Show Review & Photos: Ramona Falls, Social Studies & the Ecstatics @ Doug Fir Lounge

Ramona Falls, Social Studies & the Ecstatics @ Doug Fir Lounge, 3/1
Show Review & Photos by Abby Williamson

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Social Studies

There are few bands that I will drive to Portland for. It means a full tank of gas, taking at least a day off work, and mooching off my friend and her grandmother, because I’m not about to get a hotel down there. Now, this time it was a little different because I was already planning on going to Portland, but I left a day early so that I could see Ramona Falls at the Doug Fir Lounge. Now you’re probably saying, “Abby why didn’t you just see them when they were in Seattle?” Well – they were playing in Seattle the night I was already going to be in Portland, so I had to adjust my plans. It was a very complicated weekend, to say the least.

Can I tell you how happy I am that I did adjust my plans? I love this band a lot, in a strictly platonic way, but still a lot. Seeing the band with new members and new instruments on stage made it a completely different experience from when I saw them play last year. The songs sounded new, and exciting, and refreshing. I usually get mad when bands switch around members all the time, but for Ramona Falls – it works. Brent Knopf is still the mad scientist behind the songs, and that’s really what matters.

Now I’ll stop gushing and talk about the other bands that played that night. The first band – very aptly named – was called the Ecstatics. Seriously, their name could not have fit better. They looked like a young Weezer, but had the performance style of one of those pop punk bands you used to hear on the radio like 6 years ago, when pop punk was still a thing that mattered. They didn’t sound like that – I need to clarify. The Ecstatics’ sound was reminiscent of Pigeon Detectives, Oxford Collapse, or Bishop Allen. They were certainly fun to photograph – the lead singer made some wicked guitar faces.

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The Ecstatics

The second band up – Social Studies – blew me away. I can’t say that I was happy with the lighting setup, but they sounded fantastic. Think Beach House mixed with School of Seven Bells – and you’ve got Social Studies. They were very now, very hip, and very, very good. I’m pissed at myself for not picking up a copy of their album while in Portland though. Stupid me.

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Social Studies

And then came the band I assume we all came to see – at least I came to see them.

Ramona Falls is unique in that when playing on stage, not one person is more prominent than another. The drums, synthesizer, guitar, violin – and Brent’s keyboard – are all on the same plane. No one is in front of one another, so they can all interact when they play, making their performance way more intimate, even in a relatively full Doug Fir. I, for one, love it. It’s easier to get photos of each band member that way.

The show was mesmerizing. The last time I saw them, guitarist Brandon Laws had literally just joined the band, but by now they’ve all been playing together for so long that it felt much more organic and less practiced, if you get what I’m saying. The new drummer had all kinds of awesome energy – especially on one of my favorite tracks, “Brevony.” It felt heavy and intense, just like on the record Prophet, and it was perfect. And on “Spore,” rather than having a bunch of synthetic sounds, the violin added this extra layer that wasn’t even present on the record.

Perhaps my favorite moment, however, was when Brent said, “this next one is a cover.” It wasn’t anything specific, but when Brent started the opening riff of “Wet and Rusting” by his old band Menomena, I could feel a grin reaching across my whole face. It made me so inexplicably happy. Well, the entire show made me inexplicably happy, but that “cover” was the secret ingredient that gave it that certain something.

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Ramona Falls

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Social Studies

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The Ecstatics

Giveaway: Dropkick Murphys CD, Patch & T-Shirt!

Dropkick Murphys are on the road right now, having released new album Signed and Sealed in Blood. They’ll be in the Northwest for a date with Sasquatch! on May 26th – although all are welcome to enter this contest, I’m betting a local reader will grab up this giveaway, which includes an autographed copy of the new CD, a Dropkick Murphys patch, and a Dropkick Murphys T-shirt. Be the first to email Dagmar ( [email protected]) with the correct answer to the following question by 4 PM PST on Friday, April 26th:

Which Broadway musical was the song “Tessie” featured in?


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Photos: Bat for Lashes @ Showbox at the Market

Bat for Lashes, the name Natasha Khan performs under, stopped at the Showbox at the Market last week during her US tour. She’s on the road in support of her third studio album, The Haunted Man. Earlier in the week Khan performed at Coachella and will be back in the States later this summer. Khan was nominated for ‘Best British Female’ in the 2013 Brit Awards.

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Bat for Lashes

Show Review & Photos: Johnny Marr @ Neumos

Johnny Marr @ Neumos, 4/15
Show Review & Photos by Dagmar

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Johnny Marr

With silver-painted nails Johnny Marr made his Seattle debut as a solo artist at Neumos on Monday evening. The British guitarist, who initially found success in the Smiths, and joined bands such as Modest Mouse and the Cribs, released The Messenger in 2013 – an album that proved Marr a formidable artist all on his own. There aren’t so many musicians who pull this off when they become solo artists. Listeners get used to hearing them in certain bands, and reject any efforts at individuality as derivative. Marr’s fans – and I’m including myself in this group – were clearly excited about his new, excellent work. Neumos was packed, fans knew the songs already, and lined up to buy merch after the show.

Marr’s also surrounded himself with some mighty good musicians for the tour: guitarist James Doviak and members of Manchester bands Haven and the Mutineers, drummer Jack Mitchell and bassist Iwan Gronow. While Johnny Marr’s music this time around is a solo project, as a live band this was strong and meaningful. Marr’s vocals were a perfect balance of the smooth and rough. And there was Johnny Marr playing guitar right in front of my face. Incredible.

The seventeen-song set list included ten tracks off The Messenger (only “The Crackup” and “European Me” were excluded), five Smiths tunes, Electronic’s “Getting Away with It” and one cover of “I Fought the Law.” It was all fantastic, and Marr kept the excitement going the entire show. “Say Demesne” was beautiful and alluring; “Upstarts,” “Lockdown,” “The Messenger” and “Generate! Generate!” were just essential pop greatness; and “Word Starts Attack” with its smash the mirror nod to the Who was like . . . what if the Who made a disco song and it was really awesome?

Since Johnny Marr didn’t originally sing the Smiths’ “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” “There is a Light That Never Goes Out,” London, “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” “How Soon Is Now?” or Electronic’s Getting Away with It, you might have found it a bit strange he chose to perform these songs. Strange – yet wickedly done. I found “London” especially, devastatingly done. It was harder and more aggressive. Which brings me to the audience. A pack of guys were moshing a little too roughly with elbows up, and Marr called out one in particular, “Oi. Oi.” Pointed at the guy. Guy didn’t notice. “Oi. You.” Asked him, “Aren’t you a little too old for that?” Guy calmed down. Told, “You look like a dick. The rest of you,” to the audience “look beautiful.”

I believe they later made up. It showed that Marr – an icon, a handsome, stylish one at that – was actually paying attention to us in the audience. When, a couple songs into the set, Marr said “Still got it,” the crowd thought he meant himself. But no, he meant Seattle. “I’m not that vain.” He paused. “Who am I kidding? With this haircut?”

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Johnny Marr

More Photos of Johnny Marr @ Neumos

Set list:

The Right Thing Right
Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
Upstarts
Sun and Moon
There is a Light That Never Goes Out
London
Lockdown
The Messenger
Generate! Generate!
Say Demesne
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Word Starts Attack
New Town Velocity
I Want the Heartbeat
I Fought the Law
Getting Away with It
How Soon Is Now?