Show Review & Photos: Arctic Monkeys @ Showbox SoDo

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Bands like Arctic Monkeys, bands that ram into the world and actually influence their own generation and the one right behind them, come around every 20 years or so. They’d also rightly influence musicians who have been on the scene longer, and with their fourth album, Suck It And See, they’ve shown again why they are a revered yet riotous band. Singer/guitarist Alex Turner has maintained his momentum as one of the key voices and keen lyricists of his time, and his delivery of those lyrics on Wednesday evening was spot-on. Arctic Monkeys’ music is intricate – though never convoluted – with changes in tempo, mood, lyrical meaning all within a single song. When you let yourself just go within their music – you are just that – gone and become one with it.

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Show Review & Photos: Rob Zombie @ WaMu Theater

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Rob Zombie co-headlined with Slayer on Saturday night for the Hell on Earth Tour in a show that made me fear hell not one bit – with these guys it seems like it just might be okay. Still hot, but okay. I’m not sure how Rob Zombie and his band, John 5, Ginger Fish and the inestimable Piggy D. play every night on that stage. Standing in the pit taking pictures was a melting experience (those flames – real, real flames) and I wasn’t even wearing a cape as Piggy D. and Rob Zombie were wearing. Even if you didn’t like Rob Zombie’s music (but I do, I do!) you’d get a kick out of the entire stage set up. In addition to real flames there was a giant screen with B movie footage – including the original Planet of the Apes – if you like female nudity then there was plenty of topless females dancing and frolicking on the screen as well. You like amazing goth-rock-end of the world outfits? Then Rob Zombie and company are your guys. Piggy D., in a cape, pelts and shiny iron mask to begin with appeared to be what my imagination might come up with if you wanted to know what a real Viking would look like. Zombie, in what should have been mismatched attire somehow brought it all together – leather button trench coat? Check. Half-striped pants? Check. Armor chest coverings. Check.

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Show Review & Photos: Brent Amaker and the Rodeo @ the Tractor Tavern

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Brent Amaker and the Rodeo plus Bunny Monroe messed up the Tractor Tavern really nice and dirty for a Spark & Shine (that’s their label) showcase. I also like to think they played extra well for me, because I extended my birthday celebrations last month to include seeing five cowboys play some sexy, perverse country music with marvelous babe Bunny Monroe. The band played new songs “Captain of the Ship,” “Tiger Inside,” and “Tequila Cerveza” (also now known as my new favorite song). They played a great combination of previously released material too, including “Break My Broken Heart,” “Sissy New Age Cowboy,” “Blood Dripping Blood,” “Doomed,” “Man in Charge,” and a stirring cover of Kraftwerk’s “Pocket Calculator.” The Tractor is an especially good venue for the band – it’s got great visibility and of course a country vibe to it. It also has great sound so you can hear the lush vocals, and the crispness of both lyrics and music. Germany gets plenty of Rodeo shows – and Denmark gets one – starting in September.


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