at WaMu Theatre

On a cool and desolate autumn evening last weekend, Seattle welcomed back Portishead for the first time in fourteen years, the season and the setting perfect for the murky UK act. Their most recent release, 2008’s minimal and stark Third, is already three years old -- this alone made the wait seem like a near eternity before remembering that I last saw the band a few months after I first moved to Seattle, in December of 1997 (and that performance at The Paramount left me thoroughly impressed.) With this in mind, even though over a decade had passed, I still had high expectations... and this time around the band was once again in top form. Time has not aged this group whatsoever, and I was left reeling from their outstanding performance the moment the lights were turned back on in the theater.

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at WaMu Theatre

Deck the Hall Ball started a little late. The excellent opening band, Visqueen, started their set about twenty minutes later than the posted start time of 5:10. All was mostly forgiven the minute they took the stage, though, blowing through a short, twenty-minute set mostly of songs from their latest album, Message to Garcia. Their catchy power pop most of us here find irresistible (myself included) was accentuated by frontwoman Rachel Flotard’s hilarious banter. This time she asked for the lighting guy to turn off the lights for one second for everyone in the huge crowd to have a quick make out session. It didn’t happen (was it just me, or did the lights actually get brighter at that moment?) but they followed through with their set, closing out with their old hit “Vaxxine”. When I got there during soundcheck, bassist Christina Bautista remarked that the crowd was the biggest she’s ever soundchecked before. It was good to see the big crowd of listeners of 107.7 The End taking to this really great local band.

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Last night was 107.7 The End's annual Deck the Hall Ball with Muse, 30 Seconds to Mars, Metric, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend and Visqueen. While I'm working on my review of the night (I didn't stay for 30 Seconds to Mars or Muse), we had an excellent photographer there in David Lichterman. A lot of blogs found they were only approved to shoot one band; fortunately for us, the band we were approved to shoot was Metric - who were my favorite band I watched last night and their frontwoman Emily Haines is quite photogenic. I wanted to post a few of Dave's photos to hold everyone over until I finish my review.

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at WaMu Theatre

When Tori Amos walked out on stage for her Friday night set at WaMu Theater, she was wearing a long, green dress with gold, lame’ tights. It was an odd costume, to say the least. She helpfully explained mid-set that she wanted to wear “Emerald green for the Emerald City”.

But before I get strung up by any rabid Tori Amos fans, let me say that 1) she has built a long and fruitful career on not giving a fuck about what anyone else thinks and 2) she looked positively radiant, stunning and, yes, beautiful. In short, she looked like the rock and roll goddess she is.

When Amos sashayed to her piano and keyboard setup, it was slow and seductive, teasing the crowd who was rabidly in love with her. But from the first time she touched her piano, for the song “Give”, she handed control her music to the instruments and she became their catalyst. She straddled a stool in between a grand piano and keyboard, each adorned with a mic, shifting between the two almost randomly and playing with abandon. Her band consisted of a bassist and drummer, and they were flanked on each side, to the back of the stage.

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The Prodigy @ Wamu Theater 5.30.09

Jeanine Anderson recently caught the Prodigy at the WaMu Theater (they were in town with the Crystal Method). Looks pretty intense!

Want to see more live show shots (or have your own to add) taken around Seattle? Head over to our Sparkly Indie Pop Flickr Photo Pool and have at it!

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Ok kids, spill it. How amazing was My Bloody Valentine last night?

From looks of all the twittering about last night, it sounds like some lives were changed?

Thank goodness for the lightening quick youtubing action of johnyorient (below) - here's a bit of "You Made Me Realize" (a valiant effort getting 8 of the 20 minute rendition of the song) Anyone else got any video or photos?

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at WaMu Theatre

Shortly after 8:00 p.m., the house lights went down and nine figures sauntered onto the stage to join an assortment of instruments. One could see a series of silhouettes, but none appeared to be the anticipated songwriter who last played in Seattle in 1993. A few seconds later, Leonard Cohen ran, yes, ran onto the stage in a gesture of youthful enthusiasm. At the age of 74, Cohen is just as sophisticated and impressive as he ever was. Three and a half hours later, his set concluded with rapturous applause and a packed audience containing the aging and the young, with mouths agape. This performance, by one of the few living legends, was as astonishing as anyone could have hoped for.

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This offer is from 10am Tuesday morning through 10pm Wednesday night, through Ticketmaster's website. The password is "EASYSTREET".

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at WaMu Theatre

Featuring Death Cab for Cutie, Cold War Kids, Aqueduct, and Shiny Toy Guns.

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The Killers, DCfC, Cold War Kids, Shiny Toy Guns & Aqueduct blew it the ____ up!

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