I cought The Keeper and Shogun at the artist lofts next to the Lo-Fi on Eastlake. The show was saturday night. Everyone should check out The Keeper- a rocking good time to be had by all!

I saw Springsteen at Key. I wouldn't say it was a 'great show'. But apparently this was a minority opinion among the dad rock loving baby boomers that made up most of the audience.

The Hollow Earth Radio Volcano Eruption on Saturday was an incredible night, both musically and financially. (HER is in the black! Yay!) I walked in while Calvin Johnson was playing, which was kind of surreal. Bow and Arrow were tight and intense and damn good. I finally saw The Curious Mystery for the first time; they delivered a damn fine slab of stoner/psych rock. Your Heart Breaks with full band backing was an exuberant, fun pop explosion. The Beep Family Orchestra (in which I took part) was completely ridiculous, but loads of fun. I couldn't believe people actually stuck around, but much love to 'em.

I missed as much great stuff as I saw (including the Pica Beats and Snowman Plan, among other local greats), but definitely had a full and splendid evening.

I saw Jose Gonzalez at the Triple Door! I planned a trip from Ohio around the show, and he was wonderful and amazing. Aside from the annoying drunk girl yelling for him to play "Hand on Your Heart," it was the best show I've seen in a long time.

charlie-how amazing was the lighting!? my photos are coming soon for the review

Travis and I caught the Young Sportsmen at the High Dive on Saturday. They're a great band: catchy tunes and an energetic delivery. Their bassist was wearing a Riffbrokers t-shirt, which must have been gratifying to Nick and Heather who were in the audience. Another celebrity sighting was Gwon from the Lund Bros.

I caught Nada Surf & Sea Wolf on Thursday and while Sea Wolf was a bit flat and uninspiring Nada Surf picked it and presented more than one moment of brilliance. I caught Saves the Day on Friday night (don't laugh!) so I could pick up the new Bug Sessions. Again, their show was not the best and acted as more of a shill for their new record. Doors were at 6:30(!) so I missed most of the other four bands playing. I also managed to catch the Whore Moans, Tennis Pro & Ice Age Cobra on Saturday. The Whore Moans were better and more powerful than I've ever seen them in a larger venue while Tennis Pro still managed to steal the show with theatrics and a solid performance. Ice Age Cobra was borderline embarrassing and campy. Until next time...I'm off to sober up and hope the ringing in my ears stop.

I was also at the Hollow Earth Radio Erruption/Explosion/Finale w/ Levi. The entire show was great, but Your Heart Breaks totally stole the show. LAKE and Matt Fu as the YHB backing band was unreal. The 6-part vocal harmony at the end of "God Speed John Glen" was breathtakingly impressive.

lots of good things this weekend! past lives were really great on saturday at healthy times fun club... cut loose and night wounds were pretty interesting too i thought, and it's always nice when you see bands you're not familiar with and they turn out to be pretty great! tiny vipers also played a nice little show at the anne bonny last night to an intimate and attentive crowd which is always good too...

The Keeper show rocked! Don't miss another chance to see these guys!!!

X at the Showbox

Well, I'll be joining Levi and Jon up there in the crowd who was at the Hollow Earth Radio show! Although..it was my birthday night, so I was busier getting drunk than paying attention to the bands. I'm sure Levi can attest to my drinking... But! I did share my bottle of rum with a few members of the Beep Family Orchestra, and I saw Jeff from Feral Children. Crazy amount of musical people in one room that night.

I too, saw The Boss at Key Arena. What a show! The guy has been rocking for over 33 years and he puts the majority of these new modern rock bands to shame. Great energy, stellar band backup and strong vocals. It is absolutely true, Bruce Springsteen IS The Boss!!!

I caught the Iceage Cobra show at the King Cobra with Tennis Pro and The Whore Moans. I agree that the Whore Moans brought a hell of a set, as they always do. But I have to disagree with the above commenter that Iceage Cobra was campy or embarassing. The Cobra, who's been on a Seattle hiatus since line up changes, brought it in a big big way for an audience filled with folks who loved every minute of it. The band sounds great with their new bassist, Ben Harwood, and they played a couple of new IAC songs which show the band is alive and well.

I saw the Maple Valley Rock School "Rockcital" @ Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma. It was awesome! One of the highlights of the night was when the 10 year old ripped out an awesome guitar solo complete with pick slide! Another highlight was seeing a 14 year old boy sing like an experienced 40 year old man singer! And to cap off the whole night Zeek and the Lightning Bolts played an awesome set complete with pinata smashing and a person carrying signs across the stage. It was a very good show, I could not take my eyes off the stage.

i saw black eyes and neckties in bellingham on saturday night, for the third time. i can't get enough of those guys, they put on a great live show! and getting thrashed around is the price i pay for being in the front! totally worth it though.

This was an epic weekend for northwest shows!

I caught 1/2 of Boat (Dave & Mark) and The Besties at Stickman Coffee in Fremont.

@Rhianon -- great shots!!

@Rhianon -- great shots!!

Daniel Johnston and Friends, Nuemo’s April 17, 2008:
i got there in time to catch the last couple of songs by the first act, a nerdy looking asian guy who sat cross legged and hunching over a small acoustic guitar. he played finger style, a lot of jazz chords, songs about girls, talk-singing kind of whispery, lyrics like: ‘you are pretty, you’re using chopsticks wrong, i’d like to teach you how to use chopsticks.’ he’s worth checking out, if you can find out his name, i don’t remember.

then came the Dead Science. the front man gave me a very strong Leonardo DeCaprio vibe, haughty, tall and slender, 80’s new wave haircut. sadly, i could not make out a word of the lyrics. i don’t blame him for this. i have to believe it is the sound engineer’s responsibility. i have heard all the arguments, been in on a few of them myself. i know drums put out a lot of sound, and everything else has to adjust, and the vocal mic can only be so hot or it starts to feed back, yeah, i know. but i have heard singers who sing like normal people, like people sing in the car, singers who don’t have pipes like Aretha Franklin, and they had a full band behind them and the lyrics were audible. it can be done, but for some reason it is the exception in clubs. it is something about which i will bitch to anyone who will listen, and some who would rather not. at least we could hear the lyrics when Daniel Johnston was on, but first more about the Dead Science.

they were a good show overall, the drummer alone is worth the price of admission. he was set up at one end of the stage facing toward the rest of the band in an otherwise standard arrangement. i was near the front of the stage just a few feet away from him. god he’s good, i could just watch him play drums all night, damn! the bass player, who also played guitar on at least one song, was solid and very entertaining when he played his stand up bass and kept bouncing and waltzing it around on stage. there is something to be said for showmanship, they are a fun band to watch.

the crowd was overwhelmingly hipsterish, a lot of the ‘i am unkempt because i don’t care what other people think and yet somehow in my maverick individuality i managed to end up looking exactly like the other 500 maverick individuals here this evening’ crowd. aside from the air of painful self awareness that made me feel like i was back in a freshman mixer, the crowd seemed to be in a rather docile mood, neither happy nor unhappy, maybe hoping for the best, but not feeling overly optimistic, optimism is hopelessly uncool after all, or maybe i’m just projecting.

then out stepped the man. he must have been, or be, subjected to some dreadful meds. his tongue pushes continuously against his lower lip and the inside of his cheeks in a motion that reminded me a fish’s gills. he also has a palsy in at least one hand, i think his left, and maybe the other as well. i saw Brian Wilson play the paramount a year ago or so, and i lined up with some others to get his autograph after the show. he was led out to the lobby looking like he had no idea where he was. they sat him down and he signed a few autographs. when i spoke with him he never looked at me, and i don’t know how aware he was of my presence. the show had been fantastic, played by a large and talented group of musicians while he sat up front behind a keyboard with a computer monitor and sang the baritone Mike Love parts to many of the songs. some other guy handled all the falsetto stuff mr. Wilson originally sang. by comparison Daniel Johnston was fairly lucid, even though he did say we were in Portland, and later could not remember the name of the band backing him. the Leonardo DeCaprio guy tactfully leaned into his ear and whispered the name to him. ‘thanks again to the Dead Science,” he finally managed.

he started the show playing a couple of solo numbers on guitar. his hand was shaking so bad, and the guitar was slightly out of tune, it was a bit much for even his childlike, amateurish style to well contain. then he brought out a guitarist and started just singing songs from his catalog. he gripped the mic tightly in his trembling fist, closed his eyes and sang his heart out, god bless him. though he stayed right on the mic, i think his palsy lent the vocals a slight tremolo effect.

then, as i already mentioned, the Dead Science came out to back him. they did a nice job, very tasteful. they did Speeding Motorcycle. it was the closest the crowd came to rocking all night, a spirited version. one woman asked him if she could take a picture for her teenage son who couldn’t make the 21+ show. he said, “i’m standing right here, go ahead.” up to then i had seen him as a fairly pathetic figure, seemingly scared and disoriented, but when he addressed the woman he seemed quite at ease and confident. he thanked everyone for the good turnout. he did seem eager to wrap the evening up though. i understand he is famous for very short sets. given that, i guess the evening was a virtual marathon for him. he did over a dozen songs altogether i’d say, and came out with his guitar player for a two song encore. he finished by leading the crowd in an a capella rendition of Devil Town. then we filed out into the frigid drizzle of an april night, no demons exorcised.

I caught some shows great shows this week in Montana, one of which included a great performance by Seattle's Conservative Dad. In Missoula, the Badlander had WHY?, Elf Power and Broadband Shortwave all on ONE bill. Then Helena's new fourOsix venue showcased Broadband Shortwave with Conservative Dad to a very enthusiastic crowd!