Tori Kelly brought her Unbreakable Tour to Seattle in support of her debut studio album, Unbreakable Smile. The enthusiastic audience seemed to know all the words to her songs – especially during the middle of her set, when she played a number of solo, acoustic songs from her YouTube days. During “Confetti,” a large group up front threw confetti in the air that covered the crowd. At one point Tori asked everyone to turn on their cell lights causing the theater to glow. And of course Tori did her customary 15-second video of the audience as she spun around on stage. Near the end of the show, a large object next to the keyboard player was uncovered to reveal a drum set. Tori sat down and for the next few minutes, she and her band’s drummer played short solos back-and-forth trying to outdo each other. It was only three years ago that I first covered Tori at Seattle’s tiny Vera Project. What a huge leap forward in a short period of time – playing a sold-out show at the 3000-seat Paramount!
Sasquatch‘s day two, Saturday, May 28th schedule recommendations include some rock and electronic music, and some comedy. I have silly and annoying tips for you about camping and musical experience as well: use your damn sunscreen. Even when it’s not sunny. Use your earplugs – not to drown out sweet sounds, but to save those ears for future enjoyment.
Why You Want to See Her: It always feels especially weird writing about comedians. Sometimes I just want to say, “She’s funny.” Same could be said for music: “It’s just good, okay.” But Leggero is funny. And she has guts. She used to appear on Fox News’ Red Eye, as did Amy Schumer. But before that might make you say ew, consider that comedians work fucking hard, and it’s equally competitive. Maybe worse. They need exposure.
Why You Want to See Him: Whenever Ty Segall comes up in conversation, everyone gets enthusiastic about him. He has that effect on people. Segall’s shows are wild; be prepared to rock.
Why You Want to See Them: Protomartyr’s scary good. Noisy. Good. The Detroit quartet played Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party last year, and though Sasquatch isn’t exactly local, it’s nice to see them back in the general vicinity.
Why You Want to See Him: This is not the football player, Kevin Garrett. Got it? Garrett, I learned via Wikipedia, co-produced and co-wrote a Beyoncé song, “Pray You Catch Me.” That’s recommendation enough.
Why You Want to See Them: Initially named Viet Cong (eventually we’ll have to stop pointing that out), Preoccupations is an awesome band with that ’80s/post-punk vibe. I love that. I caught their Barboza show in Seattle some time ago, and I hope they can keep momentum going with the name change.
Why You Want to See Them: Major Lazer’s one of the top five acts to catch at Sasquatch. The massively popular combination of Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire were simply the big thing for EDM in 2015.
On March 30, Showbox SoDo had a fantastic pairing of Underoath and Caspian. While Caspian hits Europe this summer, look out for Underoath at Riot Fest in the fall. We’re stoked to share photographer Josh Daniels’ pictures from the Seattle date. Simon Krane, another of Back Beat Seattle’s photographers, snapped a Seattle Caspian show in December, 2015, so we hope to make this a BBS tradition.
It’s not very often you get to see Danish singer-songwriters in the States, although we tend to embrace Nordic artists warmly in Seattle particularly. That’s because Seattle just has awesome taste. With that in mind, I recommend Dane Tina Dico‘s appearance on Sunday, May 29th at the Triple Door.
Dico, a prolific songwriter (she’s released ten albums – several reaching number 1 in Denmark – and 4 EPs!!), has incredible depth and emotion in her vocals and work. I’ve yet to see her perform live, but the online videos of her live performances are gorgeous. She writes songs of appreciation, and beautifully, she’ll be joined at the Triple Door show by her husband, fellow musician Helgi Jónsson. Jónsson has played trombone with Sigur Rós – pretty damn cool. Dico also has a songbook of some of her songs, an inspired idea! And, because I love the idea so much, here’s the link to her teaching “Room With A View.”
With all the great music coming through Seattle, it’s not very often that I make a point of covering the same performer twice in five months. But it was hard to pass up Phoebe Bridgers when she opened for the Violent Femmes last week at the Showbox at the Market. Accompanied by Harrison Whitford (bass) and Marshall Vore (drums), Bridgers played songs off her Killer EP (produced by Ryan Adams) plus several covers. Someone accurately described her as Elliott Smith meets Gillian Welch.
