More than 40 bands are all set to rock the Sasquatch music festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Grant County’s Gorge Amphitheatre. And The Shins set (7 p.m. Saturday on the main stage) is sure to generate a bit of buzz – especially since it’s been three years since the Portland power pop outfit has issued and album. (The new one is due from Sub Pop in October.)

So I gave front man James Mercer a call to get the low down on what he and his band mates have been up to. You can click on the links

Read more »

For weeks a rumor has been circulating through club land that Emerging Market Development was about to sell The Loft to the owners of Maggie O’Toole’s in Lakewood. Some versions of the story said EMD would actually "lose the lease" to the Loft – the hottest downtown dance club since 2001 – at the end of May.

So I put the question to EMD’s managing partner, Jon Tartaglia, who flatly denied both rumors.

"Not gonna happen," Tartaglia said, specifically addressing the possibility of losing the lease. EMD – the company that also owns The

Read more »

I went to Hell’s Kitchen to check out Mon Frere’s all-ages show at Hell’s Kitchen yesterday evening. I was disappointed to see such a low turnout. But at least I showed up early enough to catch Seattle’s Thee Emergency, after several recommendations after I barely missed their set the previous weekend. And they were pretty phenomenonal. Imagine MC5 or the Stooges, but fronted by and incredibly captivating and charismatic female R&B singer (the voluptuous Dita Vox, for the record.)

I caught up with Vox and guitarist Sonic Smith afterward, and they tell me your last chance to catch them

Read more »

Mon Frere is a dynamic dance-punk trio from Mount Lake Terrace that has released two CDs – "The Real Vampires EP" and the new "Blood, Sweat & Swords" album – through Tacoma’s Cake Records. The original lineup – guitarist Kyle Swisher, singer/keyboard player Nouela Johnston and drummer David Haasl – won the Experience Music Project’s Sound Off competition, for bands with members 21 years old and younger, in 2004. (New drummer Dustin McGhie has since joined the band.)



Now the trio is all set to rock Hell’s Kitchen’s early all-ages show on Saturday. So I caught

Read more »

I had the best "seat" in the house at Alice in Chains’ surprise, free rehearsal show Tuesday night at The Moore — at least for the first three songs. That’s because the folks on our photo desk decided to let me play photog, which put me right in in the pit, in front of the guys in the front row. [Quits typing for a sec to throw up devil horn salute.]

That’s the good news. The bad news is that our wonderful photo staff didn’t find me trustworthy enough to take one of those high-falutin’, high tech cameras they

Read more »

Well, it wasn’t The Premier, like I predicted. (Well, not yet, at least.) But Alice in Chains is inviting local fans to attend a free, surprise open rehearsal, to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Seattle’s Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., before the band embarks on its first U.S. tour in a decade.

They’ll start giving away tickets shortly at The Moore, Silver Management just announced a few minutes ago.

This will be only the band’s second headlining date since Layne Staley died in 2002. The first was a Hurricane Katrina benefit show held

Read more »

"Lovely Head" is one of the most haunting songs I’ve ever heard. I get goose bumps every time I hear Alison Goldfrapp let loose with that digitized, siren’s howl that separates the verses on the lead track from her band’s debut "Felt Mountain." And it was no different Thursday night at The Showbox in Seattle, as the British singer grabbed a second microphone and let loose with her moving cybernetic shriek, her blonde tresses flowing like some sort of vampy, ’70s diva.

Goldfrapp packed most of the best songs from its

Read more »

In my column in today’s GO section (which you can read here), I suggested that Parliament-Funkadelic was the greatest party band ever — not incredibly controversial as statements go. But maybe some of you disagree. If money were no object, who would you have play your party?

The more superstitious among you probably get the willies when you realize that June 6, 2006 (aka 6-6-6) is coming up. But if you’re a local metal fan, you have serious cause for celebration.

No, not because it’s a sign of the Apocalypse, you sick little monkey! The cause for celebration is the “Crossroads to Damnation” show that will be headlined by Vancouver, BC thrash metal outfit 3 Inches of Blood that day at the Temple Theatre, 47 St. Helens Ave. Feral, Sarah Connor, I Defy, Durango 95, the Beautiful Mothers, AngelsDevilsGhosts and Beltfed Weapon round out

Read more »

I plan to check out Saturday’s indie pop show at Hell’s Kitchen, which will feature Tacoma’s Elephants, Mono in VCF, Paris Spleen and The Emergency. But in the days leading up to the show Mono’s Jordan Luckman has been teasing me about having some huge announcement he couldn’t tell me about yet.

Was he pulling my leg (maybe) or did those guys – already a favorite on KEXP-FM in Seattle – muck around and get signed or something? Whatever the case, Luckman insisted his boys won’t be playing any local gigs for a few months, whatever that means.

Read more »