There was much ado downtown about last Thursday's Triple Door show, namely that Academy Award winning-half of the Swell Season duo Marketa Irglova was set to perform to a packed house on her first solo tour -- and that she did. With a stunningly beautiful, courageously autobiographical set, Marketa let us under her clean-seeming surface layers into the most intimate corners of her internal processes, storytelling as she built the energy on the stage for well over an hour of ebb and flow, amidst the glass-clinks and occasional errant dropping of silverware.

Both of the night's performers, while varying in style -- Marketa leaning more toward the adult contemporary-esque, Kate-Bush-y set; opener Sean Rowe capturing a more pinpointed angst that perhaps fewer will comprehend, but those that do will do so fervently -- graciously let the room in to their hearts and minds for a glimpse of their personal landscapes over the course of the night, and the room followed willingly. As accomplished as the Swell Season is, Marketa had some big shoes to fill on her solo endeavor, and she did so beautifully: it's clear that the underpinnings of greatness exist here, and with the help of her band (including Frame Rob Bochnik), it seems as though the things that made her great during her endeavors with Glen Hansard have ample room to come to light in due time.

It's worth taking time and space to note a little more about the first act of the night, Sean Rowe. Just as unassuming as Marketa at first glance, visually and sonically -- file under: bearded guy with well-worn guitar and a pile of heartbreak -- he proceeded to shock the room with his commanding energy and larger-than-life stage presence. With a foothold somewhere between an older version of local all-star Moondoggie Kevin Murphy and the esteemed tones of Richard Thompson, Sean Rowe literally took over the room for his forty-plus minute set. He rocked and swooned, let his voice break when a line pulled at his heartstrings, and crossed the line song by song from innocent bystander to the conductor of his own demise and back effortlessly.

Sean Rowe:

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In the midst of a headlining solo tour in support of last month's release Anar, the Swell Season's Marketa Irglova will be taking the stage at the Triple Door tonight in Seattle. Coming into the spotlight as merely a counterpart, a "girl" in the boy-girl dynamic, her role in Once pushed her out into the spotlight where she's proven to be not just a competent band member with Glen Hansard on the lead, but a supremely talented musician in her own right. Her gorgeous, sparse storytelling -- parts autobiographical, parts fiction, although it seems that most is the former -- is quiet, clean, and pretty at first glance; but a strength and size come to the surface after a closer listen that's fast causing Marketa to become a force to be reckoned with in the singer-songwriter game today.

We loved her contributions to Once and all things Swell Season so far, and we're looking forward to getting a glimpse tonight of what she does on stage on her own. An evening in our favorite sit-down theater with an Academy Award winning talent? Yes please! And you should absolutely join us: the show is all ages and tickets are still available at the Triple Door's site here.

{6p doors / 7:30p show / $17.50 adv / $20 DOS. All ages.}

We had the pleasure of spending our evening at the Triple Door this past weekend with Rhett Miller and Dan Mangan, both performing sparser-than-sparse stripped-away acoustic sets for our eager ears. Armed with little more than their guitars and the soundsystem -- for Rhett, not even the latter, as the sound was cutting in and out during the first two songs of his set -- these two young men managed to bring their respective houses down. Dan Mangan's set was fun, earthy, and shockingly reverent at times; the high point coming at the end as he led the whole house in a rousing, repetitive final chorus during "Robots" as he stood on the top level of the front-row tier of booths.

And Rhett's set, on the other hand, was very -- well, Rhett. Full-frontal Rhett-O-Sexual-ness poured out of him, as he literally didn't miss a beat belting his first two songs out (without amplification on his instrument or voice) from the edge of the stage. Once the volume came back, he did his sweet-croonin', hip-shakin' performance as only he can, finishing each tune to thunderous applause. Somewhere along the line, someone told Rhett Miller to always leave 'em wanting more -- and that's exactly what he did.

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Well, color our little "Dream Weaver"-playing, toe-tapping, swoon-laden-at-the-extra-undone-button hearts happy: it's September! And that means Rhett Miller's Triple Door show is finally happening. This Saturday. He's playing solo {!!!!!}, and none other than our favorite Canada-bred Dan Mangan is opening up the show. Who needs summer with a night like this on the books??

We already ran a superfan-style ticket giveaway a few months back on this one, but wanted to remind you that this is going to be one you don't want to miss this weekend. If you haven't done your body good already, get on it before it sells out: as of this moment, tickets are still available over at the Triple Door site here.

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Sometimes record labels fall in love with someone at first sight (sound?) too. Danish pedal guitar angel Maggie Bjorklund was weaving steel around blood and whiskey singer-songwriter Mark Pickerel at SXSW, and beloved no-goddamned-depression-at-all super-roots Bloodshot felt their hearts throb as their ears glowed to her holy sounds.

They snatched her up and earlier this year we got the posh buffet of recorded delights known as the Coming Home album. On Wednesday, August 17, she teams up at the Triple Door with players all over the local indie-cowpoke musical map, being CoBirds Unite, Sangster Family Band, Whiting Tennis, and Katie Mullins. (A benefit for the Gilda’s Club, starts at 7:30 pm, doors open at 6, all ages, and I haven’t reviewed a single show for awhile, but this will be the one I scribe about besides festivals this summer.)

Working with smoke-and-velvet voiced vocal artists Mark Lanegan, Rachel Flotard, and Jon Auer, that first solo full length of Maggie’s followed up her earlier European acclaim from playing with original group the Darleens (and for her collaborations with Lennart Ginman, Nils Skousen, Miss B. Haven, and others). The Praying Hands with Mr. Pickerel is still her home room, but she recently toured and recorded with glitter-gutter-goddess Exene Cervanka (of X) too.

Below is a recent chat between Maggie and I about what to expect that night at the Triple Door, where I like to sip my supper and sit through some of the very best shows in town (I’ve ever seen).

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Dearest Imaginaries - I can't tell you how excited I am that the SIFF event I have been waiting for is FINALLY almost here! Our beloved Damien Jurado is taking the stage at The Triple Door on Wednesday night (6/8) for a special peformance: he'll be providing a live musical soundtrack to Russian filmmaker Dimitri Kirsanof's avant-garde shorts!

The Damien Jurado and the Russian Avant-Garde show starts at 7pm and is all-ages. So to recap, you get to listen to Damien peform while watching gorgeous vintage short films made from the 20s-50s. At $15 a ticket, this qualifies as a total steal.

Check it out! Wildbirds & Peacedrums are coming to the Triple Door this Thursday night, and we've got a pair of tickets to give away.

This mega-eclectic Swedish husband-and-wife duo, who have opened for the likes of St. Vincent and Lykke Li, are on the road for a headlining tour that's stopping at the prettiest venue in town on Thursday night (of course, we're talking about the Triple Door -- where else?) and we'd love to send you to the show. Their stripped-away, sometimes poppy, sometimes jazzy sound has won them a ton of attention and even an Swedish Act of the Year Award, and now it's time for them to win you over too!

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Yes, you're reading that correctly. Kaylee Cole and Shenandoah Davis will be performing on the main stage at the Triple Door with the Seattle Rock Orchestra. We are not kidding, and this is not an April Fool's joke -- thought it sounds too good to be true, this is the real deal. And it's going on this Saturday night, April 2nd, at 8pm (with doors at 6 for dinner).

In case you need a refresher on why this is going to be so ridiculously blissful, here's some clips from this year's BARE at the Fremont Abbey:

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Mark Siano is back on the big stage, sans Freedom Dancers but with a whole new crew of lovers and fighters to carry on his theatrical musi-comedy antics in accustomed style. For four shows (early and late runs on Friday, February 18th and Saturday, February 19th) we'll be inundated with LOLs as Siano & Co. explore the world of love in the too-much-information age with his new show, Modern Luv. Having put in his dues with imaginary favorites "Awesome" and Jose Bold, and on the heels of a sellout run of his last production (Soft Rock in 2010), we can't wait to see the songstry and laugh-pop he's gathered for us this time around.

Tickets are $18 adv / $20 dos, and the late shows (10:30p both nights) are 21+ only. These shows will sell out, so make sure'n get the tickets for the show of your choice here before it's too late.

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at The Triple Door

{The Church is playing a 2nd show tonight, Tues 2/8 @The Triple Door in case you missed last night's show}

I have to admit, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into when I told my friend that I’d happily take his extra ticket to see The Church at The Triple Door. It was only after I looked at the web site and realized they were playing not one, not two, but THREE albums in their entirety that I thought, “ohcrap. I’m going to be stuck in one place for HOW many hours?”

But the last album was 1988’s Starfish—you know, the one with the song everybody either loves or hates, “Under the Milky Way”— and an album I played so much that my car’s shitty tape deck broke it, which caused me to buy the CD that I still own (the cover cracked and scratched after spending lots of time at the bottom of a messenger bag). And I COULD NOT pass that up.

Billed as The Church: future | past | perfect – Winter Tour USA 2011, the program that accompanied our show was impressively put together and full of more information than I knew about the band’s current projects, history, wardrobe and drinks of choice (I’m kidding about that last part). Original members Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper were joined by drummer Tim Powles...

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