Photos: NKOTBSB, Midnight Red & Matthew Morrison @ the Tacoma Dome

“Step one, we can have lots of fun/Step two, there’s so much we can do,” sing New Kids on the Block in their classic, “Step by Step.” The song is catchy and the lyrics are fun, and you don’t enjoy New Kids on the Block? then you’re missing seriously excellent pop. Likewise with Backstreet Boys, a band that released 4 quite great CDs in the 2000s well worth checking out if you stopped listening at 1999’s Millennium, and I’m not sure why you would have done that. I feel like New Kids on the Block’s Jordan Knight’s solo career is rightfully successful but should be so, so much bigger. I’m also very interested in this solo material Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter is working on. Can you believe Carter is still only 31? Together the bands are touring under the name NKOTBSB, and they sang and danced in Tacoma on Friday night. The only band members missing on this tour are New Kids on the Block’s Jamie Kelly and Mark Wahlberg plus Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys. Otherwise they are all there, and looking good. An early happy birthday to me comes courtesy of Brittney Bush Bollay‘s photos of the guys and openers, Midnight Red and Matthew Morrison.

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Photos: Two Gallants, The Mumlers & Broken Nobles @ Neumos

Ah, Alex Crick, thank you for capturing these photos of Two Gallants, The Mumlers and Broken Nobles as they played at Neumos last Monday evening. Here’s the skinny on what these bands are up to next: Two Gallants continue touring and blowing minds, The Mumlers look like they’ll be taking a tour break after a couple July dates, and Seattle’s Broken Nobles are playing the Comet on July 16th. Until next time, photos!:


Two Gallants


Broken Nobles


Two Gallants


The Mumlers

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Show Review & Photos: The Intelligence, Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds & TacocaT @ the Crocodile

The Crocodile hosted a wildly-fun Saturday night of garage rock on June 18th, featuring two local practitioners of the art, The Intelligence and TacocaT, along with Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds, best-known as a former member of psychobillly punk legends The Cramps and co-founder of The Gun Club.

TacocaT opened the show with an energizing set of nicely aggressive ‘60s-style pop-punk. A happy, familiar banter went on between the band and the hometown crowd, and TacocaT’s tight, melodic songs easily held the audience. They are fun, funny, good-looking, and definitely a good time – a wonderful antidote to a scene that sometimes takes itself a little too seriously at times. They’d fit in perfectly playing at a blowout backyard BBQ, but have an “it” factor there that could and should take them to bigger prominence.


Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds


The Intelligence


TacocaT

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Photos: 19th Annual Greenwood Car Show

The 19th Annual Greenwood Car Show was held on Saturday, June 25th in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. Classic cars, muscle cars, old City of Seattle buses, police cars and (gasp) a tow truck were all on display. Children were arrested and some drove a fire truck (okay not really). The talented Kirsten Buckman ventured out and snapped some shots of the automobiles:

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