-in-review.html">some retrospectives</a> <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2012/01/local-bands-in-2011.html">and</a> <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2012/01/top-10-in-2011.html">Best-of-2011</a> lists. I enjoyed doing those both for the fun memories and the ease of using already recorded, processed and uploaded videos.<br /><br />
I've been playing with the idea of blogging about who I thought the next breakthrough Pacific Northwest act would be, so I went ahead and <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/whos-next.html">finished writing it and tossed in videos I've recorded live for many of the bands I single out</a>, which was fun: the videos are already recorded and wrangled up to YouTube properly so again it's quick and easy, no cameras to operate.<br /><br />
I'm playing with the occasional "non-(show w/bands in order narrative)" post like this one. Not that I have that much to say at the moment, but I want to try playing around with saying things in different ways.
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-41333870148278449192014-02-22T00:46:00.001-08:002014-02-24T09:33:20.529-08:00Who's Next?One of my favorite sports is rooting for local bands and artists to have their careers take off and get huge. Heart, Sir Mixalot, The Presidents of the USA, Nirvana, Pearl Jam & Alice in Chains all made it.
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<br /><br />I got a thrill out of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis blowing up, as if I had something to do with it beyond clapping and screaming at the top of my lungs at their shows a couple times. Pretty similar to the feeling I get when the Seahawks do well.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aXFOzbGqixA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
So who locally looks like they're ready to blow up? Perhaps the question is who <b>sounds</b> like they're ready to blow up? We have an awesome regional music scene in the NW, so which bands/artists are sufficiently talented, hardworking, and lucky enough to break out from regional success to national?<br /><br />
Are we going to see another hip hop act explode, like Kung Fu Grip <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cuyLxDXAfIQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>or Don't Talk to the Cops?<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TFh4FOL298M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Has Thee Satisfaction already blown up? If not, they’ve got to be close!<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4SZdh3DCD-Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
Maybe a singer/songwriter? Amazon.com named Shelby Earl's prior album the "#1 Outstanding 2011 Album You Might Have Missed," and her new one is better. I suspect she’s already– as ZZ Top Said – nationwide.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mhKk98jJDRk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Damien Jurado produced Shelby Earl's latest, and he blew me away with Marqopa and has been getting some love and attention for his latest album too. Will he finally get some recognition proportional to his talent? <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/p_AcVkJ-KQY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/b4DuknqGbBE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
Many other bands have knocked me out at live shows, maybe it’s one of these next: Deep Sea Diver? Sera Cahoone? <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NExpSDvmyfI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Lonely Forest? Star Anna? TacocaT? Crimson Wave was fun and the video had crabs and octopuses. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3q7eqV3pYvI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Wait, Brandi Carlile – with that voice and talent, she ought to have a strong national following, I suppose she’s already nationwide? Bret Amaker and the Rodeo?
Fly Moon Royalty is doing a West coast tour, it wouldn't take much for them to break nationally too.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EDKGjpgzQ68" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
You can probably tell I don’t have that great a handle on who is or isn't already past the regional stage. That doesn't bother me much, I’ll just keep rooting for all of them and see them live every chance I get.
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-4368084384033795432014-02-16T22:23:00.000-08:002014-02-23T13:07:58.490-08:00Presidents of the USA acoustic set at the Triple DoorThe Presidents of the USA are one of my favorite live bands. Fast guitar oriented rock and roll with silly songs that work on multiple levels (OK, sometimes they're just silly too), their music was a big part of the soundtrack of my life as Dana and I started our family. My kids grew up on Little Dune Buggy and Kitten and Lump. We didn't go to live shows for a pretty long time while raising children, so at the time my relationship with music was based on listening to the crappy radio in my car when I was going somewhere. Marco Collins introduced me to Lump and it made me smile and I felt better, happy and bouncy. I went out and bought the CD and I loved the whole thing. The CD became one of 3 that I'd replace when the kids ruined it, along with Alice in Chain's Dirt and Pearl Jam's Ten. I had to buy more copies of it due to simple wear, not so much child entropy. We simply listened to that first Presidents of the USA CD until it was ruined, then bought another, and repeated a few times as needed over the years.<br /><br />
Once the girls got old enough to go to shows I started taking them to some live shows - for the kids, you know. We caught PUSA at Bumbershoot back in the Memorial Stadium days, so we saw them with 18K or more others, and when Kitty started the crowd NAILED the "Meow.......Meow" and made me laugh out loud. When the cool fast bits like the break in Little Dune Buggy would hit the whole floor of the stadium would erupt in a frenzied in-place-pogo right on the beat and we all bounced and glowed with sweat and smiles and joy, even from the far side of the sound station (pretty far back). That was one of the cooler scenes I've seen, 5 or 6 thousand people in front of me and we're all bouncing up and down - the last few "Little Blue Dune Buggy" lines with that cool drum bit Finn pulls off, then the final drawn out "Littttlllllle Blllluuuuuuueeeeeee Dune Buggy" and the song ends perfectly and the audience starts screaming at the top of its 10 or 20 thousands lungs and I smiled at my kids and their friends as we all panted and caught our breath and kept screaming and bellowing and clapping. Peak experience for sure!<br /><br />
A few years later a buddy who was contracting for Microsoft in Redmond called and said "Microsoft has some bands playing outdoors on the campus on Friday, interested in coming?" I asked him who it was and he replied with "The Presidents of the USA" and a couple other bands. He had know idea who PUSA was; luckily he knew I liked live music so I got the tip & made plans.<br />
On Friday I grabbed my 3 kids - Ben was finally old enough to go to shows too - and drove down and parked in a Microsoft parking lot and walked over to meet Jay in the grassy area between the buildings, nabbed a few free Microsoft microbrews (that sounds like a song title) and rocked out to the Presidents in front of tiny crowd. Chris was in rare form, riffing about wealth and a paperclip, and they did Lump in an odd half time pace, before then going back and doing it normally (which is pretty fast). They also got "last song" way too early, which was too bad and made me wish they hadn't done 2 versions of Lump. Still it was an awesome intimate show that rocked out.<br /><br />
I managed to catch PUSA a few more times, once at Showbox at the Market for a Presidents Day Weekend show and once at Bumbershoot in the Key and they never failed to put on a fast electric show. One of my favorites, they consistently rock your asses (they even say so in Kick Out the Jams, so it must be true) and Chris gets going on some of the most bizarre tangents and they spin up bits about froggy and hell and drug abuse that are indescribable, you simply had to be there. I also enjoy the last song intro, where they start playing and wander through 2 or 4 other songs for just a bit, then without missing a beat launch into Video Killed the Radio Star - they do that one very well.<br /><br />
I was happy to see the Presidents were doing Presidents Day weekend shows this year - Friday in Portland, Saturday at the Showbox and Sunday at the Triple Door for a couple of acoustic shows - their first ever acoustic shows. Well! I'd have gone to the Showbox if I could, but I'd already committed to going to the EMP Sound Off! that day. Time to go see the Presidents acoustic show!<br /><br />
We got some friends and booked the last table for the late show and shared a table with Mike & Nancy & Dawn. I enjoyed getting to eat and drink while watching the show, the Triple Door is a great venue.<br /><br />
I didn't take any photos or videos, so this is an unusual blog for me. All text, nothing visual or sonic.<br />
The Presidents were solid - they're great musicians, and playing with 4 and 6 string instruments (twice their normal setup & I'm not kidding) added some complexity and range to the guitar sound. McKeag used quite a few effects which allowed him to get the sustain and even a little feedback on his guitar, so some of the songs sounded just a bit electric, yet even the most "electric" sounds still had that clean acoustic guitar tone ringing through it.<br />
They played sitting down and while Chris was in good form, this was there second show that night and he wasn't quite the his normal hyperkinetic self. I'm not sure if it was the 2nd show or playing sitting down, but he kept most of his activity to the patter for a good half of the show.<br />
Chris and Andrew got up and played at the edge of the stage at one point, egging on the crowd and having a good time. They also did a couple of the synchronized moves walking across the stage and so forth which was all greeted enthusiastically by the crowd.<br />
I hadn't planned on blogging about the show so I didn't take any recordings or photos, not even any notes. They led off with Kitty so we got to meow right away, although the lack of the electric bass line that normally plays there threw the crowds meows off a bit. PUSA played several obscurities, explaining which obscure release the song was on, but I failed to catch the details - sorry! They played 3 or 4 of the new ones and plenty of the old classics like Little Blue Dune Buggy, and they did Lump in an odd slow tempo again which reminded me of the Microsoft show and paper clips. They did Naked and Famous - 30 foot smurfs! and I really appreciate getting to hear Candy. They dropped We're Not Going to Make It and Video Killed the Radio star and finished up with Kick Out the Jams. We done kicked them out!<br /><br />
The beats and transitions in Naked and Famous - "those lucky bastards..." were wonderful and had me singing along and bouncing in my seat. Candy is one of my favorites and they nailed it.<br /><br />
Fun set, the band was tight, creative and technically very good, putting on a great show as always. We all had a good time, and the food and drinks were excellent. The Triple Door is a great venue, if you're considering seeing a band you like there do it, do it right and do it early. Get one of the tables that's close by signing up for 5 tickets and the table immediately, you can take your time finding 4 friends to take but don't wait to select a table or you'll be further back.<br /><br />
Of course you should <b>always</b> see the Presidents of the USA every chance you get. They're a great Seattle band that puts on fun and funny shows that are quirky and exciting and so totally worth seeing each and every time. Highly recommended across the board!<br /><br />
I've seen Caspar Babypants a few times, so about the only near PUSA experience I missed is Subset, a Seattle super group with Sir Mixalot and the Presidents that managed to come and go before I got enough of my bleep together to go see them. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MpPtkWFDbnk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
So here's to a Subset reunion show when the PUSA get done touring behind the new album.
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Central Business District, Seattle, WA, USA47.608890050351846 -122.3374736309051547.608221050351844 -122.33873413090515 47.609559050351848 -122.33621313090515tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-73328566448639547632014-02-15T23:33:00.000-08:002014-02-24T09:32:12.729-08:00EMP Sound Off! Round 2After an <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2014/02/emp-sound-off-round-1.html">epic week 1 of the EMP Sound Off! battle of the bands</a> I was wondering if week two could possibly top it. Unlike week one, when all the bands were new to me, I'd seen Thee Samedi before so I had a suspicion that just maybe week 1 could be topped, but it was going to take some pretty dang good bands having very "on" nights to do it.<br /><br />
The luck of the draw really figures into Sound Off! placing: it's very tough to win from the first slot. The crowd is cold, and by the end of the show the judges and audience will remember the last acts best.<br /><br />
Still, somebody has to go on first and for round 2 it was Manatee Commune. Troy Nelson introduced him and Manatee Commune took the stage with his guitar. He started with electronic and synthesized or sequenced music, rapidly changing settings and interacting with a touch interface app on his tablet.
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The music was spacey and electronic, with fairly dense layers of sequenced and pre-recorded material whirling around. After a few songs he played guitar on top of the atmospheric synthesized music and got some more intensity into the performance. He also switched over to a violin which had a nice interaction with his loops and sequences.<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12600992055/player/8f1893677d" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br />
Manatee Communion warmed the crowd up and played interesting music, but his focus down onto the devices and button pushing and knob twiddling gave the set a more remote atmospheric vibe. Coming from the lead off slot, Manatee Commune was going to have a hard time winning.<br /><br />
After rocking out at round 1 of Sound Off! the prior week and then aching pretty badly afterwards I was wishing there was somewhere to sit down between acts. I got lucky - I volunteer at the Vera Project, and they are tabling at the Sound Off! and sent out an email asking for assistance with tabling. Which involves sitting behind a table. <b>Sitting</b>. I responded quickly: "I'm already going, I can table before and between bands!" and the volunteer coordinator was happy to have the slot filled. Score! All I have to do is talk about one of my favorite volunteer run non-profits to anybody who's cool enough to come to the Sound Off! and hasn't heard about it yet, or has heard a little and wants to hear more. Well! If you know me, you know I kinda like the sound of my own voice. This show went much better for me as I was able to sit down and rest my feet and legs between acts and let my vocal chords do the work.<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12601421364/player/775968d834" height="500" width="343" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br />
We're tabling through round 3 and the finals too, so I'm relieved. Man, I have got to get into better shape before Bumbershoot arrives, I can only make it through 4 acts in an evening and then I need a day to recover. That's not going to cut it for a 3 day festivel with 11 hours worth of bands and a pile of walking needed to see as much of them as possible. <br /><br />
Sorry, I digress. Back to the second act at Sound Off! round 2: the Onlies.<br />
The Onlies are three high school students who've known each other since grade school with a classic blue grass instrument lineup: guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. <iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12600982565/player/839009b30b" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br />
They proceeded to put on an awesome old school bluegrass show. I grew up on this stuff, often listening with my dad to the live KRAB bluegrass show on every Saturday night back in the seventies. The Onlies played their instruments well, and when they launched into beautiful three part harmonies on top of it I was into it and so was everybody else in the audience. From fast and flashy leads and party songs to romantic laments they nailed it. They passed leads back and forth and switched up the instruments some, swapping the mandolin for a second guitar and then a banjo - the most dangerous instrument in the world. Their between songs patter was good too.
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They were cute as heck which is a horribly patronizing thing for me to say I suppose, but they enjoyed the music and the audience and each other and made me happy just by being so upbeat and amusing as performers. When you add in all the technical chops and harmonies where they get that beautiful blend going, I was beyond happy. The audience responded and was loud, and the music got me moving some and sweating - and sadly enough, my sweat is a rough figure of merit for shows. The more I enjoy the show, the more I move. The more I move, the more I sweat. Hence the more I sweat, the better the show. This was a hot and bothered show, but they weren't on long enough to get me to the sweating through my clothes state.<br /><br />
Another great band with another completely different approach, and another great set. They had the bluegrass showmanship down: their hands were always occupied making music, yet they moved their instruments and moved in relation to each other and kept things lively and physically dynamic while always staying within 2 or maybe 3 feet of the centrally placed microphones so that the instruments and voices came through the PA clearly. The crowd ate it up.<br /><br />
Next up in the penultimate slot was Nabii Ko$mo, a hip hop duo with a live drummer.<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12601076743/player/c6dd0d3945" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
The dude on the left handled most of the leads with the duo jumping on words and phrases to add some punch. The live drummer was a definite plus, giving the show a dynamic feel as the hard cadences of the raps lined up with the rhythms from the drums, increasing the rhythmic power of the performance. Hip hop music with rap leads uses rhythm, word play and rhyme without much melody to get it's message across, so the organic feel of the live, on the fly rhythm and the interplay between the drummer and the vocals stands out for me. Nabii Ko$mo put on a hot set and got the audience going, working us hard with arm raises and waves, call-outs and responses, engaging us more fully in the show. Another sweaty set that basically made you move, totally the sort of experience I get off on. Thank goodness we got to sit down and table for the Vera Project to recover, the bands were just too good and my feet and legs were paying the price from all the dancing.<br /><br />
The final act was Thee Samedi, the first band I've ever seen at Sound Off! that I'd already seen. They were nice enough to come in and play for free at a Veracity show show for us. And I <b>DO</b> mean put on a show. Their lead vocalist Noah Fowler is a committed performer who put an amazing amount of energy into the show and the band plays hard crunchy guitar oriented rock played loud - right up my alley.
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As you can see here Noah had some sort of fuzzy shawl like wrap and something red spread across his chest - and the shawl is about to come off. The band smashed through their songs, playing loud and hard, with Noah wailing away and using the mic in unusual ways and the crowd just exploded. The security staff had to move to the edge of the mosh pit to try to keep things a little calmer, and pretty soon the foolish stage dives started - at least two times somebody leapt out and pretty much missed everyone, splatting to the floor. Good thing they were young resilient flexible kids, if I tried something like that I'd break things and end up in the hospital. The mosh pit was more than enough physical abuse for me!<br /><br />
The guitarist in particular had a great smile as he faced right into the writhing crowd and banged his way through the power chords that just got us all writhing even harder. <iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12601063193/player/aa5a7821ae" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
Noah start writhing around on the ground and stuffing the mic into his mouth and screaming away, classic stuff.
<br />I didn't quite see how Noah did it, but he managed to knock himself in the face a bit. As the blood trickled out of his nose onto his upper lip the audience just lost it's shit. Noah eventually noticed it when he got blood on his fingers and then he rubbed it all over his chest on top of the ketchup or whatever the heck it was that was already there. For some interesting effects he rubbed the mic back and forth across his chest until you couldn't tell if he had smeared the earlier red stuff or the blood, or maybe had just made the skin red from irritation.<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12601426284/player/0d6df8cb55" height="427" width="640" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />
We had ourselves one heck of a mosh pit. I ended up in bouncing from nearly up to the stage back to the line of security folk holding down one end of the mosh pit, fending off the flying maniacs, redirecting and catching the staggering kids to avoid falling and pileups, getting a hand or a hip on the frenzied sideways pogo fanatics before they managed to nail me or someone else with an elbow or a knee, taking the occasional elbow or knee anyway, riding the surges of frenzied kids back and forth and back and forth. We managed to only have 2 major pileup/tramples and no fights, so it was a good clean bruising mosh pit in the best Seattle tradition. Nobody was bleeding in the mosh pit, although at least one tee shirt got shredded. As far as I could tell, all the blood was on the stage.<br /><br />
As Thee Samedi wound down their set and left the stage with a triumphant strut I staggered back to the Vera table so I could sit down. They pegged the sweat measurement: all the way through my shirt over most of my chest and lower back. My feet and arms were sore too, so it felt good to relax and sit down. The judges weighed in with their decision and Thee Samedi came in first and is going to the finals.<br /><br />
As I recovered from the show physically I was still on an emotional high and I realized another one of those odd correlations I enjoy, this one's a painful correlation. It's not just sweat, pain is proportional to show intensity too. The awesome shows whip us into a frenzy that leaves me a bit beaten and bruised and sore. <br /><br />I'm getting somewhat old for this, yet the pure intensity and transcendent joy in the collective experience makes it worth it every single time. I only hurt badly after a show if it was an awesome show, and I'll take that deal every time. I just need to remember to get a certain amount of time off of my feet to recover every so often, then it works well. Well enough anyway; I can't wait to go back next week for part 3 - Eduardo's band Fauna Shade is playing, and so is K Sneak, so next week I'll set a personal record and see <b>2</b> acts that I've seen before in a single preliminary EMP round, along the two bands that will be completely new to me. I'm also looking forward to getting to see the finals, the 2 bands in already put on a great show, and the wild cards are good as well. It's been a great Sound Off! already, and the shows are only half done. Lots of good music left!<br /><br />
BTW I want to thank Charles for the excellent photos from both rounds. You can click through to his flickr photos from the blog and check them out if you want.
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<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, WA, USA47.621094173806846 -122.3483571731384247.619756173806849 -122.35087867313842 47.622432173806843 -122.34583567313842tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-21306137350952682372014-02-08T20:22:00.000-08:002014-02-24T09:34:55.334-08:00EMP Sound Off! Round 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For no good reason I haven't made it to the EMP Sound Off! events in a few years. This year I got tickets and rounded up my friend Charles to take pictures, and I'm glad I did: the first night of the Sound Off! was impressive. Troy Nelson from Young Evils (he also has a Saturday DJ slot on KEXP) was our MC.
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First up was Tommy Cassidy. Just like Charles the photographer, Cassidy is from the Tri-Cities and went to Hanford High School. That plays a part in his message and we'll get to that, but first some details about the man and the band.
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Cassidy raps in front of a live band with horns. The band is fun and loud and has a women with a strong voice singing leads, alternating with Cassidy's raps and occasionally backing and filling during them.
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This band cooks along, and when the horn section comes in for some backing it's cool. When they run through some leads on the trumpet it's even better, and they even had some cool old school muted trumpet stuff giving a completely different sound and feel to one number.
<br />Cassidy varied his approach in different songs, using a slower back-off-the-beat approach which somehow gave almost a visual quality to his raps, and also using a rapid fire intricate aggressive intense flow in another number that was visceral and powerfully emotional. Cassidy's range and lyrics and patter connected with us - his comments about being from the nuclear Tri-Cities and feeling like a stranger in his hometown resonated with everybody who's been a teenager.
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<br />Cassidy drew the first slot which is pretty much impossible to win from. He took a cold audience and warmed it up, did great work and impressed us, but then 3 more acts got to go on and distract us from the first performance, and they got to start with a warmed up audience. Cassidy showed he's more than capable of opening a show and I expect him to move up the bill quickly if he can make it to Seattle very often.
<br />Quite talented and tight, Cassidy and the band got the crowd warmed up and into it.
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Next Sophia Duccini took the stage with a violinist/fiddler and a backing vocalist. Duccini plays guitar and piano and sings, and the group gets an interesting range of sweet to haunting sounds and songs out of the lineup.
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The vocals stand out, with Duccini's strong leads carrying a good portion of the songs and the gorgeous harmonies reinforcing and ornamenting the songs and emotions. Duccini and her band cover a range of styles from piano based pop in the older sense to guitar and fiddle instrumentation with a folky Americana feel. Interesting music, I tend to think of it as small scale and a little quiet but Duccini instead made it introspective and recursive and filled with a different meaning each time they hit a repetition. It engages you and pulls you in without having to pound on you, it's almost a more hypnotic approach in some cases and more conversational in others. Getting the audience to connect to the music and get enthusiastic without that bottom end - no bass & no drums - is challenging but Duccini pulls it off, her music drives when she wants it to and she easily carries the rhythm on the guitar and piano, switching back and forth between songs.
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Already I'm torn between the first 2 performances, both groups are ridiculously talented and skilled. At this point I'm thinking the decision is between these two acts.
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Next Laser Fox takes the stage. I've got to admit, the name is brilliant. It works really well in a chant - wait, I think that's a spoiler.
Laser Fox kicked it off with a singer, drummer and two dudes at keyboards, one using an analog (or emulated analog) setup, and one of the two (couldn't tell which) filling in the low end so you had a good base line. It might have been sequenced or prerecorded bass, it's difficult to tell. <br /><br />
The lineup varied a bit from song to song, here one of the keyboard players is playing the bass guitar and the vocalist has taken over at the keyboard.
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The singer is the focus in this band. On a few songs he played a hollow bodied electric guitar and sang.<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21912712@N02/12452898923/player/897091607f" height="640" width="427" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />Laser Fox looked good, sounded good, and they sounded like they felt good. The crowd started getting into it and dancing and moshing, and the vocalist started strutting around and gesturing as he sang. The dude had charisma to spare and was totally pulling it off with the mosh pit getting bigger and more intense and just eating it up: we loved him. Laser Fox knows how to put on a show, and the pacing and slot (good hot hip-hop to warm up, internal and relationship songs (some were both) to whet our appetite, now a big loud testosterone filled performance - in a nice NW way, we are after all a polite Scandinavian influenced culture topped things off nicely.
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We were already having fun and then that danceable electronic music hit and we started moving, and the vocalist was moving with us and dancing and dropping and totally thriving on the attention. They got that feedback loop going where the audience intensity feeds off of the band's performance and then the band feeds off of the increasing audience intensity. Hot stuff, we were bouncing around and sweating and moshing.
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I was sweaty and sore, and normally I'd expect a let down after 3 acts this good. On the other hand, a buddy had spoken highly of Dames.
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Dames plays a largely guitar driven sound with keyboards and (judging by the Macs) either sequenced or recorded bits too.
<br /><br />Dames brought their audience with them and turned in a rocking set, keeping the energy level high and making us sweat and bounce even more.
The guitarist lead vocalist was the focus through much of the show and his voice held the songs together and felt very personal, like he was talking to you and a few friends, not to a few hundred sweaty fans bouncing around in the mosh pit.
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<br /><br />Dames also had the most elaborate set - they put up a vinyl goose. OK, not terribly elaborate, but probably the best I've seen since The Lonely H did the light sabre duel in the way back in the 2004 Sound Off - they came in second.
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Not only did Dames bring the crowd, they were great to mosh with and their joy in the performance was infectious and the night ended up being a sweaty dance party on top of a rocking show - and that's one of my favorite things to experience.
<br /><br />I'm amazed at the level of talent on display at the first weekend of the Sound Off contest, every band was great and did something completely different and unique. Laser Fox ended up winning, and they arguably put on the best show. Dames was the runner up so they have a shot to make it as the wild card band and for once the judge's selections seem pretty solid. In the past the judges always seemed to reward the weakest bands, so this was refreshing. I shouldn't be surprised, the judges included Hollis and Marco Collins and I respect them both for their musical taste - Collins helped form or should I say update my taste a few decades back when he was a DJ on a local Seattle radio station and Hollis performs and contributes to some of my favorite musical stuff at a ridiculously high level - you can't nail that many things that well without having exquisite musical taste and judgement. Definite hat tip and high fives all around to the judges for representing and choosing awesome dynamic performers to advance.
<br /><br />I've discovered that the mosh pit is a time travel device. When I get into the mosh pit, my age decreases by a decade or more: I'm much younger and more energetic, and it's a fun and occasionally joyous experience. Then I get out of the mosh pit and go into the cold outside air, and the missing decade comes back from his smoke break, and he's got another couple decades of his buddies he invited over, and I feel <b>SO OLD</b>. I shuffle back to the car lifting my sore feet with my sore legs, sweat evaporating and cooling me off rapidly. <br />While the end of the evening is a little painful, there's a tautology here that guarantees that it's always worth it. I was sore because I had been dancing and moshing, and that's a spiritual experience to me. At the best shows the music takes you out of yourself and engages you in every way. You move and respond to the music physically, just as you react and respond to it emotionally. You're sharing this experience in a fellowship with the rest of the crowd. Good lyrics engage your intellect too, and emotionally charged writing often fires off associations and memories.
<br /><br />It's a wonderful and intense experience, and I'm always happy to be introduced to more bands that are figuring out how to engage and move a crowd, how to create and present their art and entertain and thrill us. Here's to four new to me bands that are all worth keeping an eye out for and going out of your way to see. All of these bands know what they are doing and I look forward to watching them progress, and yes to, some day saying "I knew them when..."
</div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com3EMP Museum, 325 5th Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109, United States47.6214824 -122.3481244999999822.099447899999998 -163.65671849999998 73.1435169 -81.039530499999984tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-28509760928954567292013-08-16T23:23:00.000-07:002014-02-09T10:11:44.014-08:00Mudhoney plays the KEXP Friday in August Mural Amphitheater show<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I managed to wander by and catch Mudhoney rocking out at the Mural Amphitheater. Awesome set, mosh pits breaking out here and there; the Clark bar samples were good too.
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Mudhoney was in great form with powerful guitar riffs using distorted sustain to ring and growl, and the rhythm section more than keeping up their end of the sound with the bass frequently anchoring the melodic core of the song and always driving the tempo and the drums consistently playing hard, loud, fast and tight. Mark Arm's vocal's were somewhere between sung and screamed, plenty of attitude and power. Loud thrashy obnoxious feedback filled rock and roll on the Mural lawn on a nice Friday evening in Seattle - buy yourself a few microbrews in the beer garden and you've got the "it doesn't get any better than this" beer commercial. As I wandered off to catch the bus and looked at the sunset over Elliot Bay and the Olympics on the way home, it actually was a little hard to imagine life getting all that much better.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyTW3tBraz__EdL8BA9cuWDphRIntBzkhqfHnZxOoFz0KVOjO4fipFGefiAd5BUbRyBux-kzUnAYGc4rluKnHKodPgdAoy0zRSJHSvXNka-zrFbDVzB_WuxqmgopDtJQwee7PATUSAFQO/s1600/Sunset.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyTW3tBraz__EdL8BA9cuWDphRIntBzkhqfHnZxOoFz0KVOjO4fipFGefiAd5BUbRyBux-kzUnAYGc4rluKnHKodPgdAoy0zRSJHSvXNka-zrFbDVzB_WuxqmgopDtJQwee7PATUSAFQO/s640/Sunset.png" /></a></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109, USA47.62042581227773 -122.3509168624877947.619087812277733 -122.35343836248779 47.621763812277727 -122.34839536248779tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-4751082071317430652013-06-09T15:21:00.000-07:002014-02-09T10:11:55.764-08:00Jeremy Serwer at the Lake Trail Taproom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><script>
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I saw <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2012/08/chris-mathews-jr-abi-grace-and-jeremy.html">Jeremy Serwer last year at the Musiquarium Lounge with Abi Grace and Chris Mathews</a>. The Musiquarium is the lounge upstairs from the Triple Door's auditorium.<br /><br />
I ended up friending him on Facebook so I noticed that he was playing the Lake Trail Taproom regularly. I get there every week or two for a nice local/regional micro-brew or to split a hard cherry cider with my daughter, but I never managed to catch his sets there.<br /><br />
This weekend I finally managed to pay enough attention and got down to see him on Saturday. Well, my wife Dana actually paid attention. She looked it up and told me I'd heave to head over if I wanted to see him, otherwise I probably would have gone too late. Thanks, Dana!<br /><br />
The Taproom was busy and pleasant, sunny and nice, and live music is always a bonus. Everything is better with live music!<br />
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We walked over from the house and I only brought the flip and my cell phone, so I didn't get any great pictures. Just a couple of videos of Jeremy Serwer playing and singing, entertaining the crowd at the Trailside Taproom. The beer was good as usual, too.<br />
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It's nice to see a local business that includes live music doing well. The Trailside Taproom has live music every Friday and Saturday, I believe. It's well worth checking out, especially if you live near the Burke-Gilman trail and like to bike, or live nearby in Kenmore. It's very dog and kid friendly too, and few live venues can say that.
</div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Kenmore, WA, USA47.756753191828253 -122.2418190943038847.756419691828249 -122.24244959430388 47.757086691828256 -122.24118859430388tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-81071370357794813432013-06-09T13:49:00.002-07:002014-02-09T10:12:04.632-08:00Tiny Bit of Folklife<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><script>
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I still get out and see shows now and then, but not at anywhere near the intensity I used to. Things get busy, I get lazy and depressed and just don't get out as much. I almost skipped Northwest Folklife Fest this year, even though <a href="http://virtualsoundnw.blogspot.com/2012/12/lavender-diamond-and-shelby-earl-at.html">Shelby Earl (one of my favorites!)</a> and many other excellent acts were performing there. Luckily Dana got interested which helped motivate me, so we headed down and checked it out for a bit.<br />
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It was raining so we didn't stay long for the outdoor stages even though the bands were good. There was music all over and a light sprinkle of rain.<br />
For the dancing enthusiasts they had live music in the Armory, I'd guess this is salsa dancing but I have no clue.
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Normal Folklife - buskers all over, you could hear some excellent musicians and performers and often have no idea who they were, they just set up in various nooks and crannies around the Seattle Center and let there muse flow.
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Some bluegrass with a couple of very young musicians:
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The marimbas by the key were fun, never seen that many in one place before.
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We stopped in and listened to an ambient performance at the Vera Project too.
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It was a busy weekend so we didn't get to see all that much of Folklife, but what we did see certainly covered a wide spectrum.
<br /></div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com1Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109, USA47.621647385404387 -122.3520854436691347.621312885404386 -122.35271594366912 47.621981885404388 -122.35145494366913tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8215933312368906766.post-41533192383032130312013-06-09T11:45:00.001-07:002014-02-09T10:12:17.142-08:00Synergia NW Orchestra with Walking Papers and Friends at the Moore<script>
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</script>I got to see Synergia NW's annual big benefit show with the Synergia NW Orchestra and Walking Papers at the Moore Theater this year and enjoyed it. The special guest was cool and talented and they covered quite a bit of material.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualsound/8753647127/" title="Synergia Northwest Orchestra by VirtualSound, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5335/8753647127_51cbe5b102_z.jpg" width="640" height="425" alt="Synergia Northwest Orchestra"></a>
The Synergia Northwest Orchestra has a wide range of strings, some woodwinds, brass and percussion. You can hear the brass in the William Tell Overture, not sure I can see them:
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Always a favorite classical number for me - heigh ho silver!<br />
W got a nice b-boy breaking exhibition too:
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The Synergia NW Orchestra did a fair number of songs with full rock band arrangements, and they did it well.
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In this one, the orchestral swell of the strings 25 seconds in sounds much better than the typical synthesized variation most bands would have to use; the interplay of the strings and the organ is sweet. The groove they get going in this is fun, simple music in some ways but so well orchestrated that it has an undeniable power. I start imagining an action film with this as the soundtrack:
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I have <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/VirtualSoundNW">quite a bit more footage of the Synergia NW Orchestra on the youtube channel</a>, it's worth checking out if you enjoy orchestras and rock music.
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Walking Papers was the headline act, and I have a slightly odd relationship with that band. I'd never seen them, yet I'd read a fair amount about them due to Duff McKagan's writing for the Seattle Weekly. His engaging stories made me feel like I'd vicariously been along for the trips as Walking Papers toured South America and Europe. In fact, I had no idea what the band was like - and that's cool, more to discover! It turns out the "lead" personality is the vocalist/guitarist Mike Squires - he was in Harvey Danger and Alien Crime Syndicate, so I'd seen him before, I had no idea he was so prominent in the band. Fun band, they sounded great with orchestral backing.
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<br />Great intro to a band I'd heard of for over a year, glad I finally got to see them.<br />
There was a surprise guest too:
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Mike McCready joined Walking Papers for some songs, nice stuff with talented musicians and an orchestral arrangement. Mike's buzzing, swooping, ringing guitar work ornaments the song nicely, drawing you along with the vocals working well against the grinding music.
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This was billed as "Synergia NW Orchestra and friends cover the Rolling Stones" and they did finally get around to playing some Rolling Stones songs too.
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I grew up on the Stones, so I love hearing these songs. The hooks are such classics, and the little touches - a drum roll here, the lead and rhythm interplay there - take me back to the seminal adolescent years of my life.<br />
I particularly love the rhythm guitar part on Gimme Shelter (hearinbg Mike McCready play it was a treat!), and how the drum comes in and propels the song.
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While I grew up a Led Zeppelin fanatic, a few of the Stones albums - Let It Bleed and Exiles on Main Street - have held up better than most of Zeppelin's catalog, and those songs just cry out for a loud bombastic rendition in a big live venue. Very satisfying experience - I've seen the Stones live, and technically this was a better version of their material than the Stones themselves were able to deliver when I saw them in the Kingdome with The Clash all those years ago.
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They got most of the artists onstage for the last few number like "Gimme Some Lovin'" which highlights some good saxophone and organ work.
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Half the fun at this show is how much the musicians enjoy getting to play these songs, it was a great benefit show with some awesome thirty or forty year old Rock and Roll that really took me back, centuries old favorites, and new (to me) stuff from Walking Papers and many other performers that now are on the "I've got to see those guys again" list.
</div>Virtual Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16266942563616252097noreply@blogger.com0Belltown, Seattle, WA, USA47.611739310991226 -122.3412010394866947.611404810991225 -122.34183153948669 47.612073810991227 -122.34057053948669