I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes forsake some of the local bands and groups I see on a regular basis for the chance to catch a big, world-touring national act. I was presented with such a choice when Yeasayer's main stage set time conflicted with Champagne Champagne's Neumo's performance Friday, and I initially went with the hip, non-local name. But after standing through the first half or so of the Brooklyn band's performance, I found myself thoroughly bored.
I tried to stick around to see a few of my favorite songs live, but even those came off as thin, muted and even soulless. Since I had somehow secured a spot near the front of the beer garden I popped into Neumos to check out the Champagne gang, who I have seen live, in all seriousness, upwards of 10 times. What I found was a packed, sweaty mass of fans transfixed at what was going down onstage.
MGMT's Block Party set unfortunately validated the notion that they are listless and boring live performers. And that is painful for me to admit. You see, I'm sort of one of those MGMT fans, the kind that would probably wear neon war paint and a headdress to their shows if the textbook hipster irony wasn't so apparent to me.
The set started off well, with the group choosing to go with "Destrokk" - a rather random track from the Time to Pretend EP- as the set opener. Despite its obscurity, it is a damn good song, and I proceeded to join about four other people in singing along to all the words. The following songs sounded great too - highlights included "Flash Delirium," "The Handshake" and crowd favorite "Electric Feel.
But when frontman Andrew Vanwyngarden picked up an acoustic guitar to start off a lengthy run of downtempo songs - "Pieces of What," "Weekend Wars," etc. - things quickly went downhill. Seriously guys, nobody wants to hear 12+ boring, directionless minutes of fucking "Siberian Breaks" at a festival, especially when you play it with zero movement, expression or emotion. Come on guys, you're the headliner of all headliners at this thing.
Ear Candy's elctro-pop homegirl Lisa Dank hasn't been around Seattle lately. Instead of kicking it in the Emerald City for the first half of the summer Ms. Dank spent the last few months overseas in Europe perfecting her craft performing shows in front of adoring and appreciative crowds. I ran into her at Capitol Hill Block Party last weekend and she told me the fans in Europe ate up her brand of pop powered by 1980s synths and polarizing (and also occasionally raunchy) lyrics.
Now that she is back on the right side of the pond she's back to rocking shows in Seattle and she returns to the stage tonight at the Crocodile. The show, aptly titled "Revenge of the Laser Tits!" will feature Concours d'Elegance and Twerk Ethics. The show is being hosted by the biggest (quite literally) rapper in Seattle, Billy the Fridge, who is another Ear Candy favorite. Mr. The Fridge will be pulling double duty tonight when he performs at the Rendezvous as part of a burlesque and wrestling show where he will debut some new material featuring the wrestling clown Ronald McFondle.
The cost for the Crocodile show is $10 and the Rendezvous show will set you back $12.
Showing up to work on the night of Shabazz Palaces’ first live public performance was one of the worst decisions I've made in 2010. As such, I made it a point to see them in action as the first set of my Block Party experience.
Though both of the group’s EPs/microalbums have been in my regular rotation since last year, I had some doubts about how SP’s dark, heady beats and relevant, afrocentric lyrical content combined with its South End/CD aesthetic would translate with the party-ready, almost entirely white crowd. Especially considering many in attendance likely hadn't heard a single Shabazz Palaces track before Friday.
From the start it was evident the sound levels were mixed in a horrendous manner, not exactly placing the odds in SP’s favor. One moment Ish Butler's vocals were clearly audible over the turned-down laptop backing track, the next they were drowned out and garbled by the thunderous bass knocks. Still, the beats were unlike anything many of the attendees had heard before and the masses looked intrigued by the electronic and traditional instrumentation on stage.
Being that I'm a big fan of Blitzen Trapper and hadn't seen them live for about a year and a half, my CHBP experience was based around seeing the best freak-folk band PDX has to offer. In short, they didn't disappoint.
They opened with their usual clash-and-clatter freakout, then segued right into "God and Suicide," one of the highlights from their 2008 breakthrough record Furr. With a heavy dose of new material to play around with, the set suffered a bit early on as the crowd warmed up to the still mostly unfamiliar tunes. "Love and Hate" was a highlight, however, thanks to an added hard rock crunch and stoned-out outro jam.
A middle portion of acoustic songs, which could have derailed the momentum at dusk, actually turned into the most crowdpleasing part of the show. "Lady In the Water" was much more beautiful live, and the audience especially appreciated "Furr," BP's biggest hit to date, and showed it by clapping along as it hit the first chorus.
Wolf Parade has been at the forefront of post-millennial indie rock since their 2005 debut Apologies to the Queen Mary and they proved it by packing the Showbox Market to capacity Monday. This wasn't just any Monday either, but the one following the first ever three-day Capitol Hill Block Party. Since the Montreal quartet caters to a similar crowd as the bands at said Block Party, many attendees likely braved vicious hangovers, sobering work days and aching, tired bodies to see one of Wolf Parade’s rare Seattle appearances. Although these factors could've worked against them, Wolf Parade brought their A-game and played a tight, technical, impressive set of fan favorites and new material.
Starting with "Soldier's Grin," the opening track from sophomore album At Mt. Zoomer, Wolf Parade sounded synced up and ready to wow the crowd. The band followed with "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)" and vocalist and keyboard master Spencer Krug told the audience "We're gonna try to place a good mix of old and new songs."
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Wolf Parade has been at the forefront of post-millennial indie rock since their 2005 debut Apologies to the Queen Mary and they proved it by packing the Showbox Market to capacity Monday. This wasn't just any Monday either, but the one following the first ever three-day Capitol Hill Block Party. Since the Montreal quartet caters to a similar crowd as the bands at said Block Party, many attendees likely braved vicious hangovers, sobering work days and aching, tired bodies to see one of Wolf Parade’s rare Seattle appearances. Although these factors could've worked against them, Wolf Parade brought their A-game and played a tight, technical, impressive set of fan favorites and new material.
