Click the photo for an audio slideshow of the band's performance. Photos by Laura Musselman.

When: March 30, 2007
Where: Tractor Tavern
Would Meatface Approve? Meatface has a beard, no?
And the Hipsters? Four eyes always see eye to eye, ay.

Tonight was a night of firsts: My first time to see a show at Tractor; My first Shiner Bock since Texas; My first time ever hearing a note of Elvis Perkins. Somehow, all three - The Tractor, The Shiner, and Elvis’ fey and grim acoutifolk stylings complimented one another in the most direct way. Everything fit right in and I was right there in it. In all its sadness and melancholy and willful pursuit, his performance last night was striking, a chain reaction of hit-and-runs that hurt and kept on a-going.

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Man Man photo by Mike Persico

It's a good weekend to live in the Emerald city (most are except from December to, well, now)- and this one offers up more than a few gems for your live listening delight.

It might not be a bad idea just to set up camp on Ballard Ave. at the Tractor (King's peanutbutter and bacon burger should be all the sustenance you need!): Tonight Elvis Perkins takes the stage, followed by Seattle's own Jesse Sykes (who takes her show on the road to Europe in a couple of weeks) two night stand, Saturday and Sunday. Bkln based singer/songwriter Jennifer O'Connor opens both nights, joined by the lustrous Night Canopy on Saturday.

The first edition of the queer dance night Bang! Bang! brought to you by the folks behind Cherry and Hot Mess! kicks off at the Baltic Room on Saturday and the Lobo Saloon (sadly) has it's very last two shows: Friday: Valkries, Grieving Sun and Coatlculto and Saturday: Bad Ghost, Dateless and Green River Thrillers.  The loss of the Lobo will definitely be felt, as the Allen invasion continues. . .

Man Man, the circus sideshow meets Tom Waits spectacle will be at Neumo's on Saturday with Steve King's Weirdlords opening up- the last show was so amazing that I bought the t-shirt. I might wear it inside out, but I did.

Calla headlines the Croc on Sunday, but in my mind it's the openers that are worth heading down there for: Welcome and Siberian. Michael Alan Goldberg feels otherwise though, so maybe I'll just stay 'till the end.

What is anyone else doing?  

Who: Nick Jaina, Portland-based musician
What: Really amazing music: 90.3 KEXP presents PDXplore! w/ Nick Jaina
Where: Sunset Tavern, "Ballard's Most Elegant Dive"
When: 7pm


What made me so unbelievably happy today? Getting this MySpace bulletin from Nick Jaina:
Friday March 30th
Sunset Tavern
5433 Ballard Ave
Seattle, WA
7 pm
with Loch Lomond
$6

Featuring my seven-piece band, including belle plates!

-nick


Seven-piece band? Yes! When Nick Jaina’s crew of seven musicians comes out, he brings with him a traveling nomadic circus of music makers to create an atmosphere that’s at once festive, deeply beautiful and sad as hell. The blend of clarinets, accordion, violin, keyboards, random percussion, and guitar sounds like the anthems made for the most glorious hobo nation on earth—sort of Tom Waits playing at a kangaroo carnival, with brief interruptions for the funeral of Paul Simon and Elvis Perkins.
He’s one of those really well-loved Portland musicians who deserves way more attention in Seattle—and beyond. Having just returned from playing several shows in New York with the likes of Gill Landry, he should probably be ruling Belgium at this point. (Full disclosure: having just moved from Portland, Oregon, I know him, and some of the others in the band! And I love it!) Any how, he’s well worth checking out.
The cool thing is that Nick Jaina is going on early. And afterwards, Loch Lomond will play for their CD release show! Do you even know how great that is? So you can see him tonight and still do lots of other stuff! (For example: Elvis Perkins playing at the Tractor Tavern later tonight.)

Isn’t this going to be a great weekend?

Click the photo for an audio slideshow of Perkins' set at SXSW. 

Elvis Perkins in Dearland, with Let's Go Sailing
Where: The Tractor Tavern
When: Tonight, 8 p.m.
Cost: $10 

Mumbles and Melodies
By Drew Bixby

The neo-hippies and indie-rockers gathered en masse inside Denver’s historic Ogden Theatre are too busy ordering $5 Guinness tall boys and waiting anxiously for My Morning Jacket to even notice that Elvis Perkins in Dearland has already launched into the slow, beautiful build of “While You Were Sleeping,” the opening track of Perkins' latest, Ash Wednesday. Enter mumbled thanks and polite, drowsy applause. Then everything changes.

Perkins is peeling off his sweater and tightly-knotted scarf and bellowing with a mysterious sense of enthusiasm. Drummer Nicholas Kinsey is on his feet, simultaneously shaking a tambourine and beating a marching bass drum; and a roomful of uninterested hipsters are suddenly paying attention.

Eyes remain enraptured as the Dearlanders introduce a host of accomplices – a dusty harmonium organ, a cumbus guitar, xylophones and an array of horns. For forty minutes – in moments that are alternately Dylan-meets-Cohen pensive and Neutral-Milk-Hotel-meets-Neil-Young boisterousness – Denver’s cold and tired collectively gaze upon Perkins as if upon a lover.

Three weeks later I catch up with Perkins to talk about horseback riding, his hair-metal upbringing and what it takes to throw down a commanding opening set.

How do you explain the drastic difference between the tempo and energy of your live show and the subdued nature of Ash Wednesday?

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Date: March 29
Venue: The Vera Project 

I might be somewhat biased towards the Portland-based trio Ferocious Eagle, but I don't really care. They really might be the best, loudest band in the world. Reviews of their latest album, The Sea Anemone Inside of Me is Mighty, have compared them to a post-punk, noisy shoegazing version of Fugazi. In other words, the critics like it. While I don't listen to this type of music all the time, I do enjoy bleeding eardrums on occasion--if I can get my rock on. And last night's show at the Vera Project, which kicked off a 40-city tour they're playing in celebration of Sea Anemone's release, rocked.

And so: let the eardrums bleed, boys! Good luck on your tour! 

Click the photo for an audio slideshow of The Apples in Stereo. 

The Apples in Stereo, with Casper & the Cookies and the Explorers Club
Date:  March 29, 2007
Venue:  Neumo's


Everybody knows what it's like to suffer through some awful opening bands while waiting for the headliner, and showing up early to any gig can be a roll of the dice.  Thankfully, I've had a run of really good luck these past couple of months -- pretty much every show I've gone to, the warm-up acts have been really solid, sometimes even revelatory.  Such was the case Thursday night at Neumo's:  I was there to see headliners the Apples in Stereo (who were fantastic -- more on them shortly), and came away just as impressed with Casper & the Cookies and the Explorers Club, two bands I'd never so much as heard of before.

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This rumor has been circulating for a bit now, but it looks to be true. I haven't seen this reported anywhere else, but I could be wrong. Jay Babcock, editor of Arthur Magazine, has completed the buyout of publisher Laris Kreslin's 50% of the company. According to Babcock in a slightly cryptic email sent Wednesday: "I now own everything." Who knows what this means for the future of Arthur Mag, but I would guess it'll probably continue to be printed under Jay's direction. Nice! Has anyone else heard anything about this?

My brother Tim, who is in the process of booking a national tour and plays the Tractor Tavern on April 13 with my Uncle Jim on bass, is the featured artist on my new favorite website, the mantastic Bears Gone Wild. He supplies the beard lovers with a handful of beary nice photos of him and his bandmates, in various states of undress, as well as an exclusive BGW remix of the track "Pleasant Valley State Prison." BGW music columnist Bubba, who recently profiled the band Grizzly Bear (makes sense), describes Tim thusly: "I saw Tim Seely's pic in the iTunes Store a couple months ago, and I gotta admit that at first, I checked out his music because he's smokin' hot. Well, turned out his music is even hotter. I couldn't stop listening to his album, Funeral Music, so I sent him an email asking if he'd be interested in getting introduced to y'all. He said 'Sure!' and kindly answered a bunch of questions written by my buddy Scott, sent us some awesome pics and a bunch of tracks you can download for free...Wild bears, meet Tim Seely - a cool feller who's talented, furry and fun. All the things we love."

Says Tim to Bubba: "Regardless of my tendency towards the ladies, I fully support the awareness/advancement of naturally occurring man-hair...I would say the 'bears gone wild' thing in my mind is equal parts hilarious and equal parts awesome...I definitely identify with the manly fashion statement and what I perceive as the general good-time spirit of the bear lifestyle.  It's not really about where you hibernate, it's how you flaunt your fur."

Date: March 28, 2007

Venue: Jewel Box / Rendezvous, Belltown

Last night, Benjamin Bear and Molly Rose played wonderfully coo-eliciting sets at the Jewel Box. Molly Rose, in particular, has one of my favorite voices in town: she's one of those singers who can spend an entire song lulling you into a pleasure coma, only to bring chills down your spine with a few choice notes at the end. But instead of just blabbering on about it, I'll just let you be the judge:

Tonight, welcome Panda & Angel home from tour at the Vera Project! S has had to cancel, but the Jade Tree darlings can no doubt carry it on their own. Photo by Molly Landreth.

 

Every town is home to a few characters known for their dealings with the dark side. It’s rare that they answer to God-given Christian names like Joseph or Michael; rather, it’s descriptive monikers like Fat Joe or Spider Mike that elicit a response. Sweet, docile names like Panda and Angel might not seem to fit the bill for folks like this, but Northwest transplant Josh Wackerly will tell you different. While living in Mansfield, Ohio, he was so inspired by Panda, a local drug slinger, and his girlfriend, Angel, that they became his muse as he wrote songs that took shape from their story. He named his project after the two. And the band’s self-titled Jade Tree debut EP is a window into their painful, but somehow beautiful addicted world. Touchdown Eagle’s Carrie Murphy executes lyrics like “Before the pills/I loved you more” with a throat-tightening angst, woven among electronic samples and warm, folk-style guitar riffs. Tonight they play with Murphy’s sister, the latest addition to the band, behind the kit.