Bobby Bare Junior Version

If you ever see Seattlest at a show and get annoyed with our habit of constantly looking over your shoulder, it's not that we're looking for someone better to talk to. We love to watch bands set their crap up. Yeah, that's really the only chance you have to talk to your friends, but we can't help constantly glancing up there while one band takes down and the next sets up. You can get a good look at what you're in store for by doing this. Like "Yes! A Theremin! Let's stay here!" or "Fuck! A Theremin! Let's get the hell out of here!" So Bobby Bare, Jr.'s band didn't set up a Theremin prior to their show on Wednesday night. They did get out a cowbell, though, and we knew what we were in store for and we wanted to leave before it happened.

But we didn't and Bare Jr. put on a great show doing a singer-songwriter thing solo for a while and then bringing up the band and doing a singer-songwriter thing some more (although rocking a lot harder). His band includes a bass sax! More saxophones, please. Screw you to everyone who made saxophones uncool (Rob Lowe, Bill Clinton) and thank you to everyone working hard to reverse that (Skerik).

Having never seen Bobby Bare, Jr. live we were unaware of how volatile he makes the scene on stage. His band had little musical interludes hilariously at the ready for when he took an equipment timeout or had to talk things over with the sound person. "It's GOOD that Bobby did that!" and the band's playing some Christmas carol. It added an element, definitely. If you're in San Fran tonight for some reason, check him out at Slim's.

The thing we knew was coming when we saw the cowbell on stage was someone in the audience shouting "more cowbell." We don't like this joke, we don't get it, and we don't want to hear it anymore. The guy who shouted it was standing right next to Seattlest, and when we turned and looked at him he was our mirror image. Dear anyone who was at the Croc on Wednesday night, Seattlest doesn't shout "more cowbell," so if you thought you saw that you're wrong. It was our fucking evil twin out to embarrass us.

Photo courtesy of gregoryperez.