Show Review and Photos: Reykjavik Calling @ The Crocodile 11-05-10

Posted on 11/09/2010 by BBS

Photos by Jill Rachel Evans
Review by Chris Senn

Reykjavik Calling brought unique, unprecedented collaboration to the Crocodile on Friday night. The free show showcased some of the finest Icelandic musicians from Seattle’s sister city of Reykjavik collaborating with Seattle musicians. The four pairings in this showcase were inspired and inspiring. The exchange of culture was uplifting. Most of the musicians met each other earlier that morning only adding to the spontaneity and immediacy of the collaborations. The free show attracted a large crowd to say the least. The line stretched down the block and around the corner and The Crocodile reached capacity shortly after the first pairing took the stage.

That first pairing was Icelandic singer/songwriter Petur Ben and Seattle musician Nathan Wade of Nathan Wade and the Dark Pioneers. Highlights included a Hank Williams cover and a spirited audience sing along of “Billie Jean.” Ben’s own songs featured muscular acoustics. “Something Radical” contained the hard hitting, progressive and memorable lyrics “Do something radical and do it fast, focus on the future and forget about the past.”

Next up was Lay Low paired with Jason Dodson from The Maldives. Dodson started off with The Maldives’ standard ” Lay Low has a thick accent when she speaks but when she sings her accent disappears. Her strong vocals seemed to float on a breeze and her guitar work was technically perfect. Her performance of “By and By” seemed so effortless.

Rachel Flotard and Rusty Willoughby were paired up with Sindri from the band Seabear. Before bringing Sindri to the stage Rusty and Rachel captivated the audience with their vocal harmonies. In honor of what would have been Gram Parsons’ 64th they performed a faithful version of the Parsons/Emmylou Harris duet “Streets of Baltimore.” Sindri came out to play a few solo songs. He joked about just doing his stand up routine instead of playing. He was able to get some laughs with some of his one liners. He used three microphones. One was normal with the two others featuring various degrees of reverb. “I Sing I Swim” is a beautiful, understated piece of pure pop escapism.

Before the last act of the night, KEXP DJ and host of Reykjavik Calling, Kevin Cole, took the stage with a member of the Icelandic Consulate to talk about the collaboration to bring this event together. KEXP worked to make this show possible and the sponsorship of Iceland Air made it a free show.

The showcase, up until now, had been mostly acoustic. That was about to change. John Roderick from the Long Winters took the stage, plugged in his electric guitar and performed a short set of Long Winters’ songs culminating in a rousing version of “Nora” featuring Icelandic musician Mugison on keyboards. His sound varies from straight forward singer-songwriter fare to what I can only describe as hardcore sludge blues. He has a distinct gravely, bluesy soul voice peppered with heartbreak. During “I Want You,” a song about his wife leaving him then coming back, the audience could almost hear his heart breaking.

Most of the night’s musicians joined Mugison on stage to close out the show with an impromptu performance of “Stand By Me.” This was a most unique experience. To see favorite Seattle musicians creating and collaborating with top Icelandic musicians in a venue as small and intimate as the Crocodile was a real treat. Thank you Reykjavik and please come back soon!

Petur Ben

Petur Ben and Nathan Wade

Nathan Wade

Petur Ben

Nathan Wade

Lay Low and Jason Dodson

Lay Low

Jason Dodson

Rusty Willoughby and Rachel Flotard

Rusty Willoughby

Rusty Willoughby and Rachel Flotard

Rusty Willoughby

John Roderick

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John Roderick

Mugison

Mugison and John Roderick

Mugison

John Roderick

Kevin Cole from KEXP

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Photos: Doomtree @ Neumos

Posted on 11/09/2010 by Dagmar

The week got out to a great start with the help of Doomtree, the 7-person touring rap crew who hit Neumos on Monday night. The all ages crowd got jumpin’ early and didn’t stop till the final CD was scratched. They were opened by local rap artist Dessa. You can see the entire set here.

Doomtree

Dessa

(City Arts Fest) Show Review & Photos: She & Him @ 5th Avenue Theatre 10/23/10

Posted on 11/09/2010 by BBS

Review: Chris Senn

Photos: Brad Curran (courtesy of City Arts Fest)

The first inaugural City Arts Fest came to a close with a final night show by indie darlings She & Him at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre. Rock concerts rarely ever take place at the 5th Avenue. It was great to see and hear Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward in such a great venue. They were on their game all night delivering a much needed, heavy dose of sunny Brill Building by way of California folk-pop.

Much of the audience who arrived early was grateful, I’m sure, for the large overhang at the entrance of the 5th Avenue as the first big fall storm started moving in a couple of hours before. While we were waiting for the doors to open it was nice to be able to get out of the rain. Once the doors opened, the audience entered the lobby and everyone was able to take in the oriental decor while enjoying a beverage or snack.

The opening band, Mike Coykendall and the Golden Shag, took the stage precisely at eight o’clock to attempt to fire up the crowd. While Coykendall and his band were very technically talented their music came across as a quite derivative version of rock and roll. Coykendall’s vocals came across as a cross between Tom Petty and Michael Stipe. I kept trying to pick his own sound, own voice out from between all the influences but I wasn’t able to do it. Coykendall and the Golden Shag played a good half an hour of professional rock and roll but nothing you haven’t heard before.

She and Him took the stage to deafening cheering and applause. This show was their first proper in Seattle and they didn’t disappoint. The audience love for the band was apparent as many in the crowd resorted to hooting and hollering with tons of “I love you Zooey’s” thrown in. I thought M. Ward was going to get left out of the love fest when I heard some guy a few rows behind me shout at the top of his lungs “I love you Matthew!” All was right with the world. Zooey took the stage bouncing and bubbly jumping around the stage while switching between vocals, tambourine, keyboards and ukulele. They proceeded to play through most of their material from their two studio albums and interacted with the crowd nicely. M. Ward shared an embarrassing story about asking a concierge what street the 5th Avenue Theatre was on, garnering a fair share of laughs from the crowd. Zooey Deschanel referred to Seattle as her second home (she’s married to Ben Gibbard).

Deschanel’s songwriting has grown in leaps and bounds from their first album to their second. This was evidenced in the lush arrangements and vocal harmonies of crowd favorites “Thieves” and “In The Sun.” Her voice hit flat spots during a few songs but was generally strong and hitting the right notes. Not enough can be said about the subtle, understated guitar work of M. Ward. His guitar work adds a complex layer to the music while not overpowering the beauty and flow of the vocals. Highlights included the vocal-centric “I Thought I Saw Your Face Today” and the acoustic gem “Brand New Shoes.” They turned up the energy and volume on “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here,” closing with the entire band pitching in on vocal harmony. They indulged their Brill Building pop side with “Black Hole,” and set closer “Sweet Darlin’.”

One of the great things about She and Him is their ability to cover someone else’s song in a way that makes it completely their own. I was disappointed they didn’t play their wonderful cover of the Beatles’ “I Should Have Known Better” but they did cover Smokey Robinson’s “You Really Got A Hold On Me” featuring great vocal give and take between Zooey and M. Ward. The encore consisted of a couple covers that finally allowed M. Ward to let loose vocally and on guitar. They covered the Sonny West tune “Rave On,” popularized by Buddy Holly. To close out the show M. Ward let loose with his best Chuck Berry impersonation as the band tore through “Roll Over Beethoven.” This inspired the audience to shimmy and shake in the aisles, ending the show on a high note.

The first annual City Arts Fest was over and I’d say it was a success. There’s a few things to iron out with the ticketing process and the biggest let down is the chronic overlapping of the musical acts. That being said the music lineup was one of the strongest I’ve seen for an inaugural festival and the additional art events and exhibits provided great opportunities to expand horizons and experience something new. I can’t wait to see what they’re planning for next year.

(City Arts Fest) Show Review & Photos: Roky Erickson, The Maldives, Massy Ferguson @ Neumos 10/21/10

Posted on 11/09/2010 by BBS

Review: Chris Senn

Photos: Sarah Jurado (courtesy of City Arts Fest)

If the term “Rock and Roll Survivor” was in the dictionary, a photo of Roky Erickson would surely accompany it. Roky is a Rock and Roll survivor in every sense of the word. He came to prominence in the mid to late 1960s as the front man for the 13th Floor Elevators. They were hailed as one of the very first psychedelic rock bands and their version of Roky’s song “You’re Gonna Miss Me” is still, to this day, Roky’s best known song and a psychedelic rock classic. The band became well known to authorities, who arrested Roky for possession of one marijuana joint. He pleaded insanity to avoid a jail sentence and spent a few years in a psychiatric hospital instead. He was taken advantage of by greedy, leeching music executives. By the early nineties he was struggling to survive on $200 a month and in poor health. Now in 2010, against all odds, he’s back with a new album, louder than ever and just as psychedelic. He and his band took the stage at Neumos as part of the City Arts Festival, determined to overload the senses. Local favorites Massy Ferguson and The Maldives opened.

The night did start out slow as I arrived when doors opened at 7 to find no one in line, no one inside Neumos and only about ten people hanging out in the attached MOE Bar. The audience started to steadily arrive but by the time Massy Ferguson took the stage at 8:30 the crowd numbers were still fairly anemic. Massy Ferguson didn’t disappoint, returning to rock the venue where they held their CD release show the month before. This has been a very significant month in their young career. After the CD release show they played the Seattle Weekly Reverb Fest and won a Reverb Fest contest to represent Seattle at Iceland’s Airwaves Festival. They just arrived back from that trip two days before this show. If they were suffering from jet lag it didn’t show at all. They sounded perfectly in-sync musically and vocally and many of the new songs sounded better at this show than they did at the CD release show. Their working-man band persona was on full display on “Pretty Plain Jane,” “Powder Blue” and “Long Time.” They slowed it down a little with “Wenatchee Eyes” but, for the most part, they delivered a straight forward set of driving blue-collar rock.

The Maldives, the second band on the bill, are Seattle’s resident Americana roots-rock band. They play more shows in Seattle than any band I’m aware of but their raucous performances never get old. Their vocal harmonies are always spot-on and their musicianship always top-notch. Tonight was no exception. It was a surprise when I realized they had a female drummer filling in for their regular drummer. I unfortunately didn’t catch her name but she more than held her own by bringing a crispness and power to the beats that added another layer to The Maldives’ already rich sound. Their up-tempo “Tequila Sunday,” and their galloping slow burner “Time Is Right Now” were crowd favorites. Leader Jason Dodson expressed his appreciation and honor to open for Roky Erickson by declaring his band “the loudest fucking band I’ve ever heard.” They closed the set with an extended jam session on “Blood Relations.” After hearing them tear through this song so many times I’m still convinced that the opening acoustic guitar chords are a nod to The Church’s “Under the Milky Way Tonight” and the guitar towards the end a nod to The Cure’s “Boy’s Don’t Cry.”

The crowd numbers swelled from the underwhelming numbers earlier in the night to near capacity by the time Roky Erickson took the stage. Of all the countless concerts I’ve attended in smaller venues this past decade I don’t think there has been one with a larger percentage of gray/silver/white haired concert goers in attendance, let alone up at the front of the main floor crowding the stage. Roky and his band took the stage and instantly turned the volume and distortion up to 11 in an attempt to blow our eardrums out the back of our collective heads. Roky’s brand of psychedelic garage rock has a decidedly defiant punk edge that no one from his generation, save maybe Neil Young, could ever hope to match. Adding to the psychedelic atmosphere was a video screen backdrop showing video and images that reminded me at points of Willy Wonka’s drug trip boat ride through the tunnel in the 1971 Gene Wilder film. Other video included blurred city lights, storms and other weather phenomena and an optical illusion of a woman dancing with her oversized dress endlessly flowing about her. At times, unfortunately, audience members could barely hear Roky sing over the amped up musical distortion. “True Love Cast Out All Evil” provided one of the less distorted moments of the evening. The lyrics really hit hard. I made it down from the upstairs railing to the main floor in time to see a middle age man in a polo shirt break out his very best air guitar during the exceptional punk-metal of “Stand For the Fire Demon.” He closed out the set with a version of “You’re Gonna Miss Me” that was as loud and direct as the rest of the set. It’s one of the few shows I’ve ever been to where the headlining band didn’t come out for an encore. Just the fact that Roky Erickson is still standing and able to share his music loud, live and onstage in 2010 is testament to his survivor status. The show itself is his encore. The first of what I hope will be many more.

Roky Erickson

The Maldives

Massy Ferguson

(City Arts Fest) Show Review & Photos: Gogol Bordello, Forro in the Dark @ Showbox Sodo 10/20/10

Posted on 11/09/2010 by BBS

Review: Chris Senn

Photos: Rachel Vernon-Cole, Heather Catherine, David Lichterman (courtesy of City Arts Fest)

Gogol Bordello turned the Showbox SoDo turned into a fist-pumping, sweat dripping, free-spirited gypsy punk dance hall to close out the first day of the inaugural City Arts Fest, a festival dreamt up, created and executed by Seattle’s City Arts Magazine. Except for a few ticketing/wristband issues it seemed to function smoothly. As with any first year festival, there will be growing pains.

The staff was coordinated to expedite audience entry as quick as possible. The line was long when I arrived due to the uncertainty of the wristband entry. Many weren’t sure how many spots were reserved for wristband holders so they showed up early. I’m sure they’ll iron out these kinks in the future.

The opening band, Forro in the Dark, is a New York based collective of Brazilian expatriates. Their mission is to bring forro, the hip-swiveling, dance floor filling, rural party music of Brazil’s northeastern states to the masses. They’re a little long-winded on stage, turning many of their shorter three to four minute recorded versions of songs into ten to fifteen minute largely instrumental excursions.

Jorge Continentino expertly rocked some mad flute solos that at times sounded like something you’d hear on a Jethro Tull record. Mauro Refosco impressively changed speed and tempos on the zabumba drum as if it was second nature. The musicianship was definitely there but the songs were stretched out a little too long. If they shorten and tighten the live versions up a bit I think that would help the audience retain more energy and interest. To close out their set they brought that crazy Gogol Bordello band leader Eugene Hutz out for one song. Boy did that fire the audience up and hint at the high energy set to come.

Gogol Bordello came out blazing. Their unique brand of gypsy punk and their unrestrained energy got the crowd going right away. The bodies in the mosh pit, with their arms flailing, waving and pushing, ended up going forwards, backwards, sideways and slantways. Inner gypsies came out of the woodwork and let their freak flag fly as dancing groups and circles formed in the beer garden, upstairs bar, near the entryway and anywhere else one could find a few inches of open space. An older woman danced off to the side like no one was watching and Gogol Bordello completed the atmosphere with their sing along style vocals and raucous Eastern European influenced jams.

Gogol Bordello stuck largely to material from their excellent new release, Trans-Continental Hustle, sneaking in a couple older gems along the way. “Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)” and “Pala Tute” were a couple of highlights and both featured spirited sing-alongs even though I’m guessing the majority of the crowd, including myself, didn’t understand all of the words. Gogol Bordello does a great job of showcasing diverse culture and different ethnicities. They sing in multiple languages including English, Ukrainian and Spanish, sometimes within the same song. Their slower, softer side was showcased on the exceptional “When Universes Collide” starting with Hutz on acoustic guitar and Yuri Lemeshev on accordion. Other highlights included the Hebrew-folk of “Start Wearing Purple,” a song whose rhythm would be right at home at any bar mitzvah. They sped “Wonderlust King” up a little from its already frantic pace, whipping the crowd into a frenzy in the process. “Trans-Continental Hustle” falls somewhere in between Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard” and a gypsy rave-up. Gogol Bordello put their all into it and left the audience wanting more, even after the third encore!

On another, related note …

I was also fortunate enough to attend the City Arts Fest kick off party. It included the first look at Seattle 100: Portrait of a City, a project by photographer, filmmaker and social artist Chase Jarvis. Jarvis took portraits of 100 tastemakers, trendsetters and innovators in Seattle. The subjects included Nancy Pearl and Sherman Alexie from the literary world, Vince Mira, The Blue Scholars and The Saturday Knights to represent Seattle music and 95 More. They also served great hors d’oeuvres and free drinks. My advice, if you can afford it, is to buy a VIP wristband to City Arts Fest. Not only do you get guaranteed entry into every “main stage” show, you also get an invite to the Kick Off Party!

Gogol Bordello

Forro in the Dark

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