What do a mail carrier, a mime, babies, a clown, a leprechaun, a ballerina, and a band all have in common? They appeared in zombie form at this year’s Red, White & Dead Zombie Walk, which took place on July 7th in Fremont. There’s a lot to learn about Zombies; we recommend you check out an awesome film called Zombies: A Living History – and enjoy photos from special contributor, Kirsten Buckman:
I am not sure when the last time was I have seen more women in one place than at Nicki Minaj’s show on Saturday night. The age range was quite large as well – and the second largest demographic was Minaj’s gay male fanbase. I was fascinated by the audience, such as one male fan who wore a neon rooster headband. Her fans sported glitter, tight clothes, short skirts, skimpy dresses, heels no shorter than 3 inches . . . some were more casual, but they were all there to have fun and marvel at the wonder that is Nicki Minaj. There was a lot of pink everywhere, as there should be. It’s a joyful color and made an appearance onstage as well in Minaj’s pink and black striped tiger ensemble with short shorts. There were backup dancer – male and female – and Minaj revealed how devastatingly hot a performer she is. Also, I purchased a Roman necklace, one of my favorite recent buys.
Nicki Minaj – all photos by Dagmar
Photographer Simon Krane photographed Eighteen Individual Eyes, Fitz and the Tantrums, Light Asylum and Imaginary Cities, who all played the final day of this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party. Eighteen Individual Eyes hit another local festival when they appear at Bumbershoot on September 2nd. Do not miss them.
Eighteen Individual Eyes
Fitz and the Tantrums
Light Asylum
Imaginary Cities
Franz Ferdinand @ Showbox at the Market, August 9th
Show Review & Photos by Dagmar
Franz Ferdinand
Praise, praise, praise Franz Ferdinand for luxuriating in that disco-funk-rock thing they’ve got going on. The Glasgow-based quartet had a small break after album three, 2009’s Tonight, and it’s proven to be a powerful reboot. What a treasure it was to see singer/guitarist Alex Kapranos, singer/guitarist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy and drummer/backup vocalist Paul Thomson at work again.
Best-known for their debut worldwide mega hit “Take Me Out,” Franz Ferdinand has continued to create original music. I am not sure how it feels to be the most emulated band in rock – which is what they are, don’t doubt it. I would imagine it creates a pressure to change how you sound. But really, I don’t think Franz Ferdinand cares. That is, I think they are so rightly involved in their own art process they’re not going to worry about copycats. The band is such a serious musical force, and as a fan I always appreciate how absolutely seriously they take their work. They never sound tired, and they know just the right amount of any given instrument to emphasize or to play down when needed.
Franz Ferdinand
That they’ve got legions of fans who adore this handsome band is just common sense and good taste. Some of these fans grabbed up tickets to their Seattle Showbox appearance, and were treated to a rampant and outrageously good show. It’s not just because I’m a fan that I felt this incredible force around this show – the entire audience on the floor hopped up and down like mad things during several songs. It was a glorious sight. My top songs of the evening were the sleazy and taunting “Michael,” the dramatic “The Dark of the Matinée,” “Can’t Stop Feeling” mashed up with Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” – joining that disco rock oh so well with an Alex Kapranos channeling the Queen of Disco – and if I could write in caps here I would: “Shopping for Blood.” This song is one of my absolute Franz Ferdinand favorites. I hoped they would perform it. And yes, they did, within an inch of its life. The song is a classic tour de force. Other goodies included “No You Girls,” “Ulysses,” “The Fallen,” “Do You Want To” and the Nick McCarthy-led “Tell Her Tonight.” Oh, and “Take Me Out.” The new material, which will no doubt appear on the yet to be released album this year, was also hot stuff. “Scarlet Blue” and “Trees and Animals” in particular stood out to me as especially fabulous.
The last song of the evening was “Outsiders,” which ended with each band member drumming on Thomson’s kit. Thomson did a little crowd surfing, and then they were gone. Leave your audience wanting more, right? I want more.
The Last Summer on Earth Tour with Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd and the Monsters and Cracker – August 3rd @ Marymoor Park
Show Review & Photos by Jimmy Lovaas
If this is in fact the last summer on Earth, then I’m glad I spent some of it in Marymoor Park celebrating with a few thousand of my closest friends.
Barenaked Ladies headlined The Last Summer on Earth 2012 tour when it stopped in Redmond. The tour’s lineup also included Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and Cracker.
Barenaked Ladies
Rock? Got that. Blues? You betcha. Teen pop? Naturally. (Wait, wait, wait. . . say what? Well, more about that later.)
The alt rock group Cracker kicked things off with Big Head Todd and the Monster’s keyboardist, Jeremy Lawton sitting in on bass. They started off with their biggest hit, “Euro Trash Girl,” and plowed through their top songs in a short 20-minute set with precision. The highlight of their set was “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me” from their 2009 album, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey. The song is everything the band is: quirky, catchy and fun enough to distract from the deeper message of their songs.
Cracker
Up next was Big Head Todd and the Monsters. If you’ve never seen BHTM live then you have seriously missed out on some blues-rock jam band greatness. The band’s namesake, Todd Park Mohr, mixes an approachable rock sound with a strong blues root to create a groove that you just can’t help move to. The set’s highlight, for me at least, was the band’s cover of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” which let Mohr fly on his guitar. Seriously, that guy can shred the guitar when he wants to.
Big Head Todd and the Monsters
The act I was most excited about seeing, but unfortunately the most let down by, was Blues Traveler. The band is celebrating their 25th anniversary and I am sad to say that the years may have taken their toll on John Popper’s voice, or at least its ability to bounce back from a cold. Almost immediately his voice was sounding a little rough; he sipped water continuously, but it was plain to see that that he was in pain. Though, to be completely fair, Popper showed more heart than about any singer I’ve ever seen. I have no idea how he made it through his set without hacking up a vocal chord, but I’ll never question his heart again. That man was there to perform come hell or high water and as usual, the harmonica virtuoso basically blew everyone away with his insane harp skills.
Thankfully the Marymoor crowd responded well to Popper’s effort and livened up a great deal by the time the band finished their first song, a cover of Sublime’s “What I Got.” Not surprisingly, when the band played their biggest hits like “Runaround” and “Hook,” the crowd was dancing in the aisles and singing along.
Blues Traveler
The crowd-pleaser however was not one of their better-known tracks, but rather “Carolina Blues” from their 1997 album Straight On Till Morning. The song featured a local 12-year-old guest guitarist named Caspian Coberly. The audience seemed to adore the fact that such a young kid was jamming with Blues Traveler’s massively underrated guitarist, Chan Kinchla. I have to think that we’ll be seeing more of Coberly and judging by the giant smile that was on Kinchla’s face when he was playing with the young man, he would probably agree.
Last up were fan-favorites and the Grammy-nominated Canadians, Barenaked Ladies. BNL has been touring as a quartet since band co-founder Steven Page left the group in 2009. And, while Page’s absence is unfortunate, lead singer and guitarist Ed Robertson was more than capable of leading the night’s performance.
Their set included their best-known tracks like The Big Bang Theory theme song, “Brian Wilson,” “Pinch Me,” and sing-along mainstay, “If I had $1,000,000.” It also included their biggest hit, “One Week” – the song everyone likes to sing, but everyone butchers the lyrics to.
Barenaked Ladies