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Two weeks ago on Saturday Nov 22, I went to the Showbox at the Market to see Annuals, who were on tour with Minus the Bear. Opening the show was Helms Alee.
Helms Alee are a trio on guitar, bass, and drums, with the guitarist and bassist trading lead vocals and the drummer singing backup. I'd heard them before on KEXP and thought they sounded interesting, so I was surprised when they turned out to be basically a metal band. The guitarist occasionally sang a bit of melody but mostly his vocals were either a low croon or hoarse screams; it was weirdly hard to hear the hoarse screaming, which was lost in the noise. In fact the guitarist's primary role seemed to be creating droning noise, while the bassist carried the melody with her playing and singing, and the drummer supported them with her impressively fierce pounding. Although the guitar noise created some hints of shoegaze the overall sound was more metal than that, and the band seemed to have only one dynamic, loud; they could benefit from more diversity in their sound. In the end Helms Alee did nothing for me, and I'm still wondering what I'd heard on the radio that was better.
Annuals released their second full-length album Such Fun in early October, and I'd been eagerly awaiting this concert to hear the new songs and pick up the new album. They played a mix of new and old songs that showed the continuing diversity and development of their style. One new song featured guitarist Kenny Florence on pedal steel slide guitar, giving it a strong country feel; another had a strong bluesy groove and ended with some of the impressive multi-player drumming that adds a lot of excitement to the live show. Unfortunately the sound mix was a bit muddy, in particular Anna Spence's keyboards and backing vocals were both often lost amidst the rest and it'd be good to hear them brought out more. Still it was a good if not long enough set, and their song "Do You Like It", retitled "Hot Night Hounds" on the album, continues to be an awesome set closer in the original awe-inspiring sense of "awesome". When I talked to Spence after the show, she promised that Annuals would be back in town on a headlining tour in February or March, and I cannot wait.
Minus the Bear are the quintet of Jake Snider (vocals, guitar), Alex Rose (synthesizers, vocals), Dave Knudson (guitar), Cory Murchy (bass), and Erin Tate (drums). They played a set of mid-tempo modern rock with occasional jam-band influences, something like a softer Soundgarden or Foo Fighters with a little Dave Matthews thrown in. There are plenty of bands I love that have a clearly derivative, familiar sound, but overall I didn't find Minus the Bear as interesting as they might have been. To me they sounded too much like a number of other late-'90s bands whose names I couldn't even call to mind, just part of the post-grunge Seattle sound.* I wanted to like them more than I actually did, they just weren't quite my style. That said, the last several songs had a little prog-rock feel to them and were all really good, including the catchy single "Knights" which I had recognized when I saw them at Bumbershoot this year. I'll be keeping an ear out for Minus the Bear, they may yet grow on me.
(*Tony Sacco, who was also at the show, agreed with me, saying "they're like settled grunge," prompting my question "is that 'grime'?")
I couldn't resist taking a few photos even though I knew the lighting was too poor and the stage too far for my iPhone, I saved three of Annuals and one of Minus the Bear starting here in Flickr.
And with that, I have dinner dishes to clean and then I'm off to the Comet Tavern to see Hotels with Tea for Julie and a couple other bands.
Helms Alee are a trio on guitar, bass, and drums, with the guitarist and bassist trading lead vocals and the drummer singing backup. I'd heard them before on KEXP and thought they sounded interesting, so I was surprised when they turned out to be basically a metal band. The guitarist occasionally sang a bit of melody but mostly his vocals were either a low croon or hoarse screams; it was weirdly hard to hear the hoarse screaming, which was lost in the noise. In fact the guitarist's primary role seemed to be creating droning noise, while the bassist carried the melody with her playing and singing, and the drummer supported them with her impressively fierce pounding. Although the guitar noise created some hints of shoegaze the overall sound was more metal than that, and the band seemed to have only one dynamic, loud; they could benefit from more diversity in their sound. In the end Helms Alee did nothing for me, and I'm still wondering what I'd heard on the radio that was better.
Annuals released their second full-length album Such Fun in early October, and I'd been eagerly awaiting this concert to hear the new songs and pick up the new album. They played a mix of new and old songs that showed the continuing diversity and development of their style. One new song featured guitarist Kenny Florence on pedal steel slide guitar, giving it a strong country feel; another had a strong bluesy groove and ended with some of the impressive multi-player drumming that adds a lot of excitement to the live show. Unfortunately the sound mix was a bit muddy, in particular Anna Spence's keyboards and backing vocals were both often lost amidst the rest and it'd be good to hear them brought out more. Still it was a good if not long enough set, and their song "Do You Like It", retitled "Hot Night Hounds" on the album, continues to be an awesome set closer in the original awe-inspiring sense of "awesome". When I talked to Spence after the show, she promised that Annuals would be back in town on a headlining tour in February or March, and I cannot wait.
Minus the Bear are the quintet of Jake Snider (vocals, guitar), Alex Rose (synthesizers, vocals), Dave Knudson (guitar), Cory Murchy (bass), and Erin Tate (drums). They played a set of mid-tempo modern rock with occasional jam-band influences, something like a softer Soundgarden or Foo Fighters with a little Dave Matthews thrown in. There are plenty of bands I love that have a clearly derivative, familiar sound, but overall I didn't find Minus the Bear as interesting as they might have been. To me they sounded too much like a number of other late-'90s bands whose names I couldn't even call to mind, just part of the post-grunge Seattle sound.* I wanted to like them more than I actually did, they just weren't quite my style. That said, the last several songs had a little prog-rock feel to them and were all really good, including the catchy single "Knights" which I had recognized when I saw them at Bumbershoot this year. I'll be keeping an ear out for Minus the Bear, they may yet grow on me.
(*Tony Sacco, who was also at the show, agreed with me, saying "they're like settled grunge," prompting my question "is that 'grime'?")
I couldn't resist taking a few photos even though I knew the lighting was too poor and the stage too far for my iPhone, I saved three of Annuals and one of Minus the Bear starting here in Flickr.
And with that, I have dinner dishes to clean and then I'm off to the Comet Tavern to see Hotels with Tea for Julie and a couple other bands.
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I had a pretty good time at Bumbershoot this year. I was going to do a single post about it, because I thought I could keep it short, but of course it's just gotten longer and longer as I write. So, I'm going to do separate posts for each day after all. All of my photos can be found in my Bumbershoot 2008 set on Flickr.
Read about Saturday at Bumbershoot 2008.
Read about Sunday at Bumbershoot 2008.
Monday
Monday I made it down to Bumbershoot toward the later half of the afternoon. I had no plans before seeing Battles at 7:45, so I wandered about for a while. I stopped to watch some of Strange Fruit, a sort of mime theater performance done by two couples atop tall flexible poles. It was indeed strange, but also funny and cool. I hung out by the Du Pont Fountain for a while, hoping to catch another performance of the Bottled Operas that I saw on Saturday, but they did not come by before I had to head across the Center for the Battles set. However, while I was there, a couple people came by and asked to take my picture with their friend, Little Roy the Corduroy Boy; you can see the photo of us here. (I didn't realize at the time that Little Roy's appearances were actually officially scheduled events.) [Strange Fruit photos start here.]
Battles were hands-down the best act I saw at Bumbershoot this year, and no question gave one of the best performances out of all the acts. Drummer John Stanier reminded me of Animal from the Muppets, flailing fast and furiously at his drums, although with a precision and control Animal could never match. I almost expected Stanier to explode Muppets-style with a flash and bang, leaving nothing behind but a wisp of smoke. The rest of the band were slightly more restrained but no less enthusiastic, and together they roared through a thunderous set of instrumental, highly-danceable art rock. The first part of the set, from the opening bass loops of "Race: Out", was a continuous half-hour of music, and they barely paused later to do more than say hi to the crowd while setting up the next song. I didn't recognize all of the music, so some of the first half may have been new, but they definitely finished with the two singles "Tonto" and "Atlas", followed by an extended "Race: In". They led into "Atlas" just with a very simple sampled beat, a steady tik, tik, tik, tik, for a good two minutes while they were adjusting other equipment, but that simple beat was enough to get the audience clapping along in anticipation. When they finally broke into the song, a bunch of kids surged forward and nearly started a full-fledged mosh pit, causing a Bumbershoot staff member to wade in to the crowd and warn them to simmer down a bit. Battles played a full hour of exciting and vital rock that ought to kill the label "math rock", and I can't wait for their next show. [Battles photos start here.]
After that set, pretty much anything was likely to be a bit of a let-down. Still, I went to see Mike Doughty, since my sister said I should introduce myself to her friend Andrew "Scrap" Livingston, who was playing bass for Doughty. As a solo artist, Doughty's gone the singer-songwriter route, playing folk-tinged rock à la Dave Matthews, and frankly I just didn't find it that interesting, even when he covered his own Soul Coughing song "Circles". After listening for a few songs, I wandered off in search of ice cream and then went to hear the first couple songs by Minus the Bear. I returned for the end of Doughty's set, waited around for about 15 minutes until Doughty came out from backstage briefly, and managed to catch him before he disappeared again just to ask him if he could get the bassist for me, which I thought was a little funny. After chatting briefly with Livingston, I went back to hear the last 20 minutes of Minus the Bear, who sounded all right and finished with "Knights", the single I recognized from airplay on KEXP. Although the high point of Bumbershoot had passed already for me and the final acts weren't so great, I still left feeling quite satisfied with the evening and Bumbershoot in general. [A few Mike Doughty photos start here.]
Read about Saturday at Bumbershoot 2008.
Read about Sunday at Bumbershoot 2008.
Monday
Monday I made it down to Bumbershoot toward the later half of the afternoon. I had no plans before seeing Battles at 7:45, so I wandered about for a while. I stopped to watch some of Strange Fruit, a sort of mime theater performance done by two couples atop tall flexible poles. It was indeed strange, but also funny and cool. I hung out by the Du Pont Fountain for a while, hoping to catch another performance of the Bottled Operas that I saw on Saturday, but they did not come by before I had to head across the Center for the Battles set. However, while I was there, a couple people came by and asked to take my picture with their friend, Little Roy the Corduroy Boy; you can see the photo of us here. (I didn't realize at the time that Little Roy's appearances were actually officially scheduled events.) [Strange Fruit photos start here.]
Battles were hands-down the best act I saw at Bumbershoot this year, and no question gave one of the best performances out of all the acts. Drummer John Stanier reminded me of Animal from the Muppets, flailing fast and furiously at his drums, although with a precision and control Animal could never match. I almost expected Stanier to explode Muppets-style with a flash and bang, leaving nothing behind but a wisp of smoke. The rest of the band were slightly more restrained but no less enthusiastic, and together they roared through a thunderous set of instrumental, highly-danceable art rock. The first part of the set, from the opening bass loops of "Race: Out", was a continuous half-hour of music, and they barely paused later to do more than say hi to the crowd while setting up the next song. I didn't recognize all of the music, so some of the first half may have been new, but they definitely finished with the two singles "Tonto" and "Atlas", followed by an extended "Race: In". They led into "Atlas" just with a very simple sampled beat, a steady tik, tik, tik, tik, for a good two minutes while they were adjusting other equipment, but that simple beat was enough to get the audience clapping along in anticipation. When they finally broke into the song, a bunch of kids surged forward and nearly started a full-fledged mosh pit, causing a Bumbershoot staff member to wade in to the crowd and warn them to simmer down a bit. Battles played a full hour of exciting and vital rock that ought to kill the label "math rock", and I can't wait for their next show. [Battles photos start here.]
After that set, pretty much anything was likely to be a bit of a let-down. Still, I went to see Mike Doughty, since my sister said I should introduce myself to her friend Andrew "Scrap" Livingston, who was playing bass for Doughty. As a solo artist, Doughty's gone the singer-songwriter route, playing folk-tinged rock à la Dave Matthews, and frankly I just didn't find it that interesting, even when he covered his own Soul Coughing song "Circles". After listening for a few songs, I wandered off in search of ice cream and then went to hear the first couple songs by Minus the Bear. I returned for the end of Doughty's set, waited around for about 15 minutes until Doughty came out from backstage briefly, and managed to catch him before he disappeared again just to ask him if he could get the bassist for me, which I thought was a little funny. After chatting briefly with Livingston, I went back to hear the last 20 minutes of Minus the Bear, who sounded all right and finished with "Knights", the single I recognized from airplay on KEXP. Although the high point of Bumbershoot had passed already for me and the final acts weren't so great, I still left feeling quite satisfied with the evening and Bumbershoot in general. [A few Mike Doughty photos start here.]
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