In the throes of a killer party at the Neptune last night, we were thrilled beyond belief to find out the details on another most excellent year for the Sasquatch! music festival, taking place out at the Gorge on Memorial Day weekend {May 25-28}. Sasquatch! is by far one of our favorite fests every year, and 2012 is going to be no exception.

We're particularly excited about partying down with the likes of Jack White, Beck, Tenacious D, Beirut, Girl Talk {hell yes!}, The Head and the Heart, Tune-Yards, Wild Flag, Blind Pilot, Mark Lanegan Band, The Cave Singers, Grouplove, Ted Leo, Deer Tick, Alabama Shakes, We Are Augustines, Shearwater {!!!!!}, Charles Bradley, Pickwick, Hey Marseilles, Sallie Ford, Dyme Def, Fresh Espresso, and Katie Kate -- but by no means does that even scratch the surface of the seemingly-zillion fantastic bands included on this year's lineup. As usual, there's a thoughtful mash of notable locals and squee-worthy headliners, so much so that slapping down the ticket price to spend the long weekend with twenty-plus thousand of your closest friends is an absolute no-brainer.

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We know we've already warned you to buy tickets to Dancing on the Valentine Seven (and the Ragged Tiger), because WE KNOW this thing is gonna sell out - but just in case, here's another reminder, and a chance to win a pair of tickets so you can spend your money on booze and (LOTS of) raffle tickets instead! 

DOTV7 is officially ONE WEEK AWAY, and ALL ticket and raffle proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Here's another look at the awesome lineup of Northwest bands that will be on stage at The Crocodile covering Duran Duran songs: 

John Roderick (of The Long Winters) 
Exohxo
Lesli Wood (of The Redwood Plan) with Jupe Jupe
Katie Kate
Noddy
Princess
Hotels
Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts
Fly Moon Royalty
Davidson Hart Kingsbery

Just send us an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "Sing Blue Silver" sometime between now and 5pm on Wednesday, February 8. We'll pick a winner and notify you on Wednesday night so you and your date have time to plan outfits for Friday! 

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It's coming! The crowds, the sun, the bands -- my stars, THE BANDS. We're beside ourselves with anticipation as we wait for the announcement of this year's Sasquatch! music festival lineup, and it won't be long now! The news will be public in less than forty-eight hours, as the folks at Sasquatch! HQ gear up for the announcement party taking place tomorrow night {2/2} at the Neptune. And you can join in, too! The show is all ages and tickets are just $16.00, which is a fair price to pay to be spending the night with the likes of Junip {feat. Jose Gonzales}, Matthew Caws {of Nada Surf, also playing a sold-out show later that night at the Tractor}, and The Physics.

Add the cherry on top of Luke Burbank playing host, and you've got the best party / show / festival lineup announcement / gathering-thing this side of the Puget Sound. We can't wait to start making our schedule for this year's trip to the Gorge, and hope to see you tomorrow night!

{All ages / $16 adv / 7p doors. Photo of the main stage at Sasquatch! 2010 by Victoria VanBruinisse.}

Music and mountains are two of the biggest draws to the Pacific Northwest. On February 13, you can enjoy both together with an afternoon slipping down the slopes of Steven’s Pass, followed by The Head and the Heart’s acoustic set at the Foggy Goggle Lounge. We can’t think of a better way to warm up for Valentine’s Day than drinking hot toddies while hearing THatH’s intelligent, heartfelt harmonies.

THatH have won us over time and again with their live performances, which always sell out. This one may be all the way up the pass, but tickets are going fast, so you’ll want to get yours soon.

{21+ / $70 show + lift; $25 show only / 7:00 pm}

Gosling pretty much says it all. Tennis Pro is playing on Wednesday, February 8 at Chop Suey with two Japanese bands with perfect rock-and-roll names: Troll 8 (also the owner of Chop Suey's band) and Gnosis  - plus, The Terrordactyls, who also hail from Seattle, and post pictures of sad pizza. Oh, and they also sound pretty neat, so they should complement Tennis Pro's awesomeness just fine.

So I'll see you guys up front near the stage, right? 

Chop Suey Presents 
TENNIS PRO
The Terrordactyls
Troll 8
Gnosis
plus guests 
Friday, Feb. 8 | Doors at 8pm | $7 

{photo courtesy of Tennis Pro's Facebook page} 

We're just about a month out from Andrew Bird's next album release {Break It Yourself, due out on March 6th} and twice that from his upcoming show at the Paramount Theater {April 9th} with Laura Marling. Pre-album, the single "Eyeoneye" has made a (legal) foray out into the 'nets, and seeing as it's been on rotation since the minute the mailing list hit our imaginary inbox, we thought it fit to take a moment and hip you to it.

If this track is any indication of what Break It Yourself is going to bring to us on the whole, we're ready to put this as a frontrunner for one of 2012's top five albums without a single look back. There's a wide spectrum of recognizeable influence here while remaining decidedly Andrew Bird, which is to be expected -- he's one of those artists that continues to evolve with the world around him and change dramatically without departing too far from his baseline. And that said, there's a whole new freshly familiar vibe to the music: still laden with whistle-overs, graced with more than a hint of Phil Spector wall-of-sound-ery, and sliced through to the skeleton with a half-dozen emergent indie sounds of, well, right-fucking-now-ness.

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It is just a little over a week until the Los Campesinos! show at the Neptune Theater on Saturday, February 4, 2012 and I am beside myself with pre-show excitement. Every single LC! show I've seen has left me gleefully ravaged by the frenetic enthusiasm and beguiling live set.  For them, it's a moral imperative to put on an amazing show. 

Their latest album, Hello Sadness, is a further step down the path towards debilitating heartbreak.  It tempers the deep cuts of longing with a glimmer of hope for what's ahead (I can't wait for them to get a room with Conor Oberst already. Oh how my world would be complete). 

Currently, I've been listening to "Songs About Your Girlfriend" (which I bet is David Gedge's favorite song on the album), "Life Is A Long Time" and "By Your Hand" on repeat.  I love it when it hurts so good.

Next Saturday cannot come fast enough!

If you haven't gotten your tickets yet for this all-ages show, you can pick them up online.

Oh, and did you see them perform "By Your Hand" on Letterman? Can I get a hallelujah for the Beautiful South t-shirt? (see the video after the jump)

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This year is already flying by - which means in just a little over 2 weeks, it's time for Dancing on the Valentine Seven (and the Ragged Tiger)!!! 

Jenny George's awesome fundraising cover night for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society takes place at The Crocodile on Friday, February 10, and features a line-up including TIG's Indie Santa Claus John Roderick, Lesli Wood (of the Redwood Plan) with Jupe Jupe, The Hotels, Katie Kate, Noddy, Exohxo, Princess, Flymoon Royalty, and Daniel G. Harmann with The Trouble Starts. 

The seventh (!!!!) annual DOTV gathering marks a return to its original form featuring Duran Duran covers, in honor of Jenny's incredible meeting with the band last fall. Our own Imaginary Dana is Emcee'ing again (yay!), DJ Mike Steve will spin some tunes in-between bands, there'll be some sweet sweet raffle prizes, merch from previous DOTVs, and of course - Ben Haley's famous photobooth! 

We hate to state the obvious - but we're giving you advanced warning because y'all better get your tickets now...this thing is gonna sell out. 

We are always bursting with pride to count Chris Estey as a friend, let alone be honored enough to have him share his words on Three Imaginary Girls.  But today, the thunderous applause coming from the imaginary office for Chris is deafening.

This morning we heard the amazing news that there are now public screenings scheduled for Have You Ever Had a Beard?, a new film which captures the first meeting of our dear Mr. Estey (wait, should we make that the title of a new advice column?) and the King of Indie, Calvin Johnson (wiki K Records, Beat Happening, all things rad)! 

This meeting of the two mega-minds took place in the historic Columbia City Theater where Chris and Calvin chat and delve into their contrasting tones: Calvin's mysterious cosmos, mesmerizing baritone, and weighted works, with a concentration his latest solo incarnation ("he spits literary bop prosody in the form of three songs") versus Chris's torrential confessionals told with his signature unsurpassable jubilance that spills out like a spoken-word graphic novel (and inspired by Phil Ochs’ seminal Greatest Hits album).

The world premiere of the movie is at Portland's Hollywood Theatre on Friday February 24, 2012.  Calvin Johnson (who will perform a couple of songs and answer questions) (!!!!) and directors Kathy Wolf and Pat Thomas will be in attendance.

The Seattle showing is a couple weeks later, on Monday March 5th at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle at 7 pm.  Rumor has it that both Calvin Johnson and Chris Estey will be at the Seattle showing (be still my heart!!!).

Mark your calendar!!!  We'll let you know when tickets are available for advance purchase.

(photo by Kathy Wolf)

Just when we thought the new track from Nada Surf, "When I Was Young" {off the stars are indifferent to astronomy, which is officially out tomorrow on Barsuk} couldn't get any better, we stumbled across this gem of a video. While it's definitely a stripped-down version that doesn't have the same big, building, wall-of-sound vibe that the full band delivery brings, the intimacy and DIY element make this rendition a treasure of a whole other caliber -- and, of course, seeing and hearing this has gotten us that much more excited for the currently-sold-out show at the Tractor next Thursday.

Yep. Believe it or not, Nada Surf is playing at the Tractor. What's that? You didn't get tickets in time? Well, you're in luck: we're giving away a pair to one lucky winner, and you've got a whole week to enter to win! Just send us an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "PicturesInOurPretendWallets" sometime between now and 5pm on Friday, January 27th. We'll pick a winner over the weekend, and notify you on Monday morning that you're headed to Thursday's show.

Good luck!

{21+ / 8p doors / SOLD OUT / Say Hi opens. Hat tip to Laura Musselman for sending the video our way!}