Photos: Reignwolf @ The 2012 Capitol Hill Block Party

I got to Neumos early so I wouldn’t miss Reignwolf‘s set, and lucked out with one of the best spots in the house to see and hear his show. When I say hear his show, I mean it’s actually a full-body absorption of sound. I could feel the music in my upper gums. Neumos became a miasma, a smoke- and people-filled marsh, then Reignwolf got started, didn’t let up and played a fiercely demanded encore. Reignwolf has several shows planned in the coming months. Don’t miss any of them. Reignwolf, I love you.


Reignwolf – all photos by Dagmar

More Photos of Reignwolf @ Neumos

Photos: Boom Chick @ the Comet

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

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

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