Show Review & Photos: Greta Van Fleet & Dorothy @ the Paramount

Posted on by

Greta Van Fleet & Dorothy @ the Paramount, 9/7/18 – Show Review & Photos by Alex Crick

Greta Van Fleet‘s Josh Kiszka

Michigan’s Greta Van Fleet performed at the Paramount in Seattle on September 7th, 2018.

Although they performed on a minimalist stage with just a single mic stand in front and keys and drums set in the back, rock band Greta Van Fleet’s audience got things off by going nuts. A haze of fog surrounded the quartet when they took the stage, which maybe hid singer Josh Kiszka, but definitely did not hide his howling, belting signature voice. It was immediately a Led Zeppelin-influenced beginning with the song “Highway Tune.”

The young quartet includes two twins, Josh (vocals) and Jake (guitar); and younger brother, Sam (bass) plus drummer Danny Wagner. Lead singer Josh Kiszka was shirtless, wearing a fringe leather vest and purple sequin pants. A woven necklace with feathers adorned his neck. It was a very 70’s-inspired look for the vocalist, who strutted the stage. 

“Edge of Darkness” gave lead guitarist Jake the time for a huge guitar solo. About halfway through the song, and not missing a beat, he lifted the guitar over his head and played it behind his neck. He then proceeded to nail the solo without seeing the guitar chords. Meanwhile, singer Josh grabbed a tambourine and danced around the stage, occasionally returning to his mic to belt out one of his husky howls.

There were other chances for individual band members to shine. “Flower Power” slowed it down a bit, with bassist Sam taking to the keyboards. He got a nice solo about halfway through the song. For “You’re the One,” guitarist Jake switched to acoustic guitar. During the chorus, he leaned back on his twin, and they belted out the verse on the same mic.

By the time they thanked the crowd before the encore, the audience went wild again, and cheered for Greta Van Fleet’s return. For the encore, the audience loved “Black Smoke Rising.” When Josh asked, “Want another?,” fans screamed and sang along to “Safari Song.” This one was a shorter track, but we all loved the extended ending with the insanely badass drum solo, lasting a good three minutes.

Dorothy, a Californian rock/blues band, were the openers. They played a heavily ’70s-influence sound, with strong vocals by Dorothy Martin . 

Greta Van Fleet returns to the Paramount for two nights, January 9th & 10th 2019.

Greta Van Fleet
Dorothy

Show Preview: Thunderpussy @ the Showbox, Mon. 12/31/New Year’s Eve

Posted on by

Show Preview: Thunderpussy @ the Showbox, Mon. 12/31/New Year’s Eve!
~Dagmar

Thunderpussy – Thunderpussy album cover – photo by Jake Clifford

The bewitching quartet Thunderpussy rings in the new year on Monday, December 31st at the Showbox. I’m proud to say they are a Seattle band, one who worked with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam on their self-titled full-length debut. McCready played guitar on and produced the track “Velvet Noose.”

An all-female group, Thunderpussy’s Seattle date is the final 2018 show of a 22-date nationwide tour, which took them from home to California, Texas, Florida, Milwaukee and beyond. Guitarist Whitney Petty explained that “Being a lover of rock ‘n’ roll music for my whole life, you either have it, or you don’t,” . . . “If you find it, cultivate it, treat it like a wild animal, and tame that raw energy, but not too much. That’s what this is.” I agree with her! Oh, by they way, in addition to Thunderpussy, the women released an EP called Greatest T**s in 2018.

And see them in real life. Of so many bands out there, this is one who would be worth seeing any time, and on New Year’s Eve, even if that celebration isn’t your thing.

You can listen to Thunderpussy on their SoundCloud, plus, for tickets and more details, go to the Showbox’s event page.

Photos: Mayday Parade, This Wild Life, William Ryan Key & Oh, Weatherly @ the Showbox

Posted on by

Mayday Parade, This Wild Life, William Ryan Key & Oh, Weatherly @ the Showbox – 10/21/18 – Photos by Charitie Myers

Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade

Mayday Parade, the Florida-based rock quintet, made their Seattle appearance of the Welcome to Sunnyland tour on October 21st. The tour took them to every part of the US with 39 dates! This year, Mayday Parade signed with Beaver Records, resulting in their sixth album, Sunnyland, which included the wonderfully-titled “It’s Hard to be Religious When Certain People Aren’t Incinerated by Bolts of Lightning.” Also, if you didn’t see the group’s tour diary, I recommend it.

California duo This Wild Life; former Yellowcard singer William Ryan Key and Texans Oh, Weatherly were on hand as openers.



Mayday Parade
This Wild Life
William Ryan Key
Oh, Weatherly

Show Review & Photos: Joywave @ the Neptune

Posted on by

Joywave @ the Neptune, 11/9/18
Show Review & Photos by Dagmar

I am heartbroken from only seeing Joywave now. I’d heard some of their music, then, recently began listening to their albums. I became smitten. I’d seen other photographs of the band from photographers on Back Beat Seattle, and pictures elsewhere. I loved lead singer Daniel Armbruster’s style. So, while I hated myself for not catching their Seattle shows, and there have been quite a few, I finally got to catch the Joywave experience.

Joywave‘s Daniel Armbruster – photo by Dagmar

Co-headlining with Sir Sly, the New York quintet played songs from their two albums, How Do You Feel Now? and Content on a stage with word changing lighted boxes and flashing lights. Those lights worked especially well during “Destruction.” Armbruster covered the stage while dressed in flashy shoes. He’s got to be one of my favorite singers at this point, and he’s charming and charismatic and all that important stuff.

The entire setlist was gorgeous with a shocking “Content,” which is actually put together unlike much other music. Do you know how hard it is not to be derivative? And have it sound good? “It’s a Trip,” “Little Lies You’re Told,” “Somebody New,” “Tongues,” “Now,” “Traveling at the Speed of Light,” new track “Obsession,” and the burning “Destruction” were the absolute evening’s keepers.

At one point, Armbruster mentioned that the Seattle show sold out twice. The first time was to a “robot” online. The band didn’t like that, so they cancelled that order (damn you, scalpers,) and sold tickets again. He proudly told us that it turns out humans like Joywave, too. We do!

Joywave

Setlist:  

Blastoff
Somebody New
It’s a Trip!
Obsession
Traveling at the Speed of Light
Little Lies You’re Told
Now
Let’s Talk About Feelings
Content
Shutdown
Doubt
Tongues
Destruction

Show Review & Photos: Sir Sly @ the Neptune

Posted on by

Sir Sly @ the Neptune, 11/9/18
Show Review & Photos by Dagmar


Sir Sly‘s Landon Jacobs

Los Angeles trio Sir Sly made a co-headlining appearance with Joywave in Seattle on November 9th. And you could really feel the love. Somehow I had not seen either band before live, and I was thrilled to see them. I’ll have my thoughts on Joywave in an individual post; first, here’s what Sir Sly was like.

I mention that love because that capacity crowd was totally into Sir Sly. Rightly so, as this band put on a vibrant and sympathetic performance, including a giant brain that lit up and pulsated strobes. Could that make you kind of ill? I don’t know, but it was fascinating. I have never seen such a thing before onstage, and watching the colors change with the music was fabulous. It made its first appearance in the video for the band’s song, “High.” It’s all making sense!

As a group, Sir Sly is a talented trio with shared writing credits in their songs. While attention naturally gravitates towards frontman Landon Jacobs, watch the energy of drummer Hayden Coplen if you catch them live. He’s quite the fantastic drummer. I also enjoyed how close together these three guys were. Jacobs talked about how his bandmates helped him out of a dark period in his life when his marriage ended and his mother passed away. It was incredibly moving, and brought more scale to the track, “Oh Mama,” written about Landon’s mother. I actually got choked up. Thank you, Jacobs, for being able to talk about that awful experience and create art from it.

Best known for the song “&Run,” which ended the show, the setlist was a persuasive argument that Sir Sly is even getting better. Older tracks “Gold” and “Ghost” from their 2014 debut You Haunt Me are very good, yet the band moves into the territory of excellence with album two, Don’t You Worry, Honey. “Fun,” “Altar,” “Trippin’,” “Astronaut,” “High,” and “&Run” were awesomely wonderful pop.


Sir Sly