Day nine of our countdown in photos is a sexy one. Musicfest Northwest was an incredible experience with new music surrounding us at every turn. Morgen ended her third night there at Mississippi Studios with swoon-worthy Rhett Miller.
Countdown in Photos #9: Rhett Miller
Seattlest at MusicFest: Day Three and Losing Track of Time
It's day three of Portland's MusicFest Northwest and we're starting to feel it, though our spirits are high as Zach headed off to the big show at Pioneer Courthouse Square with Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside, Marketa Irglova and Iron and Wine. Sounds incredible right? That's just the beginning, the night of music didn't really start until nine ending whenever we damn well felt like it (which was around 2am). What an incredibly wonderful night of entertainment and, we're pretty sure, one of the best nights of the festival.
Holy Miracle! The Old 97s Get Seattleites Dancing
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.
Neumo's Had a Million Butts, And They Rocked Them All
OK, perhaps there weren't a million people at Neumo's on Saturday night, but the turnout for the Buttrock Suites was downright impressive. Replete with live band, the Suites was a smörgåsbord of guilty-pleasure rock, sexy swagger, and manic modern dance madness that threw the first punch and kept swinging all night long. The energy was a bit low when we arrived towards the end of the readings, but it did not stay down once the band took the stage. There were mullet wigs and torn jeans and bandannas and pleather pants, and did we know that Rhett Miller had nice pipes? Yes, he does. However, the prolific singer was in fact Rick Miller, and apparently the mistake we just made happens far to often to good old Rick (thanks for dropping us a line, Rick, and for John Galt's comment). The important point is: Rick Miller had buttrock-worthy pipes that could easily handle a range from Steve Perry to Klaus Meine, and he had Seattlest wrapped around his pinky (current Rick info, including his bluegrass predilections, is on the Buttrock Suites MySpace page).
The Week's Picks...
Another week of Seattlest making all your plans for you. You don’t even have to think! Joy!

