Sunday, November 23, 2008

mike mccready

hehe. look what i'm going to on december 9th. yay!

MIKE MCCREADY AND SHADOW '86 JOIN KIM VIRANT, STAR ANNA AND KRISTEN WARD AT SEATTLE'S TRACTOR TAVERN TO BENEFIT TREEHOUSE FOR KIDS11.18.08

Patrons Donating a New Toy to Treehouse at the Show Will a Receive Free Drink Voucher

WHAT: Pearl Jam's Mike McCready and his band Shadow '86, a Jimi Hendrix Tribute band, join Kim Virant, Star Anna and Kristen Ward for an evening of music to benefit Treehouse for Kids. Filling an important need in the community, Treehouse for Kids provides vital services for children throughout Washington in foster care.

Volunteers from Treehouse for Kids will be on-hand to collect toys for children of all ages. For a wish list of wanted toys, please visit treehouseforkids.org.

WHEN: Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Doors at 6 p.m. and show at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Tractor Tavern
5213 Ballard Ave NW (at the corner of 20th Ave NW and Ballard Ave NW)

TICKETS: Tickets for the event can be purchased for $15 at ticketweb.com. A service fee of $3.43 will be added to each ticket price. Event is for ages 21 and over.

what a difference it would make if we were finally awake

to borrow a word from one of my favorite men, i had a BRILLIANT time seeing minus the bear at the showbox last night. seriously, if you are reading this blog and you have never heard this band, what are you waiting for?? i think you'd like them. i counted at least four people wearing pearl jam hats and/or shirts. me approve.

as we left the showbox, i said that the reason i like minus the bear so much is that many of their songs end in a totally different place than they started - like they become entities of their own, if that makes sense. i really enjoy that unpredictability. last night, i was hard-pressed to think of a better show in my recent memory. (i know, i know, i always say that when i enjoy a concert. sue me).

highly refined pirates, which came out a few years ago i guess, is my favorite minus the bear album and i have to admit that i am not a big fan of planets of ice, their newest cd. the songs just seem, i don't know, bland. kind of lifeless on the album, and it kills me to say that - but live, they absolutely blew me away. a couple of the songs had different arrangements - they released an 8-song acoustic EP on itunes and printed some copies for their tour. it's very good. i especially was impressed with lotus, their first song. it's the last song on planets of ice, and it sounds like three songs rolled into one, but somehow it works. and to quote glen hansard again, it is brilliant. i am always super-impressed when a band can take songs that i don't like on CD and make me LOVE (not just like, even) them live.

plus i would be remiss if i did not mention the incredibly awesome drummer. i had to crane my neck to watch him, but it was well worth it. the way his sticks fly through the air is almost mind-boggling.

last night was the end of their tour, and jake snider must have mentioned about 4 times how happy they were to be playing in seattle (they're from seattle - a fact which endears them to me even more). i'm sure that part of them saying that was to appease the crowd, but it's always nice to hear that bands like playing in this city that i have come to love. (unlike, ahem, some bands who might very well enjoy playing in seattle but haven't done it in about 4 years. seriously, would it kill them to play a show within driving distance? the gorge doesn't count).

pachuca sunrise


lotus

Saturday, November 15, 2008

the walkmen

another album i have found myself obsessed with lately is you and me by the walkmen. i saw them at bumbershoot in august, and enjoyed their set, but had honestly forgotten about them until i heard a song by them on KEXP.



i love the singer's (whose first name is hamilton, like my last name. ha) voice. and i always like when i find bands that have big back catalogues that i can discover. it's fun. and that's all i have to say about that.

next week will be awesome. on thursday, a bunch of us from work are going to see the midnight premiere of twilight (and i'm going to go to work the next day, which will be it's own kind of excitement, i'm sure). on friday, my mom and dad are coming to visit, and then on saturday, kristine and i are going to see minus the bear at the showbox!! i have been looking forward to that since september.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

lovesick vampires - or, kings of leon

so, i recently got kings of leon's newest cd, and i think i am in love with a new band. again. i don't know why i never paid attention to this group before now, but ah well, at least i found them. and this might be my new favorite video on youtube. who IS that awesome tambourine player?? :) every band should have one of those. (i think that it's funny how most of the bands i like are somehow connected to pearl jam).



i was reading a little bit on their website and i'm sure that my twilight-obsessed friends will be interested to hear that closer, the first track on the album, is - honest to god - about a lovesick vampire. 2000 years of chasing has taken it's toll. ha. could be from edward's perspective, no?? (kristine, you were right, everything i think about somehow relates to twilight. i am very sick).

cold desert is my favorite song on their new album. i have been listening to it over and over this past week, so much that it'll probably quickly become a song i skip over (or, maybe it won't. we'll see), and it occurs to me, seeing them play it live, that it could easily become one of those cheesy power-ballad love songs, but i can't resist caleb's voice or that intoxicating bass. LOVE.



i REALLY REALLY regret not going to see them when they were in seattle in september. looking at their tour schedule, it doesn't look like they'll be anywhere near here anytime soon:(

Sunday, November 9, 2008

it seems that you live in someone else's dream

death cab for cutie!


wow, ben got a haircut, i think. i liked the way he looked before. he looks.. less nerdy now, i suppose. but that's what i liked about him before. he looks a little too much like a model in this video and it's creeping me out. but this is one of the only songs i like from their new album, so here it is.

i spent a good part of the afternoon today looking for an mp3 player to replace the one that got wet when my water bottle leaked the other day. i hate buying stuff like that because sales people intimidate me and i usually end up buying more than what i want and then feeling bad about it afterward. one of the salesmen at best buy was babbling on to me about ipods and bluetooth until i looked at him and said, "i have no clue what you're talking about." and then he went on about video games for about 5 minutes and i didn't want to interrupt him and tell him that i STILL had no idea what he was going on about.

but i managed to get something and i'm looking forward to being able to listen to music on the bus tomorrow morning. the first thing that i downloaded was a bunch of ray lamontagne songs because i have discovered a fondness for him. and i thought that it was awesome when i read that he's from maine. ha! we already have something in common. i also am completely IN LOVE with the new kings of leon album. wow! i love the singer's voice, the music.. everything about this band. listening to them almost makes me feel the way i felt when i first heard pearl jam. they're THAT good. wow. listen to cold desert. that song is completely owning my world right now.

pearl jam's newest newsletter has a look-a-like contest. you're supposed to dress up the way that one of the members looked in the early 90s. i'm tempted to try to be jeff. not that i'd win or anything, but i think it might be fun to try to find some wacky hats and crazy outfits to wear. i bet i could do it.

oh! speaking of fashion, i saw the cutest shirt in the mall today that i think i want to buy. it said, i'm a caffeine craving, flannel wearing, raindrop dodging seattle girl. do i look like i used to be in a grunge band? LOVE.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

i love seattle

from an article on komotv.com:

A crowd spilled into the streets near the Pike Place Market and on Capitol Hill Tuesday night. Perfect strangers were hugging and giving high-fives. Fireworks were going off, and people were crowd surfing.

But police say the scene was very peaceful, and when the party began to wane, people grabbed brooms and starting sweeping up the mess, with officers thanking them as they drove through.


how civilized.

guess you don't want me to repeat it

well, my day sucked. my water bottle somehow leaked in my bag and now my ipod is very unhappy about floating in an inch of water for who knows how long. who would guess that ipods don't like water?!? how am i supposed to survive my morning bus rides without the frames or pearl jam?!?? someone at work told me i let it air-dry for a couple of days and it'll magically start working again. i'm not going to hold my breath, though.

plus, today was parent-teacher conference day (as is tomorrow). i enjoy those, for the most part, they're just really draining for someone like me who is not very good at talking. i don't like to talk about work on here much because that's something i like to (theoretically) leave behind at 5:30, but today i didn't have my ipod to calm me down on the bus ride home and that's thrown off my entire night i think.

this is another thing that sucks: ray lamontagne is playing in seattle on sunday and i didn't buy tickets and now the show is sold out. i do that a lot. i think of a show i want to go to but not enough to buy tickets to right away, and then i just forget and forget about it and when i finally remember, tickets are sold out. i'm really irresponsible, i think sometimes. this video is awesome:



i love his voice, and this song just seems to fit with the weather and my mood tonight. much as i love this time of year, i also hate it. it gets dark so early, and it seems like my bus has been late every night this week. and i don't even have my freaking ipod to entertain me. and i can't read my book because it's dark.

2 weeks till twilight and minus the bear! not that those two things have anything at all to do with each other - i'm just excited about both. in fact, i think i'll go to bed and read twilight right now. that sounds like fun.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

i fell into a burning ring of fire


..or a happy days rerun.

last night at the showbox was.. different. i was wondering how all the opening bands were going to fit into the show without it running four hours long, but the show was structured kind of like a musical revue, which was interesting. first, vince mira came out and played a couple of songs, and then a duo made up of a man and woman named the antiques came on. the guys behind me were joking that they looked like the white stripes (the man did resemble jack white in passing, i suppose) and that they were going to say, "our first song is called seven nation army." ha. they were alright.

then stone gossard and his "hank williams khoir" (which i guess consists of a female singer and vince mira's backing band?) did some songs. for some reason, it always cracks me up when i see a member of pearl jam on stage in something other than pearl jam. especially here. for the last song, he played 1999. party over, whoops, out of time/tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999. that alone may have been worth the price of admission.


(excuse my crappy picture. but it's stone!)

one of the last bands to come out was called the dusty 45's. they played some songs, some of which were alright, some of which were a touch annoying. i think the singer described them as "honkytonk." uh, alrighty. however, for the grand finale, the singer nodded to some woman in front of me and she lit his trumpet on fire. he played the end of the song - with his trumpet blazing - standing on top of the stand-up bass. it was cool, but i was a little bit afraid that he would fall and set the stage on fire. that would have been exciting, i suppose, but nothing i really wanted to see.

i enjoyed vince mira. he, if you don't know, is a kid (16? 17? something like that) who sounds uncannily similar to johnny cash. he got his start playing around pike place market, and it was pretty impressive that the showbox was almost full for him last night. i'm no johnny cash fan, but, judging from the women down front who were screaming like they were on the ed sullivan show or something, he must be alright.

i'm a dork

i want this shirt:



in case you can't tell, it's from twilight and underneath the apple, it says "bite me." heh. i wouldn't ever wear it in public, but that's not the point. i'm a 28-year-old teenager. no shame in that, right? maybe edward will be my boyfriend.

as if anyone needs further proof that i'm a dork, i now have a ticket to see the midnight premiere of twilight.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

did you fall on your way?

things that i like...

this video

i love his voice. doesn't it look like the veins in his neck are gonna pop out?

speaking of glen hansard, i read about this a few weeks ago:
'Once' musical headed for Broadway
The Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová-starring movie 'Once', which won the Oscar for Best Original Song with 'Falling Slowly' in 2007, is to be made into a Broadway musical.

i'm not actually sure if i like that news or not.. i wouldn't want once the musical to become like rent the movie. now, THERE is a play that i love and have seen 4 times and now have memorized - but, man if the movie doesn't suck. i can see that happening with once. much as i adore it, i think there comes a time to let something go and move on. this smells of people just wanting to make money for money's sake rather than for art's sake. i wonder how much glen and marketa have to do with this... the article goes on to say that the musical will include some songs that didn't make the cut for the movie, which is interesting to say the least.. but i'm still skeptical.

christmas music
now that it's november, i can start playing this, right? i heart my transsiberian orchestra cd. heh.

the cost
as in, the frames album. i have never really cared for it (and probably haven't listened to it all the way thru more than a handful of times), but i've been playing it nonstop for the past week. maybe it's something to do with the weather - some music just seems to go better with cold, rain and wind. and heaven knows we have plenty of that this time of year in seattle.

lazy saturdays
i have spent the day watching the west wing marathon on bravo (i love that show), baking pumpkin bread (trader joe's has a yummy mix. there's nothing better than the smell of bread baking), and reading. i'm just relieved that halloween is over, and enjoying the peace and quiet - much as i love the kids in my class, there definately is such a thing as TOO much candy and i think they passed that point at 10:00 yesterday morning. heavens. my mom will love to read me admit this, but sometimes i think that i'm being punished for whining so much when i was a kid.

i am going to see vince mira tonight at the showbox, so maybe i'll have something more interesting to write about tomorrow.