3 Inches of Blood, Akimbo, Hell Promise, I Am the Thorn, Witchburn
June 29, 2007 
El Corazon 
Better Than: Trying to stay true to old school metal by listening to the scratched copy of Judas Priest's British Steel that you stole from your dad in junior high.

Northwest metal is alive and well, and ready to kick your fucking ass. The proof came in the form of a face melting show last night at El Corazon. 3 Inches of Blood headlined and brought out tunes from their new release Fire Up the Blades. Along with them came a slew of local acts that very well could be the next big thing in metal.

The first act, Witchburn, reminded me of one thing: There are not enough women in metal. With vocals, lead guitar, and bass all provided by exceptionally talented (and yes, exceptionally sexy) women, Witchburn are a band Seattle should be seeing more of. They did say this was their first show, so we can't exactly see any less of them. When the black-dreadlocked guitarist traded her axe for a violin for their final song, the idea of seeing what else this band is capable of became even more attractive.

Next up was I Am the Thorn. It doesn't get any more local than this. The vocalist is also a member of the security team at El Corazon and was right back on duty after their set. They played a more hardcore-sounding style, with the growling vocal style as opposed to the soaring vocals of classic metal. Not bad, and maybe with a few more shows, I Am the Thorn could become a regular openng act for metal bands coming through town.

Hell Promise followed, and played pretty much the same thing as I Am the Thorn. The bigges difference is that they played longer.

The three-man crew of Akimbo took the stage as the last band before the headliner. A five-band show can sometimes seem like a lot, but each crew worked fast to get the set-ups done and each act started in a timely manner. Akimbo's set, while the longest of the openers, seemed the shortest. Musically, everything was very tight, and I'd be curious to see a show with them as the top act, just to see if things change more. The nature of the three piece kept the guys stoic, so rather than jumping around,  they each stood in place, banging their substantially-haired heads.

While there was only one Viking-masked fan that I saw, the boiling sea of people who came out for 3 Inches of Blood was a far cry difference from the previous show I saw at El Corazon.

Devil horns up all night, the growl and howl of Jamie Hooper and Cam Pipes, chord progressions right out of Iron Maiden. Damn, it was beautiful. They mixed things up with songs from Advance and Vanquish and Fire Up the Blades, transitioning with ease from song to song like band that just spent two years on the road. Which they should because they are.

Pipes has the metal vocal thing down. Not only that but he does look like a medieval Viking, ready to rape, plunder, ravish, ravage, and burn everything he sees. There are moments when the two combined voices sound like the same voice, both high and low at the same time. It'a a great sound that many bands would accomplish with effects pedals or programming. Old-school like they are, 3IOB do everything live.

The dual guitar attack of Shane Clark and Justin Hagberg shredded away all night, bringing to mind, again, Iron Maiden live albums and the kind of shit you wish Metallica still played. Kick ass.

They didn't even break for their encore. They just played straight through. It's fitting of thier attitude. A we just want to rock, why stop until we melt your face, blow your eardrums, and send you home deaf and mute.

Metal,baby. Gotta love it.

 

Personal Bias: You mean you need me to tell you that metal rules, again? Fuck off, I've said enough.

Random detail: During the first two sets, I saw a bushy-haired gentleman wearing a Shania Twain Tour t-shirt. I thought, "Wow, that is the least metal thing I've seen all night. Even less metal than the sorority girl-types that will walk outside after the show and freeze." The next time I saw this guy, he was on stage, rocking out as the guitarist in Akimbo. Lesson learned. Don't judge one's metalness by the shirt they wear but by the rock in their heart.

- The National, the Broken West play at Neumo's. 

- Hip-Hop Weekend at Vera: Abyssinian Creole, Kiwi & DJ Phatrick, Company of Prophets, Youth Movement All-Stars at the Vera Project.

- The Tea Cozies, Silent Mockery, the Sweet Dizzies, Bumtech with special guest bartenders the Rat City Rollergirls at the Skylark.

- The Divorce, Sirens Sister, Crosstide play an afternoon show at the Crocodile Cafe. As an evening encore, the Divorce, With Friends Like These, and Crosstide take the stage again at the Crocodile Cafe. Here's a little something to tease you into checking out at least one of what will be the Divorce's final shows.

 

Control, the Ian Curtis biopic that was a hit at Cannes, has earned the approval of recently disbanded members of New Order, who were Joy Division before the suicide of Curtis. There's a catch, however.

"None of its true really," Stephen Morris told xfm. "It’s sort of true but you have to take liberties when you're making a film because the truth is too boring." 

Morris and Peter Hook weigh in on the film here. 

As a side note, Joy Division is my favorite band of all-time. Strange to hear from a confirmed metalhead like me, but it's true. I've been looking forward to Control since I bought the DVD of 24 Hour Party People.  However much of Control is true or not, I don't care. I just want to see the movie. Just in case you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a trailer.

 

Bill Frisell Quintet
June 28, 2007
Jazz Alley

     Prior to last evening, the only time I'd seen Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist extraordinaire (and long-time Seattle resident) Bill Frisell in the flesh was about 15 years ago, when he came through my native Philadelphia as part of Naked City -- the notorious John Zorn-led spazz-jazz outfit. It was a show at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Center, part of a jazz performance series, and I distinctly remember being surprised by the number of older patrons in attendance.  Maybe they had no idea what was in store for them, I figured.  I was further surprised during the first half of the set -- the group played it pretty straight, with Frisell's fluidity, melodic command, and trademark tone (augmented with delay, reverb, and volume pedals) standing out amid all that talent onstage.  And then, after a brief intermission, the Boredoms' Yamatsuka Eye came out, and within moments all hell broke loose -- Naked City launched into its violent, shift-on-a-dime blend of speedcore, noise-rock, noir-twang, and free jazz, with Frisell and Zorn prodigiously propelling the action.  It sounded amazing, and I kid you not when I say that I saw old people literally stumbling for the exits with hands over their ears and pained expressions, as if a concussion grenade had just gone off -- within a few minutes, the sold-out theatre was 80% cleared. 

With that knowledge of Frisell's versatility and propensity toward experimentation and mischief in mind, I really didn't know what was in store when he took the stage of the crowded Dimitriou's Jazz Alley along with bassist Tony Scherr (Lounge Lizards, Sex Mob, Norah Jones), Ron Miles (Don Byron, the Ellington Orchestra, and a lauded solo career) on cornet, saxophonist Chris Cheek (Paul Motian, Charlie Haden), and nimble drummer Rudy Royston (who's been playing regularly with Miles for nearly two decades). But for the bulk of the 75-minute set, the quintet opted mainly for a reserved and traditional approach, though exceptionally engaging (and sporadically Monkishly dissonant), to both Frisell's compositions and various pop standards, including Burt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now."

There was no thrash on the menu, but the combo did create a stew of bebop, blues, rock, and country while creating moods that ranged from elegiac to elated to downright romantic.  Dressed in black, Frisell grasped his Telecaster and maintained a smile and steady position at the right of the stage, mostly directing his gaze at, and playing off of, the enthusiastic Scherr and Royston -- whose touch and timing were simply superb -- while the nattily attired Miles and Cheek followed Frisell's melodic forays with their own rich tone and improvisation.  The 56-year-old guitarist typically fiddled with his loop pedal and other effects, or detuned a string, only during the transitions from one number to the next, at one point playing a distorted chord that jumped out dramatically after all the gentle glides and harmonics.  And though his playing shined during the set, and he was clearly the leader of this group, Frisell was loathe to hog the spotlight, and so it was an egalitarian performance by a true, masterful ensemble that found a more tempered way to test the boundaries of jazz.


Reporter's Notebook
Personal Bias: Though I don't possess a thorough knowledge of Frisell's solo catalog, I've enjoyed everything I've heard from him via my friends' collections or jazz radio, and I loved Naked City.
Random Detail: The lamb curry ordered by someone at the table next to me smelled incredible.
By the way: The Bill Frisell Quintet is playing at Jazz Alley through Sunday, so you have a few more chances to check 'em out.

Femurs photo by Amy Elyse 

- Rip Spacer, the Femurs (co-CD release), At the Spine, Greenshake prove punk's not dead at the Comet Tavern.

- SW Outsider Series with Iceage Cobra at Easy Street Records. 

- DJ Marky spins tracks at  Club Heaven.

- 3 Inches of Blood, Akimbo, Hell Promise, I Am the Thorn, and Witchburn channel Iron Maiden for a CD release show at El Corazon.  I'll be there and the following video should tell you why. The song is "Goatrider's Horde."

 

Metal rules! 

It's no grand revelation that Rolling Stone has dramatically devolved since its heyday. We don't need any more issues with images like this one staring out at us. And don't even get me started on that "New Guitar Gods" issue from a while back.

However, it's worth noting that the current issue marks two major masthead debuts that have the potential to dramatically improve the quality of the once-relevant glossy. Former SPIN scribe Melissa Maerz (and little sis to San Francisco Weekly music editor Jennifer Maerz) is now on board as a senior editor, as is another talented SPIN alumna, Caryn Gantz. Congrats to both ladies--now go in there, kick ass, and don't let Jann Wenner stop you from making RS a worthwhile read again.

Tickets for Devo's show during the Puyallup Fair don't go on sale until Saturday morning. Unless you sign up for the fair's newsletter right NOW. If you do, you'll have the opportunity to purchase tickets before they are made available to the general public.

Could be a good idea. Could save you from being swept up in the stampeding herd of people pushing and shoving to get the best seats to see Devo.

"Weird Al" is playing this year's fair, too, and no one wants to be stuck in line with his fans. (I just happen to be a Weird Al fan, myself, and I know how crazy we are.)

 

Klip Calhoun (Kyle Gass) and Darryl Lee Donald (J.R. Reed) of Trainwreck.

The hold music I hear before speaking with Kyle Gass of Trainwreck and Tenacious D is “Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)” from the Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny soundtrack. It’s way great way to kick off a 10:30 a.m. interview. I didn't waste any of KG's morning, got right to it.

Seattle Weekly: Tell me about Trainwreck.

Kyle Gass: Trainwreck started many moons ago. I’d say four or five years ago. Page McConnell of Phish was doing a side project called Vida Blue and he asked me open. I was like, alright I can’t play solo but, wait a minute, I’ve been forming this band in my mind with my buddy J.R. who plays Lee in the Tenacious D oeuvre and, I don’t know, it just kind of developed. We went out to Columbus, Ohio, and picked up some musicians and went on a little tour and it kind of evolved into the kick ass, shit-kicking pleasure we know as Trainwreck today.

The concept, the mythology of the band, the pseudonyms, was that part of the original idea?

That was part of the original. It was designed for J.R. because he just looks so damn good in a mullet. And I just kind said, “I’m gonna join that look,” and it went from there. Plus I thought, well, if it’s me in a band, I don’t know that I really want to put KG in another band, really. It would be more fun to adopt a thinly veiled guise. It’s not really heavy on the character. My wig comes off pretty fast after the show. And then I’m just hitting on girls as me.

How’s that working out for you?

Pretty bad, really. I think I might be too old now. There’s a lot of pathos and it’s pretty desperate at this point. What can we do.

Read the rest of the Kyle Gass interview by clicking here.
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Y'know, Nashville is a fairly small city -- smaller than Seattle, for sure -- and given the fact that both the White Stripes and Bon Jovi recorded their latest albums there, I'll wager it's entirely possible that at some point Jack White and Jon Bon Jovi crossed paths ... maybe a nod in the street, dining in proximity to one another at one of Music City's fine eating establishments, perhaps even taking in a Predators game together?  Maybe they're good friends now?  And if so, maybe they even made some kind of friendly bet as to whose disc would debut at the top of the Billboard charts, since they were releasing their respective albums the same week -- you know, if the White Stripes won, Jon would give Jack some hair product, and if Bon Jovi won, Jack would give Jon some old blues wax cylinders.  Hope Jon has a nice vintage phonograph in his mansion.

What a week -- first, the Verve announce they're reuniting for a new album and tour, and now, notorious "Girl Power" popsters the Spice Girls have done the same.  At a news conference in London today, the quintet announced they're kicking off a world tour in Los Angeles on December 7th (a date which will especially live in infamy), which will be preceded by a greatest hits album in November.  "A girl is allowed to change her mind," Sporty Spice said.  "All of us have had our fears and doubts, but we feel that the time is right and we will have some fun and be together."  Guess they're trying to show the, uhh, Pipettes how it's done?