Three Imaginary Girls - must-see show

Recommended Show + Ticket Giveaway! Win tix to Dancing on the Valentine 7 {2/10}

Imaginary Amie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:23:27 +0000

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!

Let the Los Campesinos Countdown begin {Neptune, 2/4}

imaginary liz — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:33:33 +0000

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)

Recommended show + free tickets: Nada Surf at the Tractor {2/2}

imaginary victoria — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:52:03 +0000

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!}

Make room on your dance card for the Young Evils {1/14}

imaginary victoria — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:23:01 +0000

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!

More Friday goodness: Star Anna at the Sorrento {1/13}

imaginary victoria — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:03:50 +0000

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.}

Do not miss: Lovesick Empire at the Highline

imaginary victoria — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:29:28 +0000

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.

The best news of 2012 {so far}: Three Imaginary Girls presents Allo Darlin' at the Vera Project

imaginary liz — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:54:19 +0000

{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}!!!

Recommended show + free tickets: Brandi Carlile at the Neptune {12/31}

imaginary victoria — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:35:47 +0000

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.

Countdown to the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular: Eef Barzelay

imaginary victoria — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:33:28 +0000

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.

Countdown to the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular: is your ass ready for this??!?!

imaginary victoria — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:54:23 +0000

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:

Countdown to the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular: Mal de Mer

imaginary victoria — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:25:50 +0000

You may recognize the handsome gent in the photo above as Michael Lee, a critical piece of one our favorite things to happen in the music scene of late, The Young Evils. And you'd be absolutely correct! But what you're looking at in this particular context is Michael Lee as lead singer of the band Mal de Mer, the third band on our lineup for Friday's Imaginary Holiday Spectacular.

Mal de Mer first popped full-force onto the imaginary radar earlier this year, when they took the first-of-three spot opening for Telekinesis at the Crocodile back in March. Like we said then, we knew of MdM but didn't quite know enough about MdM, so we set to do some digging -- and immediately fell in hearts. Allow us to refresh your memory of what we penned up about them then:

"The vibe varies from a Henry Clay People-esque alt.dirty-pop on songs like "Bubble Bobble" to the more melancholy, moderately anthematic sad-pop sound of "All I Want" -- but there's a running consistency through all the songs they've put out, and that consistency is one of No Bullshit. MdM isn't out to please the herd or become the next-best-something-or-other, they're just making the sounds that they need to get made. This, coupled with their all-star lineup (Michael Lee, Lesli Wood, Jimmy Curran, and Eric Wennberg), would make it appear as though the band itself could do no wrong. And based on the attention they've gotten so far, that might just be the rightest thing we've heard all week."

All of that still rings true, and tenfold at that. While The Young Evils have been keeping Lee busy, he reported in recently that he's almost done writing the next Mal de Mer album (!!!), and he's not the only one -- The Redwood Plan has a new album in the works as well, and Lesli Wood and Eric Wennberg have been rhythm sectioning for Wood's husband's new band, Lazy Animals.

We're stoked to hear them at the show, and hope you are too! If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you can still take advantage of the advance price: just pop on over to the Brown Paper Tickets page here, and you can get some more digs about the show at the Facebook page here.

Countdown to the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular: five more days!

imaginary victoria — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:52:55 +0000

There's plenty more to talk about this week as we count down to our imaginary holiday party: we've already filled you in about the goodness that is Heligoats {and Chris Otepka's previous incarnation, Troubled Hubble}, and our most recent addition to the line up, Sean Nelson and Kyle O'Quin's Temp Score. We'll have a little more on Mal de Mer for you before Friday, of course, along with some of our favorite John Roderick photos from years past to get your holiday backend ready for his lap -- but this morning, we just needed to gush a little bit about Eef.

Eef Barzelay {and the wide world of Clem Snide} has a rich, multi-layered catalog of studio work, to say nothing of crazy cover projects, various musical sidebars and brave creative endeavors. However, one of our absolute favorite media-marrying results were the contributions Eef made to the score of Rocket Science, a perfectly heartbreaking little indie film that you should absolutely go pick up / queue up this instant / rent on the way home from work today. Here's a little more about Eef's role in the process:

Stop the presses! We've added a special guest to our holiday party lineup!!

imaginary victoria — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:02:06 +0000

We are incredibly pleased to announce an addition to our (already uber-groovy) holiday party lineup!

Sean Nelson {Harvey Danger, The Long Winters} and Kyle O'Quin {Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground} along with Thomas Hunter and Aaron Benson {Kay Kay / Wild Orchid Children} -- who are currently performing under the working title of Temp Score -- will be taking the stage second-slot at our party, taking place on Friday, December 16th at Columbia City Theater. You may already be familiar with their new project, which made its Seattle debut during KEXP's Rekyavik Calling showcase at Neumos earlier this fall. We asked Sean to give us a little more on the band, for those who aren't yet familiar:

This will be our second show. It's piano + vocals + bass + drums. No guitars. Fairly up. Rather catchy. Very nimble, mid-'60s-esque, British-influenced piano pop in the Zombies/Kinks/Rubber Soul-era Paul mold, with a few droplets of solo Graham Nash, my usual tablespoon of Morrissey, and maybe a soupcan of pre-rock melodic influence. Mostly it's just pop songs about the usual rock subjects: girls, feelings, blame, regret, suicidal despair, milkshakes cold and long. It's a good band. Kyle is amazing.

The combination of me and him doing the writing, and those three guys (who play together ALL THE TIME) with my very different performance style, makes for a very exciting hybrid of stuff. We're hoping to make a record next month.

As if Heligoats isn't enough of a reason to get there early! Just a reminder: tickets available here, Facebook event page here.

Recommended show + free tickets: Pickwick at the Neptune {12/8}

imaginary victoria — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:57:23 +0000

UPDATE: This show is sold out, y'all!

If you didn't buy or win any tickets, all is not lost: Pickwick will be playing a free all-ages set tonight {December 6th} at Easy Street! They'll be taking the stage at the Queen Anne store at 7p. The house will probably be packed, so make sure you get there early!

More info if you need it at the Easy Street site here.

***

Holy crow! It's December already (Batman)? Seriously! 2011 is zipping along in the HOV lane to it's inevitable end, and so far as we're concerned, there's no better way to close it out than with a handful of killer shows: this coming week has us up to our armpits in the likes of the National and the Cave Singers, both doing two nights of performances, and there's some great art and dance events happening as we pull into the weekend: namely, two nights of BENT writing workshop benefit shows, with some spoken word artists at the Fremont Abbey Friday and a straight-up dance party Saturday. Come next Monday, we'll be bopping along in the front row to Telekinesis {with the Young Evils!} at the Crocodile, and then, finally: Soul-Night BoogieDown Fest 2011 with one of our new favorite move-your-booty bands, Pickwick, on Thursday, December 8th at the Neptune.

Phew! Can we get a "hell yes!"? Yes! How about we give away a pair of tickets to see the fine gents of Pickwick??!?! Hell yes!

Recommended Show: Jon Auer Acoustic in Volterra's Drawing Room {12/21}

Imaginary Amie — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:13:54 +0000

Dear lovers of The Posies and Jon Auer's brilliant solo tunes - I have the perfect holiday gift idea for you! On Wednesday, December 21, Mr. Auer will be singing and playing an acoustic show at Volterra in their cozy, private Drawing Room. This intimate concert only has 60 tickets available, and there are two levels of Auer-esque bliss:

$30 gets you a seat
$100 gets you reserved seating, + a meet-and-greet with Jon before the show, with light appetizers & wine courtesy of Volterra! A portion of these VIP tickets will benefit SIFF too - AWESOME.

(I know which pair of tickets I'd like to recieve!!)

It's no secret that I'm a huge Posies fan - and I've sung my heart out to many a Jon solo show over the years, because THIS GUY IS THE BOMB. Plus, DJ Marco Collins is going to spin some tunes for guests before Jon takes the stage!!! And Volterra is one of my favorite places to eat and drink at. I can't think of a better way to ring in the holidays, can you?

Holiday Acoustic Show with Jon Auer
Volterra Drawing Room
DJ Set by Marco Collins
Wednesday, 12/21 @7:30pm
GA: $30, VIP: $100 | Tix available at brownpapertickets.com
All ages | Cash bar w/ID

Don't miss: two nights with the Cave Singers {12/1 & 12/2}

imaginary victoria — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:05:07 +0000

Pull up those bootstraps, kids, because The National isn't the only game in town that's got a double-decker lineup in Seattle this week. The Cave Singers are about to put on two nights of amazing sound-wall that'll knock you clear off your feet! Here's the deets:

Night One, also known as this coming Thursday, December 1st. The Cave Singers pack the one- in one-two by taking the stage for an all-ages night at the Vera Project {7:30p doors / $16 adv / buy tickets!}, with a stage-warming by none other than our pals The Young Evils -- who may very well be working on putting out one of our favorite local albums of 2012 as we breathe and type. It'll be a great room to catch both bands in with a music-focused, booze-free crowd.

If you're heading to the Neptune (or one of the other fine establishments in town) this Thursday, fret not: Night Two will be going down on Capitol Hill at Neumos on Friday, December 2nd. Sound-wise, it'll be a much darker-tinged night with openers The Builders and the Butchers taking the pre-Cave Singers stage spot, and also worth noting: this show is 21+. {8p doors / $18 adv / buy tickets!}

Benefits for BENT this Friday and Saturday! {12/2 & 12/3}

imaginary victoria — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:19:31 +0000

It all starts with one thing: words.

Your favorite songwriters are all, well, writers in some way, shape, or form: whether they pick up pens and pencils, scribble furiously in notebooks, tap away at keyboards or typewriters, borrow phrases that they repurpose, or speak into a tape recorder -- they're wordsmiths. All (well, most) of them. And therefore, we find it fitting that we help get the word out about two benefits going on this weekend to help the next generation of writers and songster-ers of the Bent Writing Institute here in Seattle. There's two events you can choose from, depending on your speed -- a night of spoken word at the Fremont Abbey on Friday, and a full-force Big Gay Dance Party at Chop Suey on Saturday. Here's some more details on both:

Friday night, the Fremont Abbey will be host to a night of true performance, with acclaimed poet and activist Andrea Gibson {along with Tara Hardy and members of Youth Speaks Seattle}. Hold on to your sighs, folks: this isn't just some kind of wannabe coffeshop redux full of mediocre poets with exaggerated inflection. Andrea Gibson is the Real Deal: she's touring behind her fifth album and second book, her work has been featured on the BBC, Air America, C-SPAN, and Free Speech TV; and in 2010 a piece of her work was read by a state representative in lieu of morning prayer at the Utah State Legislature. Short version: if you're going to hitch your wagon to a spoken word artist in your lifetime, she's the one. Tickets here, Facebook event page here.

Then, we've got Saturday's event, which'll be much less heavy on the heartstrings but just as fun to attend: LICK!, a monthly-ish dance party at Chop Suey, will be hosting a benefit for BENT, with real-live DJs, dancing, a holigay photobooth, and all kinds of fun stuff! Dress to impress, and don't forget some ca$h money for the tip jar! Proceeds from the night will be going right to the BENT folks. (And ps, if you get there while they last, a rad new 'zine is being released too!) More info at the Facebook event page here.

Recommended show + free tickets: Telekinesis at the Crocodile {12/5}

imaginary victoria — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:30:38 +0000

Making your best-ofs, everyone? Well, do yourself a favor and go way back in your journals, blog posts and Excel sheets to the beginning of the year: don't forget that among other first-quarter gems, Telekinesis's 12 Desperate Straight Lines came out in 2011! How could you have forgotten already? What about that show at the Crocodile back in March, where you fell in hearts with Mal de Mer and couldn't stop kicking your feet to the beat? And that great interview we did with Michael Benjamin Lerner, too?

Now that your memory is sufficiently jogged, let's bring it back to this (well, next) week: Telekinesis will be playing the Crocodile this coming Monday, December 5th -- and MBL & Co. are hitting the stage with none other than the Young Evils! Talk about a blast! We're so excited to spend the night with these fine ladies and gents that we want to send you and a friend to the show. It's a hyperlocal new-classic indie-pop lineup if we ever saw one! Exclamation points! !!!!! So, let's talk contest details:

Recommended Show: A Benefit for Heather Duby at The Crocodile {11/26}

Imaginary Amie — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:57:43 +0000

Last month I was alerted to the fact that one of my favorite musical artists EVER had been in a terrible bike accident that almost resulted in the loss of her hands, and I immediately started crying. Not because I know Heather Duby personally, but in addition to crying over how horribly painful and emotionally traumatizing something like that is, I think her music is so beautiful and amazing that I couldn't imagine a world in which she wouldn't be able to play it.

I caught on to Heather's amazingness at some show, somewhere, in Seattle around 2000 or so - and once I heard her, I made sure I was at every single place she played . I scooped up Post to Wire and Come Across the River as soon as they were available, and loved her electronic-y collaboration with Elemental. This girl can play keyboards like whoa and her voice - her VOICE - is gorgeous, gorgeous, and more gorgeous - just like her. One of my favorite memories of all time will be the night I told her I had purchased her new album at the (old) Croc, and she immediately took me to the back bar and bought me a shot. I LOVE THIS WOMAN. And I was positively crushed when she moved to NYC.

But, I digress. We all know what a bitch expensive medial care is - with or without insurance - and thus, I'm asking you to help me rally around Heather by attending this rockin' benefit on Saturday night (11/26) at The Crocodile. I know, I know, Visqueen's last show is that night too - if you can't make both, you can always drop Heather a few dollars of support on this page.

The Crocodile Presents:
A Benefit for Heather Duby with
Helms, Alee, The Redwood Plan & More
Saturday, 11/26 | Doors at 8pm | 21+
Tickets $10 ($12.50 w/fees online)

Top 5 Imaginary Visqueen Moments

imaginary liz — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:47:01 +0000

{Rachel and Ben of Visqueen at TIG's 69 Love Songs show in 2008. Photo by Laura Musselman}

Visqueen recently announced that, after more than 13 years of making us merry, they are going on an indefinite hiatus with the close of November, 2011. Although I agree It's totally fair for them to want to put down their guitars and sticks after such an amazing run, I have to admit it's really sad to think about imaginary life without the hope of ever seeing another Visqueen show (last shows listed below - get your tickets now!).

This got me reminiscing about all the amazing moments Three Imaginary Girls has had with them since our beginning nearly 10 years ago. It's a natural fit that as Visqueen shot to the forefront of the Seattle music scene, we were there in the front row basking in their glow. All that superfandom has resulted in about 80 Visqueen posts over the years and more than a few "most memorable moments of my life" and, of course, a Top 5 Imaginary Visqueen Moments list!

1. OUR FIRST EVER VISQUEEN SHOW
About a month after we launched Three Imaginary Girls, we posted this review of the July 3, 2002 Visqueen show that pretty much set the tone for the website. We {gush} talk about Kim Warnick, they cover a Tom Petty song, and Kim gives away a pair of tickets to see the Who that weekend{/gush}. We should have mentioned it more pointedly, but huge thanks to Pete Hilgendorf for telling us about Visqueen in the first place.