It is sheer madness that there are so many great live performers appearing at Bumbershoot 2010 this year. This is my personal schedule to see a cross-section of irascible indie-ness (be it indie pop-friendly Pac NW hip-hop, indie rock, Brooklyn funk, etc.) but mostly focusing on those TIG-sparking artists who either put out a great record recently (and may or may not have gotten the deserved acclaim) or have one coming right up.

So let's begin the plan, and bear in mind if you haven't heard the music that may already be available from these performers, we would recommend checking the releases hyped below out before you attend Bumbershoot 2010. This is not because you would be in any way disappointed with what you will see and hear when you hit the full-genre full-on phenomenon that is the festival this year; just the opposite, we want you to already have some of these songs down to sing/chant/rap along when they pop during the sets. All are recommended and approved.

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We have been looking forward to a full album of NEW Redwood Plan songs for some time now... and tonight's the night! Gather with us as the Redwood Plan celebrates their album release tonight at the Crocodile with The Shondes, Mal De Mer,  and Young Evils.

Thanks to Jason Tang for the shot of Lesli Wood and crew performing at our 2009 imaginary holiday party at Chop Suey.

If you are a fan of smartly written music that wallops with chutzpah and high energy, and were to ask for the line up coming this Thursday night, May 13 to The Crocodile, you would appear rapacious. A four band cavalcade that also serves as a CD release party for The Redwood Plan's first full-length Racing Towards The Heartbreak, it might be the best value for your local night life buck this week. (Just from their last show at the venue alone, it would be worth the door price.)

Starting with the headliners, Brooklyn's The Shondes returns with their sensual yet ornery helter-skelter, which should feel very pleasing to acolytes of K Records' fiercest female-led albums, and fans of klezmer cabaret alike. My Dear One is their debut on new label Fanatic, and is a sidewinder of a break-up album (of a sort). The title track and "You Ought To Be Ashamed" unleash sharp-witted fire on the lily-livered and capricious, but also "Make It Beautiful" by including plenty of violin.

The Redwood Plan's album is a collaborative production between the band and creative hard rock recording visionary Martin Feveyear. Maelstroms of emotional need and deferred hopes are chronicled through mad-tempo tracks like "For What It's Worth," "Swing," and "Push," full of femme-focused vim and verve from Lesli Wood (Ms. Led). With her new husband Larry Brady (Shorthand For Epic) anchoring and adding the oompah to Betty ST's beats and Sydney Stolfus' guitar and backing vocals, this allows Ms. Wood to treat the stage like a combination feminist monster truck rally or an intellectual salon if debate was carried out with throat level kicks. It's all just sweaty bodies knocking into each other with a whole lot of groove and chant. See them and you'll walk away with all eleven full throttle episodes of Racing Towards The Heartbreak.

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{Amazing Lesli Wood / Redwood Plan photo by Jason Tang from the TIG Flickr Photo Pool}

The weekend is nearly upon us... what are you most looking forward to?

On Friday night, Lesli Wood and the Redwood Plan kicking arse at the Comet with Dept of Energy headlining? Fresh Espresso (with a name like that you know they know how to work a Seattle crowd) with Truckasaurus and Head Like a Kite?

Saturday night we have to make sure you get your booty, whether it's broken hearted or already full of gue, to the Crocodile for the Dancing on the Valentine bash. It's an annual tradition and the *perfect* way to celebrate all the loves of your life and help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This years theme is all David Bowie all night. Dress up and dance your ___ off. What song do you want to hear covered?

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Tonight is the night!

We would be so honored to have you join us at the Imaginary Winter Holiday Spectacular tonight {December 23} at Chop Suey!

There's a lot of exciting stuff going on, including but not limited to:

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{Photo by Alex Crick}

Day five of our countdown to the Imaginary Winter Holiday Spectacular {December 23 at Chop Suey} and we're happy to spend today focusing on our headliner: The Redwood Plan.

We have yet to find anyone (critic or otherwise) that isn't dazzled by both of the The Redwood Plan's 2009 eps.  Their guitar punk is spiffied up with mesmerizing synth and handclaps in the most infectious of ways.  Lesli Wood  took a moment to answer some questions about The Redwood Plan and confirm the fact that Tegan and Sarah, just like the rest of us, have really big crushes on The Redwood Plan.

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Here's what I like in a holiday party: being around people I like, listening to good music in a legendary bar with plenty of alcohol. Everything else is a bonus.

Fortunately, our friends from Back Beat Seattle must believe the same thing because they're putting on a really great show tonight (Friday, December 18) at the Blue Moon. The lineup features Gabe Mintz (who I saw and enjoyed at the Give Seattle benefit a few weeks ago at the Crocodile), Ben Harwood (the former bassist from Iceage Cobra who is going solo now) and Lesli Wood from The Redwood Plan (who'll be rocking our holiday party five days later). All of this holiday cheer will cost you just five dollars and starts at 9pm.

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It's hard to believe, but the Imaginary Winter Holiday Spectacular at Chop Suey on December 23rd is only one week away!

Today we are giddy to unveil the posters for the show! The Spectacular is *so* spectacular it has two color combos. The poster was designed by our friends at Admiration Society and lovingly screen-printed by Seattle Show Posters - who will make limited edition huge prints of the gray version of the poster (above) available for purchase at the show.

But, if you're more in the winning mood than the buying mood, everyone who comes through the door will be given a raffle ticket (extra tickets will be available for purchase with proceeds going to charity) with a chance to win a slew of amazing prizes donated by our generous sponsors:

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The month of December sometimes gets a bad rap. For most, it's chock full of stress, mayhem and not-so-merry necessities. But don't go all glum on us, we've got a remedy: The Imaginary Winter Holiday Spectacular 2009!

Join us as we mark our fifth year spending the winter holidays imaginarily on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at Chop Suey. The night will be filled with performances by some of our favorite Seattle bands of 2009 and enough festive cheer to even make Rudolph forget about his holiday duties. The lineup will include the music stylings of:

The Redwood Plan
Wallpaper
the Nightgowns
Skeletons with Flesh on Them
The Special Places

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After only a few months of being together as a full band, The Redwood Plan has become one of the most buzzed-about bands in Seattle. Led by frontwoman Lesli Wood, whose previous band, Ms. Led, was a much-beloved neo-riot grrrl band that had played its last show in January. The Redwood Plan is a synth-heavy dance punk band whose shows are always tightly-wrought dance parties.

The Redwood Plan is playing two big shows on Saturday, September 19, playing at Fremont Oktoberfest at 9:10pm and then playing the first night of Vs., a queer dance party at the Rebar around midnight. The band is also recording the debut album this week and will be playing the Seattle Weekly’s local music festival, Reverbfest, on October 3. They had also just released an EP last month called Movers, Shakers, Makers.

I met up with Lesli Wood, who I have known as a friend for many years, over drinks at a Belltown tavern to discuss similarities and differences between The Redwood Plan and Ms. Led and what the future holds for The Redwood Plan.

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