Finally had a nice weekend and a really nice Sunday, after taking a car load of teens and working the Knowmads show on the last day of April it was nice to take a few walks with the kids and the dog and get the lawn mowed on Sunday. Coldest April on record, and lots of odd late snow, not too sorry to see the weather go, but I'm a little sorry to see all the good shows I managed to catch fading into the rear view mirror!
I saw 29 bands, interviewed a band, and also attended a dance party with the 2 DJs from Lick spinning disks, 4 DJs or more once you add in the Knowmads show. That's the most bands in a month so far this year. In May I'll see way fewer shows, but one of the shows is Sasquatch Fest, so I'll probably set a new personal best for bands seen in a month, at least for 2011. I never kept all that close count for all those old Bumbershoot weekend passes, so there's some doubt, but I should definitely document more than I ever have before.
Of the 29 bands and acts and 4+ DJs, I'd seen 4 bands (Brite Futures, Silicon Girls, Knowmads and Real Rogers) and 1 DJ (the Knowmad's show DJ, I think he said he's from Trinidad at a prior show).
Highlights of the month:
Hanging out with my son Ben at the Craft Spells show early in the month
The immense variety of musical approaches, from the non-stop party central dancing of Brite Futures
...to the thoughtful offbeat hard rocking Titus Andronicus set
to Danielson and Karl Blau to the multiple sold out shows like Brite Futures and STRFKR with the packed in energetic audiences.
Knowmads coming back for a benefit and also giving me an interview.
The sheer quantity and variety of music has been amazing, so many hard working talented charismatic bands and performers - April was a great month for local music!
Showing posts with label karl blau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label karl blau. Show all posts
Monday, May 2, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Danielson, Karl Blau and Shannon Stephens at the Vera Project 4-7-11
I had a meeting Thursday at the Vera Project (related to getting into Sasquatch Fest free, but that's another story) and I was able to stay afterward to check out the show and saw some fascinating performances.
First up was Shannon Stephens singing and playing acoustic guitar with a bass and drums.
She had a sweet beautiful voice and a fairly direct and simple approach in her songs, very appealing.
I guess I'd call this pop music, but I'm not that good at categories and I don't really care much either, good music is appealing and the labels don't matter. Nice opening act, the audience was appreciative.
Next up was Karl Blau and he had a much more wacky approach. He brought up a fairly large group with multiple odd one of a kind stringed instruments, mostly or all single strings as far as I could tell. He asked if someone wanted to do interpretive dance and a young woman volunteered and jumped up on stage, she's the one in the orange shirt towards the middle in the video.
The vocal approach was different, it looks like someone is reading lyrics off of a smart phone and whispering the to the vocalist (who was someone other than Karl) who then sings it. Odd approach, but it had it's charms.
After a few numbers like this he switched to a solo approach with an electric guitar.
He played quite a few songs, talented guy. Check out the size of his hands on the guitar - he has quite a reach, makes it easy to bar chords and so on. Fun set, the odd earlier approach and then his solo stuff made for an interesting contrast.
Next up was Danielson, the headliner. The band had an interesting visual approach, wearing some sort of uniforms with various odds and ends stitched on, triangular flags with eyes on them - different and appealing in an odd way, not sure what it meant but it caught your eye.
They also had music stands with music for several band members. Given the fairly complex parts, interwoven beats, and multiple vocal parts it's not surprising, this is a sort of effortlessly intricate musical approach.
Here's some video from one of their songs:
So we had an interesting range from a fairly simple stripped down singer songwriter approach to an odd set of wacky instruments and the strangest vocal delivery method I've ever seen, then a single electric guitar with singing approach from the second performer, to an oddly visualized and realized set that was quite different yet consistent to some internal vision that I can only barely grasp - and the music was really fascinating throughout.
Cool stuff, definitely need to keep an eye out for more of these bands, I don't think any are local (not sure) so I may not get too many opportunities to catch them again, but you never know with the bigger festivals like Bumbershoot, maybe I'll get lucky...
First up was Shannon Stephens singing and playing acoustic guitar with a bass and drums.
She had a sweet beautiful voice and a fairly direct and simple approach in her songs, very appealing.
I guess I'd call this pop music, but I'm not that good at categories and I don't really care much either, good music is appealing and the labels don't matter. Nice opening act, the audience was appreciative.
Next up was Karl Blau and he had a much more wacky approach. He brought up a fairly large group with multiple odd one of a kind stringed instruments, mostly or all single strings as far as I could tell. He asked if someone wanted to do interpretive dance and a young woman volunteered and jumped up on stage, she's the one in the orange shirt towards the middle in the video.
The vocal approach was different, it looks like someone is reading lyrics off of a smart phone and whispering the to the vocalist (who was someone other than Karl) who then sings it. Odd approach, but it had it's charms.
After a few numbers like this he switched to a solo approach with an electric guitar.
He played quite a few songs, talented guy. Check out the size of his hands on the guitar - he has quite a reach, makes it easy to bar chords and so on. Fun set, the odd earlier approach and then his solo stuff made for an interesting contrast.
Next up was Danielson, the headliner. The band had an interesting visual approach, wearing some sort of uniforms with various odds and ends stitched on, triangular flags with eyes on them - different and appealing in an odd way, not sure what it meant but it caught your eye.
They also had music stands with music for several band members. Given the fairly complex parts, interwoven beats, and multiple vocal parts it's not surprising, this is a sort of effortlessly intricate musical approach.
Here's some video from one of their songs:
So we had an interesting range from a fairly simple stripped down singer songwriter approach to an odd set of wacky instruments and the strangest vocal delivery method I've ever seen, then a single electric guitar with singing approach from the second performer, to an oddly visualized and realized set that was quite different yet consistent to some internal vision that I can only barely grasp - and the music was really fascinating throughout.
Cool stuff, definitely need to keep an eye out for more of these bands, I don't think any are local (not sure) so I may not get too many opportunities to catch them again, but you never know with the bigger festivals like Bumbershoot, maybe I'll get lucky...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Looking Ahead to April Shows
The Vera Project has a full roster of shows with 8 shows and more than 20 bands listed so far, with the Veracity show not up yet. I can also check out free shows at the Blue Moon on Sunday, so I should be able to see 20+ bands even if I miss a show or three at the Vera Project. Many interesting possibilities: Bright Futures, Karl Blau, Los Gentlemen, Titus Andonicus, Starfucker, Champagne Champagne, and Vivian Girls. Monica has been coming up with great Veracity lineups so I look forward to that and all of the bands I'll get see for the first time.
I'm looking at a more formal volunteer engagement for Veracity shows, we'll see if that progresses and has any usage.
I'm also starting to ramp up on some volunteer efforts for the Sasquatch Fest 10th Anniversary year book. Not only does it serve as my free ticket to Sasquatch Fest this year (and the bands are awesome) I also get some training on interviewing and an opportunity to interview some bands and fans. I missed the second meeting so I get to start with MusiCares (provides aid for musicians) and HeadCount (signs concert goers up to vote). Hopefully I'll get some bands that I like too.
I'm looking at a more formal volunteer engagement for Veracity shows, we'll see if that progresses and has any usage.
I'm also starting to ramp up on some volunteer efforts for the Sasquatch Fest 10th Anniversary year book. Not only does it serve as my free ticket to Sasquatch Fest this year (and the bands are awesome) I also get some training on interviewing and an opportunity to interview some bands and fans. I missed the second meeting so I get to start with MusiCares (provides aid for musicians) and HeadCount (signs concert goers up to vote). Hopefully I'll get some bands that I like too.
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