Britain’s Portishead played the WaMu Theater in Seattle on October 24th. There’s talk of new Portishead material for 2012, and lucky American fans got to see the band in only a few stateside dates. The awesome Geoffrey Gribbin went to the Seattle show and returned with the following shots:
Kate Voegele, dressed up as Tinker Bell for Halloween, wowed the crowd at Chop Suey on Capitol Hill last weekend. This was Kate’s second show in Seattle in the past four months – and I hope she doesn’t wait so long until her next visit.
It had been far too long since I’d been to the Crocodile, and this particular occasion was hotly awaited, at least for me.
The Drums’ latest album Portamento sadly didn’t do much for me on record, but I’d heard such good things about the band that I wanted to give them another shot, live this time. Hailing from Brooklyn, The Drums are one of those bands that have already hit it big in the UK, but haven’t quite made much of an impact over here in the US. I tend to gravitate toward those bands, not sure why.
Opening the show as Io Echo, who started out with a bit to be desired. But once they got going, io echo reminded me of Metric, but with more synthesizer and ambient vocals. Think Metric and New Order. “When the Lilies Die” sounded straight out of a Sophia Coppola film, and I really dug it. While the lighting was less than excellent, the music accompanying the strobes made for a promising evening.
After Io Echo’s both frantic and ethereal set, English band Veronica Falls took the stage for some good old-fashioned rocking beachy shoegaze. Again, it was very 80s-inspired, with simple guitar riffs and rather deadpan delivery. If you like The Raveonettes, you’ll love Veronica Falls. I certainly did. Not only were they a great band to listen to, they were quite charming on stage, which is what I’ve found with most UK bands.
The Drums
Lenka is one of my favorite Aussie artists and I had the pleasure of shooting her set for the seventh time last Saturday … but who’s counting. Even at five months pregnant, Lenka didn’t miss a beat and was her usual bubbly self at the Showbox SoDo.
Canadian rock band Art of Dying was formed in 2004, signed to Intoxication Records in 2009, and released their first major label debut CD Vices And Virtues in May 2011. Heather Fitzpatrick not only captured the band rocking out on stage when the Uproar Festival played at White River Amphitheatre, she also took on the role of interviewer, chatting it up on a tour bus with their guitarist, Tavis Stanley.
Your band has stated that you are known for being the last people out of a venue at the end of a concert because you are so busy talking to the fans. You’re now starting to play larger shows such as Uproar, are you finding it less or more difficult to connect with your fans after every show?
Tavis Stanley: It’s never really difficult, because we enjoy it. There’s just more people to meet. We get more & more people coming up to us saying how this song or that song got them through a particular situation, and we’re getting more of that. It gives us more energy, and we love it. We want to meet everybody and connect with as many people that we can. That’s why we’re out here. We’re all in this together and we couldn’t do it without the fans. I see it as one big family.
If you could play on stage with any other musician, living or deceased, who would it be & why?
Tavis Stanley: Oh, I’d have to get up and jam with Jimmy Page one day. He’s still alive, so it could happen. We’re all pretty big Zeppelin fans in this band. He’s the one guy that if I could get up and play some riffs with him, that would be amazing.
When not playing music, what other things do you guys like to do?
Tavis Stanley: We like to play poker. . . a lot. On our days off, we usually set up the table right here (on the tour bus) and everyone sits around, we have a few beers and play a bunch of cards. We also like to hit the Casinos here and there. But yeah, we love to gamble and play poker, and that’s kind of our thing. That’s a fun thing we all do.
What has been your most memorable show or venue and why?
Tavis Stanley: That’s a tough call. There are so many good ones. You know what? Earlier this year we played Rock On The Range in Columbus, and that was a pretty big turning point, I think. We noticed our single, “Die Trying” was in the TOP TEN and for the first time when we played in Columbus the crowd just sang every word so loudly. It’s when we kind of all went like, “Holy Cow”, we’re getting played. People are noticing the song. It was a pretty cool moment.
Who were your biggest musical influences growing up?
Tavis Stanley: Well, Led Zeppelin honestly. Mostly the classic rock stuff, is what I was weaned on. You know, Aerosmith, The Doors, The Beatles, Hendrix, and I got into a lot of the old “Blues” guys like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolfe, B.B. King. Right through to you know, the grunge stuff. We’re all big STP (Stone Temple Pilots) fans. . . Alice in Chains.
