Kim is off to the Fremont Abbey tonight to catch one of PDX's finest singer-songwriters, Laura Gibson, in action. She will spend the rest of the weekend napping, baking, and watching movies. Sunday night, she'll emerge from her lair for Jenny Owen Youngs at the High Dive. Paris has called to our traveler, Ronald, who plans to eat snails and oysters and foie gras over a long weekend in the City of Light (as opposed......

FRIDAY MUSIC: We're supporting local talent this evening, with a Cornish Senior Recital. Composer Andrew Boscardin (aka Bosco) has two new pieces ready to meet the world. He tells us:The first set will feature a sextet with myself, Mack Grout, Brad Gibson, Rachael Contorer and Clark Gibson. The second set will feature a 13-piece big band. All of the music was written by me and represents easily the largest and most daunting undertaking of......

If you weren't lucky enough to nab a pair of tickets to an April Eddie Vedder show via Pearl Jam's fan club presale or Ticketmaster's sale last Friday, you're only screwed if you aren't extremely wealthy—and charitable. Though his six-city, expanded-to-10-date tour sold out within minutes, there are a few sweet seats reserved for big-time, big-money fans who also wouldn't mind seeing the West Memphis Three go free. Per the press release: For all......

Forbes Magazine must have gotten tired of making the same "Richest People in the World" list, because the magazine has moved on to ranking the "Nation's Most Sinful Cities." In order to do so, Forbes came up with measurable methods to rank the proclivity for each of the seven deadly sins in America's urban populations. (For example to measure the sin of "wrath" the magazine used murder rates for cities.) Of course, you're curious, just......

Man, this Folk Alliance conference has been total insanity. Last night, the wait for the only four elevators going to the top floors of the hotel (where all the artists showcase) reminded us of waiting for the subway in New York on the 4th of July. Good luck. With all these people from all over the world flooding Memphis, and with all the folkies in Seattle, we're surprised that we've made it all the......

We got into Memphis last night, and we'll be here for the rest of the week, celebrating folk music along with people from all over the world at the annual Folk Alliance conference. We'll be going on and on about that in articles for another job we have, but we just wanted to take a moment to express how much we love Seattle. We miss Seattle. But mostly, we miss people. There don't seem......

The ability to endure month after month of days like today is an unappreciated phenomenon unique to this corner of America. Elsewhere winter storms may be harsher in the traditional frozen pipes/paralyzed infrastructure sense, but the psychological toll of Steve Pool’s constant grey "with a chance of light rain" is just grueling. Long-time Seattle residents are not unlike seasoned veterans of a lifelong Chinese Water Torture and Seattlest appreciates the local grit required to......

Say this for new Sonics owner Clay Bennett--he knows shitty basketball when he sees it. And he's replacing the men most responsible for bringing it to you, GM Rick Sund and coach Bob Hill. Hill ends his Sonics tenure with a 53-81 career record--worst for any coach who lasted at least a full season since Al Bianchi, who can be excused since he was coaching an expansion team. We hope this gives some small measure......

--We're fucked. --The B&B that Greenlake has been trying to oust will be allowed to stay. Old story. Wallingford has since eclipsed Greenlake as Seattle's NIMBYest. --Some people think Schultz should stop pining for the past and get back to work. Faster. --Hahahahaha, oh man... The homeless voting... What a hoot. --Not sure how to vote on this one... --Someone just bought a Pierce County ferry boat on Ebay. --First Seattle to Paris non-stop and......

Special Gonzaga correspondent Sean O'Connor reports that the Zags will make the tournament. It’s been an interesting season for the boys over in Spokane, to say the least. After a hot start and wins over North Carolina, Texas and UW there were four losses in a row to Nevada, Duke, Virginia, and Georgia. Then came the 2 conference losses, the arrests of Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis, and a 3rd conference loss (the most since......

BASKETBALL: Ex-Garfield High and UW star Will Conroy suits up for a regular season NBA game for the first time tonight as his new team Memphis hosts Dallas. 5pm // Our basement or anywhere else with the NBA package HIP-HOP: Lupe Fiasco hits town along with a number of other hip-hop performers. 7-11pm // HUB Ballroom at the UW // $18 general public, $14 UW students BOOKS: Calvin Trillin reads from About Alice, his fond,......

--Spokane loved its ice skating event and apparently the ice skating event loved Spokane back. --Jon Stewart was spotted at the Vista hooha in New York over the weekend. And last we heard Gates was scheduled to be on the Daily show tonight. --Pretty Girls Make Graves are over. --LineOut reacts to the New York Times' "Blipster" piece. --An email from the Mariners to Seattlest has confirmed the Jeff Weaver signing. --Last week in this......

MUSIC: Carrie Clark & The Lonesome Lovers. Memphis Radio Kings headline this show, but we're here for Carrie Clark all the way. Clark's been wooing Seattle crowds with her superb voice -- both playful and brooding for over ten years now. Backed by her band, The Lonesome Lovers, things seem to be coming together beautifully for Miss Clark; her new album, Seems So Civilized, produced by Darryl Neudorf (Neko Case, Kinnie Starr, The Sadies, The......

Wednesday, January 17 >>> West Side Story at Central Cinema. When we first saw the opening sequence to West Side Story, we were convinced our English teacher was playing some kind of joke. Then the Jets vs. Sharks fight sucked us in, and since then we've known the joke was on us for ever doubting the Greatest Musical Ever Made. 7pm; $10 (plays through the 21st) Thursday, January 18 >>> Carrie Clark & The......

Wednesday, January 3 >>> The Intelligence at Chop Suey. We're still waiting for a new album from these local guys - hopefully one that's more Google-able than their 2005 Icky Baby. This show also includes Partman Parthorse and our personal faves the Pleasureboaters. 8pm; $6. 21+ Thursday, January 4 >>> Kled at the High Dive. Tonight's lineup boasts some of our favorite band names in town, including A Gun that Shoots Knives and We......

Well, that was weird. We like the Cat Power, don't get us wrong. But, in retrospect, we would have skipped Chan Marshall's set at the Showbox last night. We wish she had. It all started with her complaining about wearing size 26 pants when she's really a 28. "I fucked up," she said, dryly. (We thought that was banter but she kept hitching her pants up all set long, even unzipping them onstage, a......

Sure, Chan Marshall of Cat Power is not a mess like she once was. She's cleaned up her act, stopped trying to drink herself to death, and can actually make it through an entire set without crying. Plus, for her latest album she teamed up with a great collective of musicians, the Memphis Rhythm Band, who do an awesome job bluesing up her delicate sound. Still, even with those changes, given what we've seen......

Note to editors of Seattlest: not all your readers (or contributors) care that much (i.e., to the exclusion of all else) about outdoor festival music. [Ed. Note: We took a vote and after this post we're all Bumber all the time. Sorry.] No matter. Labor Day weekend has come and gone, signaling the end of Bumbershoot (see the last 27 Seattlest posts), summertime picnics and backyard BBQ. No worries, though, for us yardless Belltowners. They......

By now it’s no secret that Seattlest is all ga-ga over local showmasters, Awesome. We’ve recommended numerous times that you, John and Jane Q.P., experience for yourselves this strange and wonderful ensemble, and well, here we are once more. As if there wasn’t enough going on this weekend, Awesome will be playing two shows. First, Saturday July 1st at the High Dive, Awesome will kick things off for another broadcast of KEXP’s live local music......

About three hours before the quiz started at the Old Pequliar last night, we realized we'd written a really difficult slate of questions. Congrats to the winners, who earned their cash. We'll let you know next time we're hosting -- Charley, the regular quiz guy, should be fully operational again by next week. If you didn't make it, here are the ten questions from round 5, Seattle trivia. The average team got 5 correct. Answers......

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. Ah, Houstonist. They're biking to work, that is, if they can figure out how to get there. That's right, Mapquest says "Houston had the......

Before we get to the Sonics, let's start off with some humor, courtesy of the Seattle Times' consistenly suicide-inducing "Sideline Chatter." Andy Liney, the man inside the "Donny Dog" mascot costume for the Doncaster Rovers soccer team, was denied access to the playing field for the team's game at Huddersfield Town, England, because police intelligence labeled him a security risk. The cops obviously thought he might be a fleaing felon. Question: Is there anyone--anywhere--who would......

In a clear case of East Coast bias among national basketball writers, the University of Washington did not acheive top 25 status in the latest AP women's basketball poll, despite having beaten #23 Utah and #14 Stanford. In a clear case of West Coast bias among national basketball writers, the University of Washington moved up to #7 in the AP men's basketball poll, with Gonzaga hot on their heels at #8, and UCLA at #11.......

The Sonics' slow start, which included three blowout losses, had players, sportswriters, and local hoops bloggers freaking out. People, people. Calm yourselves. It's only eight games into the season. And, after last night's convincing win over the Celtics, we are beginning to look on the bright side. To wit: --Those blowout losses were against Cleveland, Washington, and Memphis. True, these are not traditional NBA powerhouses, and losing to them sounds bad, but these three teams......

Wouldn't it be great if everything were like last year ? Nate McMillian was coaching, the Sonics were winning, and everyone got along. Well check the calendar Jack, because it's 2005-2006 ---Bob Weiss is the coach, the Sonics aren't playing that well, and Vladamir Radmanovic is piiiiiised. Here are his comments after last night's loss to Memphis: "This summer, they were telling me I'm the third option and that [I'm] going to produce and do......

There's often a snobbish stigma attached to cover bands. Some such outfits focus on a specific genre, or era, or simply the lowest-common denominator. Others pay tribute to a single band or individual. Transcending 'em all are the Detroit Cobras, who, Tuesday at Chop Suey, will surely kick some election-night ass. The Cobras specialize in relatively obscure, early '60s R&B nuggets, originally performed by the Shangri-Las, Ottis Redding, Jackie DeShannon and the like, yet they......