at Paramount Theater

When I saw that Rye Rye and Scissor Sisters would be touring together, my head almost exploded. Would I be able to handle that much neon, strobe lighting, lasers, and club beats in one evening? Heck yes! It was like completing a sweaty Baltimore bass half-marathon fueled completely on adrenaline and then being swallowed up in a congratulatory shiny glitter hug. [Ed. note: Damn girl!]

The diminutive Rye Rye took the stage with her duo of back up dancers, entertaining the crowd with their hardcore club moves. Slinging songs off her latest record Go! Pop! Bang! Rye Rye rapid-fired lyrics over a continuous undercurrent of pumping, dirty beats. She gave us the singles like “Sunshine," a product of her collaboration with M.I.A., and “Boom Boom” -- but then ended with the track that helped put her on Billboard’s 21 under 21 list, the dance hit “Shake It To The Ground.” As Rye Rye swaggered and ferociously spat out her rhymes, her dancers pulled audience members on stage, inviting them to shake their booties to the floor.  And you better believe they did! She danced with them, a whirling dervish in riotous turquoise, before wishing us all a good night in her sweet-soft speaking voice.

My sweaty t-shirt has just started to dry and unstick from my back when Scissor Sisters opened up with “Any Which Way.” Three minutes of that and I was back to being a hot mess. The crowd went crazy for Ana Matronic’s mid-song interlude describing the hunt for a bottle-tanned man.  The band played with their usual confidence and cheeky antics, but they seem to have also come into a relaxed familiarity, grown out of ten years of touring in mostly smaller venues. Spending an evening with Scissor Sisters, you get the feeling that we are old friends -- it’s like a class reunion for the filthy gorgeous.

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at Paramount Theater

I shouldn't have to tell any of you this, but if you missed M83's sold out performance at the Paramount Theater this past Thursday night, you missed one hell of a show. 

Backed by lighting effects that at times looked a lot like giant multi-colored neon glow sticks, M83 started their performance the same way they did at their Neumos show this past November -- with Hurry Up, We're Dreaming's opener "Intro" -- and they never looked back. Half of the balcony where I was at was standing from the very start, and midway through the set, the lead single from HU,WD (and probably their most popular song to date) "Midnight City" got pretty much everyone who was still sitting down up on their feet and dancing. One of my minor qualms with their Neumos show last November was the lack of any saxaphone solo during Midnight City, since it's such an energetic, climactic moment in the song, and as cheesy at it sounds, I just want to hear that saxaphone kick in at the right time. This time around, they brought in a live sax player to belt out the solo, and people seemed pretty excited about it. 

Considering that their Neumos show was just a little over five months ago, moving over to the Paramount Theater was a big step up for the band. Gonzalez seemed a little overjoyed and grateful to be playing a sold out show at such a massive venue. He even took a moment between songs to voice his amazement at it all saying "This is such a huge fucking venue for us, it's exciting!" Towards the end of the set, Gonzalez asked to have some of the lights brought up so he could take it all in, which he did briefly before emphatically collapsing to the floor, almost in disbelief.

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The past year has been a big year for Anthony Gonzalez, the mastermind behind M83: he relocated from his native France to Los Angeles, worked on and released the group's sixth studio effort, the fantastic double album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming {which ended up being my personal second favorite album of 2011, with only Toro Y Moi's Underneath the Pine narrowly beating it out} and began making soundtracks for films. The move seems to be paying off, as the HU,WD has been heralded with much critical acclaim, and M83 songs have been popping up in commercials for Victoria's Secret, Red Bull, and in various tv shows.

At the end of their amazing show at Neumo's last November, I remember thinking that the only thing that could have made it better was a larger venue. It felt like the grand, epic sound of M83 needed space to stretch out -- as much as I love Neumos, it seemed to be holding them back in that sense. Given their popularity following HU,WD, I had a feeling that the next time M83 came through Seattle, they would be at a venue bigger than Neumos. I remember thinking, "if only he could play the Paramount, with that size and those accoustics, it would be perfect!"

Well, as luck would have it, not long after that show, M83 announced a spring show at the Neptune Theater -- tickets didn't last long and it was quickly moved over to the Paramount Theater. If my initial intuitions are correct, it should turn out to be the perfect marriage between a band and a venue.

{Paramount Theater | 4/26 | Doors at 7:00, show at 8:00 | All Ages | $28 Advance, $32 Day of Show | I Break Horses opens.}

As we mentioned back in January, here in the imaginary office we are perpetually super-stoked on all things from the Andrew Bird camp, and the newest effort {Break It Yourself} is no exception. BIY was officially released earlier this month, with a single that was compelling enough to make the album well worth the asking price -- in case you missed it, here's what we had to say:

"If this track [ed. note: we're referring to "Eyeoneye"] is any indication of what Break It Yourself is going to bring to us on the whole, we're ready to put this as a frontrunner for one of 2012's top five albums without a single look back. There's a wide spectrum of recognizeable influence here while remaining decidedly Andrew Bird, which is to be expected -- he's one of those artists that continues to evolve with the world around him and change dramatically without departing too far from his baseline. And that said, there's a whole new freshly familiar vibe to the music: still laden with whistle-overs, graced with more than a hint of Phil Spector wall-of-sound-ery, and sliced through to the skeleton with a half-dozen emergent indie sounds of, well, right-fucking-now-ness."

And per the title of this post, you guessed it: Andrew Bird is coming to town on Monday, April 9th, and we're giving away a pair of tickets to this show. But you might actually be better off buying them, even if you win with us. Seriously. Check it out: your advance ticket price {$27.50 - $37.50, depending on where you sit} not only includes access to the show at the Paramount, it also gets you digital delivery of Break It Yourself, along with five-song live EP recorded on Andrew Bird's 2011 tour called Fake Conversations, AND a five-song live EP from the current tour (which you'll receive later on this year). You can't lose on that one! But if you want to gamble on a free pair of seats, we'd love to have you: just email tig {at} three imaginary girls {dot} com with the subject line "BreakItYourself" so we know it's you, and tell us why we should pick you to go to the show.

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at Paramount Theater

Last night's performance by Wilco at the Paramount was just a few strokes short of phenomenal. And those few strokes, mind you, were negligible at best. The set had that bright, perfect, let-your-love-light-shine kind of feeling, coupled with a stunning amount of... well, shredding, really, is the only way to put it. Hella shredding, even! Lovelight and shredding, with lots of emphasis on the new album, select tracks from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and a perfect integration of the rest of the band's catalog. Lines like what was I thinking / when I said hello {I Am Trying To Break Your Heart}, with no larger problems / that need to be erased {Impossible Germany} and you love her / but you don't know why {Born Alone} were delivered with the intimacy and care as if they were being played for a few hundred close friends at a venue the size of Neumos. Connecting with a room the size of the Paramount is no small task, and Wilco seemed to pull this off effortlessly, much to the crowd's delight.

On top of all the sonic bliss, fans seated up in the balcony were able to take in the show the full view of the stage and the incredulous setup of hundreds of rag-covered lights that hung from the rafters, which reflected an aptly-displayed series of lights and images that changed with the songs during the set -- birds, mountaintops, digital dreamscapes, and open skies. It was reminscent of the thousand-lantern stage setup that Grizzly Bear had at the Moore a few years back, only better. Shreddier, even. And so beautifully Wilco-esque.

{Set list after the jump!}

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We're just about a month out from Andrew Bird's next album release {Break It Yourself, due out on March 6th} and twice that from his upcoming show at the Paramount Theater {April 9th} with Laura Marling. Pre-album, the single "Eyeoneye" has made a (legal) foray out into the 'nets, and seeing as it's been on rotation since the minute the mailing list hit our imaginary inbox, we thought it fit to take a moment and hip you to it.

If this track is any indication of what Break It Yourself is going to bring to us on the whole, we're ready to put this as a frontrunner for one of 2012's top five albums without a single look back. There's a wide spectrum of recognizeable influence here while remaining decidedly Andrew Bird, which is to be expected -- he's one of those artists that continues to evolve with the world around him and change dramatically without departing too far from his baseline. And that said, there's a whole new freshly familiar vibe to the music: still laden with whistle-overs, graced with more than a hint of Phil Spector wall-of-sound-ery, and sliced through to the skeleton with a half-dozen emergent indie sounds of, well, right-fucking-now-ness.

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(Please oh please let them play this song at Wednesday's show)

This has been a rough week for me. Two of my favorite bands of ever and all time decided September, 2011 is the perfect month to step away from the tambourine and call it quits.  Oh REM and the Bluetones, I will miss you so. Your songs have made life worth living on many a day and I thank you for the memories.  

The only thing that has made the last week musically bearable is the fact that my dear Bright Eyes is going to be in Seattle this Wednesday, September 28, 2012 at the Paramount. 

And the best part? We've got a pair of tickets to giveaway to the Bright Eyes show!

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Whether you're married to the New Pornographer's one-of-a-kind sound or you're head over heels for the solo show: in some capacity, you loves you some Neko Case. We know. Us too. Some days it's the wandering piano-guitar intro of "These are the Fables" that envelops our hours and some days it's it's the trickle-down gorgeousness of "That Teenage Feeling" -- but no matter how we hit the shuffle button, everything this woman does pulls our heartstrings in the best possible way. Which is why we're over-the-top excited that she's coming to the Paramount next week with a newer love of ours, Y La Bamba. So excited, in fact, that we want to send you and a friend to the show!

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Peeking through the gates of the closed bar during DeVotchKa's set this past weekend at the Paramount, we caught a glimpse of what's sure to be our favorite show there yet: a photography exhibit by our friend Christopher Nelson. Master of the stage shot that he is, Chris has turned the tables on us for this show and put together an exhibit that's fans-only -- that's right, all of the dozen or so pieces hanging up in the bar (the show is aptly titled FANS) are of people freaking out at shows en masse. Never before have we seen so much 'yay!' in one place!

Come down and join the fun, as we'll be celebrating the formal opening this Thursday night from 5-8p.

{Admission is free, but this is a 21+ event. Cash bar will be available. More information about the opening can be found at the STG Presents website here.}

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{Go Greased Lightnin' Go photo by Joan Marcus}

I am bursting with excitement because the one musical that I have always been fond of is coming to The Paramount Theatre this weekend! I’ve never seen a live production of Grease, so I’m looking forward to seeing Danny, Sandy, Kenickie, Rizz (< my favorite) and the rest hit the stage to sing and dance—and duh. I’ll be singing and dancing in my seat right along with them.

In addition to this looking like a pretty slick show, the cast holds kind of a hilarious surprise: Carmine Ragusa – Eddie Mekka, AKA: The Big Ragu (!!!), Shirley’s boyfriend on Laverne & Shirley, plays DJ Vince Fontaine. I can’t lie; my L&S fangirl heart is all kinds of excited about that.

Grab your tix online now, put your hair in a ponytail, throw on your circle skirt and cardigan, and practice your “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop A-wop-bam-boom” - and I’ll see you there!

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