August 2011 concert: Tara Jane ONeil at 2020 Cycle

2011-08-10 22:17
I started off August with an unusual concert. Tara Jane ONeil, one of my longtime favorite artists, was back in town on Monday, August 1, after several years—I last saw her in 2007, although I believe she did play at least one show in Seattle since then—and playing at an unusual venue, the bicycle shop 2020 Cycle on Union Street in the Central District. The show as also unusual for featuring two sets of improvised music, as well as an unusual performer, Japanese singer-songwriter Nikaido Kazumi. Also on the bill were opening act Lori Goldston and headliner Mount Eerie.

Lori Goldston was a solo cellist who played a brief set of moody chamber music. She improvised two pieces, each about 8 to 10 minutes long, and held the audience rapt with her playing. 

Next up was Tara Jane ONeil (or TJO), who remarked that she never does "the singer-songwriter thing," playing just acoustic guitar and singing—though it's not uncommon for her to perform solo, usually she has an electric guitar and effects pedals if nothing else. And although she really shines with her arrangements, hearing her songs stripped down showed the core strength of her writing. Her short set included "The Poisoned Mine" and "In This Rough", and rather to my surprise she finished with a cover of "Rainbow Connection", which actually made me feel a bit teary-eyed. I'd have loved a much longer set of course, even if it hadn't been four years since I'd last seen her, but it was great to hear her perform again.

Nikaido Kazumi also played acoustic guitar and sang in her native Japanese. She did her best to introduce songs in English, struggling with a lack of vocabulary, not pronunciation. But despite her challenges with spoken communication, she had no trouble at all in winning the audience over with her very strong voice and outgoing performance. She got the audience to not only clap but also sing along on a few tunes. Introducing another one, apparently an older traditional song by a musician called (I believe) Anka, she clearly remarked, "Young people don't listen to Anka," though given her rendition I can't imagine why not. She finished with a lively tune based on the samba as her "goodbye song", to much applause.

TJO and Kazumi have toured together several times since ONeil's first visit to Japan in 2002, and over the past couple years they put together a self-titled album of improvised music which they released earlier this year. And so after their individual sets, they joined together with an additional percussionist to improvise a couple pieces. For the first one, all three played percussive parts, including TJO tossing marbles at a drum or dropping them on other things (which was kind of comical at times though not intentionally) and Kazumi playing a hand chime as well as singing. For the second piece, TJO switched to guitar and Kazumi only sang, while the percussionist used more traditional drumming. The piece ended with Kazumi dancing out the door and performing comical antics outside the store window while the others kept playing.

The evening ended with Mount Eerie, another solo singer but using electric guitar. His style reminded me of Mark Kozelek (of the Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon), with unconventional songs that lacked the standard verse/chorus/verse structure, being more like poems or private musings set to music. As I had a bus to catch, I only stayed for a few of his songs, but he sounded pretty good and would definitely be worth catching again.

I have a small set of photos up on Flickr from the show. As the stage fronted the store window with its neon signs, the lighting wasn't great for my iPhone, but the photos came out okay.
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June 2007 concert: TJO and Jana Hunter at Gallery 1412

2007-06-21 02:50
Sunday night I went to see Tara Jane ONeil and Jana Hunter at Gallery 1412. TJO is an old favorite, and I've made sure to catch each of her visits to Seattle in the past three years. Jana Hunter however was unknown to me.

I'd never heard of Gallery 1412 before - their events don't appear in any of the music calendars as far as I know - and I was surprised to learn its location is 18th Avenue and Union Street, across from the T.T. Minor Elementary School. It proved to be an empty retail space being rented and run as a music venue by a small collective. When asked, the person managing the venue this evening said that they've been holding events in this location for a couple years. It's not a bad space, the sound was okay, but it's very bare-bones and could stand to be made a little more welcoming, perhaps with some art exhibits on the walls. They did have folding chairs for the audience, though, which was nice.

Tara Jane ONeil played a solo set, just her with her guitar and effects pedals, although she did enlist audience help on percussion (shakers and tambourines) for her last song. TJO explores an odd corner of music between folk and indie rock, but on the art/experimental/underground side, rather than the punk side as Ani DiFranco for example. Thus, her set was a fairly even mix of artsy instrumentals and folk/indie-rock songs with vocals. She joked at one point that she felt like she was just standing on her back porch and doodling on her guitar, and asked if the audience would mind if that's just what she did, though she saved that for the extended improvisational ending to her last song. As always, the set felt too short; I'd like to see her headline a show and play for an hour or more. But as long as she keeps coming back to Seattle to do shows, I'll be happy just to see her.

Jana Hunter is a guitarist, and appeared with an additional guitarist for most of her set, plus a drummer and TJO with added percussion for about half the set. She turned out to be similar to TJO, in that her songs varied between arty guitar instrumentals making use of live sampled loops, and folksy songs with vocals. However, Hunter sounded more "cowboy/western" folk to me, particularly in her singing style, and some of her material was just plain folk music, unlike TJO's usual blend. I found that I was less interested in the more overtly folk songs, as the style doesn't strongly appeal to me, but then the songs with the added players were closer to straight-up rock, so there was a balance. Although I was not won over as a new fan, I did enjoy her set overall.
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July concert (TJO at the Sunset), more about plumbing

2006-07-30 16:04
Thursday night I went to The Sunset Tavern to see Tara Jane O'Neil, with Nick Castro and the Young Elders and Jen Wood. Yes, despite my recent complaints of being hopelessly broke, I still went to a show. When I can't afford $10 (at most) once a month to see a show, then things are truly dire. (And this show was advertised as $7, but actually cost $5 at the door.)

Unfortunately, I wasn't in time to catch opening act Jen Wood. I'm sure I've heard her on KEXP and liked what I'd heard, so I would've liked to see her in person. Instead, I arrived just before Nick Castro took the stage. Nick plays British-style folk music in the vein of Dead Can Dance, playing guitar and singing, and playing a recorder for a couple songs. For this show his backing band The Young Elders consisted of just one person, Wendy Watson, on harmonium, bells, recorder, and backing vocals. They seemed like they would've been more at home in a coffeehouse, or even a goth club; while they weren't out of place at the Sunset, the majority of the patrons paid no attention and continued their loud conversations. I enjoyed their music and would've bought a CD to see what it was like, but I didn't have enough cash to spare, just enough for TJO's new EP.

Given that most of the patrons ignored Nick Castro, I was surprised that the entire bar became quiet when Tara Jane O'Neil began playing. While some of the noisy people may simply have left, it also seemed that a small crowd really had come out to see TJO; certainly she had more of an audience than the last time she played the Sunset two years ago. Accompanied by Kristina Davies on drums and occasional backing vocals, TJO played several of her recent songs, including "The Poisoned Mine" and "Howl", and a couple new ones. The set felt shorter than I would've liked, and she didn't do much with guitar loops or sonic-experimental instrumentals this time, but it was still good to hear her as always. TJO's next full-length album, In Circles, is due out in mid-September on Quarterstick Records, and she's doing extensive touring after that. I'm looking forward to the new record and to seeing her again later in the year.


The Drano worked beautifully on the slow drain in the bathtub, the water's no longer backing up at all while I shower. I'm very pleased about that. The tub actually has another issue, which is that water is somehow splashing or dripping out over the side while I shower, so that the corner of the bathmat is often quite soaked when I get out. The thing is, it's not at all consistent; some days I take a quick shower and it's still soaked, other days I can take a while but not find it very wet at all, so I have no idea what factors are causing it. When I moved in, the tub had two plastic triangles attached with some kind of thick double-sided tape, one at each end, and I think maybe those were meant to help keep water from spilling over the sides. However, the tape was already pretty worn out and the triangles weren't staying attached, so I removed them. I haven't found replacement tape yet, though I haven't really made a dedicated search, just glanced over department-store bath plumbing shelves occasionally.

Meanwhile, in other water leak news, I figured out that the water leaking from the sink is coming from the u-bend drain pipe, but I don't know what to do next. I'm not sure whether that means I have to replace it, or tighten something, or what. Also, it seems the sink is attached to the wall, and the porcelain base is there for show, not support, but I'm still nervous about trying to pull the base out so I can get to the pipes. It's something I'd rather do with a friend here to help.
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April concert: Ida and Tara Jane ONeil at the Tractor Tavern

2005-04-08 19:35
Last Sunday I went to my "official" April concert, although I may end up seeing another one or two. At the Tractor Tavern, I saw my old favorite, Tara Jane ONeil, sandwiched between the headliners Ida and opening act Michael Hurley.

I arrived a little way into Michael Hurley's set. I'd never heard of him, and my understanding is that the Tractor tends towards blues, folk, and country, so I was somewhat wary of what he'd be like. He turned out to be a grizzled old folk-blues guitarist. I'm sure he's a fine example of his genre, and I didn't think he was terrible, I just didn't find his music very interesting.

Next came Tara Jane ONeil, and her set was amazing as always. Her girlfriend/wife Kristina played melodica and miscellaneous percussion throughout the set, as well as singing backup vocals. TJO was also joined by various members of Ida on some songs, playing guitar, bass, violin, miscellaneous percussion, harmonium, and singing. TJO herself played electric guitar and made extensive use of a sampler, recording rhythms and then looping them as she played other parts of the song; Kristina also used a sampler for some of her parts.

TJO opened with an instrumental I did not recognize, which was rather in the vein of her early work with The Sonora Pine - though she has continued to do such art/experimental rock type music throughout her career, one reason I love her so much. She played a few songs I recognized, such as "The Poisoned Mine" and "Howl," and I now find another one I hadn't recognized, "Take The Waking," all of which are on her most recent album You Sound, Reflect (yes, I like her that much, I'm pushing her albums through Amazon now). I was smiling throughout the set as I enjoyed the music, but I broke into a huge grin as I recognized the beginning of her last song, "Rungs," from her old band The Sonora Pine. It's truly wonderful to hear those songs live. That was one of the songs for which members of Ida joined her, and the instrumentation included the harmonium, and the violinist playing instead a metal bowl by sliding a pestle around the outer edge.

As for Ida, I ended up enjoying them more than I expected. I'd heard of them before, because they have past connections with TJO, but didn't really know anything about them. Again, I expected them to be more folky, and they did start out with some blues/bluegrass/folk type tunes. But then they moved into more of a progressive pop/rock sound - the only thing I can think of offhand is earlier Fleetwood Mac, and indeed they later played a cover off of Tusk - and I enjoyed that much more. Ida on this tour were a five-piece including guitar(s), bass, drums, violin, keyboard, and also harmonium, and most songs feature harmonized singing from three of the members. I ended up buying a double CD, which turned out to be an "official" live bootleg.

After the show, I got to talk to TJO, and was quite pleased that she recognized me on sight (and no, that does not mean she backed away and called security). She also remembered last year's show in Ballard (where The Tractor is) and how sparsely attended it was; fortunately, this show had a fairly full house. Although it was clear that most of the audience came to see Ida, there definitely were some other people besides myself who came to see TJO, crowding up to the front during her set. I was also pleased that when I came in, one of the bar employees asked who I'd come to see that evening, so they were keeping track and will know that TJO does draw some people.

On Friday I had bought a couple shelves to add to my bookcase, and Sunday I had cleared the shelves and been in the middle of figuring out how to rearrange them when the time to leave for the show rolled around. I was unhappy because I knew I wouldn't be able to finish properly if I went to the show, and I thought about not going as I'd seen TJO before. Once again, she demonstrated why the correct decision always is to go see her, and I was very happy.
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the kids are alright

2004-05-31 21:23
I went to another concert by Tara Jane O'Neil last night, at The Vera Project. TJO is fairly obscure and her music is somewhere between folk rock, art rock and indie rock - it's not commercial, and not something most people are going to be aware of. I thought that teenagers in particular were unlikely to know of her or be interested in her music, and as the Vera Project is an all-ages venue, I wasn't expecting many people to be there. Well, it's true that most of the people who came were there for the headliner, Mirah, who's more of a folk-rocker and also apparently way more popular than I knew (I barely had any idea who she is, I knew I'd heard her on KEXP before and that was it); nonetheless, the place was pretty full, which surprised me. Of course the other thing I forgot is that there are always teens and college students who know and are into the underground/indie scene, and as Seattle is much bigger than my hometown and also has the excellent "indie" station KEXP, there'd be many young adults who'd be in the know, as it were.

I sound like such an old man writing about the "teens" and the "young adults", but I did feel a little funny being there among so many people who were obviously an average 15 years younger than me. I also found it amusing that everyone was plopping themselves down on the floor instead of standing up - it seemed very much like something out of secondary school. But it made a lot of sense - the stage was low, so by sitting down everyone had a good view; and the venue is no drinking / no smoking, so the floor was actually clean enough to sit on, unlike the usual clubs.

What really astounded me, however, was the behavior of the audience. I have never been at a show with a more well-behaved audience, ever. As soon as each group began, the audience quieted completely and sat attentively through every song. I did not hear anyone talking during any part of the sets; I think I heard a quiet cell phone ring once, briefly, but it went unanswered; there was not a lot of movement, people getting up and walking in or out, during the sets either. Just to be clear, it's not that I expected a young crowd to be noisier and more ill-behaved than the typical club crowd; rather, I simply didn't expect them to be the best audience I've ever sat among, in any venue. So that made it one of the best concert experiences I've ever had - I got to enjoy the show without interruptions or irritations, and as a bonus didn't leave with the usual smoky club stench, either.

I talked briefly to TJO, who remembered me from last time, and also talked at length with Nora, the violinist for the opening band Liarbird, who also played with TJO last month as her backing band. I talked with Nora last time too, and was pleased that she immediately recognized me.

The Vera Project's having a volunteer orientation two Thursdays from now, I think I'm going to try to make it.
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a song to make you cry

2004-04-29 01:13
Just got back from seeing Tara Jane O'Neil's show tonight. Small club, almost no audience - maybe a dozen people plus the three bands who played. Little sad to see the lack of audience, but you know, that meant no one standing in front of me blocking my sight.

She only played six or so songs, three with a backing band (violin, guitar, bass, drums, she switched between acoustic and electric), one with her, the violinist, and the guitarist on backing vocals, and one with her and the drummer which involved some rocking out old school Sonora Pine style.

And then she announced she was going to do one more - just her with the electric guitar (accompanied by her own guitar loops) - and it was a cover song, but a song she wrote. Now, she was the producer for the CDs of the two bands that were on before her, and I know she's done stuff with a bunch of people, so I figured it'd be something by some other band.

Then she started playing. And it was something by some other band, and I recognized it. It was "Goldmund" by The Sonora Pine.

I told her afterwards that I knew about her because a friend of mine had seen The Sonora Pine play (I think that's it - I can never remember if he saw them or just heard a track on some compilation), and she was surprised anyone had heard of them, and surprised and pleased that I'd recognized the song.

I realize this journal entry means nothing to any of the few people who actually read my journal, but take my word for it: as I told her after the show, she makes some of the most beautiful music I know. And you're all missing out by having no idea who she is. (I'd go so far as to provide sampler CDs for the curious, but if you are really interested, you should still be able to find her 2000 album Peregrine in better CD stores. I cannot recommend that album enough.)
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