Pilcrow

As I'm in the midst of a run of seven shows in two weeks, I'm just going to do a quick summary post of three of the recent ones. I didn't take a lot of notes at any of these anyhow, so it makes sense to group them together.

April began and ended for me with Hotels shows: the first on Saturday April 2 at the High Dive, which I wrote about already; and the last on Friday April 29 at the Sunset Tavern, with Blue Skies for Black Hearts opening and Yuni in Taxco headlining. As I noted when I saw Blue Skies for Black Hearts in January, they're a decent band and their song "Majoring in the Arts" is pretty catchy, but otherwise they just don't do anything for me. And although I really liked Yuni in Taxco when I saw them at that same January show and wanted to hear them again, this time they also just weren't holding my interest—maybe they were just playing a different set of songs, maybe it was an off night, maybe I just was distracted. Hotels, however, never fail to satisfy me, and they played a particularly sharp set that showed them ready to take on all comers at the Billboard Battle of the Bands in Las Vegas later this month. For some reason at this show I took particular note of Brendan Malec's guitar playing—it's really good! Fast-paced and intricate yet precise and clear. Drummer Aaron Voros has also settled in nicely from being "the new guy" not even a year ago, holding his own with the rest of the band. And now I'll be remiss if I don't mention the other two members, so another thing I noted at this show was how well keyboardist Kyle Frankiewich's backing vocals complement bassist and lead vocalist Blake Madden's own singing. (They're not too shabby at playing their instruments, either.) So now it's off to Vegas for Hotels—knock 'em dead, boys.

Next, a brief note about Junip, whom I saw on Monday May 2 at the Triple Door, performing a 40-minute set as part of the KEXP VIP Club concert series. Although I've never picked up any of his albums, I've enjoyed hearing José Gonzalez's music on KEXP, so I was looking forward to hearing him in the context of the band he began with, Junip, before the detour of his solo career. And I was not disappointed: they played a set of beautiful chamber/art rock, with an interesting way of working electronic instruments and devices into their organic sound. I did not go to see their longer show later that night at Neumos, but I would definitely like to see them again.

Finally, on Wednesday May 4, I went to see Zola Jesus at the Crocodile, with Crypts and Naked on the Vague opening. Crypts struck me as howling dark metal noise with a techno beat and bleeps. Apparently, at least according to The Stranger, they're part of the new witch house genre; I think I would've preferred more house, less witch. Tech trouble led to them stopping early, but I can't say I minded. Naked on the Vague played a set of early Cure-style goth rock, led by a rather deep-voiced female singer. Although I liked their music, I didn't care much for her almost monotonous singing style, and in the end I felt their set was a bit bland on the whole. Zola Jesus of course was a whole different story. She came out shrouded in a white sheet and crouched down on the stage with her wireless mic to start singing her first song, gradually rising and removing the sheet to reveal herself wearing a white hooded robe beneath, very priestess-like. Zola Jesus was also deep-voiced, but what an amazingly powerful and expressive voice she had. She was very energetic too, almost always moving about the stage, just occasionally crouching down dramatically and rarely standing at the mic stand. With barely a pause between each piece, her music ranged through grand dramatic songs, dirges, marches, and dances; her encore was a surprisingly dancey synthpop track, a funny contrast to her more serious-sounding songs that still fit in with the rest. Still a young artist just starting out, Zola Jesus will clearly grow into a major figure in modern music.

I didn't take any photos at the Hotels show, partly because the lighting at the Sunset is never any good for my iPhone and partly because I was too busy hanging out with friends and dancing. I have just three photos of Junip at the Triple Door, but as I was right up front they came out rather well. I also have a small set of photos of Naked on the Vague and Zola Jesus; it was hard to get good photos of Zola Jesus because the stage was mostly dark but she had a bright white light shining on her bright white clothing. 

On Saturday February 26, I was thrilled to be at the Columbia City Theater for the release of Hotels' latest album, On the Casino Floor. Opening for the boys were the Devil Whale and the Royal Bear. I'd never been to the Columbia City Theater before and it turned out to be a perfect venue for the casino-themed evening, as the renovated vaudeville-era theater provided a classy and beautiful backdrop. A fair amount of people got the word too to dress up in casino finery for the occasion, and the band had lovely assistants staffing the merchandise and baked-goods(!) tables; the merchandise table included a roulette wheel offering people a chance to win the new album and other Hotels swag.

The Devil Whale played a toe-tapping set of pop rock a bit on the rootsy/folk side. Although not really grabbing me, I thought they were pretty good. The Royal Bear were more my style with their harder dark-edged rock, more like Interpol. I enjoyed them enough to pick up their album after the show, and I'll keep an ear out for them. 

Hotels pulled out the stops for this show, dressing up in costume as the various characters featured on the cover of On the Casino Floor, and inviting several guests to join them in miming the action of the concept album. These guests included former drummer Max Wood throughout the show, on percussion for most and drums for the encore songs; Kim Miller from Mono in VCF on vocals during the first half; Gabe Mintz on guitar for the first half; and Joshua Monuteaux on bass for a couple songs. Additionally, burlesque dancer LuLu Bell performed during three of the songs and walked through the crowd cigarette-girl style earlier in the evening, offering the album for sale. One funny note on the costuming: I kept thinking that lead singer/bassist Blake Madden, dressed in a white tuxedo as "secret agent Smith", looked like he owned the place, and I finally realized that was because he was reminding me of Rick from Casablanca. 

Hotels played the whole album through, although if I haven't mis-remembered they switched the order a bit by opening with the title track, and then played "Port of Saints" and "Atlantic" from their previous two albums for the encore. I spent most of the show right at the stage front, but moved back to mid-room for the last few songs as there was more space to dance. I thought the sound unfortunately was muddled at mid-room, missing the crisp guitar on "Port of Saints" and bright keys on "Atlantic", and hoped it wasn't like that throughout their set. Otherwise though they sounded great, and the added musicians and parts helped to show how these new songs are more musically complex and ambitious. I've been enjoying some of the new songs live for the past year or more, and I'm thrilled that they're finally out on CD, but I'm also already excitedly looking forward to what comes next.

I was hoping for better photos than what I got stage-side, but still, I've got a small set up on Flickr.

I went to a lot of concerts in August 2010; besides the KEXP Concerts at the Mural every Friday and the KEXP BBQ, I went to three other shows. Sadly, I took almost no notes at any of these shows, so I really can do little more than list them.

On Thursday August 19, I went to see my old friends Beehive at the Comet Tavern. I got to the show relatively late, I don't quite recall why, and missed two opening bands. A band called Micheal [sic] Clark and the Alleywalkers played next, and I took no notes about them. Then Beehive finished the evening; I hadn't seen them since their show in January which I reviewed for the KEXP Blog, and I was really happy to see them again. I'm particularly sad that I didn't take notes because I have a vague idea that they debuted a new song, but if they did I have no recollection of it. However, this is as good a place as any to mention that indeed they have been preparing a new set of songs for release; you can hear the first three on their website or MySpace page, and download them as the Game Face EP on CDBaby. 

Unusually, I was back at the Comet Tavern the very next night, but it won't be surprising to learn that the reason was because Hotels were playing a show. I didn't even create a note in my Notes app on my iPhone for this show, so I have no record of it at all besides the calendar entry. So I have no idea who else played that show; I do remember that I hadn't had dinner yet, having gone there straight from that evening's KEXP Concert at the Mural, so I missed at least one set while I went over to Big Mario's for some pizza. Anyhow, it was Hotels, I have no doubt it was a fun time.

Finally, on Friday August 26, I again headed from the KEXP Concert at the Mural straight out to another show, this time at Cafe Venus / Mars Bar to see my friend Tony Sacco filling in on drums for the band Sightseer. Once again, I didn't take any notes, and don't recall who else was on the bill although I'm pretty sure I did make it early enough for all three bands. As I recall, Sightseer weren't quite my style of music but they were still fairly enjoyable. I did take a few photos, and quite by coincidence, as well as quite unusually, Tony's position as drummer in the back corner happened to be the best-lit spot on the stage, so he came out looking the best. 

Dancing on the Valentine is an annual concert benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society produced by Jenny George, herself a survivor of leukemia. George's birthday is February 14, and the music of Duran Duran in particular helped her a lot during her battle with leukemia, hence the title (from the lyrics of "The Reflex") and timing of the event. Each year George picks a theme for the event, the first year's being a tribute to Duran Duran (of course) and last year's being David Bowie, and invites several bands to play cover songs on that theme. I learned about the event last year because Hotels was playing at the show, and I enjoyed it so much that I planned to attend this year's for its own sake, before I knew who would be on the lineup or what the theme was. 

This year's theme was a tribute to Depeche Mode. I've never been a huge Depeche Mode fan—in fact it really wasn't until Violator came out in 1990 that I really started to like some of their songs, both from that album and some earlier ones—but I knew this would still be great. The lineup included three of my favorite Seattle bands or artists: Hotels, The Animals at Night (with Brent Amaker on guest vocals for a song), and Lesli Wood of the Redwood Plan (appearing instead with Jupe Jupe as her backing band). Also on the bill were Legion Within and Exohxo—two bands that also played last year's event—and SHiPS (sic), Black Swedes, and Sean Nelson (formerly of Harvey Danger) with Phil Peterson (on e-bass). A burlesque dancer was also supposed to appear along with the Animals at Night, but for some reason that never happened.

I arrived a bit late and missed Black Swedes, but saw the rest of the show. I didn't take any detailed notes, partly because I just wanted to enjoy the show and partly because, as a tribute concert, it's not the same as seeing a regular performance by the bands. However, I do want to mention some highlights. Exohxo did great versions of "Never Let Me Down Again" and "Just Can't Get Enough". Lesli Wood and Jupe Jupe did a pretty hard-rocking version of "Everything Counts". (Lesli Wood also did a fine solo cover of "Somebody", though for personal reasons I still hate that song.) I made a point of not asking the boys in Hotels ahead of time what songs they were going to cover, but there were a few in particular I was hoping for. I almost cried with excited glee when, as they were prepping their third song, they played the distinctive final notes of "Policy of Truth", which is probably my favorite Depeche Mode song, and sure enough they did a fantastic cover of it. They also did great with "Shake the Disease" and "World in My Eyes"; I didn't recognize the last song they did, but only because I don't know Depeche Mode that well, not because it was a bad version. Legion Within jokingly introduced their last song as an obscure B-side, but actually played "Enjoy the Silence", sounding rather like Peter Murphy covering it. The Animals at Night opened with "Behind the Wheel", and closed with an amazing version of "Personal Jesus" featuring Brent Amaker toting a Bible (with porno-mag photos hidden inside) and doing his best revival preacher vocals. 

Speaking of Brent Amaker, I'm confident this is the best photo I took all night:



However, I'm not too surprised that so far, this photo of Legion Within, which includes their gorgeous female cellist/backing vocalist (who may have been a guest performer, I'm unclear on that), is proving to be the most popular:



I posted another couple good photos yesterday, and you can see the rest in my Dancing on the Valentine VI: Strangelove set on Flickr.

May 2010 was a busy month for music, with four shows plus the Sasquatch Music Festival (and some late-night dancing on top of that, but that doesn't get reviewed). I was also very busy with work (in a welcome change) that month, which I guess is my still-lame excuse for never noting here when I posted a review on the KEXP Blog of the first show I saw that month: on Saturday the 8th, I went to the Crocodile to see Owen Pallett, with Snowblink and Cataldo. Owen Pallett put on an amazing performance that made me a confirmed fanboy. I took several photos at this show which you can see in this set on Flickr.

On Tuesday the 11th, I was thrilled to see Annuals return to Seattle, also playing at the Crocodile, and happy that they brought along their previous opener What Laura Says for a second time, along with the Most Serene Republic. I decided this time that What Laura Says are a kind of southern version of Grizzly Bear, with their '70s-esque bluesy prog rock and good vocal harmonies. I liked their ability to handle minor trouble without blinking: the lead guitarist didn't stop playing when he broke a string, and the drummer and bassist covered further technical difficulties after another song by starting a groove that went seamlessly into the next song. I also liked that their multi-instrumentalist had a table-ful of glass jars and tin pots to play as percussion. The Most Serene Republic played late-'90s indie pop-rock, sounding something like Harvey Danger. But the band tossed in some unusual extra instruments including trombone, banjo, trumpet, and a bit of violin amongst the guitars, keyboard, bass, and drums, adding some color and individuality. Their music was also pretty busy, with complex bass and drum lines in unusual rhythms; it didn't quite grab me, but it was definitely enjoyable. Annuals were amazing as always, ranging from intimate folk music to epic prog rock. I was amused to see that guitarist/drummer Zack Oden had added accordion to his repertoire; by my count, that puts them up to at least 15 different roles among the six members. They played several new songs from their Sweet Sister EP, which all sounded good, but nothing as glorious as "Complete or Completing" or "Hot Night Hounds", for example. Still, new music from Annuals is always welcome, and I'm always eagerly hoping for their next visit to Seattle. The lighting at the Crocodile is seldom kind to my iPhone's camera, but I still took a lot of photos, which you can see in this set on Flickr.

On Thursday the 20th, I went to the Rendezvous Jewel Box Theater to see Unwoman, the solo project of cellist/vocalist Erica Mulkey, who I first saw performing as a member of Stripmall Architecture back in 2008. I missed most of the opening set by the Tin Can Tobacco Band, who as you might expect from that name played roots folk. Next up was Nathaniel Johnstone, performing on banjo with a concertina player and with Mulkey as a guest on theremin for a couple songs. Johnstone claimed to have just picked up the banjo for the first time that Monday, but attributed his skill with it to the fact that it had the same tuning as the viola, which he played in school; I would guess though that he's also a talented guitarist, based on his playing. Apparently this was an unusual set-up; if I recall correctly, the other three usual members of his band were already en route to a tour stop. Musically the sound was unusual too, having a strong Balkan influence, and I wondered whether that was the normal style with the full band. The players had some good banter, at one point Johnstone asking "what key is this in?" and receiving the reply "it's in the key of shame flat." I enjoyed their set. As Unwoman, Mulkey used computer backing tracks including synth rhythms and self-sampled cello to augment her own cello playing and singing; she also played theremin for "Casualties", the title track of her then-new album. The album was written in response to a bad breakup and aftermath she went through, and so the songs tended to be weighty and dramatic, but her strong clear voice and classical-music sensibilities carried them well. She also did a lovely slow and moody cover of Joy Division's "Ceremony". I'm honestly not sure yet how much I actually enjoy most of her music, though I have no doubt that it is quite good, but I do plan to keep listening as she does and no doubt will continue to do interesting things.

I didn't take any notes at the fourth concert of the month, which featured the Tripwires, the Fucking Eagles, and Hotels playing at the Skylark Cafe on Friday the 21st as part of KEXP's "Hood to Hood Challenge/Celebration" in West Seattle. I can say that this was Hotels' first show with their new drummer Aaron Voros, who acquitted himself admirably, and of course all the boys put on a good show as always. I know I stayed up front for the Fucking Eagles, who delivered a strong set of rock, and I decided I wasn't interested enough in the Tripwires to stay through their whole set, instead leaving early to go dancing as I'd planned. 

Finally, I finished the month by once again having the privilege of attending the Sasquatch Music Festival as a correspondent for KEXP. You can still read my coverage of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at the festival on the KEXP Blog, and check out a large assortment of photos from all three days on Flickr. I had a fantastic time and saw some amazing performances, particularly by My Morning Jacket, Massive Attack, Phantogram, and Seattle fire-dancing troupe Pyrosutra. 

My first show in February 2010 was on the 6th at Neumos, with the Album Leaf, Sea Wolf, and Anomie Belle. And honestly, I can't remember why I went to this show. I must've been hearing music by the Album Leaf on KEXP and decided to check them out, given what my very sparse notes say. I didn't jot anything down about Anomie Belle, whose style just doesn't work for me. Sea Wolf was an unremarkable but not bad Southern rock band—at least according to my notes—who turned out to be an "oh, those guys" band, as they finished with "that song". Having looked them up again on Myspace, I'm guessing "that song" was "You're a Wolf", which is actually rather good, and the rest of their songs on Myspace seem to be more folk rock than Southern rock, so I'm not sure what's up with my notes. Finally, the Album Leaf played cool prog/art rock on the mellow side, somewhere between the arty instrumentals of Do Make Say Think and the more pop-rock sound of Minus the Bear. 

My second show in February was a special event, the fifth annual "Dancing on the Valentine" benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, held on Saturday the 13th at the Crocodile. These events feature a bunch of bands covering the songs of a particular artist or group, this year's being David Bowie. The line-up included Hotels, so naturally I went, but also had Lesli Wood of the Redwood Plan doing a set with Aaron Starkey, the bassist (edit: oops, not bassist) guitarist of Spanish for 100. The other bands at the show included Half Acre Day, Peter Parker, Legion Within, Exohxo, Motorik, and Sean Bates. I didn't take any notes at the show besides listing the line-up, so I don't have much to say besides it being a fun time, including a David Bowie look-alike contest. I did however take a lot of photos, which you can see in this set on Flickr.

My last February show was the next Saturday, the 20th, at the Sunset Tavern, and again featured Hotels, this time with Black Mercies opening and the Purrs headlining. Black Mercies sounded pretty good, playing pretty straightforward guitar pop-rock though with very '80s-sounding synth. Their last song, "Sparks in the Darkness", had a groovy bass line and different feel from the rest, which was a nice contrast; I liked it the most of their set. Hotels debuted a new song, "On the Casino Floor," which of course made me very excited, and in all honesty it did sound very good. Finally, I'd seen the Purrs a couple times before, and they've grown on me each time. But here's the thing about the Purrs: half the time they sound like a (stereo)typical bar band, and don't hold my interest, but then they rock out more with a harder/darker sound, sometimes almost shoegaze, and then I think they sound great. That said, I do really like "Miles Away", a bright pop song with a great catchy guitar line. They also played "Taste of Monday", one of the darker ones,  and "Stay Here with Me", which is practically Britpop. 

I'm including March in this post because I went to only two shows, and I've already written one of those reviews: on March 20th I went to see Alabaster at El Corazón, and after a few months' delay got that review done back in August. The other show I went to, on March 4th at the Crocodile, had CMYK headlining, with Hotels, the Fascination Movement, and Noddy. I'd seen all the bands but the Fascination Movement before, so I didn't take many notes. Noddy sounded really good; I recognized that I should've picked up their 2009 release A Seed (which I've just found out is available for free from Noddy's BandCamp page), and this show left me really looking forward to a new release in 2010—Remora, Remora, which came out later in July. Noddy introduced the last song by jokingly claiming "I wrote this song when I was on a lot of coke… sing along if you know it," and went into a cover of Stevie Nick's "Stand Back," jumping down to the floor to sing the lines "in the middle of my room." The Fascination Movement had a strong New Wave feel, evoking New Order and Depeche Mode, and a lead singer who sometimes sounded like Mark Hollis of Talk Talk. They had a good sound and I liked them. Finally, of course I ended up not taking any notes about Hotels or CMYK, as I was much too busy dancing to their great music. I did take some photos, although for no good reason didn't get any of CMYK; you can see what I have in this set on Flickr.

I went to five concerts in November 2009 and one in December 2009, but only took notes at two of them, and again not very extensive notes. So here's another summary post.

First up was Hotels at the Crocodile on November 2, with Alligators and Apes of Wrath opening. Alligators had a good modern art/pop rock sound; I spoke with their manager later, who aptly compared them to Supertramp. Apes of Wrath were on the punk side of upbeat post-punk rock, and played a tight, energetic set. Hotels of course were great as always, or at least I expect so; I didn't take any notes on their set, as there are only so many ways to keep saying I love their music. 

Next, I went with a few friends to check out KJ Sawka playing at Heaven on November 6, along with a DJ whose name I didn't get down. No notes for this show; I'm sure Sawka played his usual solid set, though I tend to prefer when he has guest musicians rather than playing solo. 

On November 18, I went to Nectar Lounge for an unusual show. Billed as a "musical journey," it began with Thione Diop & Yeke Yeke playing the music of West Africa ("departure), BeleBá playing Cuban rhumba ("layover), and finished with Tubaluba playing New Orleans funk ("arrival"). It was a lot of fun hearing great dance music from styles I don't usually listen to. I remembered writing something about Tubaluba, and thought I'd made a blog post, but no, it was just a comment on Twitter: "for a good old-fashioned N'Orleans party time, check out the band Tubaluba. Great stuff."

For another unusual show, Cairo and the Anne Bonney (now closed) held "Expo 87", a small three-day music and art event. I attended on Friday November 20 so that I could see one of my favorite local bands, CMYK, do their usual set of great soulful dance pop. I also went to see Rachel Ratner's "Seattle Band Map—A Cartographic Study of Musical Incest" project, a huge diagram showing the interconnections among as many Seattle-based bands as possible. Check it out, it's pretty cool. Besides the photos on that blog, I have a few photos of the map and my own contributions here on Flickr.

To finish November, I was back at the Crocodile on the 21st for Head Like A Kite, with Foscil and the Animals at Night. The Animals at Night not only had a full quartet of musicians, not only a trio of backup singers as well, but also brought out country-western musician Brent Amaker to sing a remix of his song "I've Got a Little Hillbilly in Me". The Animals at Night were groovy or soulful or even a little hillbilly, but they also brought the rock. Foscil was a band I saw back in 2005—or at least I thought I had, but I remembered them being a group of four guys at a table-full of synthesizers and electronic gear. This time, they were still a quartet but had a mix of electronic and acoustic instruments, including one player alternating on trumpet, clarinet, and bass clarinet. They played jazz/art rock with an electronic base, and I thought it was good but a bit odd placed with the other two bands. Finally, Head Like a Kite always put on a crazy dance party at every show, and did not disappoint this time with multiple guest backup singers and costumed dancers. Both Greg Markel and Brent Amaker came out for guest spots, as did a very heavily pregnant Barb Trentalange for lead vocals on "Daydream Vacation". From electroclash to funk, indie rock to trip-hop, Head Like a Kite played a killer set. I have a too-dark-and-too-far-off set of photos from this show here on Flickr.

Finally, December has proven to be a tough month to catch a show, even though there are often several good ones. 2009 was no exception, as i only made it out to the KEXP Yule Benefit on December 12, and only because I was volunteering to help. The lineup included Grand Hallway opening, followed by the Builders and the Butchers, the Cave Singers, and the Thermals closing. I wasn't particularly excited about any of the bands, but did like all of them well enough; unfortunately I missed Grand Hallway, the rest put on a good show. 

And that finally covers all the shows I went to in 2009. Now to get started on reviewing 2010… hopefully I can return to more timely reviews for 2011. 

Although I've lived in Seattle for eight years now, I've only been to the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival three times, and only once for the whole event. In 2005, despite having a four-day pass, I ended up going only on Saturday and Monday, and I did not have a camera so I have no photos from that year's festival. In 2008, I did go for all three days (they stopped doing Friday events) and took a bunch of photos; last year I only went on Saturday, mainly because I got a volunteer shift for the KEXP booth, but also to see Hotels, who were the only band I photographed.



Beehive played a rocking set at the Northwest Stage to open Bumbershoot 2008.



Bumbershoot isn't just music, it's also a variety of arts, such as this modern dance performance by acornDance…



Or Byron Au Yong's Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas, performed in the various water features at Seattle Center…



Or the rather peculiar aerial mime of Strange Fruit. 

Mostly though, I go for the rock…



Whether it's Battles in 2008…



Or Hotels in 2009.

Again, I'm catching up on my concert reviews, so here's a quick summary of June.

I've already posted before about seeing The Juan MacLean and The Field on Monday June 8 at Nectar Lounge; that review was written for the KEXP Blog and can still be read there. However, let me give a couple excerpts:

Last Monday night when I went to Nectar Lounge to see The Juan MacLean and The Field, I didn’t know that I’d be at the hottest show in town. These two groups played sizzling sets of electronica to a packed and enthusiastic crowd. DJ Nordic Soul warmed up the club with a solid mix of dance music.
[...]
The Field’s music is very cool stuff, and I could easily listen for a few hours; it seems tailor-made for airplane flights, and I’ll have to pick up the aptly-named album From Here We Go Sublime before my next trip.
[...]
While The Field kept the club simmering for an hour, The Juan MacLean brought it up to a full boil with their high-energy synth rock. ... They built up to a stunning conclusion with “Happy House”, extended to over 20 minutes and climaxing several times, and then cooled things down in the encore with the mellow and dreamy “Tonight”.

Also, I was right next to the stage for The Juan Maclean's set, so I was able to get some pretty good photos, including John MacLean in action rocking the theremin. See the whole set here in Flickr.

I went to two other shows that week: KJ Sawka at Nectar Lounge on Friday June 12, and Hotels at the High Dive on Saturday June 13. I had already decided I wasn't going to blog about those shows, so I didn't take any notes. However, I can tell you that Sawka's show was to promote the release of his DrumBanger app for the iPhone (read more about it in this post on Line Out, The Stranger's music blog), and that while I still enjoy his music, I found that I'm getting a little tired of hearing the work from his two recent albums and would like to see him pursue a new direction. Oh I forgot that opening for Sawka was first DJ NoiseMaker, who I can't recall anything about, but then DJ Crime, billed as "Las Vegas's #1 VJ"—he mixed videos, using both music videos and other footage, which was fun to watch as well as hear.

As for the other show, Hotels played third in a set including Anomie Belle, Born Anchors, and (ostensible) headliners Furniture Girls. I reviewed Anomie Belle for the KEXP Blog when she opened for Tricky back in March, and I don't really have anything to add to that: she's got talent and potential, but despite her use of live violin loops, her music currently is kind of bland soulful trip-hop. I can't remember anything about Born Anchors, which suggests I didn't find them that interesting, but I know I didn't dislike them and really I'd have to hear them again to give any kind of review. Hotels were awesome of course and I danced like crazy through their set; I've really just about run out of things to say about them until they release some more new music, which is why I had decided I wouldn't blog about this show, but here I am. Finally, my opinion also hasn't changed much on Furniture Girls: they're fun, the band is really solid, but they just don't quite win me over somehow. However, they did have a strong-voiced guest backup singer for most of the set, which made a real difference as the original Furniture Girls synth-player/backing vocalist doesn't have a voice strong enough to match the lead singer (that original member hasn't been replaced, just moved back to focus more on the synths).

The other two shows were good overall, but I do have to say The Juan MacLean and The Field were a phenomenal bill, definitely one of the best shows of the year.

On Wednesday March 25, I went to my first show at the newly-renovated and re-opened Crocodile, featuring my current favorite band, Hotels. Three other bands were on the bill: New Faces, Romance, and the Globes.

The Globes are a quartet (vocals/guitar, guitar/vocals, bass/keyboard, drums) who played a solid set of alternative rock with a bit of an art-rock edge. Somehow they reminded me a bit of the Dismemberment Plan, though overall their sound was more of the Minus the Bear type of rock. They sounded fairly polished and I really liked their set; of the three opening bands, the Globes were the one I'm most interested in seeing again.

Romance are another standard rock quartet with a darker post-punk sound, somewhere between Interpol and classic goth rock. Early in their set, their vocals were very murky, and I found it hard to tell whether that was due to me wearing earplugs, me being too close to the stage (under the speakers), or a deliberate choice by the band. Just as I finished making a note to that effect, the sound guy went onstage to swap a microphone cable while people toward the back of the audience cried for the vocals to be turned up. It was a funny commentary on both the band's style and the club's newness, still working out the kinks. Overall I found Romance to be solid and enjoyable if not inventive or exciting, and I do want to hear more from them.

New Faces are a straightforward rock trio on guitar, bass, and drums; the guitarist sang lead vocals and the other two sang backing vocals. A couple of their songs sounded familiar to me, no doubt from being played on KEXP, and they announced that some of the songs were new ones—one of which the drummer quipped was so new that he didn't think he'd ever played it before, but it sounded just as good as the rest. I didn't find them very exciting at first—like Romance, solid and enjoyable, but just not grabby—but I warmed up to them more by the end and decided they're definitely worth seeing again.

Hotels were their usual energetic selves, and seemed pretty excited to be at the new Crocodile. Perhaps a bit too excited, as I noticed they were tending to rush on several of the songs, but it still all sounded great. I was happy that they played the boppy instrumental "Farewell to Love"—which I think of as their theme music, just because it sounds like a corporate jingle—from their first album Thank You For Choosing..., but for the most part they stuck to the current album Where Hearts Go Broke. As the last band on a four-band concert, they suffered the usual late-night audience attrition, and they almost did not play an encore (due to the late hour), but a particularly vocal fan (besides myself) helped convince them to do a couple more. I have nothing to add besides my continued undying love for Hotels and insistence that you should catch them whenever they play.

The new Crocodile's stage and lighting arrangement pose new challenges for my iPhone, but I did get several decent photos of each band, starting here in Flickr.