Holidays

I was able to take off some time during the Christmas and New Years holiday weeks which was nice.  The family and I went to Canada to visit my wife’s family and we had a good time just visiting and watching movies in my father-in-law’s new home theater room.  We also played in the snow a bit.  Mainly it was just nice not to be working for a little while, but it was a little tough getting back into the groove of work this week.

The English Beat

Thurs, Dec 4th I had the chance to see the English Beat perform again.  It was a great show.  I still love the old ska music.

Summer Fun at the Bite and the Block Party

So as I said I would, I did make it to the Bite of Seattle and the Capitol Hill Block Party (CHBP) the past few weekends.  At the Bite I had some good food and then watched several comedians perform.  The CHBP was actually held both on Friday evening and Saturday this past weekend.  That was a lot of fun.  There were some really good bands and a great atmosphere.  The weather was also great for both weekends, even though we got some rain on both sides of this last weekend.  Anyhow, the sad thing about the CHBP is that they had 4 stages that were going at the same time, and we had to decide which one to watch.  So of course I didn’t get to see them all, but I think I made some good choices.  Here is the list of the bands I got to see with my thoughts on them (just in case anyone cares).  Also, I think several of them are definitely worth mentioning in case you are into checking out cool bands you probably don’t know about.

 

On Friday I saw:

Common Market – this guy is good (and local), but hip-hop is not really my favorite.  But if you’re into that, you should definitely have a listen.

U.S.E. (United States of Electronica) – this is moderately good local band, but really popular for its fun/party vibe.  Definitely a band to enjoy in person.

Les Savy Fav – these guys are really good musicians but the lead singer is a bit off his rocker (they are from NY, btw).  Another band to see live because you just won’t understand what I’m talking about until you see the lead singer do his thing.

Black Eyes and Neckties – this is a fun local glam rock band.  They also put on a good show.

Thee Emergency – this group is really cool!  They have a sort of "heavy soul" sound, which comes from a 70s classic rock sound (and fashion sense) mixed with a great female vocalist who really gives some feeling to her words.  And the lead guitarist of this band had me thinking that Hendrix would have liked this guy.

Vampire Weekend – it was pretty cool to see this new NY band who hit it big recently visit Seattle for our little party.  This band is pretty good, but it seemed the younger crowd were real fans.

 

On Saturday I saw:

Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground – interesting name for an interesting local band.  They are really good, but have a unique, northweestern style that you’ll have to check out for yourself to see if you like it.

The Cave Singers – again, another local band that is uniquely northwestern.  Very talented, but a bit folksy.  I almost thought I could have heard this stuff at Woodstock (assuming I were actually old enough to have been there).  On a nice sunny day, their music was nice to listen to.

Darker my Love – another really cool soul rock band (but from cali).  They really rocked the house (they played inside Neumo’s).

The Builders and the Butchers – this band also rocked the house, but in a more Irish rock meets northwestern folk way (they happen to be from Portland).  They had two drummers just hitting away on some drums, but not on kits, and their lead guitarist actually played both a mandolin as well as a banjo.  Their music was very cool though and I can’t recommend them more.

The Hold Steady – this is a local band that has been around a while and really felt some love from Seattle.  Unfortunately I had never heard of them and the music was only OK in my opinion, so I kind of just hung out with the crowd and enjoyed the nice evening.

DeVotchka – this was the headliner on Sat.  These guys were really talented, but I just couldn’t really get their sound.  The music was Russian influenced rock, as if the name didn’t give that away.  But I was really impressed with their peformance.  The drummer was amazing, one guy switched between the violin and the accordian, and a female band member switched between a large upright double bass and a huge tuba.  That was pretty entertaining, but just a little funny to me; so I called it a night half way through their show.

 

Anyhow, I guess you can see how I got my money’s worth. 🙂 

 

My summer so far

My summer so far has been pretty good. Sadly the weather only just started getting nice a few weeks ago, but we are definitely trying to enjoy it now.  I actually just got back from Florida (took the family to Disney World) in late June, which was really, really hot.  So, it was great to be back to the milder Seattle climate.  Anyhow, our vacation was fun and now my family is taking their annual ~3 weeks in Canada while I hang out here.  It’s not a bad deal.  Although I’m working most of the time, I get some free time to myself.  I’m still playing softball in my work league and hoping to get out golfing sometime soon too.  July 4th was fun also.  I bought some good fireworks, combined them with my neighbors and we held our own private display.  And now I’m hoping to go to the Bite of Seattle this coming weekend and the Capitol Hill Block Party the next as I often do in July.  They are always fun ways to get outside and eat some good food and listen to some good music.  So, its going well so far; just hoping the weather stays great for a while! 

Ladytron

I was finally able to see Ladytron on Saturday (at the Showbox), which was pretty cool.  I wish their portion of the show had been a bit more exciting, but I guess I might have expected too much for a techno band.  They at least showed up with a nice presentation and played many of their popular songs, which was good enough for me.  The opening band also made up a bit for Ladytron’s lack of energy.  The opening band was called Datarock, a techno inspired band out of Norway, and when they came out on stage wearing their matching red, datarock branded track suits with matching big, dark sunglasses, I knew we were in for a performance.  They had energy to spare and did their best to get the audience pumped up for Ladytron, even though they had a bit of challenge with the lethargic Seattle crowd.  Not to mention that they were fairly certain most of us had never heard of them before.  I any case I was fairly impressed with them even if not everyone else was or just didn’t care about anyone else that night in comparison to Ladytron.  I had a great spot right in front of the stage so I had a nice closeup view, even though the shots I took with my crappy cellphone camera might not demonstrate this very well. 

Busy Spring

Oh man, this has been a busy Spring.  Just trying to keep up with work but not much else.  I have been playing and refereeing basketball, but that has not taken up much time.  In my spare time I have mainly been watching movies at home and practicing guitar.  Sadly, not much else has been going on.  Looking forward to a more exciting summer as we have a few trips planned that should make life a little more interesting. 🙂

Dan Deacon

Sunday evening I went to see Dan Deacon at Neumo’s.  It was a pretty fun show.  For those who don’t know him, he is a very odd duck.  He plays a collection of electronic gadgets and looks the part (very nerdy).  But he is a fun personality and has a great time with the crowd.  I myself had never heard of him up until a week ago when a friend showed me some of the video clips of him available on Youtube.  But he has a pretty good following in Seattle.  I guess we are fairly nerd friendly here.  And of course I being a bit of a nerd myself was really impressed with the creativity of this artist.  Dan likes to perform in a sort of DJesque way, even working with his setup on a table within the crowd rather than on stage.