Brandi Carlile Concert

Last night at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip I got a chance to see an artist I have been waiting quite a while to watch live.

Brandi Carlile (and the twins) brought an incredible performance. It was very impressive. Most of her music has struck me as well-produced recordings, and then you see them performed and it knocks yer socks off! Their work is so powerful in-person it just overpowered me.

My friend Cam is a musician who came to the show with me. What a great shared experience! Not just excellent for catching up; but if you are going to be moved, it is more meaningful to be moved with someone you care about.

The House of Blues on the Sunset Strip is a thoroughly L.A. experience. Ludicrously overpriced beverages (We only have canned beer, for $7! Rocktail? $10!), a pretentious wait-staff, self-important patrons and a no-cameras policy. Ugh. It reminded me, like a slap upside the head, why I hate venues in L.A.

Of course, even though I had to wade through the upholstered toilet that is an mainstream L.A. venue, Brandi and the twins made me forget if for a little while. Seriously, go see this show. The unplugged bits will make you weep, shudder, and dance all that same time. What an incredible voice. What rare talents.

When Did Seattle Get So Many Posers?

Evidently the music scene in Seattle is cratering at precisely the speed that hot women are moving to that fine city.

This weekend I had an opportunity to visit some friends and as part of a birthday event see a Mickey Avalon show. It was the biggest piece of poser, white-rapper-wannabe, trash I've had the pleasure to dance to. But all the little Britney/Kevin/Ashton/ Jessica impersonators sure seemed to dig the new scene. It was like everyone just pointed at their favorite tabloid photo of random celebrity and said, I'm dressing in THAT outfit tonight. It was more sad and lame than humorous, but we laughed profusely anyway.

Since we were in the pit, my buddy Lane (who remains one of the hottest guys I know) got crawled all over by randomly hot middle-aged women. He was a great sport about ignoring them until they finally took the hint and found other places to rub their breasts and booties.

I spent a very full Friday talking with people about their careers, and then enjoyed a great bachelor party for my friend Greg. For Sunday, I spent most of the day flying around. To round out my weekend, I need a nap, a workout, and maybe a massage. Not necessarily in that order.

Cirque Du Soleil

One of my friends was kind enough to send me a pointer today about Cirque Du Soleil tickets going on sale from TicketMaster.

I absolutely love the Cirque shows and I've seen most of them. I routinely travel around just to check out the touring shows.

If you have never seen a Cirque Du Soleil show, I highly, highly recommend you check it out. There is a special you can find out about at http://www.ticketmaster.com/summerofcirque?tm_link=tm_home_f7 that is putting up really amazing seats for just $50 this summer in Las Vegas.

There has never been a better time! If you wanna go, just ping me. I'd be glad to help make this happen because I'm always up for introducing people to this most spectacular and inspiring of entertainment.

A Dance, Dance Blur

This week was a blur.

One of my friends was actually in the same city that I was (Seattle!) and we didn't even get to say hello! Bummer.

But I did get a lot accomplished and took some fantastic pictures of the Fall Out Boy concert. I'll post all pictures soon to the usual places.

On a completely different note, my babies leave for Costa Rica soon (sigh).

So as to take my mind off not spending time with them for a while, this weekend I'll just be relaxing. Maybe I'll get out and see Live Free or Die Hard. Whatcha think?

Quietdrive In Anaheim

Some time ago I went to a Bowling For Soup concert and got a preview of the band Quietdrive.

They did a fantastic job and I bought their CD. Just recently they did a show I was able to watch at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim. Once again they were really excellent.

This is a band with a great stage presence and several solid hits. Their new songs were not fantastic and a little departure from their otherwise reliable song-writing ability.

Lyrically unformulaic without traditional emo obtuseness I am glad to say they are on my list of Happy Punk Bands.

Forget My Unforgetfulness

Last night at El Corazon (formerly Graceland) I was able to rock out to a great happy-punk show headlined by Bowling for Soup.

Actually, in my opinion the best sound on the bunch was from Quietdrive. They have a runaway hit with "Rise From The Ashes". After their set I naturally went and picked up their album. I'm a big believer in supporting the bands that play the music I enjoy.

After Quietdrive, the O.C. boys Melee gave us a fine performance. I hadn't heard them before but I was very impressed with the vocal performance and use of keyboards to move them out of happy-punk into other genres. They are coming out with an album but gave away a sampler disc which I picked up.

Next on the list was Over It. These guys brought a solid performance with a couple of juicy songs. As they wound down I meandered over and acquired their latest release as well.

When Bowling for Soup came on they pulled off something I have never before seen. By interacting with the audience and each other they took 30 minutes of music and drew it out into a 90 minute set. They were really funny, and it was a unique experience. I must confess I prefer a little more music, but then again, they played all the favorites including their new single and I didn't necessarily need to hear any of their lesser known tracks.

It was a very good show.

So I head back to my hotel and something about the tracks I've acquired seems very familiar to me but I just can't place it. Sure enough it turns out I'd already bought each of the albums I acquired tonight. So once again, I've supported the creators double again. I don't really mind of course. Their sweat is in this music and you can tell. Now I have an extra copy of each CD so I can give them away and turn a few more listeners into fans.

I'll throw up some pictures soon.

Jingle Bell Bash

Over the weekend I had a chance to check out Jingle Bell Bash with some friends from P-Town.

The line-up was:

• Cartel
• Natasha Bedingfield
• JoJo
• Danity Kane
• Nelly Furtado
• Pussy Cat Dolls
• Gym Class Heroes
• Fall Out Boy

Needless to say the last two bands really stole the show. However, Nelly Furtado also surprised me, that lady has come a long way in my book.

I've Got Shim In The Veins

Tonight at the High Dive I had the opportunity to partake in the auditory delight that is a Shim show.

There was some difference of opinion from the variety of musical elite in attendance, but the general feeling was that their entire performance was really tight.

Their first release "In The Veins" isn't on a label, but with their continued maturity and exponentially growing fan base we can look for that to change soon.  Perhaps.  In any case, this first album is a solidly produced and lyrically sophisticated offering.  The landscape of their sound is reminiscent of Jet, White Stripes, Killers, but with Brit-Rock undertones throughout.  It makes for a fairly unique auditory experience for a band from the Northwest.

You walked in like you own the place, but you don't.
You're acting like you'd do anything, but you won't.
- You Walked In, Shim

Check 'em out when you get a chance.

New Found Glory Indeed

This week was crazy.  Supporting multiple teams at work, huge deadlines, and lack of sleep.  I averaged 4 hours a night which meant I was making mistakes as I zombied around.

Then Thursday night came.

My good friend Josh came down from up north and we went to the House of Blues to see New Found Glory rock the house.  I have seen them several times and every time they reassert themselves as the best band I've ever known.  Experiencing anything musical or creative with Josh is always a treat. He has an appreciate of art that I found to be unique; a blend of elitism and pragmatic consumerism all rolled into one.  He can appreciate the sublime, the mass, and perfection without comment but with commentary.  I will always love him for that.

If you have a chance check out the new NFG album, Coming Home.  It is a really good find.

And now, I'm off to Hawaii.  Thank heavens.

Feeling Wicked

Finally the day has arrived.  My babies and I are going to attend a performance of Wicked tonight.  We have been looking forward to it for quite some time.

My babies love shows which is a very good thing to my eyes.  It makes them super creative, imaginative and open-minded.  Being able to use the "fun" part of your brain as much as you use your "work" part of the brain is something I see as crucial for development and balance.

Here's hoping you all find a way to get out and be a little Wicked soon.

A Busy Bee But Not

My apologies for not keeping up my regular postings.  In truth my life is just boring these days.  My babies are back in school, I'm working too long hours, and there's not room for much else.

Fortunately, a little foresight and planning means I will get to take a small break after the weekend to go see something spectacular with my sister.

Delirium, by Cirque Du Soleil, is one of the few I haven't seen yet and I can't wait to experience it.

When you are working over yet another weekend, and no real end in sight, you need the little things to keep the balance.  For me, planning well in advance is the only way to pull it all together.  I've had these tickets for more than 3 months.

Oh, for those who don't know, my amazing little brother is moving back home to Arizona!  This is very good news for Arizona.

Dashboard Confessional Concert

The venue is excellent, the concert rocked. The Mesa police suck for the super-tight security. Ben Lee was very excellent. The big change was adding the violinist, which made a really cool addition. Check 'em out when they come to your town. Sorry for the crappy picture.

Shaimus & Brunch

The Shaimus concert was excellent. They really rocked the house, drawing more patrons than any other group that night.

Shaimus Rocked!

The Shaimus show at Club Good Hurt was very excellent.  There was quite a crowd with lots of energy.  They were able to announce another show at the Roxy which is a pretty notable venue.

Afterwards we were able to hang out and enjoy some fun times together. Josh and I had to catch a cab back from the club because we ran out of designated drivers.  This was pretty cool because it gave us some good one-on-one time to catch up which we haven't had for a while.  Later I'll post some cool pics.

Today at the beach was outstanding. We played Frisbee (oh my sakes, it has been too long!) and some football and just enjoyed the wonderful weather and company. It was a good day.

Concert Update

Kutless, Falling Up, Disciple, and Stellar Kart are coming to Seattle!

They are coming with the Hearts of the Innocent Tour.

Saturday, March 18th at 7pm

Christian Faith Center
21024 24th Avenue South
Seattle WA 98198

Are you going to be there?

Shaimus

How many times have you heard this one: "My friend is in this band..."

But seriously, Shaimus is doing a concert tomorrow night (Dec 16th) in Los Angeles. They have some good music, and it should be a rocking good time. There's more details here.

They're putting out a new album soon, so keep your eye out for it at the end of January.