My ass is sore from SIFF, damn it! I need to get up and move around a bit! And not just between theaters either. Hmm, maybe I'll go see a show or two this weekend. You know, live music! Cold whiskey in hand and a bunch of ragamuffins caterwauling on the bandstand action. It's been a little while.

Last week, I saw the ecstasy-inducing super-boss musicians for the Winter's Bone OST at the plush Triple Door, and that was regally rustic and rootsy divine. But now I'm hankering on some more contemporary sounds, if you will. Let's check the trusty TIG calendar and-- OH MY GOD! So many great groups are playing this weekend! I am going to list my very favorites and I hope to see 'em all. (Wish me luck.)

Empty Space Orchestra, Gun Runner, Eighteen Individual Eyes, Maps on Fire are playing The Funhouse on Thursday, June 6, starting at 9 p.m., for six bucks. I will be there to see EIE mostly though, as these four women know how to create strong tendrils of sound to drill straight into the nervous system, creating both suspense and pleasure in the way only dangerous, driven rock and roll can. Rumor has it they're recording with Matt ("Botch") Bayles for their next record, and that is gonna be some heavy, beautiful shit.

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Last Thursday night, Three Imaginary Girls and a crowd of awesome music lovers kick-started the holidays with a benefit for Teen Feed (we raised enough to provide 20 youth direct mentoring with Support Coordinators, with a little leftover + a full garbage bag of clean socks!) featuring John Vanderslice -- who pulled double duty as Santa, Jose Bold, The Young Evils, and The Tripwires. DJ Greg Vandy warmed everyone up in The Bourbon Bar pre-show with classic holiday tunage, the Teen Feed peeps were rockin' a delicous table of homemade cookies, and there was lots of dancing, and many, many drinks were had (including one bright-green concoction called "The Elf" which was kind of terrifying, but easy to gulp down).

Luckily, we had fine photographers Jason Tang and Lori Paulson on hand to help capture the magic. It was hard to pick a few favorites to showcase here, but we did! Of course, you can always view the complete set in our Three Imaginary Girls Flickr Pool.

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Grab your sleigh bells because tonight is the big night! Please join us at the Columbia City Theater this evening to kick the holidays into high gear with joyous cheer and amazing bands while raising money for stellar Seattle nonprofit, Teen Feed.

Besides having a stellar line-up, the night will feature a visit from Indie-Rock Santa, John Vanderslice! Take your place on his lap and have your photo taken by photographer extraordinaire Laura Musselman. These professionally taken photos with Santa are free and will be available for download on the Imaginary Flickr page by noon on Sunday, December 19.

If you've encountered our Santa Vanderslice before, you know that he's a dashing and wry indie-rocker, but did you also know that the guy is sweeter than a sugar cookie with icing and sprinkles? PasteMagazine.com recently posted a heartwarming interview with John Vanderslice by Litsa Dremousis. Truthcode, I teared up while reading it. JV gets pelted by school kids playing dodgeball while volunteering at 826 Valencia and loves it!

That's the Santa I want to have my photo taken with for sure.

See you at the party tonight. Doors are at 7pm with DJ Greg Vandy spinning vintage holiday favorites, photos with Santa start at 7:30pm, and the bands take the stage at 9pm.

{Photo: Jeanine Anderson}

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{Photo by Victoria VanBruinisse from the Imaginary Flickr Photo Pool}

There is nothing we'd love more than to celebrate this month of many holidays with us at this year's Imaginary Holiday Office Party. The night is going to have so many holly jolly wonderful things that going on we can't list them off in one breath (but you can read all about it here).

It's all going down on Thursday, December 16 at the Columbia City Theater and all proceeds from the show go to Seattle nonprofit, Teen Feed. We've gathered some of our favorite bands from Seattle as well as Santa John Vanderslice, who is not only taking the stage to perform, but will also be our Indie-Rock Santa for the evening (and you can get your photo taken upon his lap).

But don't take our word for it, this episode of the Imaginary Mixtape podcast is a sampling of each of the bands taking the Holiday Office Party stage. You can listen to a stream of the podcast below or download the MP3 version of the podcast on the imaginary bandcamp page.

If you are the type that likes to listen to podcasts in itunes, download the .m4a file here {it's one single file with fancy chapter markers!} and then open it in your itunes {big thanks to Jigsaw Records and Indie Pages for hosting the file!}.

We hope to see you at the holiday party!

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At 10am today {an icy November 24th}, the tickets to the Imaginary Holiday Office Party went on sale!

Tickets are limited, so race on over to Brown Paper Tickets right now to make sure you don't miss out on this jam packed night of amazing music and holiday cheer:

The Tripwires
The Young Evils
John Vanderslice {aka Indie-Rock Santa!}
Jose Bold

DJ Greg Vandy spinning vintage holiday songs in the Bourbon Bar while you get your photo taken by Laura Musselman on the lap of Santa Vanderslice.

Tickets are only $15 each and all proceeds will benefit Teed Feed, a Seattle non-profit who helps homeless youth as they meet their future off the streets. Teen Feed runs a free dinner program for youth ages 13-25, seven nights a week -- and we couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to help support their efforts! In addition to purchasing a ticket to the event, party attendees can make donations in the form of cash, cheques, and packages of white tube socks (yes, white tube socks) the night of the event.

We do hope you can make it -- we can't imagine a holiday party without you!

The search for mistletoe has begun -- and we're counting down to the big Imaginary Holiday Office Party!

The most exciting development of today: it's now officially official that John Vanderslice will not only be our Indie-Rock Santa for the night {and yes, you'll be able to get your picture taken with him for posterity by the amazing photographer Laura Musselman}, but he'll also be taking the stage to perform a set! That makes for a killer 4-band bill of:

~ The Tripwires
~ The Young Evils
~ John Vanderslice
~ Jose Bold {John Osebold of "AWESOME"}

We're eternally grateful to Killorn O'Neill for helping us to get the word out to the masses with this rad poster! We'll be slopping on our winter boots to staple these up around town (remember, imaginary volunteers are always welcome -- especially when it's a benefit!) Feel free to grab the above image and slap it on your blog / facebook page / desktop background to remind you to get your fine self there... and yes, there will be full-color mondo-size screenprints of the poster at the event for purchase.

We can't wait for this night of amazing music, tons of imaginary cheer, and to celebrate it all with you! Tickets will be on sale tomorrow {Wednesday, 11/24} at 10a {or there abouts} and all proceeds will benefit Teen Feed.  We'll post and twitter and Facebook profusely when they are available for purchase -- but they are limited, so make sure you get yours while you can!

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{Holiday photo by Laura Musselman}

It's the time of year that calls for flasks by the punchbowl, pine-scented candles, and bejeweled reindeer sweaters. What a better way to ring in the holidays than with the The Imaginary Holiday Office Party!

On Thursday, December 16, Three Imaginary Girls will deck out the Columbia City Theater in holiday cheer with a little help from our friends: The Tripwires, The Young Evils, Jose Bold {John Osebold of "AWESOME" fame} and a special guest that is going to knock this town's socks off! In the Bourbon Bar, DJ Greg Vandy will be supplying the best in soul and roots starting at 7pm. And it wouldn't be an imaginary holiday party without our very own Indie Rock Santa!

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We know, we know. You've probably still got a bowl of Halloween candy you're polishing off. But the holidays are fast approaching, and we didn't want to go one more minute without telling you about our Imaginary Office Party! Grab a Sharpie, get your calendar out, and put a big ol' star on Thursday, December 16th -- you're not going to want to miss this. Promise.

Who: your shiny happy friends over at Three Imaginary Girls, along with the fine folks of Columbia City Theater, present...
What: The Imaginary Office Party! A night of music and all-around awesomeness featuring The Tripwires, The Young Evils, Jose Bold, and a super-secret second act that is going to knock your socks off!
Where: Columbia City Theater, 4916 Rainier Avenue S.
When: Thursday, December 16, 2010 -- doors at 7p
Why: Because we like you! No, really. The night is all about giving thanks to the lovely people we work with all year, and to help raise awareness about Teen Feed while we're at it.

On top of the rad bands we've got scheduled to play, everyone's favorite roots-and-soul expert Greg Vandy will be spinning in the Bourbon Bar from 7-9p to help us get our prefunk on. And it wouldn't be a party without Santa John Roderick, who has graciously agreed to offer up his lap for photo ops with the esteemed Ms. Laura Musselman during the earlier portion of the evening. Can somebody pinch us, please?

There is one little catch to the night: there will only be a limited number of tickets for sale. We'll announce here on TIG {soon!} when they're available for purchase -- just check back often and keep your eyes peeled for the link! The event is 21+ / $15, with a portion of the proceeds going directly to our friends over at Teen Feed.

We'll have a pretty poster and an official press release coming your way lickety split -- so stay tuned for more details!

{Endless thanks to Laura for the photo above from our 2009 party -- there's more where that came from over in our imaginary flickr pool!}

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Somehow, in the avalanche of amazing bands at Seattle Center this past weekend, we managed to scrawl some furious notes on a fistful of locals and indie bands that brought the noise / love / ache / bliss. Here's a few of our picks to start the best-of Bumbershoot chatter that we'd like to share, in no particular order:

1. David Bazan at the KEXP 'Secret Stage'

It's no secret at all that KEXP's hideout is one of the best things about Bumbershoot: a great selection of all the best acts of the weekend, in a cushy, sit-down theater that's got impeccable sound and flawless sightlines. Thanks to a thoughtful friend, we had two seats for the 1:15pm Sunday performance -- and sat rapt with attention while the band proceeded to rip the roof right off from above us. Longtime fans of Bazan's solo work and earlier Pedro The Lion need not hate on this revamped sound: the new (and reworked versions of older) songs are nothing short of big-guitar bring-it-ness. Anthematic, cinematic renditions from Curse Your Branches had us covered in goosebumps; and the six-song power set left us both satiated and eagerly anticipating the next show -- you can catch David Bazan + Band (with the lovely Head and the Heart opening) at the Showbox over Thanksgiving Weekend.

2. The Tripwires at the Mural

Honestly, I can't think of a better way to start a festival day than with a full-frontal rawk set from some of Seattle's very own power-pop royalty foursome, the Tripwires. Promptly at 11:45am, the band took to the Mural stage and shot a big bag of awesome into the waiting arms of the still-caffienating crowd. Opening with "Let's Get You Started" (one of the best tracks off their newest album, House to House), they set the tone -- and the standard -- for a truly excellent day. Sangster + Sangster + Ramberg + Pickerel + espresso + sunshine = a brunch-rock set to remember.

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Oh man is tonight going to be a good one! Get thee to the Tractor tonight for a very, very special night, as everyone sings "It's Your Birthday" to two Seattle pop legendaries - Lulu and Kurt of the Fastbacks. The evening starts off promptly at 8:30 with a heavy dose of Seattle royalty - the Young Fresh Fellows. Then, as if that wasn't enough, a bunch of other, a bunch of Seattle pop royalty, like PUSA, the Tripwires, Thee Sgt. Major III, and tons more will join the stage to sing a bunch of Fastbacks covers. And then, Seattle's favorite Fastbacks cover band, The K-Streets (hint - it's basically just the Fastbacks) will perform all the hits and classics. To top it all off, the night is only $5. I can't possibly think of a better way to spend a fiver.
In honor of this wonderfulness, we at TIG decided to re-run this beautiful piece of Fastbacks nerdery, origially posted by a Dear Mr. Oswald a few months ago for the last K-Streets show at the Sunset.

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