Photos: Boom Chick @ the Comet

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I never seem to get tired of watching and listening to a duo playing a combination of either bass or guitar with drums. I doubt I will get tired of it. This kind of thing requires so much creative thinking and action on the part of each musician, and I saw an incarnation of it in New York’s Boom Chick the other night at the Comet. Don’t know this band? I’d say have a listen to “Sweaty Dress” or “When I Don’t Love My Rock N’ Roll” and enjoy. I need to see them again.


Boom Chick – photos by Dagmar

Photos: Brent Amaker and the Rodeo @ The 2012 Capitol Hill Block Party

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In a haze of smoke Brent Amaker and the Rodeo performed an afternoon set at Saturday’s Capitol Hill Block Party. Neumos was hot and packed with people to watch six cowboys in white play some excellent country music. And what’s sexier than six cowboys dressed in black, the Rodeo’s usual color of choice? Six cowboys dressed in full white outfits. Frontman Brent Amaker brought a whip. The entire band and dancer Bunny Monroe brought the dark, good times. Brent Amaker and the Rodeo’s new album, Year of the Dragon, hits stores this fall – New material was awesome, and if you missed this show you can catch them in August at the Gorge’s Watershed Festival.


Brent Amaker and the Rodeo – all photos by Dagmar

More photos of Brent Amaker and the Rodeo @ Capitol Hill Block Party

Show Review & Photos: Ray Davies @ the Neptune

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Ray Davies @ the Neptune, 7/14
Show Review & Photos by Dagmar


Ray Davies

Ray Davies is one of those artists who could play songs for days and still not scratch the surface of his great songs. As a songwriter he could have quit early in The Kinks with “You Really Got Me” or “Tired of Waiting for You” or “All Day and All of the Night” and kept a place of honor in rock music. That he didn’t just content himself with a few hits shows that he is a songwriter of talent matched with determination – one of Britain’s great poets. Listen at least to “Sunny Afternoon” and you will understand. The Kinks’ influence was all over the Brit Pop movement. Blur wouldn’t have existed without The Kinks, and probably neither would have Pulp. Later Arctic Monkeys must pay a debt, as well as any power pop band.

Enough about a legacy – what about now? Why is The Kinks’ and Davies music still so fabulous? Why ask why? I’d say the songs are timeless. You can move them about from year to year and they are flexible and relatable. The songs are poetry matched with music, and I will always love them. “Where Have All the Good Times Gone,” “Low Budget,” “Till the End of the Day,” and “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” all songs he performed, sounded fresher than ever. Actually the whole set sounded totally revived. Davies performed one of my favorites, “Waterloo Sunset,” a song of such intense beauty and the way Davies did the song – it was just exquisite. Another song I was really glad Davies had on the set list was “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” a song that is another relatable piece. When Davies talks about being an individual, this one positively, and “A Dedicated Follower of Fashion” negatively perhaps hit hardest at the concept.


Ray Davies

Davies’ music and words always reach emotions just so. “Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl,” one of Davies’ earliest songs – I believe he said he wrote it at the age of sixteen – was moving, but Davies could not remember the girl’s name he wrote the song about. And it doesn’t matter. It’s the sentiment and music that live on in art.


Ray Davies

Show Review & Photos: Tempting Tarts Burlesque @ the Rendezvous

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Tempting Tarts Burlesque Present: Live From New York! @ the Rendezvous Theater, July 13th
Show Review & Photos by Jimmy Lovaas

All good shows should start off with a mustachioed man doing “Dick in a Box” and end with a Catholic schoolgirl humping a houseplant. Luckily for the audience at the Tempting Tarts burlesque show last week, that’s exactly what they got – and both bits were easily the highlights of the show.

The Tempting Tarts are a Seattle burlesque troupe that puts on a monthly show at the Rendezvous. This month’s offering, Live From New York!, was an eight-act show that took well-known SNL skits and infused them with the sexy fun Seattleites have come to expect from the well-respected Tarts since they formed in 2007.


Tempting Tarts Present: Live From New York! Cast


Ginger Mae Chevalier


Roxy Ruby


Shirley Tempting

The night got started when the curtains pulled back to reveal a large gift wrapped box – replete with a big bow on top – out of which popped the host for the evening, Dickie Gazoonie. The moment Dickie’s costume was visible the audience burst out laughing. He was wearing an amazingly bad 1980s suit with the requisite gift box covering his nether regions. The act, of course, was based on the nearly iconic “Dick in a Box” skit made famous by Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake, but Dickie took it about three steps further. After removing the lid from “gift box” Dickie had the crowd in stitches as he passionately dug around the inside of the box, ultimately producing a corn dog, which he proudly displayed for the crowd. And then he proceeded to eat it while dancing.


Dickie Gazoonie

As well as the eight formal skits, special guest and self-proclaimed merlesque dancer (a male burlesque performer) OtterPop! delighted the crowd with some SNL-esque “commercials”.


OtterPop!

Other acts included:

Special guests Ginger Lu and Shirley Tempting had a hilarious homage to the I need more cowbell skit. Ginger Lu rocked the cowbell like a seasoned cowbell pro (do they have those?) and Shirley Tempting was in a cow costume, complete with udders strapped to her midriff. Redhead lovers were thrilled and people who find hot chicks wearing udders were delighted. Personally, I was turned on and hungry for Oreos.


Ginger Lu & Shirley Tempting


Ginger Lu

The charming, awkwardly sexy, and super cute Scandal from Bohemia performed two pieces with her sidekick, Hoi Polloi – a man with a pretty solid sense of comedic timing and a decent voice. Hoi sang Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” while Scandal danced and stripped around him trying to gain his attention. Hoi was oblivious, of course, and the harder Scandal tried, the more clothing she discarded. The audience ate it up. Scandal and Hoi’s second piece was The Weekend Update. Honestly, that skit was a bit of a mixed bag despite the fact that the skit’s writing was fairly solid. Hoi dropped some funny jokes on the crowd and Scandal’s oblivious smile paired well with it. But for some reason, the audience just wasn’t feeling the vibe. Whatever.


Scandal from Bohemia & Hoi Polloi


Hoi Polloi

Roxy Ruby and Pepper Patootie did a fun Blues Brothers’ bit called Mission from Gawd, taking the stage in black fedoras, dark sunglasses, and black suits. And if there’s anything sexier than two hot ladies dressed in all black, it’s two hot ladies only half dressed in all black. And if there’s anything sexier than that, it’s two hot ladies wearing nothing but sequined shorts. Mission from Gawd? Mission accomplished.

Jezebel Vandersnatch. Now before continuing, let’s just stop a moment to say that awesome stage name out loud and admire it: Jezebel Vandersnatch. Well, Jezebel performed the song “Everybody Loves a Lover” and a lover she must be, as the crowd loved her, too. Her piece was the equivalent to a musical guest on SNLand her sultry and seductive voice oozed out while she batted her eyes and made the audience swoon. I’m not an idiot. I got my picture taken with her after the show.


Jezebel Vandersnatch

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