The Ironclads CD Release Show ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

As a person who goes to grippa shows, it’s a hopeless task to put properly put into any meaningful order the favorite shows they’ve been two beyond saying a few were the very best or stand out as special moments and deserve recognition as such for the annals. So I’ve chosen a list of twenty shows and sets from this year that I’ll never forget, presented in chronological order.

Blind Pilot @ The Triple Door (January 2009) - read the full review

The Murder City Devils first show back at the Showbox at the Market (February 2009) - read the full review

Dan Auerbach at the Showbox at the Market (March 2009) - read the full review

The Ironclads CD Release w/ Hands, Whore Moans, What What Now (April 2009) - read the full review

Blue Moon 75th Anniversary Show w/ High Class Wreckage, Thee Emergency, Hopscotch Boys, and The Whore Moans (April 2009) - read the full review

The Lonely Forest CD Release at the Vera Project (April 2009) - read the full review

Bon Iver at Sasquatch (May 2009) - read the full review

Nurses at the South Pole (DIY venue) (June 2009) - read the full review

David Bazan in a Living Room in Edmonds (June 2009) - read the full review

Robin and Josh ::: Photo on Film by Josh Lovseth

Robin Pecknold at Neumos (July 2009) - read the full review

Rural Alberta Advantage at the Sunset Tavern (July 2009) - read the full review

Widower, Pearly Gate Music, Final Spins at Sunset Tavern (July 2009) - read the full review

Doe Bay Fest (August 2009) - read the full review

The Maldives CD Release at the Tractor Tavern w/ The Moondoggies and Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers (August 2009) - read the full review

Macklemore at Bumbershoot (September 2009) - read the full review

Dirty Three at the Crocodile (September 2009) - read the full review

Fanfarlo at Chop Suey (September 2009) - read the full review

Grizzly Bear at the Moore (October 2009) - read the full review

Black Eyes & Neckties Last Show (October 31, 2009) - eulogy never written

Regina Spektor at the Paramount (November 2009) - read the full review

Taking in the Bay at Doe Bay Music Fest ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Before enjoying a plethora of musical choices tonight (No Depression Festival, Robin Pecknold/Drink for the Kids at Neumos, The Ironclads & The Hands at Mars Bar, Thee Emergency for Free at The Nectar, The Pharmacy at The Comet, Mad Rad at Chapel…) I highly recommend you make your way to The Sunset Tavern to support another talented local artist, Stoic Swine.

On this blog, Stoic Swine is best known as Blowdog of the dearly departed Hopscotch Boys. His performances, which we’ve described as “part art, part felony” were confrontational, dark, abrasive, fascinating, enthralling, and totally unique. The same can be said of the artwork he creates under the name of Stoic Swine.

While I’m no art critic or historian, Stoic Swine’s pieces evoke the same sort of reaction in me as his performances as Blowdog: enamored revulsion. As Stoic Swine describes his own work, “soul in the soot, head in the ether.”  His art, like his performances, toes the line of grotesque, in a way that makes you want to see more, not less.  It is raw, honest, totemic, evocative, and I think, beautiful in it’s portrayal of the flaws and vices of man. Much like Blowdog on stage, it’s work you’ll either love or hate, there’s no middle ground. I for, one, love it. 

So does The Sunset Tavern on Ballard Avenue, which is currently hosting Stoic Swine’s latest collection, “YESTERDAY’S HERO, TODAY’S GOAT.” The artist describes his work, created just for this show at the Sunset as:

Spanning from the fumes of the room’s storied past (from shaky Chinese restaurant to a debauched sailor dive) to its present lore as one of the city’s finest rock clubs, this work was created specifically to be installed in the legendary Sunset Tavern. All portraits on display are of figures I could imagine, at one time or another, filling the Sunset with their gregarious personalities and drunken behavior as they unwittingly question life’s greater existential formalities. Hopefully no amount of their blood, sweat or ejaculate has been spared in my faithful depiction.

Tonight the bar will be hosting an artist’s reception during Ballard’s Art Walk  for Stoic Swine and his work from 6 to 8pm.

To see more of Stoic Swine’s work, check out his blog: Gift Horse Mouth

If our absolutely kick-ass poster, the Seattlest endorsement, the Stranger Staff Pick, or the jaw-dropping line up of local rock hasn’t convinced you to come to our Blue Moon Anniversary Celebration show tomorrow night already, well, you may be hopeless. (Or, alternatively, going to see The Thermals.) I am not exaggerating when I say tomorrow night’s line up is my dream local line-up. This is the line-up I’ve been trying to put together for almost three years, and it’s finally happening tomorrow: the Hopscotch Boys, Thee Emergency, and the Whore Moans all on my favorite stage.

If all that isn’t enough to convice you and you need just  tiny bit more encouragement to come out tomorrow night, I figured a little photographic encouragement could only help. So, here’s a taste of the insanity that will be occurring in celebration of the Blue Moon Tavern tomorrow night:

Hopscotch Boys:

Thee Emergency:

Whore Moans:

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Birthday Suits ::: Photos by Josh

Last night the Whore Moans returned from tour with a set at the Sunset Tavern, backed by What What Now and Minnesota two-piece Birthday Suits. Holy S they were loud. Who knew two dudes could make that much noise?

After resting up, the Whore Moans will next be playing a Blue Moon Tavern 75th Anniversary Show on Saturday April 11 a show Sound on the Sound is sponsoring. Also on that bill will be one-off appearance by the recently dormant Hopscotch Boys. With Thee Emergency rounding out the bill, that show will be one for the books I can guarantee. As such the price at the door will be a bit more, but still only a measly $7. Worth every penny.

The Whore Moans

What What Now

Flickr: The Whore Moans, Birthday Suits, What What Now at the Sunset Tavern March 7, 2009

With nearly 200 shows under my belt in 2008, it’s hard to narrow down my favorites to just 15– but after much thought–here they are. I went for singular shows/sets, rather than including entire festivals such as Bumbershoot and Georgetown, which would have easily qualified for best of status. The photos are ordered, with my favorite show of the year on top and so forth. Hope you caught at least a couple of these shows in 2008 too!

Monotonix at The Sunset Tavern–and Ballard Avenue (9/28/08)

Dead Confederate at The Greenhouse (5/23/08)

Ice Age Cobra at The Key Bar in Austin (3/13/08)

The Shackeltons at Bumbershoot (8/31/08)

Slackfest 2008 with The Maldives, The Moondoggies, and lots more (8/24/08)

J. Tillman and David Bazan at Sunday Bloody Sunset (5/18/08)

Portugal The Man (with Wild Orchid Children) at the Do512 Party at SXSW (3/15/08)

Hopscotch Boy’s Final Show (6/8/08)

Sound on the Sound’s Blue Moon Birthday Bash w/Thee Emergency, Thunderbird Motel and Skeletons with Flesh on Them (1/12/08)

Black Eyes & Neckties at King Cobra (4/19/08)

The Trucks Final Seattle Show (10/12/08)

The Hands CD Release w/The Whore Moans at Neumo’s (3/1/08)

Ice Age Cobra’s Final Show (9/12/08)

Noah and The Whale at Chop Suey (9/29/08)

We Wrote The Book On Connectors CD Release Show (11/16/08)

The Trucks Finale ::: photo by Josh

The holidays are over, we’re back to our day jobs, and it’s still snowing…all things that make us sad. But nothing compares to the woe we feel about a number of our favorite local bands calling it quits during 2008.  We thought 2007 was brutal for our favorite bands (and it was!) but 2008 kept the brutality going–taking The Trucks, Hopscotch Boys, Iceage Cobra, Das Llamas, and Ms. Led to the big gig in the sky.

We were lucky enough to catch each of these bands finales (well, we will see Ms. Led’s final show on 1/23/09) and each and every one was bittersweet. On one hand we were seeing a show of one of our favorite bands that never dissapoint, on the other, it was the last time we’d ever see them share the stage (to our knowledge). So, we figured today, when you’re suffering the post-holiday hangover and wishing you were anywhere but work…we’d share with you some of the great losses of 2008.

Hopscotch Boys Finale ::: photo by Josh

Brad Kaufman singing Acid Pony at the Cobra Finale ::: photo by Josh

Das Llamas Finale ::: photo by Abbey

Ms. Led at GMF ::: photo by Abbey

See More Photos from these bands final shows by clicking the links below:

Hopscotch Boys
Iceage Cobra
The Trucks
Das Llamas

Santa Blowdog ::: photo by Josh

Hope you are all able to dig out of the Seattle snow and spend the holiday’s with your family and friends.

Sound on the Sound will be skiing to the Blue Moon tonight if that’s what it takes to make it to the 5th Annual Blowdog and Sneezy Christmas Pageant, and we’d love to see a few familiar faces there.

Hopscotch Boys :: Groundhog Day @ The Blue Moon :: photo by Abbey

Every once in a great while, like every 5,000 snaps, you catch exactly the moment you hoped to catch. This photo, of Blowdog from the Hopscotch Boys getting hit in the face with a can of Rainier during one of the craziest shows I’ve ever witnessed survived, is doubtlessly one of those photos.

In another year sadly filled with break-ups of a number of phenomenal bands, no loss was as great as the Hopscotch Boys. Despite going to every Hopscotch Boy show ever played from the moment I discovered the band, there wasn’t a single moment of a show or even listening to their album Sad and Lonely Eyes, that I was anything but enthralled and enamored. For me this shot is the epitome of those shows and I am proud to have caught it.

Hey guys, sorry this is coming a few days late and is one of my only recent post. Yours truly picked up an honest to god day job, and thus my contributions to Sound on the Sound have been suffering/non-existent. I promise you, that this will change in November, now that I’ve gotten a bit of  handle on the day-job and that best of/end of the year posts are right around the corner.

Without further ado, I present to you the songs and albums that have kept me sane in this largely music-less month.

* A Gun That Shoots Knives - “Stay In School Mother Fucker”
* Starfucker - Starfucker
* See Me River - Time Machine
* The Moondoggies - Don’t Be A Stranger
* Black Eyes & Neckties(the best Halloween-ish music ever)
* Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes
* Catfish Haven - Devastator
* Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers
* Bon Iver -Daytrotter Session
* The Shackeltons - “Soft Heart”
* Hopscotch Boys - Sad and Lonely Eyes
* The Whore Moans - Watch Out For This Thing
* Sufjan Stevens - “Majesty Snowbird”
* Jake One - White Van Music 

Hopscotch Boys ::: Photo by Abbey

I’m still trying to process exactly what happened down at the Blue Moon last Saturday. I doubt thinking on it too much will help.

Sadly we missed Thunder. My bad boys, I’m sure we’ll see you soon. A few people mentioned you were badass. Quadrillion were energetic, had fun songs, wore white jeans, and had a cute chick drummer. Bold. Thunderbird Motel, as always gave the people what they wanted: big guitar solos, sing along choruses and foot grabbing riffs, on nearly every song. And the Hopscotch Boys…

This was billed as the Hopscotch Boys final show, much to the sadness of Sound on the Sound. Thankfully, there was no sense of sadness in the Blue Moon as the Hopscotch Boys prepared to play these songs, maybe for the last time. The capacity crowd was amped, the Hopscotch Boys seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Blowdog in classic fashion began the set painted red and in satanic regalia (does the devil wear edible underwear (if it’s red)?). After that… well that’s what I’m still processing. Blood was drawn, glasses were broken, someone got fucked with, maybe a little too hard. But it was all in good fun. When you get that drunk, what do you think is going to happen?

How is it that a possible confrontation with Blowdog makes so many people so grin from ear to ear. It’s strange to say it, especially about a dark, mean and abrasive band, but much happiness will be lost because the Hopscotch Boys are done.

Quadrillion ::: Photo by Josh

Quadrillion Jumps ::: Photo by Abbey

Thunderbird Motel - Mike and Morgan ::: Photo by Abbey

Thunderbird Motel ::: Photo by Josh

Edible Underwear ::: Photo by Josh

Mic Chord Maze ::: Photo by Abbey

Sneezy and Douchebag ::: Photo by Josh

Crowdsurfing ::: Photo by Josh

Dave’s new friend - Part 1 ::: Photo by Josh

See more of the craziness, and the next three parts of that last picture over at our flickr page:

Flickr: Quadrillion and Thunderbird Motel at the Blue Moon Tavern, June 6, 2008

Flickr: Hopscotch Boys at the Blue Moon Tavern, June 6, 2008