The divine Mr. John Doe, backed by Cindy Wasserman and Jesse Dayton and his Hardchargers played a raucous, gorgeous set last night at the Triple Door.
Dayton and the Hardchargers opened the night with their own set, sounding as ferociously lean as they always have. Gentlemen, get back here early and often, will you?
Filed under Last Night's Show
As one can expect at a Supersuckers show, the Tractor was full of flying fingers and horned hands, with a little extra positive energy thrown into the mix as Eddie and the boys played one last show before taking a break for Mr. Spaghetti to begin cancer treatments. A not-so-gentle reminder: you can help he and his fantastic family RIGHT HERE. Do it, NOW. Please. Thank you!
The Supersuckers, with special guests Ed Vedder and Blind Marky Felchtone covered The Ramones’ “I Believe In Miracles” – the perfect song for such an auspicious night. There was an actual encore, above and beyond the usual Supersuckers Rock and Roll Encore, during which Mr. Spaghetti played his cover of You Am I’s gorgeous “Heavy Heart”, before the whole band returned for a bittersweet singalong of “Killer Weed”.
The kickass Two Cow Garage returned to town to open the night and they set the mood perfectly. Here’s hoping they come back again for headlining set soon. Safe travels, gentlemen!
Filed under Last Night's Show
Ladies to the front, mens to the back: after an agonizing wait, the Eagles of Death Metal are finally returning to Seattle! They announced today that they’ll play the Showbox Market on Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Tickets for this momentously sexy show go on sale this Friday, June 19th at 10 a.m. right over here.
See you there!
Filed under Eagles of Death Metal, Ticket Alert
The initial artists playing this year’s Macefield Music Festival were released this morning, and you can’t say I didn’t warn you; they are impressive! Those artists include: Mr. Mark Lanegan, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Thunderpussy, Prom Queen, Blood Drugs and Future Shock. And of course, more will be announced as we wander our way through summer.
You can learn more about the festival here, and Early Bird passes are now available here.
Filed under music festivals
Today, as on countless other Sunday mornings, I’m listening to Mr. Otis Redding. The sheer life force of That Voice, buoyed and swung by Dunn, Jackson Jr. and Cropper is the closest to heaven on Earth that I believe exists.
“Coffee and Cigarettes” is my favorite Otis song, period. I play it more often and feel it more deeply than any other. There’s something about spinning it on a Sunday morning that gives it a little extra weary glow and grit all at once. It feels like 3am early on a Sunday morning, after a raucous Saturday night show, when the usual fun has been had and contentment sets in. There’s nothing post-show hazy about what’s felt here. It’s a crystal clear realization that satisfaction is simple: I’ve got you, you’ve got me, we’ve got each other. That’s worth more than anything. Being able to finally sit, doing things as simple as smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee together with that one particular person that you’ve been waiting to find for longer than you can remember, that’s the rare, valuable thing. There’s plenty of time for going out to swanky dinners, crazy parties, loud shows; together, alone, satisfied is a harder to do, but infinitely better.
When I’m feeling particularly lost or alone, this is the song that reminds what I should be keeping an eye out for; I’ll know I’ve found the right guy when it happens, because this song taught me exactly how that moment should feel. Thank you for the constant reminder, gentlemen.
I’m going to make some more coffee and flip the record. I hope your Sunday is gorgeous, and that you listen to all the songs that make you smile and shake your ass. Share your own Sunday songs in the comments, will you? I’m always looking for new ones to add to my rotation.
Filed under Otis, Sunday Songs
Hamilton Leithauser, lead singer for the on-indefinite-hiatus Walkmen, brought his solo tour back to Seattle last night, playing the Tractor Tavern in Ballard. While the set focused on songs from his debut solo record Black Hours, it also included two new songs featuring only he and Walkmen band mate guitarist Paul Maroon. Leithauser noted that a few weeks ago, he and Maroon completed a record together that will be released later this year. Hearing them play together again was glorious!
New York duo Jack & Eliza opened the night with an energetic set; they are an act with huge potential that I suspect we’ll be hearing more about in the next few years.
Filed under Last Night's Show
The Replacements live in Philadelphia, May 9, 2015.
As I write this, The Replacements are less than an hour away from taking the stage at Primavera Porto for their last show of this tour. I don’t know for certain what the future holds, but I can’t imagine four guys (and an entire road crew) who were having this much fun together not playing together sometime in the future.
I’ll write more about the tour soon, but for now I’m sharing some of the best coverage that has been written this week in the wake of their Amsterdam and London shows. Read and enjoy!
Filed under Favorite Thing, The Replacements, Tour
I just got a sneak peek and it looks like my favorite music festival Macefield Music Festival is very close to announcing a few of the amazing bands playing this year’s festival, happening October 2-4 in Ballard. Visit their site here to add your name to their mailing list, so that you get first notice of the line-up announcement. Trust me, just do it. The few artists already booked are impressive.
If you didn’t attend last year, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The shows and events had a warm, creative, innovative spirit that felt like the best of what our city can and should be. Edith Macefield would have been so proud.
Filed under music festivals
In today’s HELL YES news, Jon Batiste has been named as the band leader when Stephen Colbert takes over the “Late Show” on September 8, 2015.
Here’s the introductory video for your viewing pleasure. Stephen, beware of accidental powdered sugar inhalation!
Filed under hell yes, New Orleans, tv music
Here’s the video of Spoon covering The Cramps “TV Set” on Conan last night; I’ve seen them play it a few times live, and this is by far their best performance of it yet. It is, no doubt, better than the film for which it was recorded. You can buy their “TV Set” single now, here and here.
Spoon’s continuing their tour in support of They Want My Soul this summer, and I cannot stress highly enough: DO NOT MISS THEM.
Real Low Vibe 