It seems like this leap day took forever to get here, but get here it did in fine fashion at Neumos for the Hands CD release show last Friday. I don’t have too much to say about it other than this:

Prior to the Whore Moans arrival on stage, the curtain which had been drawn midway through the Neumos main floor was pulled back to allow the floor to fill up further. Not only that but people pretty much filled it up by the end of the night. Thanks for filling it up guys. I’ve referred to the Whore Moans as the best live band in Seattle, and while that is just my perspective, I suspect more than a few were impressed by the vigorous display of this night.

The Hands brought focus to their set in a way I hadn’t seen in a while, up on a big stage in front of more than just their friends. The finale brought both bands on stage for a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” and then a long version of “So Sweet” the title track from the Hands’ original EP, and a song which hasn’t made an appearance live in some time. This was apparently the third such occurence of the so-called ‘Whore Hands’ on stage. (See here for our pictures from last time.)

In closing… Fuck the Curtain. All Hail the Whore Hands!

The Earaches

Whore Moans

The Hands

Whore Hands

Flickr: The Hands, The Whore Moans, and the Earaches at Neumos, February 29, 2008

The Hands hosted an epic CD release at Neumo’s tonight, with incredible sets by openers The Earaches and The Whore Moans. I’ve long been impressed by The Whore Moans live show, but they blew anything I’d previously seen out of the water. But the night belonged to The Hands, who put on a hell of a show. We were especially thrilled to see a Whore Hands encore. I was so excited by what was going down on stage, I managed to shoot over 900 photos of the night. Josh probably took 500 himself… so there will be lots of photos to check out soon! I just wanted to share with you some of my favorite shots that really captured the feeling of the night.

all photos by Abbey

Leap Day’s only happen once every four years, so why not celebrate it properly?

The Hands, The Whore Moans, The Earaches at Neumos

WE Wrote the Book on Connectors, M. Bison, Sgt. Major at the High Dive

Skeletons With Flesh On Them, Bad Love Sessions, The Quit at the Comet Tavern

I won’t say too much about this show except that you should have been there. I do have some pictures for you though, and a few thoughts.

The Earaches, sorry i missed you as I really was stuck in some Crosstown Traffic. I randomly run into an old high school friend at the show so we went and grabbed a quick hot beverage from ladro and made it back for the Valley. Who was loud. The drummer was rather agro, throwing his entire drumset off the front of the stage at the end of the set. Maybe he was anticpating the end of the set and letting the other band get on quickly, but…methinks not.

The Hands were up next and I was rather suprised by their calm stage demeanor. They duly kicked out the jams, and in fact played every song they had in their repotoire, but it seemed like the small stage may have been cramping their style. I can’t wait to see them rock the Croc this Wednesday.

Thee Emergency returned at three in the morning that day from a week long west coast tour down to Southern California. After a week, they were indeed tight. I am really liking the added saxaphone/digital organist (not pictured, hiding behind the PA/silver balloon). They’ll be playing with the Hands again on February 17.

Headlining this event, and deservedly so was local hip hop stars Common Market. The night previous they had performed with the Blue Scholars in support of Lt. Ehren Watada, who has refused to deploy to Iraq. They said they were riding high off the vibe of that event and it showed. A Common Market show is more than just a collection of songs, it’s a cohesive narrative experience that entertains and informs. They capped of the show with their socially concious anthem “Connect For” that had whole crowd moving and quite a few running to get their record off the shelf.

Did I tell you it was free?

This week our show of the week is more of a showcase of the week. Starting at 1pm tommorow, January 28, at the new Silver Platters location on 5th and Roy in lower Queen Anne will be five, count’em, five stellar local bands you should know about. First up will be The Valley followed by The Earaches at 2pm, the Hands at 3pm, Thee Emergency at 4pm and finally Common Market at 5pm.

I am highly anticipating this lineup. Thee Emergency should be pretty tight after a week touring the west coast and the Hands are the local band I want to see most right now. Common Market’s lyrically informed hip hop is some of the best hip hop being made right now in this area, if not some of the best in the entire country. Should be a great afternoon. 

I love the Fruit Bats and I thought this interview exchange with James Mercer was nice:

I heard that Eric Johnson from the Fruit Bats has officially joined the band. Is that true?

It is. I’ve known Eric for a long time. He worked on the record with us. After working with Chris Funk from the Decemberists, and working with Eric, I realized it would be great to have a multi-instrumentalist. Eric can also sing very beautifully. It’s just a dream.

Eric is also the lead writer and vocalist for his own band. Are you going to turn into one of those dueling vocalist bands?

I don’t know. It just depends on our comfort level. Eric also understands what it’s like to want your vision of a song heard. But I think he’s having fun, because he doesn’t have to be that guy. I will exploit his talents as much as he’ll let me.

The Silver Platters opening party next weekend will have the Hands, Thee Emergency, Common Market, The Earaches and The Valley. This is the one that is taking over tower’s old space by Seattle Center on lower queen anne. What a great lineup. Sunday January 28 and I think it starts in the afternoon sometime but there isn’t a time on the myspace page.

Also Coachella presale tix are on sale now. The news this week is that the Police will be reuniting for the festival. Also rumors about that Rage against the machine might be reuniting for the festival but those are unsubstantiated.