Melt-Banana, a wonderfully noisy pair from Japan, visited Seattle for a July Chop Suey show. They don’t come around here very often, so you were lucky if you got to see them. You were also lucky because they’re just great. Photographer Alex Crick joined fellow fans in the excited audience (look at those fans’ happy faces!):
In July, Seattle’s KeyArena hosted Rush, the absolutely beloved Canadian rock band. So often Rush plays the large outdoor venues such as White River Ampitheatre (that’s cool, too), but this time Seattle proper got an indoor arena show! Oh yes, the lights and rock come through in these photos by Geoffrey Gribbin. And if you’re doing holiday shopping already, Rush R40 Live, Rush’s new live DVD, hits stores November 20th.
Rush
Jasmine Jordan brought her Smile Tour to the Columbia City Theater on September 18th. She and her four-member band plus two back-up singers, played soulful tracks off her Time Travel EP. With numerous family members and friends in the audience, Jordan wrapped up her set with the new single “Smile.” Local singer-songwriter Camila Recchio opened.
Jasmine Jordan
Camila Recchio
Californian duo El Ten Eleven (Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty) headline Neumos tomorrow, Thursday, October 8th. There’s always this talk or that talk about a band creating musical landscapes, or dreamscapes, or whatever, with their music, and though I hate to wobble into that cliche, these guys really do just that. For some reason I’m able to see their music in a way I can’t with many others. I can’t imagine listening to their albums separated into a set list; when I listen to their albums, I want to listen to the entire album at once. But Dunn and Fogarty know what they are doing. I am sure they’ll put together their tunes in a set list that makes sense. Another effective trick the pair excels at is making an instrument not even sound like itself. I’m listening to 2013’s Every Direction is North right now, and it’s made a bass not a bass. Pretty cool. They’ve gone a bit New Order-esque with new album, Fast Forward. My response to that is, “Yes! Awesome!”
El Ten Eleven – photo by Mark Owens
Tickets for Thursday’s shows are available here.
Singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke had a July headlining show at the Triple Door. The multi-talented artist, also a playwright and actress (she wrote and starred in her own play/musical, My Mother Has 4 Noses), has been a solo artist since 1994. We’re seeing more musicals in her future!
All photos by Dana Pleasant:
Jonatha Brooke