iamserio.us

Sometimes, things happen. Sometimes, bands that you never thought would play together again end up playing a show. Last night was such a night. I know I know… Murder City played the Block Party the night before and that was awesome and whatever, but this is something more awesome.

Last night, as an unexpected and unannounced treat, they played at the same venue they played at for their final show in 2001. They played to a crowd that was pretty much entirely true-blue MCD fans. The place erupted with people singing along with raised hands and voices. It was something special.

Even more exciting than MCD playing (for me, at least) was that The Blood Brothers were the unbilled openers. They were billed as “Escape From The Laser Grid” because they can’t advertise any performances so close to their Bumbershoot date (radius clause). The boys paraded out four new songs that are sure to tear up the new album like all sorts of crazy and the crowd really got into it about halfway into the set. I’m sure there would have been more tight-panted fanboys at the show if they had known they were playing.

Also, an experimental guitar duo called The Bright Shiny Objects opened the show first. The crowd didn’t seem too into it but I enjoyed some of the effects they were trying to achieve… some really cool A/B guitar effects. They were definitely playing to an uninterested crowd, though… it happens.

Bright Shiny Objects – 2006-07-30 The Showbox – Seattle, WA
Download: bso2006-07-30.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: bso2006-07-30sample.mp3

The Blood Brothers – 2006-07-30 The Showbox – Seattle, WA
Download: bbrothers2006-07-30.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: bbrothers2006-07-30sample.mp3

The Murder City Devils – 2006-07-30 The Showbox – Seattle, WA
Download: mcd2006-07-30.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: mcd2006-07-30sample.mp3

EDIT 1: Some quick corrections to the MCD setlist:

1) #03 is “I Drink The Wine”, not “I Drank The Wine” (typo on my part)
2) #08 is “Murder City Riot”
3) #09 is “Dancehall Music”
4) #21 is “Officer”

Thanks to SxPxDxCx for the missing song titles and Jim Hirte for noticing the error.

EDIT 2: Some other corrections for The Blood Brothers’ set:

1) #02 is “Set Fire To The Face On Fire”
2) #03 is “Teen Heat” (woops!)
3) #05 is “We Ride Skeletal Lightning”

So the second day of the Capitol Hill Block Party was today. I missed the first day because I was out of town visiting my folks, but I caught some of the second day.

I was hoping to be able to to tape Minus The Bear, The Black Angels and The Murder City Devils but things didn’t quite pan out. I got there too late to set up in time for Minus The Bear and after The Black Angels played I was too tired to sit through a hip-hop act to wait for The Murder City Devils, so I bounced.

Don’t worry about the MCD and MTB sets being taped, though. There were three other tapers covering the show so they got taped and will be torrented about the land I’m sure. Also, I’m seeing MCD play tomorrow night at The Showbox so I’ll tape them then.

The Black Angels – 2006-07-29 Capitol Hill Block Party – Seattle, WA
Download: ba2006-07-29.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ba2006-07-29sample.mp3

I would put all of the bands in the post title but it’d be way too long and #12 was the headliner. Full line-up was:

I’ve been listening to a lot of Fall Of Troy lately so when I got a chance to go out and tape the other band of which Thom is a member (The Hills Have Eyes), I totally jumped on it. I went to the show with my full rig in tow, but I packed my stealth gear just in case the venue denied me… I’d never taped at Chop Suey before so I didn’t know what to expect.

When I got to the venue security asked to look in my bag as they always do and right when I opened the bag the security guard said “Oh you’ve got all of this shit, get on in here man!”. Like he’d been waiting for me or something. He was almost excited that I was there to tape. I love Chop Suey now.

The other great thing about this show was that the 21+ area was a ghost town. Since these bands don’t really attract anyone over the age of 16, the bar was empty. It was nice because it gave me a nice comfortable spot to set up my stand and I didn’t have to be super close to anybody. Security looked out for me all night and a good time was had by Brian.

As for the music, color me impressed. I don’t really listen to much *.*core music these days, but I liked what I heard tonight. Especially #12. Those guys know what the hell they’re doing, I’ll tell you what. The recordings came out really nice and I’m glad I got a chance to tape all of the bands.

The Hills Have Eyes – 2006-07-13 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
Download: hhe2006-07-13.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: hhe2006-07-13sample.mp3

The Jonbenet – 2006-07-13 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
Download: jonbenet2006-07-13.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: jonbenet2006-07-13sample.mp3

Heavy Heavy Low Low – 2006-07-13 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
Download: hhll2006-07-13.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: hhll2006-07-13sample.mp3

The #12 Looks Like You – 2006-07-13 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
Download: ntlly2006-07-13.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ntlly2006-07-13sample.mp3

The Fall Of Troy is playing tomorrow in Redmond. Guess who’s gonna be there? This guy.

I’m glad I got another chance to see Kimya play before she (presumably) goes on a long vacation with her new baby. While the crowd was a lot quieter this time, this recording is a little boomy due to the acoustics of the venue and the type of music she plays.

Kimya Dawson – 2006-07-11 The Paradox Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: kdawson2006-07-11.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: kdawson2006-07-11sample.mp3

I’ve been looking forward to seeing Now It’s Overhead ever since my friend Trent showed me 6th Grade Roller back in our early days of college. Here I am five years later finally seeing them in concert and it was pretty damn impressive. A lot of well-timed guitar breakdowns and riffs that I can still play back in my head. Check out this set for some new songs from this band’s forthcoming LP in September.

EDIT: The text file in the zip says “Kimya Dawson” for the artist. That is incorrect (obviously). My bad.

Now It’s Overhead 2006-07-11 The Paradox Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: nio2006-07-11.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: nio2006-07-11sample.mp3

Now the headliner, Tilly & The Wall… I’ve never really paid attention either way so before I went to the show I didn’t know what to expect. I enjoyed the vocal harmonies and the tap dancing percussion, though I must admit that for the first few songs I didn’t realize she was tap dancing… it looked like someone was just dancing while they played. So, yeah…. good show. Good sets from all the bands and here they are for you.

Tilly & The Wall 2006-07-11 – The Paradox Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: tatw2006-07-11.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: tatw2006-07-11sample.mp3

I know I’ve been hyping a lot of TFOT material lately but they played a free show downtown, so I just had to tape.

The opening act sucked and I don’t think I need to say anything more than this: they’re name was Kut U Up. Seriously, what else do you want me to say about that.

The Fall Of Troy, however, rocked pretty damn hard. They played their new-ish song A Man A Plan A Canal Panama which I’ve been waiting to hear for a while. Also, for the word-savvy, that is a palindrome.

The sound at this show sucked but I didn’t expect it to be stellar. It was outside in a parking lot downtown, kinda windy and the PA sucked. Tim’s bass sounded like a Moog and the vocals were way too loud. All things considered, the tape came out pretty nice.

The Fall Of Troy – 2006-07-06 Zumiez Couch Tour – Seattle, WA
Download: fot2006-07-06.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: fot2006-07-06sample.mp3

I work for Suicide Squeeze and I told David (guy who owns the label) that I would make sure that all of the performances got recorded. True to my word, every band’s set is on file and sounds great. I even got soundboard feeds for the second and third night to make some badass matrix mixes (though I screwed up on the first night by bringing the wrong cable).

The good news is that the recordings sound really good. The bad news is that I can’t share them with anyone because I told David I wouldn’t. Who knows, maybe he’ll tell me to do whatever I want with them but until I hear from him, they’re going to stay uncirculated. I seriously doubt any commercial effort will come of these tapes since the label is so busy right now as it is; so maybe I’ll be able to post my recordings at a later date. I really hope so; the Minus The Bear matrix is so damn sweet sounding.

Here is a list of the bands I taped

Russian Circles (AUD)
These Arms Are Snakes (AUD)
Hella (AUD)
The Magic Magicians (AUD/SBD)
Crystal Skulls (AUD/SBD)
Chin Up Chin Up (AUD/SBD)
The Black Heart Procession (AUD/SBD)
Metal Hearts (AUD/SBD)
Headphones (AUD/SBD)
Earlimart (AUD/SBD)
Minus The Bear (AUD/SBD)

In other news, last week was my 23rd birthday. I only mention it because my family collectively bought me a 2006 Yamaha Vino 50cc scooter and it’s probably the greatest thing to ever happen. I’ve got big things planned for this lil’ guy… we’re gonna scoot all around town and maybe even out of state. Who knows.

I really want to take a long-ish trip down to Olympia and stay with The Weaver Brothers for a weekend. I’m thinking early August for some sweet black metal action. I’ll even pack my stealth taping rig so I can tape.

It’s going to be a good summer.