On May 29th, Los Angeles’ La Sera, comprised of Todd Wisenbaker and Vivian Girls’ Katy Goodman, performed at Barboza. The formerly Hardly Art-signed duo started in 2010, and recently they moved over to Polyvinyl Records. The result of that move? Music for Listening to Music to, produced by Ryan Adams. Photographer Simon Krane captured photos of the band, plus trio Tancred.
La Sera
Tancred
Canada’s Basia Bulat shared new songs from her fourth album, Good Advice, with Seattle during a February visit to Barboza. She certainly performed other material, and not to take away from Bulat’s previous work, but Good Advice was produced by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. . . Bulat, whose debut made the shortlist for Polaris Music Prize 2008, plays the autoharp, which is not actually a harp. The Weather Station, also a Canadian singer-songwriter, opened.
All photos by Simon Krane:
Basia Bulat
The Weather Station
I’ve been a Bloc Party fan ever since I heard their 2005 debut, Silent Alarm. Understand why if you see them tomorrow, Saturday, September 17th, at the Neptune. I can remember catching their very first show here, at Neumos, quite some time ago (2007 perhaps?). While waiting for doors to open, I waited in a fish and chips shop connected to the venue. As I got my dinner, the British band was sound checking. The cook/cashier said how great the bassist is. Absolutely no kidding. Bassist Gordon Moakes contributed a huge and all-things-fantastic sound to the quartet. Although he has since departed Bloc Party, that vibe lives on. Now onto their fifth album, 2016’s Hymns, even with lineup changes (you never know how that risk will turn out), Bloc Party is fabulous.
Bloc Party – photo by Rachael Wright
Grab your tickets right here.
~Dagmar
Escondido, a folk rock duo from Nashville, Tennessee, headlined the Tractor in April. Jessica Maros, from Vancouver, Canada, who worked with Band of Horses’ Bill Reynolds in another pairing, KUZIN, and Taylor James, a Mount Vernon, Washington-born touring band member of several bands, including Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, comprise the band. See what great combinations can be made? Escondido returned to Seattle with a September Bumbershoot appearance (we’ll have photos of that show too!), but first, Escondido photos by Tino Tran:
Escondido – photos by Tino Tran
All ages venue the Vera Project has Atlanta, Georgia rock band Gringo Star on its stage this Friday, September 16th. Let me get this out of the way first: There’s no reason on earth why you haven’t acquainted yourself with their latest album, the excellent The Sides And In Between (Gringo Star album four). Not only has it been out since August, but you can hear the work for free over on Flood Magazine (thanks Flood!!!) and on Spotify. The music is groovy and handsome and I want to live in it. I can see why the group’s press release mentions that the founding members, brothers Nicholas and Peter Furgiuele, grew up “cutting their teeth on the likes of Buddy Holly, The Animals and The Kinks.” I recommend catching the ’60s, mind-filling rock live.
Gringo Star – photo by Vincent Monsaint
Need more information on the show? Head to the Vera Project’s event page.