Show Review & Photos: Deck the Hall Ball 2010

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Deck the Hall Ball, the annual holiday concert event put on by 107.7 The End, happened last Wednesday at WaMu Theater, featuring Broken Bells and The Black Keys as the headlining acts, and special appearances by The Presidents of the United State of America and Santa and Jesus. The full evening of music kicked off early with the sonic musical distortions of Sleigh Bells, a musical duo consisting of Derek Miller on beat production and guitars, and Alexis Krauss on vocals. Though they performed with next to no stage lighting, Krauss’ dramatic hair flips and smooth, harmonic vocals perfectly accompanied the heavily crunched power chords and beats supplied by Miller.

Both the mood and atmosphere brightened considerably with the next act, The Temper Trap, making their third Washington appearance.  These Aussies didn’t disappoint, with their grand guitars and pulsing rhythms offset by lead singer Dougy Mandagi’s high-pitched vocals.  The Temper Trap played many well-known songs, including “Fader,” Love Lost,” and “Sweet Disposition.”

Popular 90’s band Cake made their comeback performance next, and to the shock of many, they really took the cake.  Lead singer John McCrea’s lyrical wordplay was masterful and not far removed from the band’s recorded sound. Although Cake didn’t “go the distance” in their short time slot, they performed a bunch of old favorites including “So Sick of You,” and “Never There.”  Cake is also preparing for the release of their new album on January 11th, and their full-length Seattle show at the Moore in February 2011.

Another ’90s band, Jimmy Eat World, took the stage next, and despite the current popularity of their new hits “Coffee and Cigarettes” and “My Best Theory,” their live show wasn’t very compelling.  Still, hearing a bunch of their classic punk rock songs such as “The Middle” and “Sweetness” brought back a lot of memories, and the band’s rendition of “Last Christmas” seemed to be a crowd favorite.

By far the loudest, most exciting act of the evening was The Black Keys, whose well-known blues rock was full of smooth guitar riffs supplied by Dan Auerbach, and Patrick Carney’s furious drumming.  The Akron, Ohio duo played a number of hits off their 2008 album Attack and Release, including “Strange Times” and “I Got Mine,” as well as songs from their newest album Brothers.  With full energy and visual appeal, The Black Keys stole the show, delighting old fans and winning over new ones.

Broken Bells wrapped up this year’s Deck the Hall Ball, starting with a sleepy, instrumental opening song, following up with one of their current hits, “Ghost Inside.”  If a good chunk of the audience left the building after The Black Keys, even more took off after “Ghost Inside.”  While James Mercer and Danger Mouse’s side project may have produced a handful of radio hits, their live act just doesn’t appeal, especially when following a superstar act by The Black Keys.

Please enjoy photos from the show below! More photos are available here.

Sleigh Bells @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Sleigh Bells @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010
Sleigh Bells

Presidents of the USA @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010The Presidents of the United States of America

Temper Trap @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Temper Trap @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010The Temper Trap

Jimmy Eat World @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Jimmy Eat World @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010Jimmy Eat World

Cake @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Cake @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Cake @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Cake @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010
Cake

The Black Keys @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

The Black Keys @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

The Black Keys @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

The Black Keys @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

The Black Keys @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010
The Black Keys

Broken Bells @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Broken Bells @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010Broken Bells

Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Deck the Hall Ball 2010Atmosphere @ Deck the Hall Ball 2010

Show Review & Photos by Suzi Pratt

Photos: Helladope, k.flay, Kung Foo Grip, DJ Darwin & El Mizell @ Chop Suey

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Helladope, k.flay, Kung Foo Grip and DJ Darwin all opened for Das Racist recently. Also on hand was El Mizell to get things started. I had never seen any of these acts (okay yes I have caught parts of DJ Darwin’s sets) and each one put on enormously fun sets. k.flay was a revelation, especially with “CRAZYtown”. You can see my coverage of Das Racist here.

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Kung Foo Grip

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El Mizell

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DJ Darwin

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Das Racist Gets Introduced

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DJ Darwin

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El Mizell

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all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of k.flay @ Chop Suey
Gallery of Helladope @ Chop Suey
Gallery of Kung Foo Grip @ Chop Suey

Show Review: The Dandy Warhols @ Showbox Market 12/03/10

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In the mid-nineties there existed a short period of time where great rock bands hit it big with novelty songs. At the time these novelty songs raised the question of whether the bands would be remembered past tomorrow or whether they would be relegated to one-hit wonder status. “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” by the Dandy Warhols is probably the best example. It was actually taken from their second album, The Dandy Warhols Come Down.

Fortunately the Dandy Warhols, with their psychedelic tinged, Velvet Underground influenced rock and roll, thrived. They released album after solid album and their songwriting seemed to strengthen with each album. Fifteen years later, they’re better than ever. On Friday Courtney Taylor-Taylor and company played the Showbox in support of their retrospective release, The Capitol Years 1995-2007.

A Dandy Warhols show is made for a venue like the Showbox. Their sound filled the room effortlessly and the bohemians, out in full force, were dancing throughout the entire set. The set was a “greatest hits” set in a sense. The Dandys reached far into their back catalog, playing a spirited version of “Lou Weed.” The crowd danced and clapped along to “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” as Zia McCabe rocked the tambourine.

The majority of the set came from the Dandys’ next two releases. “Thirteen Tales” from Urban Bohemia was represented well with “Godless,” “Get Off,” “Horse Pills” and “Bohemian Like You,” their biggest hit. “Solid,” the song that served as the theme to Undeclared, Judd Apatow’s ill-fated show about college, received a warm welcome as well. “We Used to Be Friends” was another high-energy highlight. The Dandy Warhols sounded great all night. McCabe and Taylor-Taylor routinely addressed the audience, keeping us engaged between songs.

Unfortunately they failed to play “All the Money or the Simple Life Honey” and “Every Day Should Be A Holiday.” Despite these omissions the Dandys couldn’t have put on a better show. As good as their set at Bumbershoot was earlier this year, this show was better. The Dandys are best as a small venue/club act and at the Showbox they proved it once again.

Review by Chris Senn

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The Dandy Warhols – photo courtesy of their MySpace