Show Review & Photos: The Who & Candlebox @ Climate Pledge Arena

Posted on 09/29/2025 by Diane Webb

The Who - Climate Pledge Arena 2025-9-25 - Photo By Diane Webb

The Who Say Farewell in Seattle With Unforgettable Night at Climate Pledge Arena

Seattle (September 25, 2025) — The Who brought their “The Song Is Over: The North American Farewell Tour” to Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday night, delivering a career-spanning set that carried both the weight of history and the spirit of celebration.

Seattle’s own Candlebox opened the evening with grit and pride, powering through a raw and energetic set. Their stage was simple yet bold, anchored by a massive LED backdrop that read “American Made, Seattle, 32 Years of Rock & Roll” with the years 1993 and 2025 stamped beneath their name. Hits like “Change,” “Blossom” and the emotional closer “You” hit home with fans who sang along in unison. Kevin Martin led the charge with unrelenting energy, even wrapping his mic cord around his neck during one dramatic moment before jumping back into the song. The crowd’s response was loud and approving, cheering on one of Seattle’s own veterans of the grunge era.

Then it was time for The Who. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend walked on stage to a roar that could have easily passed for the band’s glory days, and the two legends made sure the energy stayed right there. From the opening chords of “I Can’t Explain” to the stirring encore of “Tea & Theatre,” the band gave fans a journey through six decades of music that defined rock and roll itself.

The setlist was carefully built to balance the essential hits, “Who Are You,” “My Generation,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” with songs that longtime fans cherished, like “Going Mobile” and “Cry If You Want.” “Baba O’Riley,” lifted the roof when Katie Jacoby’s soaring violin solo took center stage, while “Love, Reign O’er Me” turned the arena into a sea of voices joining Daltrey’s.

Nostalgia was everywhere, not only in the music but also in the stories, jokes and images projected on the screen behind them. Daltrey and Townshend traded humor about aging, poking fun at how they no longer play “like they used to,” though their performance suggested otherwise. The camaraderie between them and their bond with the audience made the night feel intimate despite the size of the arena.

As the final notes of “The Song Is Over” rang out, fans were visibly emotional, knowing this was more than just another tour stop, it was a goodbye. The band’s last acoustic performance of “Tea & Theatre,” with Roger and Pete alone on stage, felt like a love letter to the audience. When the credits rolled on the big screen to the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” and “The Inner Light,” it was clear The Who had crafted an ending as thoughtful and powerful as the music that brought them here.

For the thousands who filled Climate Pledge Arena, the night was more than a concert. It was a shared celebration of music, memory and legacy, a final bow from a band that changed rock history forever.

The Who Gallery

Candlebox Gallery

Candlebox - Climate Pledge Arena 2025-9-25 - Photo By Diane Webb

Show Review & Photos: Linkin Park & JPEG Mafia @ Climate Pledge Arena

Posted on 09/28/2025 by Diane Webb

Linkin Park - Climate Pledge Arena 2025-9-23 - Photo By Diane Webb

Linkin Park Return to Seattle With Emotional, High-Energy Comeback at Climate Pledge Arena

SEATTLE (September 24, 2025) – Eleven years after their last performance in Washington, Linkin Park made their long-awaited return to Seattle Wednesday night at Climate Pledge Arena, closing out their North American tour with a powerful, if slightly uneven, show. Joined by opener JPEGMAFIA, the evening carried both the weight of history and the spark of a new chapter.

JPEGMAFIA set the tone of the night with a ferocious set. Cloaked under red lighting, his chaotic beats and unpredictable stage presence jolted the crowd, creating the perfect foil for Linkin Park’s more structured but equally intense performance.

The anticipation inside the arena built slowly. Blue and purple lights draped the wide center-stage in shadows, while massive LCD screens displayed a stark countdown clock. At the one-minute mark, thousands of voices joined together to count down, and when the timer struck zero, the crowd erupted into a roar that shook the building. A single bright blue beam shot up from the stage floor to the ceiling, signaling the start of something big. One by one, the band members emerged, walking a narrow path that split the floor audience, waving as they climbed onto the stage. Then came the first chords of “Somewhere I Belong,” and the show was off.

The stage design was striking: a long and wide platform planted in the middle of the floor, with drums, turntable and keyboards anchored in the center while other members moved along both sides. It gave fans in all corners of the arena a close-up view, but also created a certain distance among the bandmates. Interactions between them were minimal, likely a result of the setup, and that physical separation occasionally carried over into the feel of the show itself.

Still, the production was immense. Towering lighting rigs hovered above the stage, alternating between strobes and razor-sharp vertical beams that shot downward like glowing pillars. During heavier moments like “One Step Closer” and “Bleed It Out,” the lights seemed to carve through the crowd as the music pulsed beneath them. During more atmospheric tracks, like “Castle of Glass,” the mood softened, drawing the audience into a reflective calm.

Over the course of four acts and a three-song encore, the band delivered 27 songs, weaving in new material such as “The Emptiness Machine” and “Heavy Is the Crown” with the hits fans came to hear. Mike Shinoda remained the group’s steady anchor, switching between guitar, keyboards, and rap verses. Joe Hahn unleashed a standout solo, joined by drummer Colin Brittain, while Emily Armstrong’s vocals were a revelation, her balance of clarity and raw power meshed seamlessly with the band’s signature sound. When her screams tore through “Crawling,” the arena roared in approval.

Highlights included a hybrid version of “Lost,” beginning with Armstrong on vocals and Shinoda on piano before building into a full-band surge, and a punk-tinged take on “Numb” that added fresh bite to a classic. The encore hit hard with “Papercut,” “In the End,” and “Faint”. And outro of Phil Collins’ “Take Me Home,” signaled the end of the evening.

And yet, there was a sense of disconnect that lingered. Fans leaving the venue voiced it too, something felt a little “off.” The setlist was strong, the execution tight, but perhaps the stage layout made it harder for the band to connect with each other and, in turn, project that synergy outward. It wasn’t enough to diminish the night, but it was noticeable.

What did resonate was the sense of gratitude. Armstrong’s presence confirmed that Linkin Park is not only carrying forward but evolving. Her voice stood out in every song, proving she belongs. Shinoda, Farrell, Delson, Hahn, and Brittain provided the backbone, and together, they delivered a reminder of what made Linkin Park a defining voice of their generation.

For Seattle, this was more than just a concert, it was a welcome home after more than two decades. The city embraced Linkin Park’s comeback wholeheartedly, flaws and all, and left looking forward to the band’s next chapter.

Linkin Park Gallery

JPEG Mafia Gallery

Jpeg Mafia - Climate Pledge Arena 2025-9-24 - Photo By Diane Webb

Photos: Noah Cyrus @ Showbox SoDo

Posted on 09/22/2025 by Kirk

Noah Cyrus @ Showbox SoDo – 9/19/2025
Photos by Kirk Stauffer

Noah Cyrus, the young singer-songwriter and actress hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, performed at Seattle’s Showbox SoDo on September 19th. In a beautiful, tiered and flowing blue gown, Cyrus headlined the venue with a sylvan-themed stage, complete with mossy hillocks and vine-enrobed mic stand. Cyrus, who possesses a gorgeous voice, released her second album, I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me, in July. The album, which she co-produced with Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold & Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, the 1975), and Dave Hamelin (from the Stills), features cool guest vocals by Blake Shelton (among others). She’ll complete this tour (named after the album) at the end of October, when she can maybe get some rest and process all the deserved success. While she’s focusing on music right now, catch her in the “Game On” episode of American Horror Stories. Why not? That’s a great combination and it’s almost Halloween.

Appalachian folk singer Gabrielle Hope opened.

Noah Cyrus – Photos by Kirk Stauffer

Gabrielle Hope – Photos by Kirk Stauffer

Grandaddy’s Triumphant Return at The Neptune

Posted on 09/21/2025 by Alex Crick

The indie rock band Grandaddy performs on a dimly lit stage at the Neptune Theater.

On a sold-out Thursday night at Seattle’s Neptune Theater, Grandaddy celebrated the 25th anniversary of their classic album, The Sophtware Slump. It was a triumphant performance that felt all the more meaningful for those who had seen frontman Jason Lytle’s solo tours, where he’d often speak about missing the collaborative spirit of a full band. Tonight, that spirit was fully restored.

From the first notes of “He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot,” the band worked their way through the album track-by-track, showcasing a level of musicianship and chemistry that proved their reunion was worth the wait. Songs like “Jed the Humanoid” and “The Crystal Lake” resonated with a mix of shared nostalgia and timeless melancholy.

After a short break, the band returned for a set of fan favorites, delighting the crowd with a cross-section of their discography before closing the night with a joyous, kinetic encore that included the hit “A.M. 180.”

Twenty-five years later, the themes of technological burnout and quiet decay on The Sophtware Slump feel more relevant than ever. This was a perfect night of music, proving that Grandaddy’s “sophtware” is anything but obsolete.

The Hives at the Showbox Sodo

Posted on 09/17/2025 by Mike Mitchell

I’m not a huge fan of ranking musical performances or other forms of art and entertainment. Identifying a show to be the best of the year or ‘in my top 5’ leaves me with the uncomfortable feeling that I’ve neglected other worthy artists and memorable performances. There are so many disparate genres and so many factors that impact how a gig comes across in the moment and the impressions it that remain after the performance has passed that it renders most comparisons or rankings irrelevant. That said, it would be ridiculous to deny that some sets hit especially hard, some performers are so undeniably accomplished and/or personally charismatic and so unique that you absolutely know that you’ll be revisiting their art in your memories for months and, perhaps, years to come. The Hives stop at the Showbox SoDo last night as part of their 2025 The Hives Forever, Forever The Hives Tour was one such performance.

The Hives are currently touring behind their most recent album, ‘The Hives Forever, Forever the Hives’, released in late August. The Swedish band is enjoying strong reviews for both their new release and their live performances. I will be the first to admit that I did not embrace the band enthusiastically when they began to draw attention in the US during the so called ‘garage rock revival’ of the early aughts. I (wrongly, it now seems) found the Hives, the Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the White Stripes to be overly derivative of the bands that they so obviously mined for influences. I was also, at the time, rather put off by the onstage persona of their frontman, Howlin Pelle Almqvist. His swaggering braggadocio and constant trumpeting of his band’s virtues rubbed me the wrong way. 25 years later, I’m more than willing to take my lumps and admit that I was hasty in my judgement. Or, to paint a clearer picture, I was wrong.

The Hives circa 2025 have proven themselves to be one of rock’s most consistently entertaining and satisfying live acts. Pelle Almqvist is a tremendously entertaining and charming frontman, tucking into the band’s robust catalog with gusto and joy, stopping only to (good naturedly) hector his adoring audience into singing along and cheering madly in-between songs. The two plus decades that have passed since the band’s rise to prominence have done nothing to dim his physicality and endurance, as he leapt about the stage, scaled the lighting truss, and took frequent trips into the audience to press the flesh with his fans. Almqvist has lost none of his swagger or exaggerated confidence, but the years have added a twinge of obvious bemusement to his routine. The sheer effort and sweat that he puts into a show has erased any qualms that I used to harbor about his schtick. There were approximately 1,800 raging Hives fans at the Showbox Sodo Monday night and Howlin Pelle Almqvist may have been the most enthusiastic of them all.

I would be remiss to not mention the rest of the band, as they’re every bit as crucial to the Hives’ sound and live presentation as their remarkable frontman. Nicholas Arson (Pelle’s brother) and Vigilante Carlstroem both shown on guitars and the rhythm battery of Chris Dangerous and The Johan and Only were solidly in the pocket all evening. I adore the Hives’ take on pop/punk (or garage/pop or garage/punk or whatever ya wanna call it). They effortlessly manage to inject melody and tunefulness into a genre that can at times trend toward the one dimensional while somehow maintaining the aggression that’s a hallmark of the very best punk rock. It’s a neat trick and it makes for a very entertaining night out. We were singing ‘The Hives forever, forever the Hives’ as we headed out into the night after the final encore and I expect I’ll be humming the melody to that tune until the next time these rockin’ Swedes visit the Pacific Northwest.

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