This picture I snapped of Crystal Castle's Alice Glass isn't great but it totally cracks me up. Look closely at fella at the bottom middle of the frame. Where's his eye gaze? Yep: right up the dress. You have been MADE, dude!
I'm still laughing about this, and it's been hours. Heh heh heh heh.
(You may need to check out the larger version to see it clearly. Click the pic to do so.)
I am a tired girl from a hot and sunny weekend and a bunch of shows. So you'll get short and lazy reviews of the four acts I saw on Sunday and Monday.
Smoosh
These girls are growing up. Now 16 and 14, sisters Aysa and Chloe are already seasoned performers having started out four years ago under tutelage of Jason McGerr, the drummer for Death Cab for Cutie. The two sisters have that young teen coltish look -- check the forelock on one and and the pony tail on the other -- although lead singer Aysa is showing she has what it takes to hold on to the stage a few more years now that the age novelty has worn off. Smoosh offers straight up pop rock with some legs, particularly for a certain market segment. (Look out, Miley Cyrus.)
Demographics: A novelty sighting at Neumos: uncomfortable-looking parent- pairs. I'm guessing they were probably parents of the girls' friends, and were accompanying their own daughters to the concert in the big bad city. (Smoosh is from Seattle.) There were not enough of these oldsters to increase the average age however, which appeared to be around 19 years old. Those skewing older (and not parent-types) were there for the headliner, Tokyo Police Club.
Tokyo Police Club
Fun band with tasty pop punk tunes. They are on the last half of a death march of a touring schedule that runs through mid-June, followed by a few festival dates thereafter. Despite their if-it-Sunday-this-must-be-Seattle schedule, they sounded fresh and put themselves out there for the set.
Demographics: average age 24, half boys, half girls. Wearing clothes appropriate for campus walking and grocery store shopping.
Hip Hop: Dizzee Rascal and El-P
I don't usually go to hip hop shows, but I wanted to catch the classic stylings of Dizzie Rascal. He didn't disappoint. He has kept his sound fresh but wasn't afraid to do a little "old school" shit about 2/3 of his way through the set. Good show. He knows how to engage with the audience and didn't rely on a the ubiquitous call-and-response thing that every other rapper brings out of their bag of performance tricks when they want to energize the crowd.
El-P was something of a disappointment after Dizzee Rascal. His DJ is great, but El-P's tracks all started to sound the same to me after the first four or so. I'm not an uber fan of hip hop, so maybe the problem is more with me than with him because I just don't know enough to hear differences that perhaps a more knowledgeable listener would pick up on. Oh well, I gave it a try.
Demographics: Another all ages show. 90% boys with an average age of about 20. Some girls and some people over 25, particularly for Dizzee Rascal's set.
I had a heck of a time getting any pictures worth saving at Monday's hip hop show. Those dudes paced, raced, jumped, lunged, danced, and everything BUT stand still long enough for a picture without flash. Will someone please remind me of this experience the next time I am tempted to raise my hand when the call goes out to shoot at a hip hop show? I am not very pleased with this weeks results. Or maybe I should get right back on that horse and ride it again...
April is Donte Parks' birthday month and he's celebrating his "I Ain't Dead Yet Mutha*%&#* Dirty Thirty Extravaganza!" along with Truckasauras and Sleepy Eyes of Death at Neumos on Wednesday. Go already; the show is free, it is hump day, and honestly now, you've got nothing better to do, right?
Sleepy Eyes of Death are the masters of lighting and fog. Good to catch 'em live. And Truckasauras? What can I say that you haven't already heard? Dance your robot heart out.
personal message to my stalkers: I've make it particularly challenging these past few months to track me ahead of time. So just because it is tax day +1 and you've had a stressful week, I'm throwing you this bone. Ignore and you may not get another for a very long time.
Indie group Tulsa borrows from John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
The phrase "war is over if you want it" was a billboard event staged in NYC by John and Yoko in December, 1969. Read Yoko's 1998 commentary and a photo illustrating the restaging of the event in 1998.
Oh, what to do...what to do...
Can I be three places at once? Can I fit all three in?
Here's what's going on Thursday, March 6th in Sea-town:
First Thursday Artwalk (free)
My new favorite activity in town. I love the 619 Western building and seeing what the cutting edge artists are up to each month. I missed February's open house so I really want to make it back this month.
Young Ones Showcase ($5)
Fresh music talent spotlight sponsored by The Stranger; performances at Neumos and Sole Repair. Lineup includes Dyme Def, Throw Me the Statue and Truckasauras.
Opening Reception for ByDesign 08 at Northwest Film Forum. (free)
Write up here.
Perhaps I can manage two out of three if I plan it right.
The next John-in-the-Morning-at-Night show will be Friday, March 7th at Neumos. It is also John Richard's birthday so there may be unicorns at some point in the evening.
Line up so far:
The Duke Spirit
The Voom Blooms
Tulsa
....and likely one or two more will be added to the bill.
PLUS: my favorite DJ Michele Myers will be spinning her show live from Neumos 9:00 pm - 1:00 am.
John writes, "On top of THAT the first people to get Presale tickets will get a special invite to my private birthday party that night in the VIP room where we'll have djs and a full on bar."
Presale on now, here. Public sale starts Thursday, February 7th at noon.
Previous JITMAN shows have featured Silversun Pickups, Vampire Weekend, The Black Angels, Jamie T and others that later broke out into bigger venues and festivals. You can always count on fresh sound and whenever you hit a JITMAN show.
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