Three Imaginary Girls - UW Hub

Free Built to Spill, Ra Ra Riot, Smile Brigade show at UW

ChrisB — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:04:34 +0000

The lineup is Built to Spill, Ra Ra Riot and Smile Brigade and it will be on the HUB Lawn at the University of Washington from 3-7pm and it's free.

Colin Meloy and Sean Nelson light up the night at UW

imaginary victoria — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:08:24 +0000

4 Dec 2008

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~~I hate Christmas.~~

I love Winter Solstice. There's something to be said for the camaraderie in getting through the darkest time of year together, as a people, I mean. We hustle and bustle, and wrap little treasured trinkets up in scraps of fine paper for our friends; we string lights in the windows and the world is filled wtih the soothing smell of cut greens. There's copious amounts of baking and good cheer. Life should always be this good.

And just as we hang said lights and sparkle up our sidewalks for varying Solstice celebrations, so sat Colin Meloy and Sean Nelson, to add some shine into our season Thursday night at the UW Hub. As he opened up the show, Sean's comfortable banter was immediate and tangible -- a nice change from some of his more big-venue shows of late. His gorgeous pitch combined with those signature chord changes to echo and abound in the warm, dark hall during tunes like "Sometimes You Have To Work On Christmas" and the Monkees' "Porpoise Song." His sets consistently hold that moment that I love, when there's nothing in the room save for willing spectators and sparsely accompanied singer, pulled back from the microphone just-so in mid-serenade. All that matters in those little instants are those singular notes; there are no facts, figures, histories, or precipitations. It's totally pure.

With the stage and room and air still warm and ringing from Sean's stellar set, Colin Meloy ambled out on stage fresh off of Sunday's show at the Moore and proceeded to weave us through a sea of melancholy for a good hour, everything from old Tarkio numbers to tracks from the newest album (due out in March). I've had the pleasure of seeing Colin's solo set a few times now, most notably at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA and with Laura Veirs at Town Hall in New York City, both a few years back. Much like Sean, Colin's sets don't ever disappoint.

It was a lush cocoon of corduroy and Polaroids, all ventricles and plasticene. The talented (albeit a bit eager) AV club running a light show put forth a great effort that would have yielded a ton of gorgeous shots, but unfortunately there was no photo clearance for Colin's portion of the set. I do have filmstrips upon filmstrips boxed up in my mind, however, perfectly exposed and meticulously framed: all blue-white direct with an incandescent golden backlight for a halo, shifting to an afternoon frontal sunset gleam that bounced from the guitar body to the attentive, beaming faces of the crowd. Sigh.

It was totally fucking gorgeous.

Here's a shot from that Town Hall show back East, to give you an idea:

Just squint, and picture an argyle sweater and a major label.

And as if the night wasn't perfect enough, they had this little gem in the lobby, all inconspicuous, unmentioned and unassuming:

Right. Consistently the best ten dollars I spend on merch at every solo show of his I've been to. I've yet to have a proper sit-down with Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke, but I have managed to give this five-track slice of deliciousness a quick once-through -- guh. It's by far my favorite, although there's a fist-fight at the moment in my stereo between this and Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey. Until they're done duking it out, here's one last shot from the night:

That about does it. Review forthcoming, and more shots (of Sean, at least) up in the TIG flickr pool to tide you over until then.

Happy (forthcoming) Solstice, everybody!

A bath of singer-songwriters, warm orange halos, and insidious Northwest ache.

Colin Meloy with Sean Nelson tonight at the HUB

imaginary victoria — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:26:48 +0000

Full frontal PNW deliciousness! At a student center! With exclamation points!

Cutest Band in Seattle Contest 2004

three imaginary girls — Fri, 21 May 2004 07:00:00 +0000

21 May 2004

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We felt incredibly honored to judge the Cutest Band in Seattle contest for the second year running. Not only were we treated to performances by four great bands {Farewell Addison, Mechanical Dolls, Pomeranian, and the Senate Arcade, as well as a performance by the 2003 Cutest Band Ambitious Career Woman}, but we also had the good fortune to be judging alongside such a fine panel of judges: the wonderful Megan Seling {from the Stranger}, the dashing Pete Greenberg {from the Crocodile}, and another judge merely identified as Katherine, "a teenager." Everyone's favorite local drag queens {except for Kathleen Wilson} Emma Gawd and Anna Rexia did the honors of hosting the shindig.

Our only complaint? Judging this contest was hard because everyone was so darn cute! But enough whining...

The Cutest Band in Seattle 2004: Farewell Addison! Though technically not from Seattle but from picturesque Mt. Vernon, Farewell Addision won the judge's hearts, eyes, and ears with a beguiling pop-rock goodness equal parts Rhodes piano, pitter-pattering rhythms, and disarming yet rocking guitars. Their sound was obviously reminescent of fellow-Skagit Valley Rhode-ites The Pale, which by the transitive power of indie-rock makes them likewise akin to Death Cab for Cutie, quite possibly the cutest band to exist this millenia.

Their victory came in no small part thanks to frontman/guitarist/Rhodes player Jonathan Warman, with his Harry Potter meets Rivers Cuomo charms, blue velveteen smoking jacket, and dark-framed indierocker-approved glasses. Cute!

I must confess I was distracted from their overt cuteness by their shit-hottest Vox/Rhodes gear. Sweet Jesus, it was nice! Were these guys sponsored by Guitar Center {or more likely, Hugo Helmer Music}...?

I think they were the only band that blushed during the Q&A session with the judges. This could be because igDana asked them how they would handle the pressure of older women {and men} hitting on them, should they be chosen as the Cutest Band in Seattle. And there's nothing cuter than blushing indie-rockers...

{PS ~ Bonus! We reviewed Farewell Addison's debut EP "A Summer Like This" was reviewed in Astropop February 2004...}

Pomeranian — YOW! They opened the night with a cutest cacaphony of Cowbells! Inflatable chick and bunny toys! Clanging keyboards! Musical Chinese Firedrills! Yelps and screams!!! Blammo! Truth be told, I thought Pomerian deserved to win. It could be my affinity for They Might Be Giants and bands that make use of wacky time changes mid-stream, but it must be said that I thought Pomeranian were cuter than Pocky, pink peeps, and, well, Pomeranians, combined.

I must concur. I haven't had that much fun keeping track of erratic instrumentation and vocals since I saw Menomena last fall. Pomeranian might not have won the title of cutest band, but they're certainly a band to be followed, seen, and heard.

The award for cutest gender-bending goes to Mechanical Dolls, a trio of teenage girls who entered the event dressed as boys, cat-calling and "how-you-doin'" the female judges in a cutely convincing manner. Dressed in boy-drag and faux-'staches, they carried their boy schtick through sound check, when guitarist Savannah Doll came out in boys boxer briefs. After checking her guitar, she then grabbed the mic and proclaimed, "Check! Check! Check!... {a strategic moving of the guitar and then...} Check it out — no package!" I nearly spewed my I-swear-non-spiked-Hub-approved Diet Coke out my nose. Is carbonation in the nasal passages ever cute?

Mere seconds later, a presto-chango backstage resulted in three girly-girls taking the stage, dressed in skirts, full-on makeup, and bare feet. Their music showed obvious nods to the saucy-meets-badass Donnas/Runaways sound, with the raw prowess of a budding L7.

Give these Dolls a few years; with their straight-forward rockin' chords and Valerie Doll's full-on catacylsmic assault on her drumkit, Mechanical Dolls show the makings of an arena rock supergirl band. I'm not sure Valerie's devilish licking of her drumsticks was "cute" per se, but I am sure fellow-judge Pete found it decidedly unsettling. And that was totally cute.

It's no surprise that I think the Senate Arcade are hot. Because they are. In my humble opionion, they're too hot to be cute. For the competition, frontman Todd Schlosser donned a {very tight} Hello Kitty tanktop that showed off his tattooed arms and his belly button. That was cute. But they got a bit... er, "schloshed" {tee hee} before the show which was evident by the loose lips {"Now I don't need to go home and check out my 'Barely 18' magazine," quipped Todd, regarding his competition, Mechanical Dolls}, the stumbling about, and the {happily unfulfilled} verbal threat to moon the audience. While pedophilia jokes are never cute, the Senate Arcade are quite the hottie-pants band and of course, they rock. Maybe next year we'll judge Seattle's hottest band, and we'd encourage the Senate Arcade to enter.

Need more cuteness? Then read about the 2003 Cutest Band in Seattle contest, with Ambitious Career Woman, Asahi, Lands Farther East, Blue Sky Mile, and In Praise of Folly.

...And the winner is: Farewell Addison! Also cute: The Mechanical Dolls, Pomeranian, and... well sorta the Senate Arcade. Plus a performance by the 2003 winner, Ambitious Career Woman.

Akimbo, The Blood Brothers, and Pretty Girls Make Graves

S. Enni — Sat, 15 Nov 2003 08:00:00 +0000

14 Nov 2003

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The Akimbo/ Blood Brothers/ Pretty Girls Make Graves show was a lesson in mathematics: the tricky equations of getting down and rocking out. The University of Washington HUB had transformed one of their dining areas into a surprisingly functional venue, and the concert completely sold out earlier that day. This was evidenced by the terrific line I waited in anxiously, not wanting to miss any action.

Akimbo was up first, and I was amongst the majority in that I had a terrible seat, and could see nothing. I scavenged around for the highest/closest/most convenient place to sit or stand or swing from, but no such luck. Eventually I found an area where I could see the occasional flip of the singer's tight curls, and the occasional flailing guitar neck. I decided to take the zen approach and focus in on the audio — I was not disappointed.

Don't you love it when opening bands set the tone? Akimbo rocked like an adrenaline shot to the heart, with breakdowns the likes of which I haven't seen since Farrah Fawcett was on Letterman. These professors of math rock kept things interesting, and their set was like a tightly wound punch. When they introduced their last song, "I am a Fucking Ice Giant" I was ready for a tour-de-force. And indeed, the lengthy number gave me guitar solos I could crunch, and made me feel like my footsteps could collapse mountains. I think the Hulk would be a fan of Akimbo. That's some wicked shredding.

After Akimbo's energizing set there passed the length of an aria, while the Blood Brother army gathered as close to the stage as possible, and tension mounted. When The Brothers finally took to the stage and swung into "Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon" the crowd burst, or imploded, depending on where you were standing. The energy was thick and I wanted to rock out, if only I could move... I went with the wildly crushing flow, side to side, backwards and was then slingshot to the very front, where the fans were actually standing on the stage. Somehow I sidled to my right and wound up standing next to photographers from who-knows-what publication, standing awkward and astonished at my incredibly fortunate view: it was like the Brothers were jamming in my basement.

Standing behind the speakers meant I sacrificed much of the sonic quality of the experience, but it was more than worthwhile to see the Brothers' overwhelmingly energetic performance so close. The surge of people was consistently stepping on the Brothers' toes (Bros Toes?), pushing them up to the ceiling and shoving their amps helter skelter across the floor. Ah, I thought, but this is a rock show! Chaos is welcome! Madness abounded! The crowd sang along like it was Dashboard Confessing, reaching a fever pitch with "USA Nails." The Brothers' explained that this was the last show in Seattle for a long while, and that once they played here again they expected to have an entirely new arsenal of music with which to rock you, the ever-hungry rock fan. They retired the stage after an admirably long and rigorous set, leaving the crowd a sweaty, frenzied, adoring mess.

I spoke with guitar player Cody after their set, and he told me he'd had a really great time playing, despite the occasional fan being launched into his face. He also told me that the most exciting thing about being in the band right now was making their new album, which, he estimated, would hopefully be out around springtime. Later on, however, he confessed to not having a favorite Spice Girl — "I just don't know any of them..." I told him it was alright. He's a rock star; he doesn't need any more spice.

Once Pretty Girls Make Graves was finely tuned and ready to go the mob had somewhat depleted, but those who stuck around were treated to some lovely fist-pumping jams of the grrl persuasion. Yet again I found myself occasionally leaning up into tip-toe position just to catch a glimpse of any — please any! — movement onstage. After all was said and done I was exhausted. The turtleneck I had thought so chic and functional on the walk over was now stretched and wet with sweat I was almost certain wasn't mine. But I walked home with my brand new Blood Brother's T-shirt and the knowledge that yes, Virginia. Rock is alive. And it's living its day today in Seattle.

The Akimbo/Blood Brothers/Pretty Girls Make Graves show was a lesson in mathematics: the tricky equations of getting down and rocking out.