popwreckoning

Somehow Seattle managed to make it through Bumbershoot without a drop of rain, so it just goes to show you that you shouldn’t assume something is going to happen. At that, I missed several of the acts I planned on seeing this weekend, but that’s okay. I saw plenty of small acts that blew my expectations away, and they were all local. Imagine that!

Literally, on Saturday I only saw one band (with the exception of STRFKR, who is from Portland) that wasn’t a Seattle band.

It began with Brite Futures at the main stage, which in my mind was ridiculous, since the first time I ever saw them they were still Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head and they played on the now dearly-departed Broad Street Stage (more of this later). Not that I didn’t enjoy their set. I really did. All the new songs they played made me that much more excited for the new album, but the main stage at 1:30 in the afternoon was just not the right venue for them.

Back to that whole venue thing. This year shall go down in my Bumbershoot history as a “building” year. A.) They moved the main stage from the awesome Memorial Stadium to the less-than-spectacular Key Arena. B.) The Fountain Lawn and Fisher Green stage were way too close together. And C.) the new EMP Level 3 stage was not nearly big enough for some of the bands that played there.

Which brings me to my next band – Kris Orlowski and the Passenger String Quartet. I love this band. I love Kris Orlowski’s music, and he’s a super cool guy. And it was great to see him in such an intimate venue. But even as relatively unknown as he is in the larger scheme of Bumbershoot, there was a line outside the EMP. Thankfully they were regulating the number of people going in and out of the venue, but it made it that much harder for people to see those local bands who were well worth a larger venue for a festival. Usually, the great thing about Bumbershoot is that there aren’t any lines for people to stand in. That changed this year.

Next up was Champagne Champagne on the Fisher Green Stage – one of my favourite hip-hop acts of Seattle. The duo is incredibly fun, down to earth, and not the least bit cocky, which is something that I’ve found with Seattle artists. They rocked the lawn with the huge group of teenagers and 20-somethings alike, and it made for a great afternoon set.

KEXP, Seattle’s local independent radio station had a couple stages up for grabs this year – the Music Lounge and the Toyota Free Yr Radio Stage housed some of Seattle’s brightest up-and-comers. At the Free Yr Radio stage I finally got to see Campfire OK, who released their first album Strange Like We Are last year, and they were just as amazing live (even better) than they were on record. Plus they made some great jokes about their band name. Frontman Mychal Goodweather said, “We’ve come up with Bonfire So-So,” and the crowd snickered.

Finally branching outside of the Emerald City, San Francisco’s Vetiver hit the new Fountain Lawn Stage (which was perhaps my favourite stage all weekend). As much as they had a jam band vibe, they still had a very tight sound, and it made me glad that I listened to several recommendations to see them this weekend.

After Vetiver’s set, I made my way to the Words and Ideas stage to sit in at a panel with Colin Meloy and his wife Carson Ellis. This panel was all about the new book the two of them collaborated on – “Wildwood” – an illustrated novel about Portland, Or. But not only was it about Portland, it was about if Forest Park was a secret civilization where coyotes walked around in Napoleon-era military outfits, and badgers walked around with rickshaws. The panel was led by former Harvey Danger frontman and current music writer Shawn Nelson, and discussed everything from the beginnings of Meloy’s collaboration with Ellis to the extent of the mythical map of Forest Park. I walked into this not knowing that Ellis and Meloy were married, but it slowly occurred to me as they kept getting more and more adorable. I almost wanted to stand in line to get a book, but I figured I’d be in Portland the next weekend and I can just pick it up at Powell’s when I’m there.

As the sun set, I was back at the Fountain Lawn stage for STRFKR, who went on quite late, and it made all the rowdy teenagers behind me incredibly anxious, and thus, more annoying. I hadn’t seen STRFKR before, and had no idea what to expect, but they were as they are on record – very loud and very fun. The vocals were virtually indistinguishable, which I’m not sure if it was intentional, but that’s just about the only bad thing I can say about their performance.

To finish out the night, I did as I planned, and checked out Minus the Bear at the Fisher Green stage. And oh boy am I glad I did. The band was celebrating ten years together, and it showed with how seasoned the guys were on stage. Playing to a hometown crowd probably didn’t hurt much either, but the pioneers of math rock hit it hard that night, with me, and with the energetic crowd that stood behind me.

Since I was completely satisfied with my Saturday, I headed home shortly after that to get some rest for Sunday. Little did I know what was to come. Stay tuned!

For more pictures from Saturday at Bumbershoot, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbigshmail/sets/72157627592015416/

As Annastasia and I will be attending this year’s Bumbershoot Festival, we’ll be your trusty PopWreckers bringing you all the details about Seattle’s biggest festival of the year.

For now, here is my preview of Saturday’s lineup.

As much as people rave about festival headliners, this year’s mainstage lineup for Bumbershoot is kind of a bust, save Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on Sunday and Hall & Oates on Monday (but really, Hall & Oates is just for the nostalgia factor).

The best part of this year’s lineup is the overwhelming number of local bands playing the festival. For example…

12 Noon: Campfire Ok on the Fountain Lawn Stage. These adorable KEXP darlings released their first full-length this year, and I have yet to see them live. And I call myself a Seattle music geek. Pshh.

12:45: Yuni in Taxco on the Fisher Green Stage. I saw these guys open for the Builders and the Butchers earlier this year, and I’m interested to see where they’ve gone with their live show since then. Very interested.

1:15: Brite Futures on the… MAINSTAGE? What?! How did I not know they were playing the mainstage? Sure it’s at 1:15, but that’s pretty awesome for Seattle’s little band full of art students formerly known as Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.

1:30: Kris Orlowski & the Passenger String Quartet at the EMP Level 3 Stage Presented by Mission Foods Artisan. One of many local musicians who has gone the grassroots route for building a fanbase – Kris Orlowski is friends with like every other music to grace small stages throughout the city. And he’s the one sending out all his releases, not a publicist.

2:15: Champagne Champagne at the Fisher Green Stage. This is my kind of hip-hop – fun and full of life, easy to dance to, and lyrics about Molly Ringwald. Tyler the Creator can eat his heart out.

2:45: Presidents of the United States of America on the Mainstage. Okay, so Presidents play Seattle quite often, since they do live here. They’re oldies but goodies. And if you haven’t seen them play live yet, it’s kind of like a right of passage in the Seattle music scene. So why not do it at Bumbershoot?

6:00: Pickwick at the EMP Level 3 Stage Presented by Mission Foods Artisan. This band is awesome. Amazing. Soulful. The next big thing. I’ll tell you more later (see my next edition of Fantastically Local…tomorrow).

8:30: STRFKR at the Fountain Lawn Stage. Enough with the name changes already! Thankfully, the whole Pyramiddd/Starfucker fiasco has ended and now we can just focus on dancing our skinny-jean-covered little asses off.

9:15: Minus the Bear at the Fisher Green Stage. For me, this time slot was a decision between Ray Lamontagne and Minus the Bear. For a closing act, I want something to keep my energy up, and Minus the Bear will do that for me over at Fisher Green. I don’t need sleepy folk soul at the main stage, because frankly it’s a bit boring at that point (i.e. Jason Mraz headlining at 10 PM two years ago, why? I don’t know.)

So you can either take my word for it or go build your Bumbershoot schedule over here at http://sched.bumbershoot.org/ But I suggest you take my word for it. More picks coming soon!

Beady Eye – essentially Oasis minus the elder Noel Gallagher – have announced a series of gig dates in North America starting in late November. The 2-week tour begins on November 25 in Vancouver and ends in New York City on December 9. The band signed earlier this year to Dangerbird Records, also the American home of the Dears, Delphic, and Minus the Bear. For more information about purchasing tickets, visit the Dangerbird Web site. Most tickets to this tour go on sale this Friday (July 15) at 10 AM.

Beady Eye’s debut album, Different Gear, Still Speeding, was released on February 28 in the UK and March 1 in America.

Tour dates

NOV 29 – Vancouver, BC at Commodore Ballroom

NOV 30 – Seattle, WA at Showbox Market

DEC 2 – San Francisco, CA at The Warfield

DEC 3 – Los Angeles, CA at Wiltern Theatre

DEC 5 – Minneapolis, MN at First Avenue

DEC 6 – Milwaukee, WI at The Rave Ballroom

DEC 8 – Washington, DC at 9:30 Club

DEC 9 – New York, NY at Terminal 5

The beauty of a band like Motion City Soundtrack is that not only are they awesome musicians, but they’re also amazing people that are really supportive of music and the scene. They’ve done everything from intimate solo sets dictated by Twitter followers to big 3-night performances to play all their material. They just announced their latest endeavour, the first ever Popsickle Festival, which supports up-and-coming national bands and bands from their Minnesota home. 

Popsickle Festival is a fest comprised of bands of a variety of genres. Motion City Soundtrack headlines and is joined by Minus the Bear, Foxy Shazam, Gold Motel and many others. It’s inspired by the early 90s version of Lollapalooza.

The festival is December 18 at Minneapolis’ First Avenue and 7th Street Entry. It’s all ages and tickets go onsale Saturday, November 13 at noon on Ticketmaster. The first 100 tickets will be priced at $12.50. All others will be $22.50.

Motion City Soundtrack is currently out on a co-headlining tour of the US with Say Anything, with Saves The Day supporting.The remaining tour dates are below:

Nov. 9th Nokia Theatre New York, NY
10th Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
12th Sonar Baltimore, MD
13th Amos’ Southend Music Hall Charlotte, NC
14th Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
16th Revolution Ft. Lauderdale, FL
17th House of Blues Orlando, FL
19th The Palladium Ballroom Dallas, TX
20th Warehouse Live Houston, TX
21st Stubb’s BBQ Austin, TX

Minus the Bear…I think I owe you an apology. When I last saw the Seattle band, I implied that the quality of their performance might be venue-specific. They were in Kansas not too long ago playing an early daylight opening set for the theatrical Flaming Lips and I found them too mellow for that venue/time slot. Now I was finding myself seeing them at an even earlier set time: 8 a.m.

Minus the Bear was at the Firefly Lounge in Kansas City to play 96.5 the Buzz‘s Kegs and Eggs. This is not an easy event for any band to perform at because it is a tiny venue with a tiny stage and the audience waits since 4 a.m. in the heat just to hear a few acoustic songs. Bands typically have a show the night before and essentially have to drive straight to the venue to perform on no sleep. Plus, there is the added challenge that the radio station gives patrons free beer, so the bands play to hot, sweaty and very rowdy fans – not an easy performance situation.

So going into this, I had my doubts that Minus the Bear would be able to impress. Their songs are complicated, progressive rock songs and for anyone who spends enough time listening to their albums, they have tendency to go effects-happy with their material. Yet, Minus the Bear surprised me and their songs transitioned beautifully into mildly funk-tinged acoustic numbers.

They played three acoustic songs off their latest release, OMNI: “Hold Me Down,” “Summer Angel” and “My Time.” In between “Hold Me Down” and “Summer Angel” the band bantered with the audience about this was like a Bon Jovi concert with girls sitting on shoulders to get a better view. They quipped that they might cover, “Living on a Prayer,” but I’m glad they stuck to their own material. “Summer Angel” was my favorite of the acoustic versions: the vocals here perfectly lent themselves for an acoustic rendition and the use of acoustic drums actually gave this song  a summery sound.

Of course, “My Time” was the song most wanted to here, this being a radio function and all. Though the band is known for their signature guitar lines, this song really lets the piano shine. The fun keyboard line was all the more in the spotlight in this acoustic version. Once completed, the audience cheered for more, but the band held back from an encore, saving more special treats for their fans who would attend their evening set at the Granada.

So yes, I think I owe Minus the Bear an apology. They survived Kegs and Eggs with a great performance and positive attitudes: a double feat that few bands pull off at these sorts of events.

You can download the entire acoustic set by right clicking and saving from here. And be sure to check out video of the band performing “Summer Angel” below:

Lollapalooza is an intense experience, but a fun one. Should you manage to find energy after already having spent 12 hours listening to music in downtown Chicago’s Grant Park, then it’d be in your best interest to continue the festivities with official Lollapalooza afterparties.

Thursday after shows include Devo with Dirty Projectors, Slightly Stoopid with Collie Buddz, The New Pornographers with The Dodos, The Big Pink with Night Gallery, and Cymbals Eat Guitars with Young Galaxy.

Friday shows include MGMT, Cut Copy with Dragonette, The Walkmen with Warpaint, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with Freelance Whales, Wild Beasts, and Rogue Wave with Gamble House.

Saturday shows are The National with The Antlers, The Black Keys with the Morning Benders, Minus the Bear with Miniature Tigers, Blitzen Trapper with Avi Buffalo, The Soft Pack with Royal Bangs, Wavves with Harlem, Gogol Bordello, and Precision Guided Musicians featuring Hot Chip (live), Rusko, Steve Porter and more.

Sunday ends with Phoenix with Toro y Moi and HEALTH with Chandeliers.

Tickets for the after shows go onsale Friday, June 25 at 10 a.m. Get them here.

Seattle-based quintet Minus the Bear is proud to announce the addition of four weeks worth of tour dates on their already successful North American headlining tour. Currently on the west coast with upcoming shows at The Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles and a performance at this year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival, the band is on the road in support of their new album OMNI, which debuted in the Top 50 of the Billboard Top 200. The new set of dates begin June 25th in Victoria, BC and include a performance at this year’s Lollapalooza. Released May 4th on Dangerbird Records, Alternative Press calls OMNI “An immaculate vacuum of dark-yet-catchy ’80s prog and new wave” and “the perfect album to launch [MTB] into another dimension entirely.”

Tour Dates:
June 25 Sugar Nightclub Victoria, BC
June 26 Venue Vancouver, BC
June 27 Republik Nightclub Calgary, AB
June 28 Starlite Room Edmonton, AB
June 29 The Distrikt Regina, SK
June 30 The Royal Albert Winnipeg, MB
July 2 Taste of Minnesota St. Paul, MN
July 3 The Intersection Grand Rapids, MN
July 4 Mod Club Toronto, ON
July 5 Water Street Music Hall Rochester, NY
July 7 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ
July 8 Webster Hall New York, NY
July 9 Northern Lights Clifton Park, NY
July 10 Mr. Smalls Theatre Pittsburgh, PA
July 11 Forecastle Festival Louisville, KY
July 12 Firebird St. Louis, MO
July 13 The Granada Lawrence, KS
July 14 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
July 15 In The Venue Salt Lake City, UT
July 16 Knitting Factory Boise, ID
July 17 Showbox at the Market Seattle, WA
August 6-8 Lollapalooza Chicago, IL

PodWreck returns this week with a feature on Seattle prog-rockers Minus the Bear.

Minus the Bear is preparing the release of their highly-anticipated new album: Omni.

PodWreckers Melissa Cowan & Casey Osburn caught up with lead guitarist Dave Knudson to talk about the May 4 release.

Stream the podcast to hear the interview and the latest single, “My Time.”

Once upon a time, the Flaming Lips brought a mystical show to the small town in northeastern Kansas and Jack White’s the Dead Weather opened along with Minus the Bear, White Rabbits, the Ettes and Stardeath & the White Dwarfs. Yes, this is the line-up that both dreams and fairytales are made of, but like all good stories, there was the threat of a villain. The villain attempting to thwart our plot was the severe tornado watch blanketing the county, but fairy godmothers must have heard prayers, and sunny skies beat down on concertgoers: the rain held off until after the show.

Yet, this did not make all perfect. Unfortunately, there was a subplot with its own villain. The set times were unclear and due to this, those of us following the venue’s listed 5 p.m. showtime, missed the first two bands–The Ettes and Stardeath & the White Dwarfs–who opened the show at 4:15 p.m. Doors had only opened at 4 p.m., so fans really had to scramble to make that. I, unfortunately, was still at work, so I’ll have to catch these bands at a later date to give them a worthy review.

Instead, my first opener was White Rabbits. White Rabbits, despite their Columbia, Missouri, ties were welcomed warmly in Jayhawk country. The six-piece band’s bombastic drum heavy set and easy-to-sing along with vocals held attention easily. They were dynamic enough to draw people away from lengthy merch lines to see who was pounding on the keyboards. Popular tune, “Percussion Gun” got people moving and despite three huge acts following them, this song was what remained stuck in my mind well after the show was over.

I know for a fact that many had turned up for buzz indie band Minus the Bear. Seattle’s rockers are gearing up for their fourth studio release, Omni, but as excited as I was for the ambient rockers, their set was almost too mellow for an amphitheatre platform and it didn’t help that they had to deal with complete sunlight during their set so no fog or lights could help give them atmosphere. This isn’t to say they were bad. Their songs were tight and they played diverse selections from their catalog. However, the environment for that type of music is better set in a late night club.

It’s weird to think the next act was just an opener. The Dead Weather played like they were they headliner and with the added attraction of Jack White, some in the crowd might have thought that they were. The southern rock they played was fun and even featured a Pentagram cover. The Kills‘ Allison Mosshart fully embraced her role as southern rock queen and held the crowd in the palm of her hand as the chain smoker gripped a cigarette in one hand and the mic in the other, while walking the length of the stage and striking dramatic poses. She wore a leopard-print jacket: fitting attire for a woman who looked like a cat on the prowl. She’s far more entertaining in this setting than she ever was in her previous bands. Dare I say the same of Jack White or is that blasphemy? I never had the privilege of catching him with the White Stripes (I bought tickets to a Lincoln, Nebraska show, but then they announced their “hiatus”), but I did see him with the Raconteurs. With the Dead Weather, Jack White, or Jackie White as he introduced himself, seemed to be having a sort of fun that was absent in his other projects. He remained behind his drum set for a majority of the Dead Weather songs, letting Mosshart lead, but when he sang or came out front to play guitar (heck in some songs, he did all three: sing, guitar and drum), it was clear he was the star. Yet, as the star of the show, he was still humble. Though a super group of this stature needs no introductions, he introduced his band mates: “Dean Fertita: so Italian you could order a pizza off him…Jack Lawrence: you might have seen him before as he’s no stranger to Kansas City. Call him up and take him out sometime…This little dark-haired queen is Allison Mosshart…and I’m Jackie White.” Even their roadies got into the strange character of the band: they all wore matching suits and blue ties. It’s weird to think anyone could top a set with as strong of personality as that, but the headliners, the Flaming Lips, were ready to embrace the challenge.

This was my first experience seeing the Flaming Lips and from the Youtube videos that I watched in preparation, the band brought out both old and new tricks. Leading up to their set, front man Wayne Coyne had appeared on the side stage for all the openers, both to check the other bands out, but to also greet the crowd and accept their warm applause.

Strobing lights and trippy yellow woman appeared on the screen for the lips grand entrance during “Worm Mountain.” This projected woman then “birthed” each of the band members before Coyne got his special birthing treatment and appeared and his infamous plastic ball. He rolled over fans before rolling back on stage. Confetti and balloons continuously poured on the audience causing further eruptions of cheers and applause. The band seems to live and thrive off of applause. Coyne constantly raised his hands towards the sky to encourage more applause and the band was flanked on either side by orange cheerleaders/dancers (as well as the later addition of a caterpillar and a catfish).

For some one who had never experienced this band before, I had a hard time deciding what to make of them. The theatrics were a bit through the roof: bubble over the guitar? Inflatables? Waaaay too much confetti? But then again, they’re supposed to be at a Flaming Lips performance. So when drummer Kliph Scurlock (who happens to live 30 minutes away from the venue in Lawrence) led the crowd in acting like monkeys and croaking like frogs during “I Can Be a Frog,” you really just had to chuckle and go with it, whereas any other band trying to pull that off would have had you going, “What the Fuck?” The only point where the Lips did push me to the edge of my comfort zone, was during one of the pieces where Coyne placed giant hands on his knelt in a prayer position and opened the hands up with green lasers stretching out of the palms like stigmata, while the crowd responded like he was their personal god. But again, it’s the Lips and you just go with the flow. And for some, I guess this is the closest they get to a religious experience.

Stardeath & the White Dwarfs (and even more confetti) joined the Lips for an encore of “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse” off their Dark Side of the Moon compilation. The anthem “Do You Realize” rounded it in a literally explosive finale (did I mention more confetti?) before the show ended. The crowd begged for more, but the Lips settled on just returning for bows, leaving people with just enough time for people to make it to their cars before it rained.

This was the first outdoor show of Kansas City’s season at Sandstone and what a way to kick things off. Here’s hoping the rest of the summer lives up to this.

The Flaming Lips Set List:
Worm Mountain
Silver Trembling Hands
Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
In The Morning of the Magicians
She Don’t Use Jelly
I Can Be A Frog
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robits, Pt. 1
See the Leaves
Powerless
Pompeii Am Gotterdamerung
Taps
The W.A.N.D.
Convinced of the Hex
///
Brain Damage
Eclipse (with Stardeath & White Dwarfs)
Do You Realize?

Seattle five piece Minus the Bear have announced the release of their new album, Omni, set for a May 4th release on their new label Dangerbird Records. Produced by Grammy Award winning producer Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, My Morning Jacket), Omni showcases the quintet’s remarkable gift to craft visionary and gripping compositions, revealing new layers in their songwriting as they pursue the next level in their inimitable musical style.

Omni is a riveting new album of rich soundscapes illustrated by Minus The Bear’s trademark precision and tremendous growth as artistic lyricists and songwriters.

With deep bass lines, mesmerizing syncopated guitar riffs, provocative lyrics and stimulating keyboards, Omni explodes with a bursting energy and unpredictable experimentation. From lead-off single, “My Time,” which explores the band’s widescreen synth rock, to the punch of dueling guitars and keyboards on “The Thief,” from the intense psychedelic sounds of “Animal Backwards” to the driving rock of “Hold Me Down,” Omni continues Minus The Bear’s shape-shifting evolution and is a culmination of their past influences and present inspirations.

Beginning April 21st, Minus the Bear will embark on a 6-week North American tour premiering these new tracks. Dates, along with the record’s tracklisting, to be announced shortly so check back for details.

Minus the Bear: website | myspace

Photo Credit: David Belisle