Here are some pictures from The Maldives show at Neumos on Friday night. It was an all-around great sold out show! This town really supports the bands they love. I'll have an article to accompany the photos on Groovemine sometime next week. I'll keep you posted.
Last Wednesday Drew and I decided to get out of town for the day and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. It was a beautiful, clear sunny day and being Seattle we weren't sure when we'd have another one like it. However, almost everyday since then has been gorgeous with barely a drop of rain but it was a good excuse anyway. So we walked down to the water, hopped on the ferry and a half hour later arrived at our destination.
Bainbridge is lovely, definitely on the list of things to do when friends and family come visit. The downtown has cute shops, antique stores, restaurants, similar to the towns I've been to on Lake Michigan. A nice change from the hustle and bustle of downtown Seattle. And I keep finding myself pleasantly surprised by all that we can explore without a car. I love ferries, there's something I find so incredibly calming about them, it's really the only way I would ever consider commuting to work. There's no traffic, they're not claustrophobic like a bus can be, they move at a steady speed that I find relaxing and there's nothing you can do but sit and wait. Traffic is for the birds.
Here are some pictures from the Jazzanova show at Chop Suey last weekend. We thought it was going to be the whole band playing but it ended up only being one of the djs. But the show certainly wasn't lacking in any way. I think the guy who performed was their main dj and he was truly unbelievable. I was amazed by how riveting it was to watch a guy standing on stage with a laptop, some headphones and a couple of turn tables. The music he created with those few devices was so complex, each sound morphing and blending into each other, yet within the chaos you could also hear its simplicity. The jazz influences, vocals, spoken word -- they really seem to have created their own electronic world like nothing I've heard before.
Drew is going to start volunteering at the Experience Music Project in their Sound Lab. The Sound Lab is an interactive space with drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, mixing board, etc. that encourages people to experiment and leave with a basic understanding of the equipment. When he interviewed for the position they gave him 2 free passes to the EMP so we'll be checking it out this weekend. I can't wait! The building, designed by Frank Gehry, is so incredibly fascinating to me. I love the shapes, colors, textures and the fact that it looks so different depending on the weather and time of day. And I'm looking forward to checking out the inside and to see how the music and space work together. Congrats Drew, they're lucky to have you!
I recently started working a bit for this music website, getting my feet wet in the world of music writing and photography. It's all very new to me, especially writing about music, a subject that requires a whole new vocabulary than anything I'm used to. Monday night was my first concert assignment, to photograph and write a review of Saul Williams who was finishing up his Afropunk tour at Neumos in Seattle. I must admit, I was nervous, the music of Saul Williams does not come naturally to me and it was a show unlike anything I've seen before.
Photographically speaking though, it was amazing to shoot! Everyone on stage was in costume, painted faces, glitter, feathers, etc. That part of my job was easy. But it was a challenge figuring out how to write a review that left room for the reader to formulate their own opinion but that also didn't sugar coat the experience. Williams is not there to hold your hand and make sure you come away with the proper understanding of his show, he is there because this is what he feels he needs to be doing and there are things he needs to talk or sing or rap about whether you agree with him or not. It's takes a little while to adjust to his style, to know that he is not really there for you in the way you might be used to when you go see a show, he is ultimately there to challenge the limitations of those in the audience. And in that respect, he succeeded. I did feel challenged, I left the show wondering why part of me was a little annoyed but yet another part of me respected what he was doing. And I also thought some of it was really cool (see, I need to work on my music vocabulary, I don't think the word "cool" will get me very far in this business). I was conflicted in a way I normally don't feel after a concert, sort of like when it takes five or six times listening to an album before it really makes sense. But it was fun to be completely out of my comfort zone, to have an assignment and to have to find my voice within it, even when at times if felt like a struggle. I now have a whole new respect for both musicians and those who write about them.
So here's the link to my review. I hope to have more to come in the near future.
Drew's band in Minneapolis, Pine Deluxe, played one show before we left, in Mick's backyard. I hadn't seen Drew play live in years and our friends who came out for the show had never seen him play, it was such a great night, even when the cops showed up. They were cool about it, apparently the neighbors couldn't handle the sheer awesomeness coming out of those 5 musicians. Or maybe it was because it was almost midnight and there were about 2 feet between the houses. Who knows what the reason was....but here are some pictures from that night.
Before we left Minnesota I took some pictures of my friend Jennifer for a solo album she's putting out. We had just had a garage sale and our lawn was still cluttered with the remnants of the sale days later. So we used what we had and created a little space to take some pictures. It was a ton of fun, here are a few of my favorites from that day.
Here are a few pictures I took right before we left Minnesota of Drew's band at the time, Pine Deluxe. They recorded a few songs in the studio and I tagged along to document it. Best of luck to the band, it was great to be a part of the whole experience, especially that last month. Look forward to seeing a live show one day. Perhaps once you've conquered Minneapolis you can move on to Seattle, we'll be waiting for you....
this is a new blog drew & i are starting.....
Recent Comments