Results tagged “old97s”

As previously mentioned, Monday at Bumbershoot was heavily skewed towards the alt-country side of things. We're not sure if that's good programming or bad programming. On the one hand, if you're way into alt-country, just attend that one day of the festival and you're all set; on the other hand, you've got some tough choices to make among Blitzen Trapper, Langhorne Slim, Two Gallants, the Maldives, and Old 97s. We managed to catch some of all of the above, which ranged from alt-country to straight-up country to country-twinged blues rock. The diversity of sound was overwhelming.

      

On Monday Bumbershoot was a smoldering guyville. And we have the photos to prove it. Who knows why the festival was so testosterone heavy, but if boys were your thing, you had a grab bag to choose from.

Normally that scenario doesn't turn out well, but the Old 97s' rabid fan base (an acquaintance we ran into described her boyfriend as wanting to perform fellatio on them all) kicked up the energy in the room something fierce. The second opener, Hayes Carll, had us nervous: with the oompah rhythm, lack of backbeat, and the liberal application of lap steel, there wasn't much "alt" about their take on country. But the Old 97s, led by Rhett Miller, emerged to pound out something that sounded a lot more like good old-fashioned rock-and-roll than anything. And the crowd responded by doing something we rarely see in Seattle clubs: dancing.

It may not feel like summer in Seattle, but tomorrow afternoon is The End's Summer Camp II at Marymoor Park. It's a mix of the good (Nada Surf, MGMT), the bad (Flogging Molly, Pennywise), and the emo-ey (Armor for Sleep). Meanwhile, all weekend long Noise for the Needy marches on, raising money for Urban Rest Stop. Come tomorrow night, it's Matt and Kim, YACHT, and local band Feral Children at Neumo's. Here's a clip of the ferociously experimental indie Sarathan quintet.