Ball Of Wax #13 Release

The 13th edition of the Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly was officially bestowed upon the world Thursday night with a show at Sunset Tavern. This edition’s theme, inspired by the late George Carlin, was “words you can’t say on television.”

Rocky Votolato, Palodine @ KEXP’s Concerts At The Mural

The easy and intelligent sounds of Palodine and Rocky Votolato wafted - for free! - across the Seattle Center grounds on August 16. Despite the heat, crowds packed the lawn, and rarely has a better summer afternoon been had.

Capitol Hill Block Party - Friday

Despite widespread concerns about overcrowding, sound quality, and whether or not Vampire Weekend sucks (they don’t), Friday’s installment of the Capitol Hill Block Party was a pretty darned good time. My personal highlight was catching the Das Llamas‘ final show at the Cha Cha Lounge, and getting to thank them afterwards for all the fun [...]

Noise For The Needy - Friday

>> Show as slideshow!

Phantom Planet @ El Corazon

Phantom Planet played a rousing hour-and-fifteen-minute set at El Corazon on Tuesday night, ripping through both old and new material, plus a Radiohead cover, fast and energetically enough to have both the band and the crowd in a sweat. In between the irrepressibly catchy and danceable numbers, frontman Alex Greenwald discouraged alcoholism, encouraged child slavery, [...]

Georgetown Music Fest: Friday

The first day of Seattle’s third annual Georgetown Music Fest, with The Kindness Kind, The Bad Things, and The Valley.

Noise For The Needy: Thursday

The Noise For The Needy festival hit Sunset Tavern Thursday night, featuring energetic sets from Curtains For You and Peter Parker.

The Valley Rules

It was at last year’s Reverb Fest in Ballard that The Valley and I had our first sonic liason. Two friends and I were walking down Ballard Avenue towards another show when The Valley took to the outdoor stage. We heard them begin - you can’t help but hear - but we kept walking. After a few minutes, though, we came back.

The Color Bars @ High Dive

A Seattle-by-way-of-New-York quintet with infectious enthusiasm and a penchant for quirky outfits.

The Hands @ King Cobra