Results tagged “rockband”

Friday night was our first visit to Chop Suey since the shooting a month or so ago, and the security situation was basically a nightmare. A line of will-call ticket holders wrapped east up the block to the hot-dog vendor's cart. It took almost twenty minutes to get the roped off entry, where a bouncer was already bouncing an enraged young man, furious that he was unable to get into the sold-out show, while his girlfriend, wearing what was little more than an homage to a miniskirt, stared on mortified as he unleashed a tirade only partly in English.

One of Seattlest's absolute favorite local hiphop groups, Cancer Rising, just released a new video for "Let's Start Some Shit (ft. Bruce Illest)" off their most recent album. There should be more Rock Band-themed rap videos.

Musicians who remain active in the recording industry for over 20 years usually become internationally famous and aim to save the world, or quietly cultivate a devout fan base by emancipating humanity one pair of ears at a time. Mark Pickerel—drummer, vocalist, and Ellensburg native—has followed the latter career path.

Welsh five-piece Super Furry Animals are known for crafting catchy orchestral psychedelic pop-rock -- hence the terribly "trippy" cover art for their latest album Hey Venus. The band's been together since '94, and while most UK groups of that time period have split up or gone on permanent hiatus, SFA are still going strong. For that, you can credit the drugs. Seriously though, the Furries make songs with sunny melodies and melancholy, nearly doo-wop arrangements that come off effortlessly. Check out the above track "Run-Away," which begins with the simple yet heartbreaking (and difficult to discern, at least in the live version) declaration: "This song is based on a true story, which would be fine if it wasn't autobiographical." Ouch.

We're sure we don't need to say this, but you can't miss your caucus. This is the first year in our whole time in the Pacific Northwest where it matters what Washington voters think. If you're still wondering where to go, here are two Dem or GOP caucus locators. Caucusing starts at 1pm. We understand that if you know who you support and you don't want to spend an hour or two talking about it, you can get in and out in about half an hour.

's coming back on Sunday, 9pm on Showtime! This means weekly installments of nothing but gloriously bad decisions, lesbian sex both complicated and primal, stylishly coiffed men, women, and those who have yet to make up their minds, and -- possibly our favorite part--endless cups of coffee, gossip, and star guest performances at (all-purpose meeting point) The Planet.

Redmond native and actual Guitar Hero Carrie Brownstein did some work on the advertising of the game Rock Band. You might have seen these commercials; four rocker-lookin types sit around and cut on each other in the jaded and weary fashion of musicians on the road. That's not her work, thank god. She was on a different team pushing a different concept. Anyway, she's got an article up at Slate today about her experiences with the game, which, ultimately, she ends up kind of liking in an "it's not as evil and fake as American Idol" kind of way. Of course anything less than an absolute trashing of the game leads us to suspect she's still on the payroll, but she's a music writer so we'll say no. It's an interesting take on the game either way.

On Sunday night, Seattlest and a bunch of other Seattleites showed up at Chop Suey for the "Jive Turkey Extreme" Cancer Rising cd release party. The Valley (a Seattle rock band) opened, but we missed their set due to an emergency Piecora's artichoke-heart and sun-dried tomato pizza slice run. Ah, well. No matter. We were still among the first hundred people to buy our ticket and therefore obtain a free copy of Cancer Rising's hot-off-the-presses album! And we were in plenty of time for Dyme Def, The Girls, and Cancer Rising themselves.

Bumbershoot 2005 hosted the inaugural People Talking and Singing show, where 2,800 festival attendees packed McCaw Hall to see Dave Eggers, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Mike Doughty, Sarah Vowell, and Death Cab for Cutie, all the while raising $18K for 826 Seattle, the youth writing center in Greenwood. Last year's event, also at Bumbershoot, was hosted by Daily Show Resident Expert™ John Hodgman and singer Jonathan Coulton. Eggers, Handler, Gibbard, and Vowell were back for more, along with Decemberist Colin Meloy, Smoosh, and Stephin Merritt. All together, the benefit raised another $10K.

If there were a righteous God in heaven, Dr. Dog would be huge. Of course, if there were a righteous God in heaven, perhaps Dr. Dog wouldn't be saddled with such a horrid, fame-killing name. Despite the cringeworthy moniker, we love this Philly-based rock band: for their radiant layers of Beach Boys harmonies, for their shimmering jangle of major chords, for their psychedelic pop sheen. Haters claim that they are too derivative of the Beatles, but what band playing today doesn't share lineage with the Fab Four? Besides, we'll take derivative of the best band ever over derivative of the flavor of the week. Dr. Dog played the Croc this spring as an opening band and they nailed it. Now they're back in town as the main act and we know they're gonna make another killing. Expect sunglasses donned at all times, throwback rhythms, the occasional drunken rambling, and mini pop masterpieces played with high energy, retro flair, and unbridled enthusiasm.

ROSEBURG, Ore. – 80’s glam-rock band Poison is in hot water over allegedly showing a woman’s bare breasts in a video projected behind the band during their performance at the Douglas County Fair. Fair organizers are demanding an apology.

Pearl Jam capped off this year’s three-day Lollapalooza blowout on August 5, and as anyone who knows much about the band might expect, singer Eddie Vedder badmouthed Big Government (Mr. Bush) and Big Business (BP Amoco) on stage. If you weren’t lucky enough to be there (as we weren’t), but caught AT&T’s “live” Blue Room webcast of the band’s performance, you missed some of Eddie’s poli-sci jabs because they were strategically removed.

Remember the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind, the album that made the band—and the word "grunge"—a household name? A naked baby, swimming blithely in pristine water, reaches for a dollar bill—a dollar bill that's on a large fish hook. The image is memorable for its ironic, dangerous, clear message. Courtney Love didn't catch the meaning. Director AJ Schnack does.

Yes, we know we've been plugging this band a lot lately, but it's only because they live up to the hype. Besides, after Battles' show tonight at the Croc, we probably won't have anything to say about them for at least a week or so. But no promises. Seattlest chatted with John Stanier, the man behind the kit, as the sonically solid foursome headed up the West Coast.

The five lads in British goth-garage rock band The Horrors describe their music as "psychotic sounds for freaks and weirdos." So they're a bit dramatic. Check out the creepy cartoon video for their latest single "She is the New Thing" from the band's debut full-length Strange House, distributed in the U.S. by Stolen Transmission. Sez mp3.com: "A raucous mixture of late-60's psychedelia, rockabilly, and malevolent indie splendor, the album is an assured melting pot of influences that proves The Horrors are a band that have so much more going for them than their image alone."

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.

Dammit, she auditioned in Seattle. Can't we claim her?

Yeah, we tuned in last night for the elimination round, figuring that, once and for all, our local sweetheart Sanjaya would be among the bottom two. The show started out with the contestants split into groups of three: Blake, Sanjaya and Timberfake; Whatshername, BaldWeirdo, and Gina Glocksen; MindyDoo, J-Sparks, and La-Jones. It was pretty clear who was the bottom three.

The show itself was actually something of a let-down; people fall in love with The Mountain Goats (which is 90% Darnielle, plus collaborators) for their ability to capture smallness on their albums: small stories, small feelings, small sounds. Darnielle manages to create an intimacy on records like Tallahassee that didn't transfer well at the show Friday night.

MUSIC: The grandfather of punk (and thus the great-grandfather of indie rock) Jonathan Richman is in Ballard at the Tractor tonight. You might recall his song "Roadrunner" in the School of Rock soundtrack or you may recognize his influence in every rock band everywhere since the mid-60s.

Here's to the ice melting away because there are some good shows this week.

This weekend Seattlest ventured out into the wilderness to spend both nights in Ballard. This rarely occurs, but we're willing to make the arduous journey if we know the music's going to be worth it.

Monday night's Kid Koala show was on the other end of the "change" spectrum from last weekend's Jamie Lidell show. While the Lidell show was about how things stay the same (although a good same), the Kid Koala show was all about change (or at least doing things differently). While most people were in attendance for Kid Koala's playful DJing, Seattlest was most intrigued to see openers Fog, who have made a huge departure from their original sound.

The best word we've heard to describe Danish band Mew is "unabashed." This trait is a good thing---we'd much rather hear a band play shoegazey post-prog rock earnestly than with their tongue firmly in cheek. Truly, if you (as a band) firmly believe in your over-the-top-ness, well, you just might convince us too. Embrace the inherent cheesiness and you've got a good chance in winning us over.

Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker are touring and taking pictures together.

Because Friday night had been a late one, it was nearly noon before Seattlest awoke on Saturday. Dazed we were and wondering, Had we really been rocked by pirates last night?

After kicking our collective asses for four consecutive days, the heat is finally backing down. So pull yourself together. Go outside again -- especially to Capitol Hill this weekend.

This week Seattlest invites you to get your hand out of your pants and join us for some shows...

Seattlest had heard nasty rumors from brother Austinist that New Orleans-based Mute Math was, in fact, a Christian rock band. At first, we didn't know whether or not to believe it. After all, there's nothing to the band's overproduced Police/early U2 sound that seems overtly religious, nor was there the requisite shout-out to the Man Upstairs in the CD liner notes or on their website. Plus, people from Texas lie.