MARYMOOR IT UP: Crazy hot concerts at Marymoor this weekend! Tonight, hyper-literate prog-indie Portland kids the Decemberists with Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot; Saturday and Sunday, Death Cab with Ra Ra Riot and the New Pornographers.
6 p.m. doors all days // Concerts at Marymoor // 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Parkway // tix $35
Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition July 17-19
Second Death Cab at Marymoor Show Added
Tickets to Death Cab at Marymoor Park on July 18th just went on sale last weekend, and already a second show has been added the following night due to overwhelming demand. Tickets ($35, not including fees) for the Sunday, July 19th show are on sale now via Ticketmaster and Live Nation. No word as to whether the openers for Sunday are the same as Saturday--Ra Ra Riot and the New Pornographers--as of right now, there's only "special guests" affiliated with the Sunday show.
The Shins to Wince Two Nights Away at the Showbox
Just announced: The Shins are set to play two shows at the Showbox on Monday, May 4 at 9:00 p.m. (all ages) and Tuesday, May 5 at 9:00 p.m. (21+) . Tickets are $34.99 (yowza), not including those delightful Ticketmaster fees. Tix go on sale this Friday, March 27 at 10 a.m. We'd advise you to save a few bucks by buying your tickets directly from the Showbox box office. Also on sale via Ticketmaster/Live Nation this Friday/Saturday: Death Cab/New Pornographers/Ra Ra Riot at Marymoor Park July 18, Ben Folds at the Paramount May 14, and Phish at the Gorge for two nights (*shudder*) August 7 and 8.
Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition
LIKE MOVIES FOR CHOCOLATE: Tonight is movie night at Theo Chocolate on Phinney, and--you'll never guess, we'll just tell you--they're showing Like Water for Chocolate. (Rotten Tomatoes says it's 89 percent fresh!) But it sounds a little different than a night at the megaplex: "We will be serving up hot chocolate, popcorn and other special surprises. Be sure to bring your own camping chair, or cushion to sit on, and snuggle up in front of the fire." Reservations are required: call 206-632-5100 to book your spot.
Heads Up: Sasquatch Lineup By Day
Right on the heels of the announcement that the Mars Volta was added to the Sasquatch lineup, and right before tickets go on sale this Saturday, the three-day music festival has seen fit to delineate who will be playing on which day:
Heads Up: Sasquatch Lineup Announced
After months of wild speculation, the official 2008 Sasquatch lineup has finally been announced:
Weekend Music
This weekend, it's all about Friday and Saturday; Sunday is the Lord's day, so music is taking a night off. Tonight, there's another great Canadian band, Immaculate Machine, at the Vera Project. The pop trio features Kathryn Calder, who just so happens to be the New Pornographers' Carl (A.C.) Newman's niece. Way to keep it in the family.
Jose Gonzalez / Tiny Vipers @ the Showbox
People are strange. They say Ann Coulter is funny. They pay a $20 cover to have a conversation in a club. At the Showbox a few weeks ago, we saw Lavender Diamond, opening for the New Pornographers, cut their set short after telling the audience it was hard to play with all the talking going on. So we were worried heading back to the Showbox for the Jose Gonzalez/Tiny Vipers show because neither of them promised to be able to crush a babbling crowd into submission like the Pornographers could, and did.
We Went to See the New Pornographers and All We Got Was a Very Tired Sunday
Seattlest doesn't go to a lot of concerts -- we never did, and once parenthood embraced us we tend to invest in babysitters for stuff like movies and restaurants. There's less thrill in staying up until 1:30 when you know, no matter what, that 7:00 would be sleeping in.
Weekend Dance: Ten Tiny Dances @ CHAC, First Look @ PNB
There are not enough hours in the day. Just. Not. Enough. If we weren't already going to the New Pornographers show tonight, we'd likely be found at the Ten Tiny Dances performance at CHAC (7:30pm, $15). If you haven't seen it before, the idea is there's a 4' x 4' platform that the dancers have to (more or less) stay on for their performance, like when we were kids and the floor was lava. Lava!
Weekend Music
Woo hoo! Friends of Seattlest Mean Recess are releasing a CD Saturday at Jules Mae, a release which Seattlest quite possibly personally caused to be delayed, by the way. Man Rockwell and Spanish for 100 are also playing and there's no YouTube for any of them, sadly. Also, Seattlest's own Kim Ruehl is at Cafe Bella downtown tonight at 9.
How the Showbox Got Its Groove Back
Hey, whaddya know? Ever since the Showbox upped the service fees and made a pact with the devil, their bookings have been less than stellar. In fact, we haven't been to the downtown venue for a single show so far this year, which is totally out of the ordinary.
Two Days Down, One to Go
Lordy, we are getting old. Midway through day 2 of Bumbershoot, we were dragging hardcore. The crowds, the drunk white guys, the terrible fashion---it was all getting to be too much. But then we nutted up and carried on with our high-octane music intake.
Isn't Bumbershoot Like Tomorrow?
What a great way to close out the summer: Beer, fried food on stick, irritatingly large crowds, great music, and a slight chance of rain (remember last year?). Seattlest loves us some Bumbershoot though, and we wouldn't let some pesky weather ruin our fun. This year looks to be a good one. A couple things we are digging right off the bat are the addition of good bands on the outdoor stages and ditching the Friday festivities before the weekend (we never went on that day anyway).
Isn't Bumbershoot In Like A Few Days (2)
Decisions, decisions. This member of Seattlest will have a good friend in town for the duration of Bumbershoot weekend, so most of our scheduling will depend on him. Good thing our friends tend to have taste. Present company excluded.
Fier in the Disco, Fier in the Taco Bell
The Fiery Furnaces show at Neumos on the day of June thirteenth in the year of our lord two thousand six was awesome. Even if you don't like the Fiery Furnaces, even if you don't know who they are, even if you don't like music, you need to go to a Fiery Furnaces show. New experiences are the spice of life. Treat yourself.
The Fundamental Flaw of Pledge Drives
No, it's not that everyone hates them. Everyone who works in public radio knows everyone hates them. We suspect pledge drives resemble democracy -- they're the worst form of public radio fundraising except for all those others that have been tried.
Neko Case: Beware the Devil Woman
Remember when you thought Neko Case just couldn't get any cooler? Ha! Now she's being held up as an example of the evils of rock-n-roll.
Old Wounds Salted Anew
We were collecting ourselves this morning, sipping on a cup of coffee on the back porch and checking in with the day's internets edition. Standard stuff except for the good weather. Oh, here's an email from Matador Records, let's see who's touring through. Cat Power - No Seattle date. Then there's a band we don't know. And another one. Then there's a band we don't care about. Then there's Mogwai - Already on our calendar. New Pornographers...Seattle....Aug 12....Gasworks Park! Gasworks Park! Then it hit us like a length of 2x4 to the small of the back- That show's not happening. That sounds like Summer Nights. We know it's not happening. If you read this site you know it's not happening. If you're a member of a Wallingford neighborhood group you're damn sure it's not happening because you're a miserable piece of shit who hates music and fun and light and cares only about defending your parking spot tooth and nail and then scurrying back under your rock. If you're Matador Records, though, you either haven't been informed or you're not staying on top of your tour schedules. And once again, to the Friends of Gasworks Park and all their kind who decided that we wouldn't be walking over to Gasworks and getting our geek rock on with the New Pornographers this August, fuck you.
Roadtrip Rationale: Neko Case in Milwaukee
What's the difference between seeing Neko Case in Seattle vs. seeing her in Milwaukee? In Seattle, concertgoers sip microbrews. In Milwaukee, they're drinking tallboys of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Belle & Sebastian Close For New Pornographers
Last Saturday night Seattlest was shivering outside the Paramount waiting for the friend-with-the-tickets to show up for the New Pornographers/Belle and Sebastian show. From our vantage point, we watched as the doors opened and the line poured into the Paramount, a standing wave forming a few feet before the marquee, as people held up their cell phones to take a picture in case of massive cerebral trauma rendering them unable to remember where they were later on.
New Pornographers and Belle and Stupid Sebastian? Dammit!
The Matador Records website announced a New Pornographers / Belle and Sebastian tour last week and we can't say we're ecstatic about the pairing. Sure, we went through a very brief B&S phase at one point a few years ago. We're not proud of it, but we can admit it. Finally. And we suppose that we can see what Matador is trying to do. Twin Cinema is an excellent attempt at a great album and due to our relative proximity to British Columbia we're very aware of that, as a region. Probably we're in the minority, nationally, though, and we suspect that Matador thinks it should be selling a lot better than it is. And they'd be right. So attach the Pornographers to the warhorse of their stable, the cash cow, the begging-craigslist-for-tickets, probably-playing-the-Paramount band and see what kind of exposure they can get. We're just not sure that fans of the one can necessarily be cross pollinanted into being fans of the other.
Oh! October
Just last week we were walking through the beer aisle at our local QFC, cruising for those cute little Full Sail "Session" bottles when our heart skipped a beat. Could it be? Oh sweet Bacchus, that's a six-pack of Snow Cap! We cradled it in our arms and cried silent sweet tears of joy while the woman next to us with the two kids dragged her wee ones by their arms past us, staring. Someday children, you too will know the tender October rejoice of the return of Snow Cap.
iTunes Peddling New Pornography
Seattlest loves the New Pornographers. We may have made claims to the contrary in the past, but our informal polling method (four Seattlest contributors at their last Showbox performance) shows they have strong support from our staff. That not one of us deigned to write the show up is something else entirely. Too many cooks, maybe.
Pretty Hate Portastatic
If you are between the ages of 28 and 40 and you like your indie rock, you are probably very excited about the Portastatic show this evening at the Crocodile. This band is fronted by Mac from Superchunk. If these names mean nothing to you, then you might want to see them because they have some really cute pop songs (and if circa 2003 indie cred means anything to you, they opened up for Rilo Kiley).
Architecture in Helsinki Via Seattle
If you are a fan of the Arcade Fire (and if you don't have a ticket for their Wednesday night show at the Paramount), then you might want to get your indie fix at the Architecture in Helsinki show Thursday night at Neumo's. Both bands have a penchant for wacky instrumentation combined male and female indie-style singing. Plus, their songs are dance-able, which is never a bad scene (unless of course you have seen us dance).
Getting Wet With Neko Case
Here at Seattlest, we love the New Pornographers, but one big reason we love them is our obsession with Neko Case, the female voice of the band. Her alt-country (whatever that is) solo work makes our teeth just vibrate with excitement.
More Pornography Is a Very Good Thing
The third album by mighty morphin' power-poppers the New Pornographers, Twin Cinema, goes on sale tomorrow. For Seattlest, this is like Beatlemania meets Pottermania, except that Pornomania likely won't be nuts enough to inspire a Robert Zemeckis film.

