Songwriters Prove Weird at the Tractor

We'd heard of Paleo before, but didn't know much about him, so we trucked all the way from the Hill to Ballard just to check him live. His MySpace page said the show started at 8, but the bar door was locked when we got there. We really enjoyed our four side dishes at Hatties Hat while we waited for the Tractor to open. Unfortunately, Hatties' spinach casserole and sweet potato fries were the best thing to happen all night.

As frequently happens in the writing-about-shows business, we were promised a spot on the guest list, so we didn't bother getting cash to pay the $6 cover. Somehow, signals got crossed, or something, and we weren't on the list. Luckily, the doorman remembered letting us in free last week for the Todd Snider show, so he let us slide.

Inside, we joined the 20 other people standing awkwardly far from the stage in the standing room only venue, and buckled down for an uncomfortable evening of singer/songwriters.

First up was J. Wong, arguably the best artist on the bill. His songs actually made narrative sense and, with heart-wrenchingly pretty lyrics, reminded us of coldplay and other artists that sound like coldplay. Wong also looked a lot like Silent Bob, but his between song mutterings (we wish he would speak up a bit) were funny and charming. Especially when you consider the gal who came after him.

She didn't say her name, but that was okay because most of her songs were just kind of weird, in that "What The Hell is Tori Amos Talking About?" sort of way. We think she was trying to tell us something, but we're not quite sure what. We can say this: she was certainly amused about something. Bless her heart. She really ripped it up when she played a song she said was by Julie Miller. That was a great song. We wished she would've played it again.

Her set was short, though, because Paleo was the man of the night. A big tall hippy character with a miniature guitar, Paleo was kind of fascinating. Nonetheless, we were glad to be back in the land of songs that make narrative sense. They were fun songs, like what Tiny Tim could've done if he'd have taken himself a little more seriously. We probably won't rush out to download any MP3s by Monday's performers, but we're not gonna block you from checking them out sometime.

We will, however, make a point of seriously thanking the doorman at the Tractor for trusting that we're local bloggers on a mission. You and our friend Hattie's Spinach Casserole, are a class act.