Way Finders, Absolute Monarchs and Love Battery at the KEXP Mural Amphitheater show

Stopped by the Mural Amphitheater to see another fun free show put on by KEXP. I was slightly sloshed and enjoying the music, so the videos were mildly unsteady. That's what happens when I try to video tape and dance at the same time. Love Battery was up first.Fun up tempo guitar rock, this is the sort of music I grew up loving way back when, and I still love it when it's done well - and Love Battery does it well.

The second band was Absolute Monarchs, a band I saw earlier this Summer at the Capitol Hill Block Party. They have a good heavy guitar oriented sound, perhaps a little slower than Love Battery, more screamish vocals, also a very nice approach. I was having fun dancing and drinking the occasional beer in the beer garden, I really enjoy these free KEXP Mural Amphitheater shows when the weather is so nice. Sadly enough, I think they're done for the year.

The final act was Way Finders, a band I'd never heard before. They immediately won me over with fast, intricate guitar oriented music - and I love the good wah-wah pedal. Fun show, great way to end the KEXP Mural Amphitheater series. They had one more KEXP free show the next Friday with Fresh Espresso and I like them quite a bit, but I was unable to make it to that show, so the penultimate show ended up being my final one for the season. It was a great night of hard rocking bands to end with and I'm glad I made it.

Chris Mathews Jr., Abi Grace and Jeremy Serwer at the Triple Door Musiquarium Lounge

Dawn (a newly found semi-distant relative) got in touch and pointed out that a friend of hers was playing a free set at the Musiquarium lounge at the Triple Door in Seattle. Dana and I headed down to Seattle and made an evening of it with dinner at the Mecca Cafe and stopped by the Queen Anne Easy Street Records store to listen to Minus the Bear do an in-store set, then headed to the Triple Door.

The Musiquarium Lounge is the bar at the entry to the Triple Door, it's "upstairs" from the auditorium. The Musiquarium Lounge hosts free music several times a week. Chris Mathews Jr. came out and played a solo set first. This one's a cover of "Mr Soul" by Neal Young. Nice song done well, good sight lines for the video, but the venue is slightly noisy. not too bad for a bar, I suppose. While he's singing and playing it mostly drowns out the noise.
Mathews did several covers including another Neil Young tune "Hey Hey, My My" that I enjoyed. I linked to my video of "Hey Hey My My" but I recorded it form the table we were sitting at, so the crowd noise is much more prominent. Chris also did this nice cover of My Morning Jackets "I Will Be There When You Die" In his intro he says "I should've brought a band" but I think he does fine doing a solo set. The material he chose to play helps, and his voice is clear and carries the songs along nicely.

Mathews runs Joonior Studios which is also worth checking out.

Next up was Abi Grace also doing a solo set, singing and playing acoustic guitar. I think this is her own composition, but I'm not sure; in any event it was unfamiliar to me. Nice, slightly sad song, her voice is quite expressive in this one, very well done.
This next song was introduced as her Dad's favorite song: Given the theme of empowerment and growth in spite of life's challenges, I can see why it would be her Dad's favorite. I enjoyed Abi's set, she writes nice songs and mostly avoids repetition - somewhat unusual nowadays, makes them worth a very careful listen.

Jeremy Serwer was the final performer of the evening and he stuck to the pattern of solo singer with an acoustic guitar. Nice song, different approach but I'm not sure I have the vocabulary to describe exactly what is different. I suppose this song is more direct, like he's singing it directly to you, and the guitar playing is a little more varied, less chords/rhythm, more a slightly lead approach.
In this next song I enjoy one little detail: he taps his foot in time to the song, giving it a bit more rhythm. Nice little touch, adds quite a bit to the song for me. I enjoy the chord transitions and how it plays off of his voice, too. Tasty stuff, having live music played for you always makes things better, and the intimate singer/songwriter performances enhanced the experience at the Musiquarium - heck, they made the experience.

I enjoyed all three performers, and the conversation and socializing with my wife and our newly found distant relative and even newer friend introduced to us at the show was great. The szechuan bean side was also very tasty, all in all it was a great evening of music and company.

Fly Moon Royalty, Legendary Oaks and Sally Ford and the Sound Outside: No Depression

I managed to make it to the annual KEXP/No Depression free show at the Mural Amphitheater on August 3, 2012 and enjoyed the heck out of the 3 bands I managed to see. I wasn't able to stay for Shovels and Rope, but the acts I did see were great.

Local duo Fly Moon Royalty kicked it off. We saw Fly Moon Royalty last year at Bumbershoot and they impressed the heck out of us. Great songs, talented musicians, and the wonderful voice of Adra Boo turned us into immediate fans.

They had the early slot and were working hard out in the hot bright sun:

They closed their set with an awesome version of "Baby Got Back" and I wish I had recorded it but I was having too much fun bouncing around to it and enjoying it, maybe another time I'll get it, I definitely will go out of my way to see them again and again!

Next up was Legendary Oaks, a local band that I was unfamiliar with. They had a great rootsy sound that made me want to hang out in the beer garden and bounce around while drinking Redhook ESB, which worked out nicely.

The crowd was large and loving it, and the songs were instant classics, I'll definitely have to catch them again at some point, hopefully it won't be too hard since they're a local band.

The last act we saw was Sally Ford and the Sound Outside, not quite local (they're from Portland) but close enough. Another instant classic set, petty amazing stuff for a free show! They had an interesting vibe that I enjoyed, but I have no idea what you'd call it. The band was great, my inability to describe it is partially because they're unique and partially my own lack of referents, I don't know who you might consider similar and I don't really care. Check out the video and you can draw your own comparisons, they were creative and tight and fun as heck.

Sweet way to end the week, and when the weather gets this good in Seattle outdoor shows are so nice it's almost hard to describe. Free shows at the Mural Amphitheater in the hot sun with maybe a few ESBs - to hijack a different beer company's slogan, it just doesn't get any better!