John Vanderslice is such a nice guy that his niceness sometimes overshadows his skill as a songwriter. Vanderslice tours tirelessly, gives interview time to anyone who wants to talk to him, and promotes fellow musicians with the selfless dedication of a sidekick in a romantic comedy. That level of nice makes it easy to forget that he’s also one of the most interesting songwriters touring today.
IS THAT FUNK I SMELL?: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, objectively speaking the best funk band in the world, play the Showbox SoDo tonight. We can’t think of anything to say about this that hasn’t been said, except that you owe it to yourself to see Clinton perform--after 50 years in the industry, he still brings it.
WHAT WE NEED: Coffee. Like, right now. These events today don't make any sense, and writing this is proving unusually difficult. And, of course, there's no coffee in the cupboard. Also, we don't live anywhere near a Macrina Bakery. They turn 16 today, and to celebrate you get a free coffee if you buy bread. But bread we do have. It's the coffee we're out of. All this is hard.
JAZZY: Guitar phenom John Pizzarelli and his wife, the chanteuse Jessica Molaskey, are setting up shop tonight at Jazz Alley for four days. John has carried on the tradition of his legendary father Bucky Pizzarelli, and as duo, he and his wife move fluidly from jazz to pop to torch, exploring the depths of the good old proverbial "American Songbook."
PARTY DOWN FOR CHINATOWN: The ID Spring Roll is big food-filled fun times at the SoDo that raises money for SCIDpda, the International District's community development group. Featuring all kinds of Pan-Asian food (hello, spring-roll eating contest!), live music, martial arts, raffles/door prizes, and breakdancing care of the Massive Monkees, this ain't no boring charity event. Sign us up for at least 30 spring rolls.
OLD SCHOOL: Cass Dalglish, a poet and professor at Augsburg College, isn't content with just .
PRET-A-PORTER: The Art Institute of Seattle's fashion and design students take over the Showbox SoDo tonight for "Peace, Love, Fashion," their eleventh annual psychedelic-themed fashion show/student portfolio exhibition. There are two chances to see it, at 5 and 7 p.m. High school students can get into the earlier show for free with their student IDs.
The Showbox SoDo announced today that they'll be serving lunch Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The venue is open for lunch as of this Thursday, February 19, and they're kicking it off with a "Gastronomic Stimulus Package" on Thursday and Friday. (Because no other businesses have been co-opting that term.) Whatevs, we don't turn up our noses at free.
It's not hyperbole to say that Broken Social Scene is one of the best bands making music today; if anything, it's an underestimation to refer to them as a mere "band." Instead, they're a Toronto-based collective of musicians with prodigious output, both together and separately, with related bands including Feist, Stars, Metric, Apostle of Hustle, and Do Make Say Think. Since their 2005 self-titled release, Broken Social Scene hasn't made any new albums as a band, but have instead released solo efforts with full band support. The latest in the Broken Social Scene Presents... series is from BSS bassist Brendan Canning. We spoke with him last week in advance of the Broken Social Scene show tonight at the Showbox SoDo, where you can expect to hear his songs, as well as those from the band proper. Sorry suckers, it's sold out.
Tonight: the Wu-Tang Clan and Fatal Lucciauno are throwing down at the Showbox SoDo. The Wu speaks for itself (hello), but Fatal is a Seattle rapper you need to know about. It might be too late to change your plans and get to this show. It's never too late to watch this video, though.
Even if you're going to tonight's John in the Morning at Night, Friday's best bet is DJ/blue-eyed soul man/gold lamé bathrobe-wearer/consummate performer Jamie Lidell, along with opener Janelle Monae at Showbox. Jamie also has an instore at Easy Street Queen Anne this evening at 6:30 p.m.
Your favorite super-duper producer is performing at Showbox SoDo on November 2, and the Ticketmaster presale ends today at 5pm. Presale codes are "showbox" and "verizon." Mista Timba will perform his most recently wrapped album in its entirety. You know, the one by Chris Cornell. (Yes, he's also on the bill.)
LET'S TALK ABOUT CHILDREN WHO BREED: Spring Awakening is a musical about teens (really young teens) who have sex. Sex is always a controversial topic, and according to a press release, Roosevelt High School is hosting a community conversation about the musical and its themes for interested locals. A diverse group of people are participating in the discussion, including members of the theatre community and students and teachers from Seattle schools. Two cast members from Spring Awakening will also be on hand to lend their perspective.
Tonight's the all-ages Red Bull Big Tune Battle at Neumo's. It's a big hiphop competition (twelve producers are picked to compete, whittled down from the eighty who applied from all over the Northwest and even northern California), and the regional showdown for one of the only legit national beat battles. This year's featured guests are Detroit's Black Milk and Elzhi.
Head to the Sunset tonight for Sub Pop band Oxford Collapse. Along with Love as Laughter, it's a veritable indie pop fest!
FREE BUSH: Get your mind out of the gutter. We're talking about Gavin Rossdale. He's in town today to put on a free show at everyone's favorite new venue Showbox SODO. Get there early, because we imagine there'll be a line for blocks to get into this thing. We hope he does some solo acoustic versions of all the Bush classics.
According to KOMO News, there's a new way for you to get screwed by scammers--the pretendant. The Seattle Police have come up with this clever name to describe people who poach parking lots, claiming parkers need to pay them and not the pay box for a variety of reasons. A couple weekends ago we went to a concert at Showbox SODO (Ray Davies--phenomenal) and we paid a somewhat shady dude rather than the pay box. Though we didn't get ticketed by the actual lot owners, we wondered then and definitely now if we were duped. Have any of you fine readers been scammed by pretendants?
Road trip! The seventh annual What the Heck Fest is taking place all weekend at venues in Anacortes. Mt. Eerie is but one of the many bands set to perform.
SNEER AND SNEER AGAIN: In 1989, when the rest of the world was listening to New Kids on the Block, those who knew better were listening to The Jesus and Mary Chain. A mix of punk, pop and pure distortion, this Scottish group's shows were often followed by rioting. After breaking up in 1999, the JMC is now back together. Their work has been featured in Sofia Coppela's film, and popular TV show, Heroes. Older and wiser, they're kicking our asses, once again.
Seattlest only caught the second half of RZA's performance on Tuesday, thanks to a confusing and upsetting encounter with Showbox SoDo security regarding someone else's can of PBR on the floor. We heard the strains of "Long Time Coming," our favorite track from the just-dropped Digi Snacks, from outside the barn venue while we argued to clear our extremely innocent good name. It was just not that great of an evening, despite the tricky cadences of the skinnier-than-expected "Bobby Digital" (aka RZA) backed by Stone Mecca's clanging, vaguely metal funk rock.
It's hard to believe, but the Dandy Warhols' sixth studio full-length (and the first on their own label) Earth To The Dandy Warhols will be out this August. The tongue-in-cheek Portland alt-rock band plays the Showbox SoDo tonight. Not sure if it would be a better or worse show if longtime frenemies Brian Jonestown Massacre crashed the gig.
If you're not spending this weekend SIFFing or Sasquatching or otherwise out of town for the three-day weekend, there's plenty of live music for those who spend the holiday in Seattle.
DJ Rare Groove spins for the crowd before Atmosphere's set.
Nas--NAS, people--is playing Showbox SoDo this Friday, and there are three possible reasons why tickets are still available. (1) No one knows he's coming (an unintentionally secret show?); (2) Word's gotten sufficiently around about Nas' weak live performance (but still... Nas!); or (3) Everyone's blown their ticket budgets on hipster-friendly Atmosphere, playing Tuesday at the same venue (for $20 less a ticket).
We'd always thought of Rilo Kiley as a band hazy with L.A. cool, and it's true, they aren't into between-song soliloquies--Lewis, in her spangly dress, was short on banter, saving that for lyrics that gained a second meaning at a live show. When she sang about out-reaching arms, arms shot up all over. Rilo Kiley songs often feature yearning women making "bad choices" and ending up not quite sure what happened there. Frog-kissed, there's still no prince. (They're also conflicted about money and sex appeal; "Dreamworld" had us wondering what Lindsay Buckingham has been up to lately.)
Tonight, the dynamic duo of Blitzen Trapper and Fleet Foxes is sold out, so you've got a few completely different options: at El Corazon, Apocalyptica, a Finnish cello quartet who love Metallica
Apparently, Dethklok are going on tour this summer, playing at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle in June, with pre-sale tickets available now with the secret password "duncanhills."
Along with all the hiphop this weekend and the hella rad Subtle laser show tonight, there's a few more music events of note. First up, tonight State Bird plays an early show (8 p.m.) at the Q Cafe in Ballard. How both the venue and this great group of Ohio tribal-folksters have been under our radar is beyond us.
Seattlest Pix 09Nov20
Friendly Folk-Pop for the Kids: Hey Marseilles at Vera This Saturday
Seattlest Pix 09Nov21
Excavator Rampage in Stanwood
Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition Nov 20-22
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
tweet this
add to facebook
