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 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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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!}

This weekend is getting so good, we may just have to draw out of a hat to see where we wind up -- with so much to choose from, it's getting hard to decide on just one place to be each night! Case in point, this show at Chop Suey on Saturday {Absolute Monarchs, The Young Evils, and Land of Pines} just popped onto the radar, making it one notch closer to impossible to sort out our plans. Depending on traffic and parking -- and since a little bird told us The YEs are actually headlining this one -- it's completely feasible to plan a double dip, starting the night out in Columbia City for a chunk of the Honky Tonk Angels tribute show, and then moseying on over to Capitol Hill to catch this show's last set.

Can anyone confirm or deny the final call on the lineup order? Let us know!

It looks like Friday's gonna be alright this week, with so much out there to pick from -- first we made plans for Pickwick's show in Portland, then Lovesick Empire's first-of-three at the Highline, and now we catch wind of Star Anna at the Fireside Room at the Sorrento. Can someone hurry up and invent cloning, please? Seriously.

If you need any convincing as to why you should stop into the Sorrento's Fireside Room for this set, just take a peek at the video for the title track off of Star's most recent release, Alone In This Together -- assuming the powerful, cinematic drive of this song is indicative of the direction her music is headed, here's yet another local artist who's well on the track to continue blowing minds with her work. And PS, Friday's show is free, so you literally have no excuse not to go.

Facebook invite here, band official website here.

{21+ / FREE / 7:30p. Photo of Star Anna at KEXP by Victoria VanBruinisse.}

There's a whole lot of us who will be migrating south for Friday night's Pickwick show at the Doug Fir, but if you're in town this weekend, there's plenty going on that's worth going out for: namely, Lovesick Empire's opening spot at the Highline in Capitol Hill on Friday night. They're playing with SAYS and Black Nite Crash, and you shouldn't miss it. Period.

If you haven't seen or heard Lovesick Empire yet, you are truly missing out. Their self-titled EP tied for first place in 2010's best-ofs, and my first round of listens earlier that year yielded quite the enthusiastic word-salad:

To say that this brand-stinkin'-new release from local notables Alicia Amiri and Jason Lajeunesse is in heavy rotation would just about be the understatement of the year [...] Lovesick Empire manages to give a nod to their roots while maintaining a sound that's completely their own -- we can hear hat-tips to true [word-other-than-]grunge and "He War"-esque Cat Power, layered with a good helping of black eyeliner and a missle-lock stare. You can almost see the movie scene playing out in a deafeningly loud bar during "Something in my Blood," hear the radio hit two tracks later, and realize you've got the perfect addition to your next mix tape with "Can't Get Right." Big, filthy guitars will keep the post-punks happy; and just enough forlorn-ness in the lyrics will draw the indie rockers in.

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{Allo Darlin' photo by Steve Louie from the Imaginary Flickr Photo Pool - taken at their October, 2010 show at the Rendezvous}

It's barely 2012 and already we have news worthy of a shower of fireworks. Imaginary favorite Allo Darlin' are coming back to town!!!

Three Imaginary Girls is beyond excited to present their all-ages show at the Vera Project on Friday, May 11, 2012 as part of our big 10 year celebration (yes, can you believe it? TIG is turning 10!!!).  Don't delay, tickets go on sale at 10am on Wednesday {1/4/12}!!!

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We've had the pleasure of seeing Brandi Carlile twice in as many years: most recently during a full-bore daytime set at this year's Austin City Limits festival, and prior to that at an intimate-yet-packed house at the Crocodile back in 2010. Both sets were packed with energy and positively enrapturing from start to finish, whether Brandi + band were playing sing-a-long, clap-a-long crowd favorites or simply serenading the masses with sweet, sweet ballads.

Fans of The Story and of her earlier work will agree that, long story short, you just can't go wrong at a Brandi Carlile show. That said, and with what basically amounts to a guarantee of an incredible evening, we're beside ourselves with excitement to announce that we'll be giving away a pair of tickets to Brandi's New Year's Eve performance at the Neptune this Saturday night. Come and ring in 2012 with us!

For a chance to be there with bells on, just send an email over to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "LetItBendBeforeItBreaks" sometime between now and 10am on Friday, December 30th.

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Well, there's just about a day's worth of hours left until the party officially gets started, and it's time to talk about Eef. Eef Barzelay, mainstay of Clem Snide, heartstring-yanker extraordinaire, producer of subtle genius with every touch. On top of killer studio albums, he put out an EP recently of Journey-only covers, a second of fan-request outtakes, and has longstandingly offered to pen you a custom song or record a few live tracks of your choice in an only-yours kind of session.

But rather than wax poetic about all the reasons why you need to come and see Eef Barzelay headline our holiday party tomorrow, we're just going to flood this post with gorgeous songs and videos so that you can let the love light shine in your own personal way. You're imaginary, just like us. You know Eef. You love Eef. Just bathe in it, feel all the feelings, and then come and stand in the front row with us tomorrow night and experience it all in person, for the first or fifteenth time.

You won't be disappointed -- we promise. (But you already know that.)

Hear more of Eef here, and for the love of all things good-music-y, get tickets for tomorrow's show already. They're only eleven dollars and you can pick them up with minimal fees over at Brown Paper Tickets.

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Well, is it? We sure hope so! Because one of our favorite parts of the holiday party every year is getting to grace the ever-lovable John Roderick's lap with our sweet jingle-bell backends, and getting the whole thing immortalized forever by way of Laura Musselman's brilliant camera skills. So, to get you warmed up for all the joy that awaits your rear this year, here's a few peeks back at the last few years of Indie Santa-ing (including last year's stand-in Santa, John Vanderslice).

2009:

2008:

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