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Last year when I taped the Suicide Squeeze 10th Anniversary shows (three nights in late June/early July), a comedian by the name of Eugene Mirman MC’d the festivities. He mostly offered up banter in between bands and introduced them with his own brand of charm.

On the first two nights, however, Eugene volunteered two five minute segments of comedy that still make me laugh as much as they did when he told them the first time.

The first bit he did took a few jabs at Myspace and made fun of shitty amateur musicians (as well as dispelling myths about bears). His second bit was a makeshift quiz show where he made fun of audience members who willingly participated in his shenanigans and good fun was had by all.

Technical Note: the clip from 2006-06-29 is just an AUD source and the clip from 2006-06-30 is an AUD/SBD matrix. Just an FYI there.

Eugene Mirman – 2006-06-29 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
FLAC Download: emirman2006-06-29d1t01.flac
MP3 Download: emirman2006-06-29d1t01.mp3

Eugene Mirman – 2006-06-30 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
FLAC Download: emirman2006-06-30d1t01.flac
MP3 Download: emirman2006-06-30d1t01.mp3

Just bought a Canon HV20 HDV camcorder last night. Look out for some HD footage from this guy!

I like it when a band can calm people down and make them pay attention. Tonight at The Crocodile, The Six Parts Seven did exactly that.

As they began their set, the crowd was chatty. Throughout the modest beginnings of the set they kept talking. But then the songs got heavy and complex and catchy and slowly everyone was paying attention to the music they paid to see. It was awesome.

Recording turned out pretty nice too. They played every song from their new album Casually Smashed To Pieces except for Night Behind The Stars.

The good news is that they played Night Behind The Stars when I saw them in May of 2006. I taped that show too but this was before the new album was out so they asked me not to post it. And here we are with the new album on store shelves (go buy it!) and I can finally post that show! So here you go!

The Six Parts Seven – 2007-04-10 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: sps2007-04-10.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: sps2007-04-10sample.mp3

The Six Parts Seven – 2006-05-21 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: sps2006-05-21.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: sps2006-05-21sample.mp3

I love going to see bands that you know are going to make the place go nuts. It’s weird how that happens… like a band’s reputation for making a crowd dance and move perpetuates itself to a point where people go to their shows just because they heard how crazy things get. And then they go to the show and get crazy themselves.

Lightning Bolt is that kind of band.

Like always, they set up on the floor in the corner of the venue. Stack of amps and speaker cabs tall as the shoulders of gods. Their amps are so loud that they don’t even mic them into the venue’s PA system.

They rock and jam and shred for an hour straight. They really know how to entertain for $7.

Opening acts were pretty good too. I didn’t tape the two first bands because I hadn’t yet set up my gear by the time they played but Teeth And Hair was really good dancey rock music (much like Q And Not U) and Bug Sized Mind was face-melting sound textures that peeled your eyes back for twenty solid minutes.

Teeth And Hair – 2007-04-07 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: tah2007-04-07.akgc1000s.sbd.matrix.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: tah2007-04-07sample.mp3

Bug Sized Mind – 2007-04-07 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: bsm2007-04-07.akgc1000s.sbd.matrix.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: None

Lightning Bolt – 2007-04-07 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: lb2007-04-07.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: lb2007-04-07sample.mp3

I hate being forced to stealth when the band in question is an open-taping band. The times when this happens are when there is some film crew doing a big production at a show and I really don’t have a problem with that except for the fact that I never see anything come of these filming projects. Think about it. When was the last time you were at a show and there were five or six guys with high-end cameras and when was the last time you ever saw a finished product from those people?

Yeah, I haven’t seen one live DVD be produced from one of these things. I don’t care if you want exclusivity rights over a show but at least publish something that people can watch/listen to.

Oh yeah: Jesu blew me away.

Jesu – 2007-04-03 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: jesu2007-04-03.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: jesu2007-04-03sample.mp3