June 26, 2008
What Does "Shitty Seattle Band" Mean to You?
We were at trivia Tuesday night—playing, not hosting—plowing our way through the audio round.
Our host played a snippet of a song that sounded kinda familiar, but we couldn't actually name either the song or the band. No half points for us. We wrote down our obligatory "funny" guess ("Do the Bartman," by Bart Simpson ) and waited for question 9.
Someone from a nearby team heard us belaboring our stumpedness. "Think of a really shitty Seattle band," she said to one of our teammates. He relayed her hint to us.
We didn't hesitate. "Change 'Bart Simpson' to 'Candlebox,'" we said.
Half point for us.
And the thing is: We didn't realize we had a mental association for Candlebox. We've only ever heard their hits in passing. We wouldn't have sworn they were from Seattle. For all we know, they aren't actually shitty.
But our response was Pavlovian: "shitty Seattle band" equals "Candlebox." We've double-checked that with some friends, and they've offered other responses—Alice in Chains, Death Cab—but when we said "Candlebox" every one of them agreed that was a better answer.
They still didn't sing "Do the Bartman," though. That's a half point we didn't get.
"Top Shit City" (look closer!) by Slightlynorth, from our Flickr pool.
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"do the bartman" takes up space in my brain where it would seem the quadratic formula, or something, should live.
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whats wrong with alice in chains????
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Why doesn’t Queensryche top the list?
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I have no problem with Alice in Chains, but that was someone's response.
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That someone is dumb.
Alice in Chains is awesome.
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Obligatory Death Cab defensive comment. Go Ben.
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Alice in Chains is more talented than any band to come out of Seattle in the past ten years, easy.
Ben Gibbard couldn't hold Layne Staley's jock strap, or syringe for that matter vocally.
When I think of a lame Seattle band I think of some skinny nerd with tatoos and a black shirt playing middle of the road, emo junk that the Stranger worships.
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..or bongo drum buskers on Pine Street. Shittiest, talentless music possible.
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We've played at places all around town including many nights at the OP, and I'm afraid this trivia night was the worst in memory. It's enough to keep us from coming back to the OP for quite a few weeks. The music round stank. No theme? Yes there was a theme. Music I would be embarrassed to tell a pub full of people was on my ipod.
As for the musicals round, what a waste of time. What musical has the songs "Matchmaker, matchmaker", "Sunrise, Sunset", "If I were a rich man?" Those just aren't challenging, they aren't creative, they aren't fun.
I've read Seattlest enough to know that criticism is never taken well, so I won't pretend to expect a reasonable response. Kudos to the other quiz masters of the OP for keeping it interesting.
So that I know, what week does this guy usually host?
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The host last week was Aaron -- he doesn't have a regular week, but you can always check the hosting schedule. He's up next on July 29. (And while I usually like his quizzes, that wasn't his best, by a long shot. And I say this even though my team got 78 points.)
Officially, I'm the only Seattlest trivia host in the rotation, and I'm almost always the first Tuesday of the month. I think next month is an exception, because someone beat me to the sign-up.
Yes, that means there will be the obligatory Seattlest Trivia plug post tomorrow. I hope you'll come in for that one; while we all have our off nights, I think this one's going to be a good quiz.
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Thanks James. I think I've calmed down a bit. I do remember enjoying your quiz, but I think we'll be going to the George and Dragon for a few weeks.
In case you're interested, here's my experience at Purr.