[Ski]

.... well... it was 1976, and there were other aromas that were equally as powerful.

[HitTheTrail]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

I hadn't been to the Paramount Theater in forever, I couldn't really remember what it was like. Saw Chvrches (not a mispelling) there tonight. Not among the best shows I've been to, but I enjoyed it. They are synth pop/electronic. Most of their stuff is fairly mellow. I shouldn't be surprised by now, almost everybody is louder and more aggressive in concert. You can get a synth or keyboard to be as loud as you want it to be. My ears are still ringing a little bit more than an hour later. They plowed through a bunch of songs, played pretty much all of the ones I really wanted to hear. Joked around a bit between songs. It was hard to understand them though. In interviews I can follow what they are saying well enough but tonight it was hit and miss. They are from Glasgow, Scotland. I'm back at the Paramount again 48 hours later, after having not been there for easily over a decade I think. First Aid Kit was here back in January, playing Seattle again for the second time this year. Not gonna miss that.

[Ski]

The Paramount has been restored to its former glory and is nothing like the seedy dilapidated concert hall it was. Trust me, John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra were just as loud in the late 1970s as anything today. Your ears (like mine) are just older.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

OK, after seeing shows at the Paramount twice in the last 3 days, I think I like the Moore better. The Paramount is a beautiful building but I think the sound is better at the Moore. First Aid Kit was really good tonight but I think it was a better show at the Moore back in January. Seemed like a fairly different set list than last time, that was nice.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Ever seen concert tickets go on sale a year in advance before? What the heck?! I've gotten fairly into symphonic and goth metal this year. Almost all of the bands are European, and they don't tour the U.S. very often. One band that has a bunch of songs I like (Delain) is playing El Corazon in October 2019 and the tickets go on sale in a couple weeks. I can't remember ever seeing tickets on sale that far before the event. Can't wrap my head around it.

[Ski]

Months, yes, but not a year. I've got a flyer from Broadway Center that's been sitting here for over a month - pitching their upcoming performances, but it only goes out to February 26th. I suppose I should get around to ordering some tickets if there are any good seats still available for "Kinky Boots".

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Yeah I usually get tickets 3-4 months in advance, maybe 6 tops. Can't recall seeing anything like it. Tour dates usually aren't announced that far ahead of time.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Off to Ballard again, but not the Tractor Tavern this time. No parking ticket either. Sunset Tavern, Still Corners. Good show, saw them a couple years ago at Barboza on Capitol Hill. The singer has a lovely voice, unfortunately she was drowned out by the guitar and drums at times (and she drowned herself out with keyboards as well). When I could hear her distinctly she sounded great. It's a tiny venue, but it was sold out and the crowd was really into it.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

A couple of firsts for me last night. First time ever in the Showbox SoDo (a couple blocks south of the Mariners ballpark) and first metal/hard rock concert. It actually wasn't quite as loud as I thought it would be. I brought earplugs but didn't use them. Ears weren't ringing at all at the end of the night. Good show, a little brief though. Barely over an hour for the headliner, and encore was only 1 song. There were actually 3 bands, I skipped the first, second played for about 45 minutes. Seems like the ratio of warmup band to main course was off. Anyway, band was Within Temptation, goth/symphonic metal from The Netherlands.

[Get Out and Go]

Mandy Harvey has performed for our students twice in the last 2 years. Last week she was in schools in Wenatchee and Cashmere and then had a sold out show last night at Sleeping Lady in Leavenworth. What an amazing talent!

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Wow, how did I never go see Jenny Lewis before? Great show tonight at the Moore Theater. She was in complete command of the stage and had the audience eating out of her hand, sounded great. I'm not quite sure when she started but it was close to 2 hours of music, not much banter in between, just a bunch of music. I was hoping she would dip into the songbook from her time w/ the band Rilo Kiley more, only played 1 as far as I could tell. But she has 4 solo albums so plenty of material to draw from. The opener though. I think it's the worst opening act I've heard in more than 20 years of going to concerts regularly. It was embarrassingly bad. I can't believe Jenny's promoter didn't get someone better to tour with her. I have no idea who it was, I never caught the name, I don't want to know and I never want to hear it again. I'm pretty sure you could randomly pick any church in the country and their worship band would be better. Or just wander around listening to buskers and find more talent. I'm absolutely stunned this guy was allowed on stage. I kept trying to figure out if it was a joke, like some kind of avant garde high brow ironic thing or something. I'm not making this up, my vision in my right eye started going blurry. Now it's probably because my contact lens shifted around on my eyeball, but I prefer to think it was so bad it almost made me blind. My vision returned to normal after Jenny took the stage. I've said it before, I think the tradition of opening acts just needs to stop. It's a waste of time. edited--handful of video clips up on youtube today from the show. Audio quality from recordings on phones is getting so much better, but still nothing like being there.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

I think the Sunset Tavern is growing on me. Maybe they got a better sound system. It's certainly an intimate setting (200 capacity, small room so it's really packed in). I like a handful of songs from A Fine Frenzy. Especially the older stuff from around a decade ago. Technically it's a band but really it's just the stage name for singer/songwriter/actress Alison Sudol. She took a long hiatus from recording and touring, just recently released an EP using her own name now. Coinciding w/ the new album, she published a long letter on her website talking about her long struggle with depression and anxiety. The new songs are about where she's at in life, I've only heard them a few times. I was hoping she would play some of her old stuff but wasn't sure what to expect... As it turns out she only played new songs (except for 1 during the encore) and it was a fairly short set. I can't say I'm disappointed though. She absolutely poured her heart out during the show, it has to be the most raw, open, honest, emotional performance I've attended. Pretty amazing. She was born in Seattle and lived here til her family moved away when she was 5, she was happy to be back in her hometown and was very appreciative of the audience. I usually feel a synergy between performer and audience but it was really tangible tonight. Glad I went to the show.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

I can't believe this happened, I feel like I cheapened myself. Saw MARINA (used to be known as Marina and the Diamonds) at the Paramount tonight. On this tour she's opted to not use a live band. There was a drummer for most of the songs, she played piano on a few, otherwise it was piped in. So lame. The rest of the audience didn't seem to mind one bit, they were going crazy, probably loudest crowd I've heard (at least at a venue of that size). There were also backup dancers w/ choreographed routines, a costume change...not what I thought I was signing up for, really disappointing. I've seen several other synth pop bands and none of them went this route. It's not like I went to a Britney Spears concert or something. At least the opener was good, best I've seen in a long, long time--Allie X. edited--here's a couple concert clips that have been downloaded. Audio quality isn't good, sounded better if you were there. In the first clip you have an artist performing live music. In the second the headliner is providing us w/ glorified karaoke, with interpretive dancers. I'm still pissed about it a couple days later.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Hard to believe, I haven't been to a show at the Tractor in almost 2 years. Saw the same artist as the last time I was there--Eilen Jewell. Good show, but I think I'm getting too damned old for these standing up concerts. I'm a shorty, people in front of me keep shifting around constantly so my narrow window view of the stage keeps disappearing. Annoying as hell. That and standing in place for almost 3 hours is kinda hard on the back and feet. Bah humbug! But it was a good show, and plenty long, I didn't get shortchanged in that department.