Emily King – photo by John Rudolph
The soulful and jazz-smooth Emily King played to a very crowded Crocodile in Seattle. Over the past few years, King has opened for the likes of Alicia Keys and Sara Bareilles. In 2015, she became the headliner and for good reason: she is so good.
Last night, she performed her 2015 album, The Switch. Her voice and style drew me in and I was sold. I shall be looking for The Switch.
DOWN NORTH
The always witty Meiko played at the Tractor last year during a stop on her US tour. While popular in the States, the one-quarter Japanese singer-songwriter is a huge hit in Japan. I’ve had the pleasure of photographing Meiko numerous times since 2008, when she stopped at Chop Suey during the Hotel Café Tour. I’ll have the pleasure once again when she returns to the Tractor with Marie Digby on March 23 for their Hapa Tour.
Meiko
The pop duo Rocky’s Revival, headlined at the Columbia City Theater’s Date Night event – with wine, chocolates, and roses. Sisters Kalina and Kiana Campion got their start as teens when they formed the all-girl band called The Raymies in 2007. Being huge Beatles fans, the name “Rocky’s Revival” is a reference to The Beatles’ song, “Rocky Raccoon.” Playing mostly original songs plus a few covers, the sisters’ beautiful harmonies were a perfect fit for the evening. It was appropriate that “Yellow Submarine” was their encore song – complete with kazoo. Be sure to check out their new EP, Newspaper Dream, to be released later this month.
Rocky’s Revival
I attended the opening party for EMP’s Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty exhibition in November, 2015. EMP put on a dance party, fashion contest and added special Hello Kitty-themed items to its menu. The big merch line into the Hello Kitty store proved that attendees definitely wanted their Hello Kitty items.
The exhibit includes a huge variety of Hello Kitty art and memorabilia. As promised, the display explores Hello Kitty’s pervasiveness. The English-born/Japanese-created icon is beyond famous. But there’s a weird ambiguity about what, exactly, Hello Kitty is. Sanrio has said, “Just like Hello Kitty isn’t a human, she’s not quite a cat either. . . Hello Kitty was done in the motif of a cat. It’s going too far to say that Hello Kitty is not a cat.” It doesn’t matter. I like to think she’s an adorable hybrid. In the the cyborg sculpture (see below), she appears as a goddess.
I took a few photos of items, and was impressed by the exhibit. There’s a Hello Kitty response to practically everything. Erasers, tampons, tarot cards. . . The Hello Kitty-themed art work is also worth seeing close up. Remember: 5 generations of children have grown up with her.
Follow this link for details. Closes May 15, 2016.
~Dagmar
Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty – photos by Dagmar
More Photos of Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty
One of my favorites, Britain’s the 1975 made their third visit to Seattle when they played Showbox SoDo last winter. After a listen to the group’s first album, The 1975, many others have likewise embraced them. With an elegant pop quality to their songs, the Manchester-based 1975 made the sold out venue dance. And while I waited for the show to begin, I heard a woman say, “This is like a religious experience.” I didn’t want to be creepy (a problem generally part of eavesdropping), but I wanted to yell at her, “I know. I know.”
My top songs: “The City,” “M.O.N.E.Y.,” “Chocolate,” “Sex,” “Settle Down,” “Girls,” “fallingforyou,” “Love Me,” “A Change of Heart” and “Somebody Else.”
~Dagmar
The 1975 – all photos by Dagmar
