threegigs.com » Tensday

Have A Band? Want To Play The Funhouse?

Brittney — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:18:35 +0000

Due to the weather, Brian at the Funhouse is in a bit of a bind: none of the bands scheduled for tonight will likely be able to make it. That means may need last-minute replacements. No one will know for sure until around 2pm, but if you have a (decent) band, and are able to play TONIGHT (Friday, January 9), contact Brian at myfatassproductions[at]yahoo.com and let him know.

Tensday: Ten Musical Twitter Feeds

Brittney — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:05:26 +0000

Tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet yeah! Though I rarely use Twitter for personal communication anymore – Plurk has stolen its place in my heart – it has taken on a second life as a sort of mini-RSS reader where I can access up to the minute news, links, and random thoughts from the growing number of bands that use Twitter for self-promotion. Here are ten active, interesting music-related Twitter accounts.

MC Hammer
Kristin Hersh
indiefeed
Murder City Devils
Three Imaginary Girls
Amanda Palmer
Jay Reatard
Pearl Jam
Hot Hot Heat
[Probably not actually] Nick Cave

Tensday: Ten Things I’m Looking Forward To In 2009

Brittney — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:52:11 +0000

That’s right, it’s a special bonus THURSDAY Tensday, with an extra dose of that listing action that you CRAVE. Every end is a beginning, as they say, and with the end of 2008 comes the fresh excitement of 2009. Here are ten things I’m looking forward to in the coming year.

1 – Seeing the Murder City Devils play at the Showbox, February 11th and 12th.
2 – A new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album.
3 – Getting to know more of the community at seattlepunk.org.
4 – Seeing The Damage Done again live. And again and again and again, hopefully.
5 – Exploring the all ages scene with my little brother when he comes to visit.
6 – The Cops deciding not to break up and instead releasing another album and playing lots of shows. (A girl can hope!)
7 – Seeing the Constantines again in Victoria in April.
8 – Learning to play my electric bass.
9 – Taking my little brother to the EMP and getting to watch his eyes light up as he sees all the exhibits.
10 – Pearl Jam’s “Ten” deluxe re-release, including a Rock Band DLC pack.

Tensday: Ten Songs That Defined My 2008

Brittney — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:34:13 +0000

I almost didn’t post this one, because a part of me feels that anyone who reads this list properly can almost read the whole story of my life – and of my heart and of my mind – this year. But then I convinced myself that I was probably just being paranoid, and even if I wasn’t, well hell — there’s something to be said for frankness. Plus, some of the songs have personal meaning because of the lyrics, and some I just really dig. Anyhow, interpret as you will; here it is, my year.

1 – Thao – “Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)”
2 – The National – “Racing Like A Pro”
3 – Murder City Devils – “Rum To Whiskey”
4 – Constantines – “Shower Of Stones”
5 – Grand Archives – “Torn Blue Foam Couch”
6 – Phantom Planet – “Do The Panic”
7 – The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Poor Song”
8 – Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma”
9 – Throw Me The Statue – “About To Walk”
10 – The Damage Done – “Teen Bop Hit Factory”

Rock And Roll Lives On

Brittney — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:41:28 +0000

In my opinion, there are few better ways to spend a snowy evening than in a cozy tavern full of happy music fans, beer in hand and band on stage. Unfortunately, Neumos and the Tractor have had to cancel their shows tonight, but there’s still plenty of musical bliss to be found this evening. Thanks to the Seattle Times for providing a list of the shows that go on:

• Seattle Symphony’s “Messiah,” 7:30 p.m., Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $20-$68 (206-215-4747 or www.seattlesymphony.org).

• “The Color Purple,” 7:30 p.m., Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle; $25-$150 (206-467-5510 or www.theparamount.com).

• “A Christmas Carol — The Musical,” 7 p.m., Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle; $20-$25.50 (206-467-5510 or www.themoore.com).

• Sunset Tavern, The Cops Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus, with Cancer Rising, the Bad Things and Widower, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle; $10 (206-784-4880 or www.sunsettavern.com).

• “Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker,” 7 and 10 p.m. tonight, The Triple Door, 216 Union Street, Seattle; $25-$28 (206-838-4333 or www.tripledoor.net).

• “Bob Rivers Twisted Christmas,” 8 tonight, Snoqualmie Casino, 37500 S.E. North Bend Way, Snoqualmie, $30-$50 (206-628-0888 or www.ticketmaster.com).

• “A Christmas Carol,” 6 and 8:30 p.m., ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle; $22-$47 (206-292-7676 or www.acttheatre.org).

• “The Christmas Foundling,” 7:30 p.m., Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., Seattle; $26-$28 (206-781-9707 or www.taproottheatre.org).

• “Boom” and “You Can’t Take it With You,” 7:30 p.m., Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle; $10-$55 (206-443-2222 or www.seattlerep.org).

• “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” 8 p.m., 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle; $24-$81 (206-625-1900 or www.5thavenue.org).

• “Beauty and the Beast,” 8 p.m., Village Theatre, 303 Front St., N., Issaquah; $22-$58 (425-392-2202 or www.villagetheatre.org)

• “A(n Improvised) Christmas Carol,” 8:30 p.m., Market Theatre, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle; $12 (800-838-3006 or www.unexpectedproductions.org)

• “Plaid Tidings,” 7:30 p.m., ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle; $10-$32 (206-938-0339 or www.artswest.org)

• “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and “The Santaland Diaries,” 7 and 9 p.m., Seattle Public Theatre at the Bathhouse, 7312 W. Greenlake Dr. N., Seattle; $15-$25 (206-524-1300 or www.seattlepublictheater.org)

• Hardcoretet, 9 p.m. at the Triple Door, 216 Union St., Seattle; free (206-838-4333 or www.thetripledoor.net).

Tensday: Top Ten Photos of 2008

Brittney — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:53:15 +0000

It’s been a great year, with hundreds of shows and thousands of photos. Narrowing down to ten was nearly impossible and, I admit, required a bit of arbitrariness in the end. But here you are, a gallery of the sweetest fruits of my year’s labors. Please to enjoy.

>> Show as slideshow!

Tensday – Top Ten Albums of 2008

Brittney — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:56:07 +0000

I was actually planning on making this list my grand finale, but then my volunteer coordinator at KEXP emailed and reminded me that the deadline for submitting our Top Ten lists for inclusion on their site was this afternoon. Kind of overwhelmed by the task, I started by going to my CD shelf and pulling every CD I had that was released this year. Turns out there are only about twenty — so the job wasn’t too hard after all. And since it’s already done, well, I might as well share it with you, no? Here, in no order but alphabetical, are my Top Ten Albums of 2008.

1 – The Cardinals – Cardinology
2 – The Constantines – Kensington Heights
3 – Grand Archives – Grand Archives
4 – Mudhoney – The Lucky Ones
5 – [The band formerly known as] The Muslims – The Muslims
6 – No Age – Nouns
7 – REM – Accelerate
8 – Santogold – Santogold
9 – Thao – We Brave Bee Stings And All
10 – Throw Me The Statue – Moonbeams

Many other people are taking polls. Me? I ain’t got no poll; I’m happy just sitting here mouthing off about my own opinions. However, if you’d like to have your say, well, this is the internet, and by god you can. Post comments, additions, challenges, and questions about my taste below.

Tensday: Best Live Shows of 2008

Brittney — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:45:32 +0000

It’s December, which means everybody and their drummer is releasing the year’s “Best Of” lists. I’m pretty sure Paste magazine even solicited a Best Albums list their mailroom guy (which is actually pretty cool), though I can’t find it anywhere on their site. Closer to home, Sound On The Sound is offering up its choices, and KEXP and Three Imaginary Girls are polling for theirs. Me? sure, I’ll bow to the peer pressure and join in. “Tencember” kicks off with a list of the ten best shows I saw this year.

1 – The National at Sasquatch – Bus problems made the band miss their planned set time, and they ended up playing on a small stage at the same time tourmates Modest Mouse took the big one. I chose to miss Modest Mouse, and have never questioned that decision for a moment — The National played the show of a lifetime. It was intense, intimate, engrossing, and so good that the crowd demanded an encore, which the band had neither expected nor planned for. Surprised and humbled, they played it anyway.

2 – Monotonix at Bumbershoot – This was the show that famously got shut down after fifteen minutes. While it lasted, it was the most fun I’ve seen people having at a show. Ever.

3 – The Cops at The Showbox – After a busy spring, The Cops played only a few shows this summer, including this one opening for The Long Winters. The rested and refreshed band stormed the stage, started rocking right away, and held that energy through the whole show. Always a good live band, this time The Cops totally killed it. Like, in a good way.

4 – The Shackletons at Bumbershoot – It’s a delightful experience to suddenly and unexpectedly fall in love with a band, and that’s what happened to me with the Shackletons one sunny Labor Day Weekend afternoon. Mark Redding is part preacher, part punk rocker, and somehow it totally works — he had the crowd enraptured. Almost as fun as falling for the band myself was looking around and seeing the rest of the audience doing it, too.

5 – The Constantines at Sugar (Victoria, BC) – The Constantines are a good live band, but I also include this show for sentimental reasons. Seeing your favorite group with the best friend who introduced you to said group makes for a pretty good night indeed.

6 – Mudhoney at Subpop 20 – I think it was about a million degrees outside this day, but it didn’t stop the crowd from slamming and churning and totally surrendering themselves to Mudhoney’s energy and power.

7 – Zeke at the Capitol Hill Block Party – It had been a long, crowded day at the Block Party, and I decided to celebrate the end of it with a few whiskey sours and some punk. I was just liquored up enough to really let loose and jump into the pit, and though I came out of the show with a ruined skirt and two days of muscle soreness, I had the time of my life.

8 – Phantom Planet at El Corazon – I get the impression that Phantom Planet is not a popular band to like. Whatever. They’re cute, they’re enthusiastic, and they make good music. Also, my husband and I both like them, which is pretty rare. We danced our booties off and went home happy.

9 – Grace Potter and The Nocturnals at Neumos – These guys are some of the most talented musicians touring today, and they just get better and better. They also have a corps of loyal fans who show up at every show excited and ready to have a good time. These elements combined with a good opener and a great setlist (including a cover of Paint It Black) to make the best of the three GPN shows I’ve seen.

10 – Schoolyard Heroes at the Capitol Hill Block Party – I love Schoolyard Heroes. So, I found out that night, do roughly twenty thousand teenagers. And heck, I can’t blame them; this Tacoma threesome is not only musically talented, but obviously loves to perform, and doesn’t mind too much when overenthusiastic fans jump on stage and join in.

Tensday: Ten Sweet Band Names From The Rock Band Leaderboards

Brittney — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:44:19 +0000

Sometimes, when you don’t have much creativity of your own, you have to borrow other people’s. Thanks, gamers.

1 – All We Know Is Falling
2 – Unzip Fly to Begin
3 – Ray Charles in Charge
4 – nom-nom-toot
5 – GOZER
6 – Robot Kitten Happy Train
7 – Alarmingly attractive gentlemen
8 – Reptar on Ice
9 – Pornicorn
10 – Interstellar Unicorn Fiasco

Random observation: I found over half of these cool names very near the top of the list, but it took me pages and pages to choose the rest. Does a cool band name actually help you succeed in Rock Band? Or did I just get harder to impress as the search went on?

Tensday: Ten Songs I Would Totally Cover If I Had A Punk Band

Brittney — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:29:19 +0000

Which I do, in my mind.

These may not look like punk songs, but inside each and every one of them is a punk song trying desperately to get out. (And frustration? Anger? Desperation? These things lead to the punk side, my son. It’s like they’ll get there ON THEIR OWN! … Yeah.)

1 – REM, “Talk About The Passion”
2 – Brandi Carlile, “My Song”
3 – Coyote Shivers, “Sugarhigh”
4 – Dave Matthews Band, “Pay For What You Get”
5 – Josh Rouse, “Late Night Conversation”
6 – Patty Griffin, “You Never Get What You Want”
7 – Willie Nelson, “Whiskey River”
8 – Constantines, “Shower Of Stones”
9 – Weezer, “Say It Ain’t So”
10 – “I Fought The Law” — because it’s, like, a TRADITION.*

*(Or a cliche.)