We can't thank you enough for helping us celebrate our 10th Anniversary in Rockstar New Wave Karaoke style last Friday {June 1, 2012} at Chop Suey!!! The evening was so much fun and having you all there really made it all super special.  There were so many amazing moments, some that we can't even believe actually happened!  If we weren't already in love with every one of the performers that took the stage, we are certainly over the moon with them now.

There were so many amazing performances it's impossible to list all the amazing moments here... but here are just a couple off the top of our heads:

Ben Hooker re-writing Duran Duran's "Girls on Film" to "Three Imaginary Girls On-Line."  We still don't know how he did it and really wish it was caught "on film." We are still blushing from the honor of having a Ben Hooker-penned song about us!

Patrick from Your Favorite Book singing "99 Luft Balloons" IN GERMAN!  We're not sure if you noticed, but the words on the karaoke monitor were in English, which means Patrick actually memorized the German version. From seeing YFB shows in the past, we knew he was going to go all the way.  But, blow up red balloons and fill the crowd with them as he broke out into song? While singing in German?

Jenny Jimenez capturing all that is "She Bop" by Cyndi Lauper. The face paint, the outfit, the dance moves, AND a spot on rendition of this classic Cyndi tune.  It was a big undertaking and Jenny nailed it!

Sean Nelson singing "Peace, Love, and Understanding."  Sean not only covered the Elvis Costello song beautifully, he got so into the moment that he left the stage with a hole ripped in the knee of his pants and a bloody knee! We admire his new wave devotion!

Jenny and Chris of Tullycraft's version of "Come On Eileen."  The overalls, the dance moves pulled directly from a Dexy's Midnight Runners video and the over-the-top vocals. Thank goodness it was captured on video (posted below)!

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Did you pick up your copy of the Imaginary Zine at the big Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Bash at Chop Suey on Friday, June 1st? 

If you don't have a copy of the zine yet (or you want to buy another!), you can order online or purchase at any upcoming Three Imaginary Girls event in the near future (next one: the 10th Anniversary Ice Cream Social at Bluebird Microcreamery in Capitol Hill on July 12!).  The zine is limited run of 333 copies (the back cover does not lie), so buy yours soon!

The Imaginary Zine is a 60-page old school printed zine recounting our first 10 years with some of our favorite blog posts and stories from our imaginary friends.  It also includes a cd chock full of rare, live, or exclusive songs by some of our favorite local artists (full list below)!

The most amazing part? It's only $4 (+ USPS postage)

Want a sneak peak of some of the radness inside the hand-crafted zine?

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In the venn diagram of talent, kindness, enthusiasm and sincerity, Exohxo's Jasen Samford and Danny Oleson are certainly in the middle of it all.

For years they made Seattle smile with pop-goodness as part of Speaker Speaker, and now, with their current band, Exohxo, they have taken their enchanting chamber pop one step further.  They not only spread joy at the holidays, releasing three holiday Exohxmas albums (mostly) of original songs, but all year long they take the stage to fill the air with brilliant songs like "These Are The Days" and "Beacons."  

In fact, they are so talented that they didn't even flinch when I asked them if they had a song for our Imaginary Zine mix cd.  They jumped to the task recording a brand new song just for us and delivered it in record time.

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As you may have heard, 2012 marks Three Imaginary Girls' 10th anniversary of being Seattle's sparkly indie-pop press and we can't think of a more imaginary way to celebrate than with a big bash with some of our favorite rockstars and YOU!

On Friday, June 1st at Chop Suey, we're going to host the biggest TIG birthday party of all imaginary time with some of Seattle's most stellar rockstars taking the karaoke mic to sing in the key of new wave, including:

Sean Nelson
Lesli Wood
Megan Seling
Jenny Jimenez
Shane Tutmarc
Alicia Amiri
Cristina Bautista
Anna Banana Lange
Jenny George

and members of:
Visqueen
The Young Evils
Exohxo
Tullycraft
Math & Physics Club
Tennis Pro
Mal de Mer
Black Nite Crash
Kithkin
The Mangles
Your Favorite Book
Noddy
We Wrote the Book on Connectors

It can't get any more astonishing, right?  Well, the rockstars aren't the only ones taking the mic, we want YOU to sing too! Throughout the night, audience members can volunteer to take the Chop Suey stage by storm to karaoke their favorite new wave hit.  Folks will be chosen first come, first served, so get there and turn in your song early (doors are at 8:30pm)!

To add to the birthday merriment, the evening is going to be hosted by imaginary Dana and Adrian LeFluer (of Iron Composer fame), who you might remember stealing the show as emcee at our 69 Love Songs cover night a few years back. 

Get your ticket to the night of new wave love and big imaginary fun now!

As an added bonus for those at the show,  you can be the first to pick up a copy of the Imaginary Zine! A printed old school zine recounting our first 10 years in stories and recounted memories from our imaginary friends. It will have a special screenprinted cover (thanks Seattle Show Posters / 112 Printworks!) and a cd chock full of rare, live, or exclusive songs by some of our favorite local artists, including The Long Winters, BOAT, Exohxo, The Femurs, Tullycraft and MORE!  It's limited to a hand-numbered print run of only 333, so you should make plans to pick up your copy at the show.

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$7, 714.83!!!!

You guys. That is. AMAZING!!! Jenny George (pictured atop an Exohxo pyramid above!) was sobbing with joy when we dropped the money off to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society {check out this sweet comment from Erin @LLS}. They told us straight up that it would help SO many people! This is the most money that DOTV has ever raised, and Jenny is so so so so thankful for all the volunteers and bands and attendees who made it happen! We can't wait to help plan next year's bash and raise even more money. 

As for Ben Haley's amazing photobooth pictures - they are on the way! Please take a moment to gaze upon Ben as "The Chauffer" and his assistant Merilee Jones - who had THE BEST 80s OUTFIT EVER! So totally tubular. There's a few more pics after the jump - and you can watch for yours in the ever expanding DOTV 7 Flickr set. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED MAKE JENNY'S BIRTHDAY SO FANTASTIC! 

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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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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. 

Every Valentine's weekend, my lovely friend Jenny George celebrates another year on earth by flipping off the bastard that almost took her from it with a birthday cover show that benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year, please join us at The Crocodile this Friday, February 11 for Dancing on the Valentine VI: Strangelove and give cancer a big "F YOU" while listening to Depeche Mode covers by Seattle bands, buying raffle tix for awesome prizes, and you know, probably drinking a lot.

We can't tell you who's covering what (that would spoil the surprise!), but we can tell you who's playing: Black Swedes, Hotels, Exohxo, SHiPS, Lesli Wood with Jupe Jupe, Sean Nelson & Phil Peterson, Legion Within, and The Animals at Night w/special guests Brent Amaker & Ruby Mimosa from The Atomic Bombshells!!! Tickets are $10 advance ($12.38 online w/fees from The Croc, $12 @Sonic Boom locations) or $12 at the door. Every bit of the $10 gets donated + all your raffle dollars!

Bonus: we've got a pair of tickets to giveaway! Send an email to us at tig {at} threeimaginarygirls dot com by Thursday 2/10, 6pm - subject line: Strange Highs and Strange Lows and we'll pick a lucky winner at random and notify them Friday AM (that way you can spend all your donation $$ on raffle tickets!)

Dancing on the Valentine VI
Strangelove: A Depeche Mode Tribute & Benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Friday, 2/11/11
The Crocodile
Doors @8
Show @9
$10 adv (+ fees)/$12 at door
21+

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{Visqueen photo: Ben Haley / Bunnygrunt photo: JoshBomb}

September marks the biggest festival season in the Pacific Northwest. In a move to test our endurance, the biggest of the mammoth festivals take place within days of each other: Bumbershoot from September 4-6 in Seattle and Music Fest NW from September 8-12 in Portland. But, besides those mega-shows, we've got plenty of our favorite Seattle bands taking to the stage. In this edition of the Imaginary Mixtape we'll share tracks from noteworthy bands with shows in the coming weeks, feature some exclusive live recordings from the Athens Popefest, and a sneak preview of brand new songs by The Thermals and Superchunk.

You can listen to a stream or download the MP3 version of the podcast on the imaginary bandcamp page. Bandcamp prohibits tracks longer than 25 minutes {I think it's some regulation against jam bands?}, so the podcast is split into three sections. Click below to listen via the bandcamp stream.

PART 1: Preview of some September Seattle shows, Bumbershoot and Music Fest NW

PART 2: A listen to more Seattle bands with September shows and a preview of our Imaginary Crafty Listening Party albums for September

PART 3: Live tracks recorded at the 2010 Athens Popfest and some lovely Seattle indie-pop

If you are the type that likes to listen to podcasts in itunes (and who doesn't), download the .m4a file here {it's one single file with fancy chapter markers!} and then open it in your itunes {big thanks to Jigsaw Records for hosting the file!}.

Tracklisting: Imaginary Mixtape - September 2010:

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