Show Review & Photos: Motörhead @ Showbox SoDo

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Friday night’s Motörhead set ripped open with “We Are Motörhead,” off 2000’s We Are Motörhead. Its lyrics include we shoot power to your heart, a mighty thunderbolt/ we charge all batteries, we save your soul, and I didn’t doubt these promises at all when it came from Motörhead’s Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee. The show was at capacity, and the audience and band’s energy maintained an excited level from the rampant first songs, including the excellent and new “Get Back in Line” to the closing songs “Ace of Spades” and “Killed by Death” (before an encore), to all the meat in between (with a glorious Just ‘cos You Got the Power). Lemmy’s growl came out strong in the venue (the venue’s a giant rectangle, so I never know how a voice will carry in there) the guitar and bass guitar sounded big just like they should, and I totally enjoyed Mikkey Dee’s drum solo. How great was it to hear Lemmy roar, live I´m a lone wolf ligger/but I ain´t no pretty boy? Very, very great. All of Motörhead’s work abides because of its concrete quality, its unique essence.


photos by Dagmar


photos by Alex Crick


photos by Dagmar


photos by Alex Crick


photos by Dagmar


photos by Alex Crick


photos by Dagmar
&
review by Dagmar

Gallery of Motörhead @ Showbox SoDo

Show Review & Photos: K. Flay @ Neumos

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K. Flay is a genius. The singer’s beats are hypnotic, her lyrics just so damn witty, and her delivery is second to none. I saw the San Francisco hip hop artist’s second appearance in Seattle on Monday, and next time she’s here you must check her out. She can rap fast (I mean really fast, like auctioneer fast), she can rap anywhere in between and her rapping conveys emotion, humor and absolute joy of the art. A couple of my favorites were “No Duh,” with its blah blah blah in the background and the super “So Fast, So Maybe”. K. Flay’s a wonder – one coming full speed at your brains.


K. Flay – Review & all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of K. Flay @ Neumos

Photos and Review: Led Zepagain

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Rolling Stone magazine described Led Zeppelin as “the biggest band of the 1970s” and “the heaviest band of all time”.

With 300 million albums sold worldwide, 7 Billboard number 1 albums, Led Zeppelin was one of the most prolific and legendary rock bands ever. Trying to emulate such a band would be a tall order for any band. Led Zepagain did that and then some.

Led Zepagain played at The Showbox At The Market on Saturday night to an incredibly enthusiastic crowd. The audience was quite diverse in age but single-minded in spirit. They were huge fans who knew everything about Led Zeppelin; they were not going to appreciate a simple imposter. There was Dave and his 20-something daughter. Both could recite lyrics from many Led Zep albums.

Fans cheered with excitement as Irishman Swan Montgomery (Robert Plant), Jim Wootten (John Paul Jones), Steve Zukowsky (Jimmy Page), and Jim Kersey (John “Bonzo” Bonham) entered the stage. When Zukowsky struck the first chord, everyone knew it was going to be a great show… and, it was.

Led Zepagain played for more than 2 hours and they were as tight at the end of the show as they were at the beginning. The Led Zeppelin savvy crowd would have stayed for 2 more hours if given the opportunity.

In 2004, Jimmy Page attended a Led Zepagain show at The House of Blues in Hollywood. If Led Zepagain is good enough for Jimmy Page, I say DO NOT miss their next appearance in Seattle.








Led Zepagain

Photographer: John Rudolph

CD Review: Content by Gang of Four

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Gang of Four is one of the very important British bands, with influence all over the musical landscape. This year they released Content, their eighth album – and first in sixteen years. What Jon King and Andy Gill bring out in Content is a selection of ten destructively sexy songs, placing them freshly in the new decade.

Starting with “She Said ‘You Made a Thing of Me,’” the unsettling rhythmic tones are set in every element, even the guitar. “You Don’t Have to Mad” might be my favorite track off Content. The song is distinctively Gang of Four, and the lyrics describe a drunken scene quite sordidly: You’d look good with no clothes on/I’ll take photos on my phone . . . You’re the one with the juice . . . Back to your place never mine . . . It’s the scene of the crime, I’m off my tits”. The layered backup vocals (you wish you could walk away) are awesome too. “Who Am I” and “I Can’t Forget Your Lonely Face” are two more excellent rock pieces. “You’ll Never Pay for the Farm” displays more of the punk side of Gang of Four – “You think you’re a winner, but you’ll never pay for the farm”. The song “I Party All the Time” grooves along, as does “A Fruit Fly in the Beehive,” an actually lulling and deep work. “It Was Never Going to Turn Out Too Good” incorporates an effectively altered vocal and “Do As I Say” is an exorbitantly key track – maybe this one’s my favorite. Closing out the album is “Far Away,” emphasizing the clear vocals on this album.

There’s not one misstep on Content. It’s a confident work that leaves me wanting them to make more new music.


Gang of Four – Content (Yep Roc Records – photo credit: Steve Gullick)

review by Dagmar