The weekend kicked off early with a spectacular, layered performance by Feist at the Moore Theater this past Thursday night. Taking the stage after a perfect warm up set of equal parts smartypants literary comedy and ivory-tickling brilliance by Chilly Gonzales, Leslie Feist and her accomplices proved worthy of every last penny of her ticket price. The show combined elements of well-worn comfort food-esque "classic" Feist songs, an almost... dare we say, modern new-age vibeyness, which alternately clashed and blended with an homage to one element of the guts of full-frontal big-room performance: a sometimes kaleidoscopic, sometimes trippy-traily lipstick camera-run backdrop of the band behind the band a la Jefferson Airplane. While it was a lot to unpack at times, for the most part the pieces of the show fused together beautifuly, mostly due to the backbone of Feist's unashamed full-lunged vocals -- which would have been worth all those pennies without a solitary stitch of the performance-fanfare that accompanied her.

Chilly Gonzales:

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Is it just us, or is this just what Feist songs feel like sometimes? A little cold, a little desolate, a lot beautiful, a touch of sun -- Feist can be all of these things depending on the track, but the common thread in all of her output is simple: talent. From Metals to those gorgeous bedroom recordings -- please tell us you've heard that deconstructed version of "Intuition"?? -- to catchy numbers like "1234" and "Mushaboom," everything Feist does is brilliantly gorgeous. She's sunny and hopeful sometimes, desolate and yearning sometimes, and always right on the money.

So, we're particularly excited to be gearing up for her upcoming show at the Moore next Thursday {November 17th}. And we've even got a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky winner! The competition for this one is sure to be fierce, so make sure you take the time to tell us why we should choose little ol' you over everyone else. Ready?

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There's one word that comes to mind above all others in regards to Monday night's Fleet Foxes / Cave Singers show at the Moore -- and that word is simply stunning. The impeccable sound, lighting, and setup of the Moore made for a veritable breeding ground of amazing, as two of the Pacific Northwest's best alt.beardcore bands brought their respective brands of greatness to the stage. The Cave Singers let loose with a tight, polished, best-of catalog-spanning set that washed over us like the force of nature they are -- followed by this imaginary's inaugural live Fleet Foxes set.

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If you were lucky enough to catch The Head and the Heart's sold-out show at Neumos a few months back, you know just how excited we are about this Friday.

Back in January, THatH took the stage at Neumos with Lemolo and Curtains For You, one of the first shows they played where we stood with fellow "I saw the Sonic Boom set last summer" fans and realized we didn't know most of the people in the room. Well, as the nation's well aware (yes, the nation, not just the Pacific Northwest anymore), this band has been going onward and upward on a steady pace since -- up to and including the current west coast tour that has them playing two nights in Seattle this weekend. On Friday, April 29th, THatH will be playing to a sold out Showbox with Lemolo and the The Devil Whale, and the next night finds them at the Moore (yep, that's sold out too) with Grand Hallway and Ivan & Alyosha. Both nights are sure to make the mark, but we're definitely excited that we've got tickets in our hot little hands for the Showbox version of this latest breeze-through-town installment from one of our new favorite hometown bands.

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Okay. We know Saturday's Seattle Rock Orchestra show isn't just about Rachel Flotard, but she's just so damn fantastic (as this picture by the amazing Christopher Nelson shows) that we can't ever resist a chance to mention her.

The lovely Ms. Flotard, along with The Seattle Rock Orchestra, Jon Auer, Joshua Morrison, Kaylee Cole, and a veritable star-studded cast of local musicians will be performing a tribute-y evening around Radiohead's The Bends and OK Computer this weekend. The show takes place Saturday (February 19th) at the Moore Theater, and if you're not swooning the night away out at Columbia City Theater, you'd best come and get yourself a seat.

That's about all we need to say about it, n'est ce pas? We'll see you there.

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Once again, the Northwest Film Forum is bringing us the Local Sightings Film Festival. Now in its 13th year, 2010's program includes the Northwest premiere of six feature films, and the world premiere of the documentary Citizen Mayor. Seventy-five short films (!!!) will be screened, as well as the historic film Darkness Rising.

It's all kicking off this Friday (October 1st) with the opening night film, Bummer Summer at 7pm, followed by the opening night party at 9pm, entitled "Party like it's 1995" - which is also celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the NWFF itself. There will be cupcakes! And waffles! And drinks! And a DJ spinning 90s tunes!

The opening night film Bummer Summer will follow the party. Closing night (Wednesday, October 6) features a new documentary about poet Jesse Bernstein, I am Secretly an Important Man, at the Moore Theatre. And in-between: tons of great NW Indie Film goodness in the form of features and shorts, including (listen up TIG readers!) LOTS of music videos, including stuff by Grand Hallway, The Vaselines, and Fleet Foxes.

You can view the full schedule and purchase tickets online here.

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One of the things that binds us all as card-carrying Seattle swanksters is that we all want to be best friends with Janeane Garofalo. You *know* that we'd all get along famously, making our way through the hipster jungle texting escape plans to meet up at the nearest Tea Express to split pot of earl gray and review the evening's near hits and misses. We'd sarcastically laugh under our breath up until the tearistas kicked us out and we'd quote the Old 97s on our way out the door. Or something low key and outrageously fun like that.

Next Saturday our almost-BFF will be in Seattle to film her next live DVD release over the course of two shows (7p and 9.30p) on Saturday, May 8 at the Moore Theatre. That's how much she loves us! She wants *us/Seattle* to be a part of her next DVD!

Three Imaginary Girls would like to help bring us all together by offering you a couple seats to one of her May 8 shows. To enter to win a pair of tickets email us at tig @ threeimaginarygirls.com with a subject line letting us know which timeslot you'd like to go like so: "BFF@7p" or "BFF@930p" (you can enter to win tickets to both time slots). The deadline to enter is 9a May 4, 2010.

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Ed note: We're reposting this to remind all you sweethearts the big comedy / music fest is TONIGHT! If you can't make it (there *are* other great shows tonight), make sure to check out the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website to find out more about this worthy cause.

“Defriending Cancer” is not just a good idea but an excellent comedy and music benefit coming up. The night is hosted by comedian Todd Barry and features some of his funniest colleagues, like Neil Hamburger, Eugene Mirman, Tig Notaro, Natasha Leggero and Tim Heidecker (of “Tim and Eric” fame). It also features music from James Mercer of The Shins and Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. The event takes place Thursday, February 11 at the Moore and the money raised benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Tickets can be obtained here.

The host, Todd Barry, is one of the funniest comedians I’ve ever seen perform. His rare intelligence and droll delivery always make for a hilarious time. He's also a great actor, appearing in films like the critics' favorite, The Wrestler. I spoke with him by phone about the event, what we can expect next Thursday night and about his experiences as a comedian opening for a loved rock band.

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This Thursday's benefit show for Haiti at the Moore Theatre is chock full of twangy and alt goodness to the highest degree and features a slew of thoughtful bands set to take the stage: The Maldives, The Classic Crime, Memphis Radio Kings, Mike Herrera (MxPx), and Vince Mira. Rumor has it there will also be an auction!

If that's not your style, get on your cell phone and text 'Haiti' to 90999, and then head over to one (or more if you've got the bus pass) of these fine shows. There's more than one tempting me:

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at Moore Theater

I’ve always been wary of this whole “bands reliving their former glory by hitting the stage again 20 years later” fad, because I feel like I saw all the people I wanted to then, and I don’t need to see them again now, when they could potentially destroy my fond, nostalgic memories of some awesome show I saw when I was 16 and totally in the moment.

However, when Devo’s Freedom of Choice album came out in 1980, I was only 9 – just a wee bit too young to have seen them live, and since TIG was lucky enough to be able to attend both shows (ChrisB was at Sunday night’s Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo!)  I thought it would be fun to see them play FoC in its entirety now. Thankfully, I was right.

Look, there’s no denying that the original members of Devo ARE old. But god bless ‘em, those guys still put on one hellova rockin’ show, full of spectacularly defining 80s synth-pop “new wave” sound, lots of signature choreography, and of course, some amazing keys and guitars.

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