What should take album of the year at this year's Grammys?
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Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 8, 2010 at 8:19 am
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Can't wait to see soul icon Smokey Robinson at the Emerald Queen on Valentine's Day. Meanwhile, here's a cool interview by Time magazine. Follow on Twitter (www.twitter.com/tacomarockcity) and I'll alert you when I've posted my own interview clips. Ciao!
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 7, 2010 at 11:41 am
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“We’re in a great mood tonight,” Sir Elton John declared a few songs into his solo portion of last night’s Face 2 Face show at KeyArena; a statement that seemed patently obvious following a barn-burning romp through “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.”
There weren't any big surprises, unless you count Billy Joel strapping on a guitar to tear through Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady." But during the latter half of their two-night stand in Seattle (the first being Wednesday) the Rocket Man and the Piano Man kept the party rockin' with three hours of hit after classic hit. Here's what they played.
Elton John and Billy Joel's Face 2 Face tour
KeyArena
Feb. 6, 2010Elton and Billy together:
Your Song
Just the Way You Are
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me
My LifeElton solo:
Funeral for a Friend
Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting
Levon
Madman Across the Water
Tiny Dancer
Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road
Daniel
Rocket Man
Philadelphia Freedom
I’m Still Standin’
Crocodile RockBilly solo:
Angry Young Man
Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
Allentown
Zanzibar
Don’t Ask Me Why
She’s Always a Woman to Me
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
The River of Dreams
Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix)
We Didn’t Start the Fire
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me
Only the Good Die YoungElton and Billy together:
I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues
Uptown Girl
The Bitch is Back
You May Be Right
Bennie and the Jets
Candle in the Wind
Piano Man
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 6, 2010 at 12:01 pm
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Creature with an Atom Brain: In reality, just four nice lads from Belgium.
Alice in Chains' set last night was similar to what they delivered at the Moore last fall. That is to say it was spectacular, but even sharper after several months on the road.
But so much for that fantasy that Sir Elton John - tonight's co-headliner at KeyArena - might make a cameo. Sure, he appears on the poignant title track from Alice's new "Black Gives Way to Blue" album, and he had a couple of days off after Wednesday night's Face 2 Face set at the Key. But nah! An on-site publicist had good intel that the Piano Man had bounced to Los Angeles for a little R&R.
I knew nada about Alice's opener Creature With the Atom Brain, and wasn't optimistic based on the name. But the band - which delivered half an hour of satisfyingly heavy, fuzzed out guitar rock - was the night's most pleasant discover. And they're pretty good blokes, too. I ran into them in the lobby after the show and then again down the road at the Comet Tavern where they were watching ... a jazz combo?
Yes, a jazz band. At the Comet. I am not making this up. It was called Soul Jazz Experience, and it featured the Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin. They skewed toward the fusion end of the jazz spectrum, which was a plus in my book.
But I digress. Here's last night's set list. Check back for more notes, photos and maybe some video later. Ciao!
Alice in Chains set list
The Paramount Theatre, Seattle
Feb. 5, 2010All Secrets Known
It Ain’t Like That
Again
Check My Brain
Them Bones
Dam That River
Rain When I Die
Your Decision
No Excuses
Love Hate Love
A Looking in View
Nutshell
Sickman
Junkhead
Lesson Learned
We Die Young
Acid Bubble
Angry Chair
Man in the BoxEncore:
Would?
RoosterOpening act: Creature with an Atom Brain
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 5, 2010 at 10:56 am
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On March 6, Kimya Dawson, Congratulations, Mirror Mirror, Western Hymn, and Rainbow Bridge will play "Survive the Darkness," an all-ages Haiti benefit show that will kick off at 5 p.m. that day at Olympia's Loft on Cherry.
Tickets are $10 and are available through Buy Olympia. Organizers say proceeds will go to Partners in Health's Haiti relief effort.
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 3, 2010 at 5:06 pm
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British songbird Corinne Bailey Rae debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with "The Sea," the stellar follow up to her self-titled debut smash from 2006. And she'll bring some of her most emotionally charged songs on the road with an April 12 stop scheduled at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, her U.S. management announced.
The show will start at 7:30 that night. Tickets for the Seattle show are $25.50 and will go on sale Saturday. Find more details here.
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 3, 2010 at 12:10 pm
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On the way to work, I was listening to this hypnotic cut from Massive Attack's new "Heligoland" album, which is out next week. This one features regular collaborator Horace Andy on vocals, and it's a perfect example of Massive's knack for crafting epic, layered electronic music that still packs a lot of heart.
On that note, acoustic sounds are a lot more prevalent in the song arrangements on this album, with live drums filling out Massive's sound really nicely; the late Jerry Fuchs, of !!! fame, is among the contributors. When I have time, I think I'll post some more thoughts on "Heligoland" and Charlotte Gainsbourg's "IRM," the most brilliant albums I've heard so far this year.
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 2, 2010 at 5:46 pm
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Local band leader Randy Oxford just sent this gig poster for a benefit he's organizing for drummer Riky Hudson, a former member of his Randy Oxford Band. The show starts at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at Jazzbones with a lineup that includes Billy Roy Danger & the Rectifiers, the Randy Oxford Band, On the Level and the Ron Hendee Band. Proceeds will go to Hudson to help pay costs associated with a stroke he suffered last year, according to Oxford.
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 2, 2010 at 4:16 pm
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Comedian Chelsea Handler has added a second stand-up show at Seattle's Paramount Theatre and will now perform at 8 and 10:30 p.m. on March 20, STG Presents announced. "Chelsea Lately's" Gary Branum will warm the crowd up.
Tickets for the late show are $49.50 to $75.50 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday (Feb. 5). More details here.
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 2, 2010 at 9:52 am
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I'm on a conference call with Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora and Tico Torres who will kick off their forthcoming Circle Tour with two big shows at Seattle's KeyArena on Feb. 19 and 20. When asked about the set list Sambora just said, “The repertoire is going to be vast. We’re going to go back and play some stuff we haven’t played in 20 years – like off of the first two albums.”
And a little "Slippery When Wet," anyone? Like Motley Crue, Roger Waters and other veteran rock acts, Sambora hinted the band may deliver a couple of its classic albums in their entirety in some markets. And, from the sounds of it, those classic songs will be enhanced by some seriously eye-popping props. "We have these robots that actually move the video screen around the stage," Sambora said.
Check back and I'll have some audio from the teleconference posted between now and the tour launch.
Posted By Ernest Jasmin on February 1, 2010 at 9:24 am
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Slayer and Megadeth have rescheduled the Seattle stop of their American Carnage tour for Sept. 3 at the WaMu Theater. The two titans of thrash-metal had to postpone several dates, including a planned Jan. 18 stop in Seattle, as Slayer bassist-vocalist Tom Araya prepared for back surgery.
