Yukon Blonde ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

I didn’t think I was going to make it to the Yukon Blonde show last Friday night. At 4:30 p.m. I felt too ill to even get up off my couch, much less hop a bus to El Corazon. The rock gods must have taken pity on me, however, because 9 o’clock found me completely restored, and I was able to squeeze through the ample crowd on the bar side of El C to reach the stage just as the band did. I plopped to the floor with the rest of the front row, expecting a cheerful, relaxing show — but like a drunken heckler, my expectations were soon 86ed.

My assumptions had come from listening to the band’s self-titled LP. Recorded, Yukon Blonde is sunny, amiable, slightly mellow. Sunlight drifting through your windows during an afternoon daydream. Pickup trucks and yellow-tinged photographs. They’re not Easy Listening, but they’re certainly not hard.

Live, it turns out, Yukon Blonde is not mellow at all.

While a gaggle of industrial fans enjoyed 16Volt and Chemlab in the other room, the hundred-or-so listeners packed cozily into the lounge were treated to the impressive spectacle of Yukon Blonde completely drowning out the mainstage sound. Taking their groovy, 70s-inspired rock and cranking it up to eleven, the band created a sound so big it made a room roughly the size of my kitchen feel as broad and spacious as the Gorge. By the end of their half-hour set, all four band members had worked themselves into a nice sweat, and left the crowd panting too, desperate for more.

Thankfully these boys are not actually from the Yukon, but from the much more proximate Vancouver, so hopefully Seattle will be able to get its Yukon Blonde fix on a regular basis. Like that blonde you buy in the drugstore, I’d recommend a dose at least every four to six weeks.

mp3: Download Yukon Blonde’s “Rather Be With You” (courtesy of 2:30 Publicity)

Tim Barry ::: Photo Courtesy of Travis Connor

Tim Barry grew up down the street from me. He’s a handful of years older than I am so I didn’t see him too much as little kid. I was swing-set buddies with his little sister Caitlin, so I’d always hear random stories about him or what he was doing with Avail at the time. The first time I met him it was the summer right before I started high school. Caitlin, a few other friends and I went down to King’s Dominion, a big theme park in Virginia right outside of Richmond (Scuffletown!) where Avail resided only a couple of blocks away from Carytown.  My friends and I had a chance to hangout at the Avail house and spend the night there. Barely a year earlier I had just started getting into a lot of underground punk and hardcore bands, so this whole experience blew my barely 14-year-old mind. I remember eating really cheap pizza, smoking cigarettes on the front porch and joking about creating fictional straight edge bands that drank 40’s on the sly.  We all slept on the floor and around noon Avail started practicing and I sat outside on the porch, just listening. A few weeks later I saw Avail for the first time at Phantasmagoria, a now defunct show space in Maryland. That whole show was absolute insanity but Avail’s set was the apex of it all. I remember seeing Tim in the green room after the band finished, completely drenched with sweat and a towel draped over his shoulders. It was as if he was the hardest working human you’d ever seen. Any night he takes the stage, I’d say that’s an accurate assessment.

It’s hard to believe that these events took place almost 13 years ago. They were such an integral part of my existence as an aspiring musician that I can remember them like they happened last weekend. For us neighborhood kids that were in bands, Tim was not a beacon of hope but of choice. That despite all the outside pressure that we faced to not pursue music, here was a guy that choose to and didn’t regret his decision. We needed a living, breathing example of that at such an impressionable young age.

Tuesday night Tim Barry will be at El Corazon. As far as I know it’s his first visit to Seattle since playing the Tractor a little more than two and half years ago. If you have plans tomorrow, cancel them and go see this show. I first saw Tim Barry (with sister Caitlin being his incredible violinist, she’s been a beast since those swing-set days) back in 2006 when he was on tour with Lucero. He played a hometown show in Richmond and I’ve been in love ever since. Anyone who’s ever seen an Avail show can attest to the amount of passion this man exudes when he’s on-stage. I’d argue that his presence as a solo artist is infinitely more powerful. I can promise you that you won’t make a sound during his set. You’ll even second-guess taking a step in any direction unless it’s closer to him. Tim is the first-hand genuine article, a singer/songwriter that has been through it, especially in the last couple of years. If he lived in Seattle, he’d be the toast of the town, and most of these would-be songwriters would be forced to go back to the coffee shop open mic nights that they came from.

Big Business at Neumos in 2005 ::: photo courtesy of Alex Crick

Big business. The idea and the meaning behind the syntax can be a bit overwhelming. Jobs lost. Bankruptcy. White Collar Crime. Ralph Nader wagging his spindly fingers and barking forewarning. I’d be lying if I told you the band made me as nervous as the actual socioeconomic phenomena, but that doesn’t mean a dude can’t meet up with some friends for a birthday celebration at the Moon Temple before watching Big Business takeover El Corazon. Drinks before a show, in the industry, we call it “preparation time.”

For those who are unfamiliar with the Moon Temple in Wallingford, I shun you over the internet. For those who are familiar with the Temple of Stiff Drinks, they realize that my mentioning of the Moon Temple is not an endorsement of a great dive bar, but rather a preface to the evenings observations. I was only there for a spell, but that’s all that it takes.

El Corazon has a weird magnetic pull about the place. I’m not saying it’s attractive. When you’re thinking of going to a show, more often than not, El Corazon isn’t the first place that comes to mind. However, it’s been my experience that whenever I’m within close proximity of said venue, I feel this weird sickness in my stomach. My lung capacity is automatically reduced to 50% of what it was. My vision is slightly blurred. A feeling of malaise and futility washes over my mind and body. The venue has it’s gems (such as Pig Destroyer earlier this year) but on the whole, going to El Corazon is like having a swimming pool in your backyard, only that pool is actually the blood of the cherubims. You don’t mind taking a dip when it gets too hot, it’s only out of necessity. Besides your neighbors are judgmental pricks anyway.

I entered El Corazon and was witness to a somewhat bizarre scene. A man who I’d describe as a mix between Dr. Rockzo (Metalocalypse) and Krusty the Klown (The Simpsons) was alone on-stage with a guitar that had no headstock.

The strings were so thick that his guitar may have actually been a bass, which of course would make me a moron. Let me also say that Kroxo the Doom Metal Troubadour (you like that?) wasn’t actually alone, he had a drum machine sitting on a stool next to him during his set. He wore stonehenge as an expression and left his enthusiasm at his apartment. Needless to say, this is something I didn’t need to see. I left the Moon Temple entirely too early. I left Kroxo and his one man band and headed to El Corazon’s bar, located conveniently far away from the stage. I needed to get away from this weirdness for a while. My predicament would’ve made the perfect Snickers commercial as I searched for things to do on my Blackberry for the next 40 or so minutes.     
     
Big Business took the stage. Prior to the show, I refused to listen to the band because I wanted to be surprised. I knew that the band had elements of Karp, Murder City Devils, Tight Bros From Way Back When (Throwback! Prior to receiving the press release for this show, I hadn’t heard that name in years) and the Melvins. That’s quite an eclectic mix to say the least. The first song Big Business played reminded me of the Melvins, but not in a good way. It wasn’t one of those “Oh fuck yeah! It’s the Melvins!” tracks but rather “Oh fuck. It’s the Melvins”. The kind of a song that wouldn’t be out of place on Prick. Weird, “we’re going to fuck with you because we paid for this studio time” shit. You know what I’m talking about. It sounded like a song you might write if you didn’t really like your audience. Bass that is slithery and engulfed in low end, a snare pattern that was copied from a drum line textbook and weird atmospheric guitar to set the mood. The guitar was probably the best part. It was just Toshi Kasai doing a pick slide with a slide near the bridge of his guitar. It sounded really cool.

The rest of Big Business’ set was nothing like the introductory song and that’s probably a good thing. My attention to detail has been waning as of late and with Kroxo not doing Big Business any favors as an opener, I wouldn’t have made it the whole way through. The rest of the night was off kilter rock and roll tastiness. It was remarkable enough for me to forgive the drummer for wearing a boy band microphone headset throughout the performance. Sorry. That kind of headset is more frequent on the Mouseketeer circuit than it is in clubs like El Corazon. But Coady Willis, the drummer for Big Business, was that good. He punches the clock when he gets behind that drum kit, his chops will be a noticeable strong point as Big Business mulls over conquest. If Big Business lives up to its namesake, conquest should come as naturally as tanning does to Californians. Their songs are potential mixed-martial-arts fighter introduction music. If Andre the Giant were still with us, I could see him marching down the aisle to “The Drift.” Hulk Hogan wouldn’t have a chance. 

Big Business plays music, you crumble at their feet. It’s not complicated nor sexy but they get the job done. Unlike many of the mom and pop bands they’ll “unknowingly” put out of business.

Last year I had a pretty fun time at the Seattle Regional edition of U.S. Air Guitar Championships, talking with a few of the contestants and photographing their virtual skillz. The best part of the night were the unexpected contestants drawn from the crowd, which in last years case, included a back stage security guard who stripped down to his undies for his chance at glory. Get drunk enough, early enough, and you could even find yourself as one of those wildcard contestants.

A Wildcard Contestant - The Blonde Tornado ::: Photo by Abbey

You’ve got one more day to practice in the mirror…

I’ve been bitching about the greatness of good shows all week, and I think Thursday (the best day of the week) heard my pleas and really stepped up its game.  ‘Cause there’s two shows tonight, yes TWO SHOWS, that’ll hopefully I’ll be able to get out to.

1.  Little Joy @ El Corazon

Last time I was at El Corazon for a, sigh Buckcherry show, I vowed I would never return.  I stepped in blood, I got pushed around by smartly dressed hardcore kids, and was not impressed with the gigantic pole that blocked my vision of the stage.  Yet, the coming of Little Joy has me pretty excited.  I can’t imagine what this sort of dreamy, pop band will sound like on stage, but I’m certainly excited about the prospects.  Also, I think it’s fun to see famous drummers/musicians in other incarnations aside from their famed bands.  Like that time I saw Paul McCartney passed out in alley, high on glue-huffing - that was fun.

2.  The Cave Singers @ Neumos

The Cave Singers are very close to being my favorite local band.  I love Pete Quirk’s unique little warble and Derek Fudesco’s enormous knees just stomping away on stage.  Many fear that a live performance by this trio of back porch country folk could be boring, but I promise Quirk and Fudesco are brilliant on stage.  Quirk, all tight jeans, trucker hat and Iggy Pop leg shimmies; Fudesco, all big ass knees and speedy fingers.  Supposedly they’re unleashing some new cuts today … new cuts that rock.

Pick and choose my friends.  Pick and choose.

The Cave Singers - Seeds of Night

Alright, alright, I know my last two “Daily Choices” haven’t exactly been the most serious choices, but I keep heading on over to The Stranger just to see what they’re recommending and Charles Muedede keeps picking washed out rap groups and for some reason it just has me chortling.  Sure, Bone Thugs In Harmony have been reduced (by violence and prison time) to only two of their original members, but I bet those two original members can still rap fast enough to burn actual holes in your ear drums.

What really needs to be said is that either I’m missing out on some great bands because of my lack of venue knowledge or there is just a startling drought in good shows this week.  I blame Jesus, Santa, and whatever costumed figure the Jews are shopping as their Hanukkah mascot these days.

There’s good stuff this weekend though, so hold out.

Which, by the looks of the line, wasn’t very secret:

But then again, when does one of the biggest metal bands in the world (who also has the crossover success of being featured in one of the biggest video games of all time) play a tiny club on the seam of the highway?For FREE? That would be next to never. And after the performance Dragonforce gave at El Corazon for a room packed of devoted fans, it was obvious why people would wait in line for hours for just the chance of seeing the band that close.

The show, held on July 6th was hosted by MySpace as part of their Secret Show series. The folks at MySpace were gracious enough to get Sound on the Sound in (without having to get in line at 6am) and let us bring in one of only a few cameras at the show.  And while Power Metal and Dragonforce aren’t exactly my cup of tea, there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to miss this show or photographing it. While many metal bands just stand there and scream and play their hard riffs, I had been guaranteed that Dragonforce were just as insane and campy on stage as the topics of their songs (see: dragons, kingdoms, epic soldiers, fire) and they more than lived up to the recommendation and reputation.

I don’t believe I have ever been to a show where the audience was more excited or ready for the band to take the stage. (An entire day of waiting in line next to I-5 just might do that.) A full few minutes before the band took the stage the audience erupted into a chanting chorus of “Dragonforce! Dragonforce!” The air was full of anticipation and tension–if a match had been lit, complete combustion would not have surprised me. The audience chanted and rode this wave of anticipation to climax when the band–a set of almost every wonderful metal stereotype imaginable–took the stage.

Lead singer, ZP Theart (pronounced heart–the “t” is silent) walked on stage with a magnificent Kenny G-gone-metal hairstyle, leather pants, eyeliner and an accent that had me begging internally for him to say a line out of Spinal Tap. For a moment, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. But as cliche as it may have seemed on the surface, when Dragonforce started playing–I couldn’t help but be amazed by the technical skill demonstrated by each band member. Not to mention the quality of performance and stage presence, which put most every live band I have ever witnessed to shame. The band is full of antics made for arena-size-stages; up-close and personal, the largeness and over-the-top nature of their expressions and personas–was like watching an amazing six-ringed metal circus. You could easily focus on a single member of Dragonforce and get one hell of a show, but the problem would be deciding on what to focus on and stay with it. So I decided it best let my eyes wander between the how-the-fuck-is-he-doing-that? guitar playing of Herman Li, the epic awesomeness that is power metal keytar, the playful faces and gestures between some seriously heavy bass licks of Frédéric Leclercq, and the masterful control of the stage and crowd that ZP Theart demonstrated.

Musically was it my favorite show? No. Metal power ballads about being a soldier don’t quite do it for me, but it was impossible not to get swept up in the excitement and energy that Dragonforce and their fans brought. Finding myself on the edge of the pit, I couldn’t help but indulge and enjoy every shove and elbow. While you won’t find me blasting Dragonforce’s new album Ultra Beatdown in my car or at home, you will find me at their next Seattle show and loving every minute of it.

Photos by Abbey - see more at our Flickr Page

I imagine a lot of local and national bands will be asking themselves this question in the coming days. Literally hundreds of bands scheduled at the now closed Crocodile are left in the lurch for venues and tour dates.

Luckily at least one show scheduled at The Crocodile this week has found a new willing host. Three Imaginary Girl’s annual Holiday Party featuring Tullycraft, Rachel Flotard, Your Favorite Book, and special guest Indie-Rock Santa (John Roderick) - will now be held at El Corazon on Thursday the 20th. Other than venues, the only thing that concert goers need to keep in mind is now doors will be at 8pm.

Thanks to the fine folks at Filter Magazine, we’re offering a pair of tickets to go see Limbeck this weekend with Hot Rod Circuit at El Corazon. You’ll also get a cd of Limbeck’s new album.

The first person to send me an e-mail will get the tickets and cd, it’s an All Ages show, so our give away is as well. Also, while it’s great to winning anything… if you can’t go or it’s a secondary plan, please don’t rush to e-mail me. We need you on the guest-list by 2pm tomorrow, so I need to hear from you wonderful folks before 1pm, Friday the 13th.