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Since I have some time this evening to write, and since I don't have another topic in mind, maybe I should do a little catching up on my backlog of concert posts. This is more for my own archival purposes; I doubt anyone really cares about concerts I saw over a year ago, but it's good for me at least to have the reminder of whom I've seen and what I thought about them. So let's start with the 2009 KEXP Concerts at the Mural and the KEXP BBQ. I attended the first one on July 31 just for fun, skipped the second one (which had Dyme Def and Fresh Espresso, hip-hop bands that I wasn't interested in), and then volunteered to work at the BBQ and the last two Mural shows.
Unfortunately, I only took notes (and four photos) at the first show, which featured Throw Me The Statue and Blitzen Trapper. Throw Me The Statue were mostly light mid-tempo modern pop rock, nothing exciting but generally decent and fun; they had a three-piece horn section playing on a few songs, which they said was a first for them, and that was a good touch. Blizten Trapper sounded more like Southern/country rock and for the most part weren't holding my interest, but I really liked one song featuring just the lead singer on acoustic guitar, harmonica, and vocals, in much more of a Western folk style, and they also finished with a couple heavier songs in more of an art-rock, Eagles/Joe Walsh style.
I posted a couple photos from the 2009 KEXP BBQ on August 8 here on my blog, and a few more on the KEXP Blog, but didn't otherwise write about it. I have a lot more photos too on Flickr. The lineup, from opener to headliner, was Champagne Champagne, Born Anchors, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Viva Voce, and Dinosaur Jr. I know I thought Champagne Champagne was all right without getting into them, and I don't remember anything specific about Born Anchors or Cymbals Eat Guitars so I probably felt the same about them. Japandroids were a bit hard-punk for me at times but I did like them, and I liked Viva Voce too. I never got into Dinosaur Jr. back in the day, so I wasn't as excited as most of the crowd for this reunion show, and once again they mostly passed me by.
The third Mural concert, on August 14, was easily my favorite one, with Army Navy and the Dodos. Again, I posted a couple photos here and several more on Flickr but didn't take notes or do a write-up. I know I liked Army Navy but don't remember anything specific about them. However, I loved the Dodos. I'd been aware of them from KEXP airplay, but they hadn't really caught my attention until this concert. In particular, I was fascinated to see that not only did they have a marimba, but also the player used a bow along the edge of the metal bars to create a cool ringing sound, a technique I'd never seen before. I also thought the music sounded really great overall, and bought both of their CDs right then; I think I didn't even wait until their set was over.
I don't have much to say about the last Mural concert, on August 21. It was basically a country/folk lineup with Johnny and the Moon, the Moondoggies, and the Fruit Bats, none of whom held my interest. I did take some photos and posted them on Flickr. When I saw the Fruit Bats again at the Capitol Hill Block Party this year, I'd forgotten that I'd even seen them before, and they were an "oh, these guys!" band, as I recognized "When You Love Somebody"; I don't remember whether they played that song at this show, but they probably did.
Although I ended up not caring about most of the bands, with the Dodos being the standout exception, I did enjoy attending and helping out at the events, so I made sure to volunteer again for all of the concerts at this year's Concerts at the Mural series, and I enjoyed those a lot more.
Unfortunately, I only took notes (and four photos) at the first show, which featured Throw Me The Statue and Blitzen Trapper. Throw Me The Statue were mostly light mid-tempo modern pop rock, nothing exciting but generally decent and fun; they had a three-piece horn section playing on a few songs, which they said was a first for them, and that was a good touch. Blizten Trapper sounded more like Southern/country rock and for the most part weren't holding my interest, but I really liked one song featuring just the lead singer on acoustic guitar, harmonica, and vocals, in much more of a Western folk style, and they also finished with a couple heavier songs in more of an art-rock, Eagles/Joe Walsh style.
I posted a couple photos from the 2009 KEXP BBQ on August 8 here on my blog, and a few more on the KEXP Blog, but didn't otherwise write about it. I have a lot more photos too on Flickr. The lineup, from opener to headliner, was Champagne Champagne, Born Anchors, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Viva Voce, and Dinosaur Jr. I know I thought Champagne Champagne was all right without getting into them, and I don't remember anything specific about Born Anchors or Cymbals Eat Guitars so I probably felt the same about them. Japandroids were a bit hard-punk for me at times but I did like them, and I liked Viva Voce too. I never got into Dinosaur Jr. back in the day, so I wasn't as excited as most of the crowd for this reunion show, and once again they mostly passed me by.
The third Mural concert, on August 14, was easily my favorite one, with Army Navy and the Dodos. Again, I posted a couple photos here and several more on Flickr but didn't take notes or do a write-up. I know I liked Army Navy but don't remember anything specific about them. However, I loved the Dodos. I'd been aware of them from KEXP airplay, but they hadn't really caught my attention until this concert. In particular, I was fascinated to see that not only did they have a marimba, but also the player used a bow along the edge of the metal bars to create a cool ringing sound, a technique I'd never seen before. I also thought the music sounded really great overall, and bought both of their CDs right then; I think I didn't even wait until their set was over.
I don't have much to say about the last Mural concert, on August 21. It was basically a country/folk lineup with Johnny and the Moon, the Moondoggies, and the Fruit Bats, none of whom held my interest. I did take some photos and posted them on Flickr. When I saw the Fruit Bats again at the Capitol Hill Block Party this year, I'd forgotten that I'd even seen them before, and they were an "oh, these guys!" band, as I recognized "When You Love Somebody"; I don't remember whether they played that song at this show, but they probably did.
Although I ended up not caring about most of the bands, with the Dodos being the standout exception, I did enjoy attending and helping out at the events, so I made sure to volunteer again for all of the concerts at this year's Concerts at the Mural series, and I enjoyed those a lot more.
