"What the hell could you be waiting for?" you ask.

I remember being in the home of former president of SubPop, Rich Jensen, back in 1998 when he announced to me that the label was signing a record deal to distribute the next few albums by the London band Saint Etienne.

I don't know what he was expecting from me. A passive, "Cool." Or maybe the reaction that I'm sure the deal got in the rest of the SubPop office, "Who?"

But by the look on my face, he must have known that SubPop had performed a coup that many other small labels were shooting for that year. I was beaming from ear to ear and started jumping around like a little girl who received a bottle drinking/urinating doll at christmas. What a wonderful surprise. I was ecstatic!

SubPop, the label known for it's aggressive indie, grunge and hard-fucking-rock was signing the most important pop band to come out of London in the last 2 decades. A band that can reflect, remark on the unique culture of London and create history with the turn of a simple phrase.

My autographed copy of Good Humor/Fairfax High. Did I mention liner notes by Douglas Coupland?

So that year saw the release of the watershed in Saint Etienne's oeuvre, Good Humor/Fairfax High, their amazing and unique double album (now available only as a single disc - just Good Humor). It is essentially the most pop album ever released in SubPop's history, and as such, I believe is the first time, before Postal Service, that SubPop made it onto club play charts with the first single, "Sylvie".

The album was produced by Tore Johansson, who was coming off big hits for The Cardigans, who at the time were starting the wave of Scandinavian bands that would soon be crashing our shores. It was a brilliant time in the history of SubPop, and for their trouble, we got 2 tours of Saint Etienne to hit our city in the following years as the released the Places To Visit EP, the thrilling futuristic Sound Of Water (produced with help by Berlin mini-tech masters To Rococo Rot) and the fantastic re-mastered best of package Travel Edition 1990-2005.

It has been 10 years since this brilliant album was released. nearly 8 years since Saint Etienne has toured anywhere near the Northwest.

SubPop, it is time you honored this band and that album in particular. Fly Saint Etienne to Seattle for your 20th celebrations, and re-release Good Humor/Fairfax High in its full glory once again.

SubPop 20: I'm still waiting to get excited. Give me something to get ecstatic about. Again.

Swedish pop darling Robyn, profiled here in this weeks' Stranger has postponed her scheduled Seattle show in favor of playing the View. Pitchfork reports:

Alas, Robyn's time with "The View" has forced her to push planned dates in Portland on May 13 at Berbati's Pan and Seattle May 14 at Neumos back to August to accommodate the taping. That's a bummer, Pac NW, but think about it this way: there's another North American Robyn tour in the works, and it is definitely coming your way.

Maybe we'll just publish a link to our archives for that one.

Bringing the line-up for the two day festival in Redmond's Marymoor Park to this:

Saturday: Flight of the Conchords / The Vaselines / Iron & Wine / Low / Fleet Foxes / Mudhoney / The Fluid / The Helio Sequence / Eric's Trip / Seaweed / Pissed Jeans

Sunday: Green River / Wolf Parade / Beachwood Sparks / Les Thugs / Foals / No Age / Red Red Meat / Comets on Fire / Kinski / Grand Archives / The Ruby Suns

And the weekend's in-city shows to:

Friday, July 11 @ the Moore Theatre: SP20 Comedy Show w/ Patton Oswalt, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry, and surprise guests

Saturday, July 12 @ The Showbox
The Gutter Twins and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth

So, Slog Happy is tomorrow night, and Line Outers are of course welcome too. In fact, the musical portions of Slog Happy are going to be pretty kick ass, so you'd do well to consider dropping by. Web Shaman/Shade Parser Nick Scholl will once again be providing tunes on the 0s and 1s (last month's selections ranged from Hercules & Love Affair to En Vogue).

If that weren't enough, the winners of our first ever Slog Trivia will receive a handful of critically approved compact discs, including:

(Actually, I have some reservations about MIA-jacking, Ashlee Simpson-songwriting, former A&R rep Santogold—maybe give it to whomever doesn't quite pull their weight on your winning team.)

I heard a rumor from the hottest source in Seattle that one of the bands playing the upcoming SP20 Fest is...

Ready yet?

Now?

THE MOTHERFUCKING VASELINES!!!

ALKSJFHPEORTYIASKDJFHAWOIEUTYASDKLFJHASKLDJF HASOIDRY;WFLKMNSD;OTYAXKVMNSADGASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Blood Valentine announced some North American tour dates today. Closest they come to Seattle is San Francisco:

09-19-21 Monticello, NY - Kutshers Country Club (ATP New York)

09-22 New York, NY - Roseland
09-23 New York, NY - Roseland
09-25 Toronto, Ontario - Ricoh
09-27 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
09-30 San Francisco, CA - The Concourse
10-01 Los Angeles, CA - Santa Monica Civic
10-02 Los Angeles, CA - Santa Monica Civic

Damn. But, hey, instead we get Velvet Revolver side-project Stone Temple Pilots! Sigh.

This Friday's Cloud Cult show sold out, so the band added a second show--they'll play at 9:15 pm (opener Kid Dakota will go on at 8:30 pm) and then they'll follow that up with another set at 11 pm (no opener for the second show).

Tickets are available at Neumo's at TicketsWest, They're $15 adv and $17 DOS.

Not together, mind you.

Stevie Wonder will be at the White River Amphitheater on July 11. I can't think of a worse place to see him. Tickets go on sale next Monday at 10 am and cost $45-$125.

NIN will play the KeyArena July 26th. Tickets go on sale next this Saturday at 10 am and cost between $35-$55.

And now you know.

The Hold Steady's 'Stay Positive' Set For Release July 15

"Stay Positive" track listing:

1. Constructive Summer
2. Sequestered in Memphis
3. One for the Cutters
4. Navy Sheets
5. Lord, I'm Discouraged
6. Yeah Sapphire
7. Both Crosses
8. Stay Positive
9. Magazines
10. Joke About Jamaica
11. Slapped Actress

Here's the band playing the title track earlier this year:

I'm so looking for to this.

The Hold Steady play the Capitol Hill Block Party Saturday, July 26. More info at www.thestranger.com/blockparty.

The Wildrose always cranks out the best mini Gay Pride festival for artfags and people who don't want to listen to house music. Here's the line up for this year:

Leslie & the Lys
The Dutchess and the Duke
Coconut Coolouts
The Intelligence
The Heavy Hearts
Hell's Belles
The Ononos
The New Bloods

Looks awesome! It all happens on June 28th.

UPDATE: In response to Terry, Jodi Eklund (Wildrose Booker) says: "Yes, [it's 21+], but under 21-year-olds should hang out on the steps of the Chophouse or outside--they can see the whole show!"

They'll play Marymoor Park Thursday, July 10. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (May 3) at 9 am via Ticketmaster. Tickets are $49.50 and $79.50.

The Field was denied entry to the US and has had to cancel upcoming dates, including their scheduled Seattle date at Nectar:

It's with the utmost regret that Axel WIllner aka The Field has been forced to cancel his date at Skidmore College, New York tonight and all West Coast dates including Coachella. All members of his newly formed band were denied entry to the United States by immigration officials upon arrival. As well, his gear and instruments were refused entry into the country. We have no comment at this time as to the reason for why this occurred.

Fans and all involved should know that every option was exhausted to rectify this disastrous situation and on behalf of The Field and his band we are all deeply saddened by the outcome of what has transpired.

Given the months of practice and preparation put in with his band for these dates and the fact that his gear has been sent back to Stockholm, The Field aka Axel Willner is in no position to be able to continue on solo so therefore forced to postpone his west coast dates.

But better said in his own words:

"i´m truly sad to inform that my west coast tour have been cancelled. my band didn´t get in to the country and i feel that i cant perform as interesting as i need to without them. hopefully we´ll be back on the east coast pretty soon without any problems and do the new set up that i hope people will appreciate.

my biggest apology goes out to all the people that were looking forward as much as us to attend the shows that were planned. next time."
/the field

Too bad, I was really looking forward to seeing how the "live band" thing was going to play out.

Update: From the all-knowing Division list: "word is that immigration "didn't like their appearance."" Awesome!

You know The Source Magazine right? Self-styled "Bible Of Hip-Hop Music, Culture & Politics"? Here's the current issue, maybe you've seen it:

In it is obviously a story on the D-O-Double G, as well as a great story on the dangers of Southern hiphop's favorite beverage: promethazine-laced cough syrup. Also in this issue, as with every issue as long as I can remember, is the Unisgned Hype column- where budding, unsigned talent is showcased every month. This venerable space has showcased the likes of Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Mobb Deep, DMX, and Common before they became superstars of hiphop (and beyond). I say all that to say this: this months's Unsigned Hype?

It's Seatown's sons Dyme Def!

This is the definition of 'a good look'. If you want to know what else would be a good look, I'll tell ya- showing up to the 2nd Edition of The Corner, taking place in the Rendezvous' Jewel Box Theatre tomorrow night. Charles Mudede had this to say about the first installment:

Where is the true hiphop? One spot that has it regularly is the Jewel Box Theater at the Rendezvous. Here, once a month, there is a gathering of local hiphop heads. This gathering is intimate. Meaning, there is a close relationship between the audience and the performers. This closeness (and smallness) is its truth—a truth because this how it all began, in small spaces, in small rooms, in the small hours of the night. What is documented in the bibles of hiphop—Beat Street and Wild Style—is being practiced at the Jewel Box Theater.

Charles couldn't be more correct- that basement flavor was in full effect last time, and it was positively intoxicating to go to a top-tier local rap show in such intimate quarters. And I'm not just saying that because my crew played last time, or because I'm hosting tomorrow's edition; that's just how it was.

If you'd like to see the Unsigned Hype that is Dyme Def, the authoritative voice of the streets D. Black, or Seattle's dusted-savant clown prince Sonny Bonoho, you're just gonna have to make sure you don't miss The Corner tomorrow night. See you then.

Eric already mentioned this show in his earlier No Age post, but here's the official press release about the Toyota/Urban Outfitters sponsored Free Yr Radio Concert Series:

After celebrating the launch of the second year of the Free Yr Radio campaign at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, in March, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) announced today details about this year's Free Yr Radio program--including some of the bands slated to perform in the upcoming concert series as well as this year's partner radio stations. Created in 2007 by Toyota Yaris and Urban Outfitters, the Free Yr Radio campaign equips its partner independent radio stations with tools to increase exposure and listener support through various promotional activities--including the free station-hosted concerts.

This year's concert series will consist of 10 shows, from May through October. Each concert will be hosted by a partner independent radio station. Although each show is free, concert-goers must present an invite upon entry. Invites can be printed at www.FreeYrRadio.com prior to each concert.

Seattle's installment (being hosted by, of course, KEXP) is July 23 with live music from No Age and Mudhoney. More details to be announced soon.

There are a lot of influences echoing and ricocheting around on No Age's upcoming album, Nouns (out May 6th on Sub Pop), but one (awesome) echo in particular struck me this morning. Don't be surprised if you hear it (or at least hear me ranting about it) in the coming weeks.

In this:

Traces of this:

Update: Just announced today, No Age will be playing Seattle July 23rd with Mudhoney (details TBA) as part of the Free Yr Radio concert series, in which synergies with a car company and a retail chain will benefit KEXP and other independent radio stations. To freedom!

12-Jun Seattle, WA @ Neumos

Arm's Way is out May, 20th.

Nouns just arrived on my desk, and it is exactly what I needed today: A glorious, rainbow-colored, sun-drenched, fuzzed-out blast, all hopeful and energetic and inspired. The exact opposite of sitting in a cubicle on a gray day drinking diet coke and pulling out hair. More on this one soon.

Record stores across America are dying. Maybe everyone stealing music from the internet is what's killing them. Maybe bands giving their albums away for free is what's killing them. Maybe it's MySpace, maybe it's YouTube, maybe it's YOU.

In order to celebrate independent record stores across the nation, give them love (and business) Alliance of Independent Media Stores, Coalition Of Independent Music Stores, Music Monitor Network, Newbury Comics, Value Music Group of Indie Stores have founded April 19th as Record Store Day.

"On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally," says RecordStoreDay.com. Record stores across the nation will be having sales, selling exclusive merchandise, hosting in-stores, and giving away free shit all day long.

A bunch of local businesses are participating. Here's the rundown of what'll be happening around town:

Easy Street: In-store performances by Mark Pickerel and Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter at the Queen Anne location. 5 pm, free. Also, everything in both stores not already on sale will be 20% off all day long.

Everyday Music: Enter to win an autographed copy of the Tom Waits box set People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938. There will also be free CD samplers, a storewide sale, and other goodies.

Silver Platters: All four locations (Queen Anne, Bellevue, Southcenter, and Northgate) are offering 20% off on all vinyl, box sets, CD singles, and Billboard Collections CDs, and one day only DVD specials (starting at $3.99). Each location has it's own in-store specials and they also have tons of live music through the day.

Queen Anne:
1:00 The Mary McPage Band
2:00 Matt Jorgensen + 451
3:00 Pat Monahan
4:00 Kim Archer Band
5:00 Bee Simonds
6:00 Speaker Speaker
7:00 Low-Fi
8:00 The Pharmacy
9:00 How and Lightning

Bellevue Crossroads:
1:00 Interlake High School Jazz Band
2:30 Tribaljazz
3:30 Amateur Radio Operator
5:00 Hadley Caliman

Southcenter:
1:00 DJ ECM/Slantooth

Sonic Boom: Both locations (Capitol Hill and Ballard) will be selling Cupcake Royale cupcakes and new Sonic Boom slip mats, with all the proceeds going to the Vera project. They'll also have exclusive vinyl including a Stephen Malkmus 10" and 7"s from Built to Spill, Death Cab, Black Keys, REM, and more. There will be other free surprises included with every purchase, and a sidewalk sale with CDs, rock books, posters, and more starting at $1. 10% of Saturday's sales will be donated to Music4life. Topping it off, they have live music and DJs all day.

Capitol Hill:
1:00 Vinnie Blackshadow
3:00 John Roderick (Long Winters) DJ Set
5:00 The Dutchess and The Duke

Ballard:
3:00 Vinnie Blackshadow
4:00 Aqueduct
5:30 Mono in VCF
7:00 The Moondoggies

Of course, there are more stores around town that shouldn't go ignored--Jive Time, Bop Street, Wall of Sound, and Singles Going Steady.

For more information about Record Store Day, visit www.recordstoreday.com.

Got something going on at your store? E-mail megan@thestranger.com and I'll add it to the list.

Here's the trailer for the upcoming documentary I Need That Record: The Death (Or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store:

The film examines why independent record stores continue to struggling to survive--over 3,000 business have closed in the last 10 years. It features commentary from Ian Mackaye, Mike Watt, Legs McNeil, Thurston Moore, Noam Chomsky, Patterson Hood, Bryan Poole, and people from Rhino, Bloodshot, and United Record Press.

In related news, this Saturday, April 19, is the first national Record Store Day. A bunch of local stores are celebrating with specials and in-store performances (I'll post a complete list of what's happening where tomorrow).

Remember that awkward Roots video from yesterday? Idolator published a pretty good take-down today:

Cordero shoots the sequence in a more or less shot/reverse-shot pattern, but despite this lukewarm attempt at representing the female perspective, the sequence still comes off as uncomfortably misogynistic. That tight shot of the sausage hovering near her mouth lingers just a bit too long, and, furthermore, in all of the high-angle shots looking down at Grey opening the gifts she's got her best come-hither face on, thus negating any potential emotional depth. Which would be an entirely acceptable stylistic choice if it didn't seem as though Cordero were trying to make some sort of "statement."

And: The Roots play with Eryka Badu on June 5th at Marymoor Park in Redmond.

Personal gripe: I spent like my whole young adult life working to get the fuck out of Redmond and move to Seattle, and now what happens? Marymoor park starts hosting Sub Pop festivals and the Roots while Capitol Hill flips into condos and Quiznos. (Not that I think the suburbs are set to become anything but new slums after the oil crash, but damn, where's my idealized urban bohemia, dudes?)

Oh, and for what's it's worth, the offending FOB collaboration has been kindly omitted from the Roots' new one, Rising Down, the rest of which is supposed to be hot. (Where's our promo copy?)

Update: And then, there's this...

What, no bass toss?

One of the two things to be excited about in local hiphop is Framework's CD This Is It. His debut CD, Hello World (2005), produced by Bean One, is a hiphop masterpiece, and though the producers on This Is It are new cats from Anchorage, Alaska, I still expect a lot of good to come out of the record. If the music fails, Framework's grip of the mic will surely prevail. He has a way with words.

(For more information about This Is It, checkout Raindrophustla and Framework's Myspace site.)

The other release is Common Market's Black Patch War (I think it was initially called Tobacco Road).

The CD contains Sabzi's richest production. The details are amazing, each lovingly made and expressed. Listening to the CD last night put me in the mind and world of Burial, whose attention to every aspect of his productions is supernatural. As for RA Scion, the rapper, he is much more mellow and reflective on this effort. Often his words and thoughts are lost in a warm wash of music; often he says something quite unexpected and original. As a whole, Black Patch War stands to be one of the best works of art to come out of Seattle this year.

One more thing: Sabzi and the Grynch are a serious match.

The SP20 Festival is happening July 12 & 13 at Marymoor Park just outside of Seattle in Redmond, WA. In addition to reunited bands, acts currently on the label’s roster, and everything in between, the festival will also host a half-pipe featuring both Nike and Girl + Chocolate sponsored skaters. While the full day-by-day line-up will be announced in the coming months, the festival will include:

Beachwood Sparks / Comets on Fire / Fleet Foxes / Flight of the Conchords / The Fluid / Foals / Grand Archives / Green River / The Helio Sequence / Iron & Wine / Kinski / Low / Mudhoney / No Age / Pissed Jeans / Red Red Meat / The Ruby Suns / Seaweed / Wolf Parade, and more to be announced.

The full list of dates can be found at www.neildiamond.com. Tickets go on sale Monday, April 28th.

(Thanks for the tip, Hickey.)

David Schmader’s Showgirls: The Movie event will kick off this year’s festivities; the critically-acclaimed writer and performer will host his annotated screening of one of America’s most amazingly awful films at The Triple Door on May 14th at 7 PM.

On June 11th, Austin, TX-based psych rock champions The Black Angels play with LA’s The Warlocks at Neumos , while on June 12th, Saddle Creek recording artists Two Gallants will be at the Tractor Tavern with The Quiet Ones and Facts about Funerals; doors for both shows are at 8 PM.

Energetic NYC-based drums and keys phenoms Matt and Kim play with Yacht, No-fi Soul Rebellion and Feral Children at Neumos on June 14th while legendary, critically-acclaimed emcee Talib Kweli plays with Common Market, Grayskul and Gabriel Teodros at the Showbox for NFTN on June 15th; doors for both nights are at 8 PM.

There's also a whole slew of local bands playing: Math and Physics club, Boat, The Maldives, Abodox, Andy Werth, Black Nite Crash, Curtains for You, Open Choir Fire, H is for Hellgate, Star Anna, Past Lives, Tulsi, Billy Joe and the Dusty 45s, The Girls, Ali Marcus, Amateur Radio Operator, Lonesome Rhodes and the Good Company, Grand Hallway, See Me River and the Dead Horse Creek, Partman Parthorse, Strong Killings, The Oswald Effect, The Heavy Hearts, Goldie Wilson, Peter Parker, Massy Ferguson, Carrie Clark and the Lonesome Lovers, Levi Fuller, Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden, Black Whales, Lesbian, Fucking Eagles, Onry Osborn, D Black, Mos Generator, New Faces and others will be announced soon.

He's no Scott Weiland, obvs, but the Prince has been added as a headliner for Saturday night of Coachella, which goes down April 25th-27th in Indio, California.

The annual EMP Pop Conference is this weekend, and if you're a big music geek (or even a regular-sized music geek), you should really consider going (you can register here). It's a whole weekend of lectures, panels, and open discussions about pop music, featuring a pretty impressive bunch of eggheads and artists, and it's free! So even if Robert Christgau, Greil Marcus, and Charles Mudede turn out to be boring gasbags (not bloody likely), you still get your money's worth. This year's theme is the promising, "Shake, Rattle: Music, Conflict and Change," with presentations examining such intersections of pop music and political struggle as the all-ages movement, rave's reaction to England's Criminal Justice Act, and any number of protest songs. Full abstracts and presenter bios can be found here.

Plus, there's a lunchtime performance by Blue Scholars on Saturday. And there's great shows at the Vera Project Friday and Saturday night, so you could go geek on music all day and then have all them highfalutin words blasted right out of you by Iron Lung, Yellow Swans, Old Haunts, Coconut Coolouts, and more. I had a blast last year, and I'll be there again this weekend.

The Seattle Sound just posted details about the upcoming Sub Pop 20th anniversary party:

* The festival will officially take place July 12 & 13 at the 640-acre Marymoor Park in Redmond, with performances going both day and night
* Bands performing will cover the history of the label’s roster, including two reunion performances. One will be the much-ballyhooed return of Green River. The second, according to this recent news story from the Denver Post, will be the Fluid, Sub Pop’s first non-local signing from way back in 1985.
* There will likely be a Sub Pop comedy night at a yet-to-be-named venue separate from the music festivities.
* There could possibly also be some shows at clubs around Seattle leading up to the festivities, though details on this were very vague.

Read their full post about it here.

Just so happens that I overheard a couple dudes talking about it at Vita this weekend too. I don't know who the guys were, so they could know just as little as anyone else, but they dropped a few names of performers including the Postal Service, Band of Horses, and Grand Archives.

I called to ask Sub Pop about it, but no one answered. I left a message and e-mailed.

UPDATE: Sub Pop can't confirm or offer up any more info at this time, but we can expect an official announcement in the near future. Keep checking back!

The good news: A date has been set for Radiohead's Seattle area show; it's August 20th.

The bad news: It's at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn.

The mixed news: No Grizzly Bear; Liars instead.

Tight.

August (and later)? Seattle (and abroad)?

+

11 days separate us from the next iteration of Seattle's Rock Lottery, which makes right now as good a time as any to post the participant list, sent to me by event curator Chris Weber:

Ty Bailie (Dept. of Energy, Mark Pickerel and his Praying Hands)
Mike Bayer (Amateur Radio Operator, Evangeline)
Larry Brady (Biography of Ferns)
T. Tacket Brown (Two Loons for Tea, Jonny Sonic, Hayley Sales)
D. Crane (BOAT)
Joel Cupland (The Hideous Thieves, Triumph of Lethargy)
DV One (DV One)
Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers)
Jen Gay (Kaliningrad, Minirex, Buttersprites)
Jorge Harada (Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers)
Jamie Henkensiefken (H Is for Hellgate)
Bill Horist (Master Musicians of Bukkake, Ghidra)
Laurie Kearney (Ships, Palmer AK))
Kevin Kmetz (God of Shamisen, Estradasphere)
Rory McAuley (Eastern Grip)
Tony Moore (Foscil, Scape)
Luc Reynaud (Luc Reynaud and the Lovingtons)
Paul Rucker (Paul Rucker LARGE Ensemble)
Whiting Tennis (Whiting Tennis)
J. Tillman (J. Tillman)
Tilson (The Saturday Knights)
Noah Star Weaver (USE)
Curt Weiss aka Lewis King (The Rockats, Beat Rodeo)
Brian Yeager (Elam, The Bromantics, Strap Straps)
+1 to be announced

Remember, these 25 (er, 24 +1) folks will be broken up into random bands of five on Sunday, the 13th, with the only stipulation being that each have a drummer. They get 12 hours to write original songs and practice before the show that night at Neumo's, and all proceeds go to Arts Corp. More info on last year's here. What's your dream mash-up on this list?

As part of Pioneer Square's Art Walk, Born Anchors will play a free show at Gibson Guitars Showroom this Thursday, April 3. Gibson isn't usually open to the public, so this is a rare chance to check the place out. The show is also an art opening for local painter and tattoo artist Chris Thompson, who did the art for Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary and How it Feels to be Something On. Thompson will be showing new and old work (view more paintings at his MySpace page).

I really like Born Anchors. A while back they were Band of the Week--here's what I said about them: "Born Anchors play turbulent, raw rock with a post-hardcore edge that's reminiscent of Jawbox (just a little) and Al Burian's Challenger (if Challenger were more aggressive)." But you can judge for yourself, here's a video for their song "Casualty."

Gibson Guitars Showroom is at 159 S Jackston St, Suite 330. It starts at 6 pm, admission and drinks are free. (Click here for the poster.)

Last spring at the Crocodile, a whole bunch of people came together to make the first-ever Stranger Gong Show a mind-blowing success.

This spring at Chop Suey, we’re doing it again.

The date: Saturday, April 26.
The cost: Free.
The line-up: God only knows. We’re looking for any and all human-based entertainments, including but not limited to jugglers, magicians, jug bands, tap dancers, strongmen, yodelers, stand-up comics, sword swallowers, contortionists, slam poets, marching bands, mimes, guys who shove quarters up their noses, bird callers, puppeteers, tuba players, hula hoopers, comedy skits, chanteuses, ventriloquists, clog dancers, celebrity impersonators, butoh dancers, vaudeville acts, accordianists, and air bands.

The rules: All acts must run between 45 seconds and four minutes, and require a minimum of set-up. What this means: full live bands—with amps and drum kits and what have you—won’t work for the Gong Show. We’ll provide a mic and amp and that aforementioned brief set-up time, so musical acts would do well to re-conceive themselves as “unplugged”—think campfire sing-along instead of full show. But there’s still a hell of a lot of music that can be made within the Gong Show strictures: acoustic bands, singers with backing tapes, human beatboxes, cello soloists, etc etc etc.

Acts can get on the bill just by showing up at Chop Suey the night of the show, or by signing up in advance online sign-up form online.

Also, due to “laws,” no acts can feature fire or kids (it’s a bar).

In the meantime, here's another taste of the late, great, original Gong Show:

Tickets go on sale this Saturday, April 4. Pre-sale is going on now.

The annual early Internet ticket pre-sale is on now. Pre-sale prices range from $27-$28.50 and include a concert ticket and a copy of the Vans Warped Tour 2008 compilation CD (SideOneDummy), a 25 cent donation to the Camp Hollywood Heart* charity and all service fees. A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available for each market via www.warpedtour.com. Those who purchase pre-sale tickets qualify to potentially win exclusive prizes like “jump-the-line” passes and a trip to the show of their choice complete with VIP passes.

More info is at www.warpedtour.com.

This year's line-up for the Seattle date is after the jump. If you care.

Continue reading "Warped Tour at the Gorge, August 9" »

Last spring at the Crocodile, a whole bunch of people came together to make the first-ever Stranger Gong Show a mind-blowing success.

This spring at Chop Suey, we're doing it again.

The date: Saturday, April 26.
The cost: Free.
The line-up: God only knows. We're looking for any and all human-based entertainments, including but not limited to jugglers, magicians, jug bands, tap dancers, strongmen, yodelers, stand-up comics, sword swallowers, contortionists, slam poets, marching bands, mimes, guys who shove quarters up their noses, bird callers, puppeteers, tuba players, hula hoopers, comedy skits, chanteuses, ventriloquists, clog dancers, celebrity impersonators, butoh dancers, vaudeville acts, accordianists, and air bands.

The rules: All acts must run between 45 seconds and four minutes, and require a minimum of set-up. What this means: full live bands--with amps and drum kits and what have you--won't work for the Gong Show. We'll provide a mic and amp and that aforementioned brief set-up time, so musical acts would do well to re-conceive themselves as "unplugged"--think campfire sing-along instead of full show. But there's still a hell of a lot of music that can be made within the Gong Show strictures: acoustic bands, singers with backing tapes, human beatboxes, cello soloists, etc etc etc.

Acts can get on the bill just by showing up at Chop Suey the night of the show, or by signing up in advance in our forthcoming online form. (Coming soon, stay tuned.)

Also, due to "laws," no acts can feature fire or kids (it's a bar).

In the meantime, please enjoy this taste of the late, great, and fuh-reaky original Gong Show.

E-mail groundzerobooking@gmail.com for more information and registration.

The Fremont Abbey Arts Center has been renovated. 4272 Fremont Ave N. The Abbey is a 9000 square foot nonprofit venue that hosts all ages music, visual, and literary arts. There are also dance classes. They are not breakdance classes, but they are enriching just the same.

The Fremont Abbey also hosts the Round, curated by Nathan Marion. The Round is a regularly occurring multi-media show that takes musicians like Rachel Flotard from Visqueen, Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes, and Kirk Huffman from Kay Kay and puts them on stage at the same time with painters and spoken word artists. Someone starts a song, the others join in, improv ensues, people paint, and sometimes a poet speaks. They toasted the new space this past Friday:

Round 34 is tomorrow – Tuesday, March 11th. It’s Sonny Votolato (Slender Means), John Van Deusen (Lonely Forest), and Tara Ward.

Advance tickets are on sale at Neumo's ($5 will get you into both clubs). Sole Repair, if you didn't know, is behind Quinn's which is right across from Neumo's (kitty corner to the Comet).

Visit thestranger.com/youngones for more information.

I'm goin', are you goin'?

Just the other day, I spoke with Nectar's booker Colin and he informed me that Ubiquity Recording Artist funk group Orgone are coming back to the Nectar on Friday, April 4th. If you were one of the lucky 250+ people who attended this show back on January 29th, you know your in for another treat come April. This Southern California funk group, who is a little bit of throw back to the legendary funk groups of the 70's like Booker T & The MG's, MFSB, and The JB's, easily put on one of the best live show's Seattle has seen in some time with a two hour set that included some amazing classic funk cuts like "Funky Nassau" and "I Get Lifted", which pretty much brought the house down. If on a cold and wet January Tuesday, this show brought in 250+ people, you can only imagine what it's going to do come a warmer Friday night in April. Mark Your Calendars!

photo by Lydia Goolia

This just in from Portland DJ/promoter Joee Irwin:

Alice from Crystal Castles has sustained an injury serious enough to cancel the next two weeks of tour, which includes Portland...

...and Seattle, where Crystal Castles were set to play an all-ages show Thurs, March 6th at Chop Suey. Bummer. HEALTH remain, ahem, HEALTHY, and will play, as will Past Lives and DJ David Wolf.

Update:

Due to an unfortunate injury suffered by Crystal Castles lead singer Alice Glass in a car accident late last week, the band will have to postpone the following tour dates while Alice recovers from two cracked ribs. The tour will resume as planned beginning 3/14 in Austin, TX at SXSW. Tourmates HEALTH will continue to play at all scheduled tour dates in their absence.