Last night Seattle got rocked by two great bands.
The Plain White T's started things off right, engaging the crowd with
favorites. They played some new stuff which was exciting to hear.
Their sound has gotten a lot smoother and more accessible which was
evidenced by all the people singing along.
After a longer than expected break, Snow Patrol woke everyone up with
some rowdy renditions of popular singles. Some of the lesser listened
to music took on new life with passionate and powerful stage
performance.
The Paramount in GA mode remains a great venue, especially for smooth
rocking bands who feel intimate but have a full presence on stage and
a diverse audience who aren't necessarily used to rubbing shoulders.
Snow Patrol captured my ear again and the chance to hear the accent
live and watch the guitars rip in real-time was a treat I'll always be
down to catch. If you have half an ear you'll want to find a
performance to watch for yourself.
15 October 2009
14 October 2009
Secondhand Serenade
The first time I saw Secondhand Serenade was at the House of Blues in
Anaheim. It was a one-man acoustic show and his passion and powerful
lyrics got to me.
It's hard to compare this show, as he was headlining with a band, and
the Showbox SoDo was in it's more intimate arrangement. But having
Evan Taubenfield open was a flash-back that made me smile.
Usually I'd be seeing gigs like this at El Corazon or Chop Suey, so
it's nice to see the artists upscaling to the likes of the Showbox and
the venues expanding their audiences.
Watching acoustic songwriters transition from carrying a show to
performing in front of a band isn't always the easiest. They can over-
reach and end up sounding formulaic and repetitive. Take Matt
Nathanson for example. I'd quit a job, lie to my mom, stand-up a date
with Mrs. Draper, or mug an old lady for tickets just to watch him
play a 5 song solo set. But tell me he's headlining his band again and
I'll have to check the calendar to see if there aren't any good movies
playing first. The difference is that significant.
All in, the bands were engaging and lively, while the crowd was
festive and typical for Seattle. I'll definitely head back to SoDo
whenever it's in small setting though, because that was well done.
Anaheim. It was a one-man acoustic show and his passion and powerful
lyrics got to me.
It's hard to compare this show, as he was headlining with a band, and
the Showbox SoDo was in it's more intimate arrangement. But having
Evan Taubenfield open was a flash-back that made me smile.
Usually I'd be seeing gigs like this at El Corazon or Chop Suey, so
it's nice to see the artists upscaling to the likes of the Showbox and
the venues expanding their audiences.
Watching acoustic songwriters transition from carrying a show to
performing in front of a band isn't always the easiest. They can over-
reach and end up sounding formulaic and repetitive. Take Matt
Nathanson for example. I'd quit a job, lie to my mom, stand-up a date
with Mrs. Draper, or mug an old lady for tickets just to watch him
play a 5 song solo set. But tell me he's headlining his band again and
I'll have to check the calendar to see if there aren't any good movies
playing first. The difference is that significant.
All in, the bands were engaging and lively, while the crowd was
festive and typical for Seattle. I'll definitely head back to SoDo
whenever it's in small setting though, because that was well done.
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