KNDD-FM’s Endfest 16 brought Smashing Pumpkins, Social Distortion, Bright Eyes, Satellite Party, Against Me!, the Bravery, Paramore and more to the Qwest Field’s north parking lot on Saturday. (What’s the deal with Entercom stations and parking lot concerts, anyway? And can a brotha get a folding chair or a complimentary End seat cushion help make it through the whole 10 hours? I’m just sayin’.)

Anyway, I made the drive up I-5, armed with my notebook and Canon Rebel, to capture some of the highlights. And the first act I caught was latest Seattle band to stir up

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Well, off the Endfest. And hopefully traffic will allow me to catch Minus the Bear, a group that you may have noticed has been dubbed Artist of the Week by MTV. Hard to miss with all the commercials that have been running.

Hmmm. Could they be Puget Sound’s next Modest Mouse?

Shiny, red energy domes; the return of the cheerful but creepy Booji Boy; and hundreds of superballs, plucked from singer-keyboard player Mark Mothersbaugh’s pants and bounced into the audience. It was just another night at the office for pioneering new wave band Devo, Friday night’s headliner at the Puyallup Fair grandstand.

Devo – clad typically in plastic, red bio domes and yellow chemical protection suits – got its sole MTV smash, "Whip It," out of the way during the early portion of the their set, which also included fan favorites "Peek-A-Boo," "Secret Agent Man" and their

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I was surfin’ around, lookin’ at old videos on the Web, when I came across this classic video for Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” You know, the one INXS ripped off two decades later. And it wasn’t quite how I remembered it.

Wow! Who knew he was a fan? Before I was born even.

Seattle’s Experience Music Project just sent out its first call for submission to Sound Off!, it’s annual battle of the bands for groups whose members are all 21 and younger (a contest that little ol’ me helps judge most years.)

Past participants include regional favorites Schoolyard Heroes, The Lonely H, Capitol Basement and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. And what you do if you want to enter next year’s contest, which will take place next February, is download the application, fill that suck out and mail it with a non-returnable CD of your original tunes to EMP/SFM,

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Big Kenny Alphin and John Rich really know how to throw a party.

After a short set by country rapper, Cowboy Troy, Big & Rich made a dramatic entrance, rising from an elevated portion of the Puyallup Fair grandstand stage earlier tonight. The dynamic duo kicked things off with “Radio,” from its newest CD “Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace.” And Big & Rich shifted right into high gear with funky, feel good follow up, “Comin’ to Your City.” Fans danced, stomped and clapped along through a good portion of the next hour.

The patriotic “8th

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Big & Rich and the Muzik Mafia wound down just a little while ago at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center. And towards the end of the set, Two Foot Fred, aka “the pint-sized pimp of country music,” announced that the after party is being held at McCabe’s downtown (surprise, surprise.) So check out this set list real quick (CBT is for a Cowboy Troy song) and you should have time to get over there. And while you’re enjoying a cold one with the band, I’ll be faithfully working up a few shots I took at the show.

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Been a while since I’ve done one of these. But here’s a sample of what I’ve been listening to …

"Your Little Hoodrat Friend" The Hold Steady

I slept on last fall’s "Boys & Girls in America" release, which I’m still contemplating adding to my best album’s of ’07 list, especially since not a week has gone by for much of this year that I haven’t listened to it. (Cheating, you say? Hey, it came out in late ’06. And that’s not nearly as bad as the Grammys. OK, you’re right. It’s cheating.) More recently, I

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For a while I’d been hearing that someone had bought the Stone Gate Restaurant and Lounge over at 5421 South Tacoma Way. So I stuck my head in there last week to spy new owner Jeff Call and his crew busting their humps as they hauled sections of a new bar upstairs.

When Call caught his breath, he explained his plans to reopen the space – which housed a Vietnamese restaurant when he and brother, Steve Baker, bought it in March – as a rock club and pizza parlor. Though there is lots of work left, he said

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Reba McEntire didn’t tip her hand much regarding her new "Duets" album Friday night at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center grandstand. As a matter of fact, lead single "Because of You," the duet with "American Idol" grad Kelly Clarkson that fans have already heard, was the only new song she performed, delivered elegantly towards the end of her set.

Instead the classy and charismatic performer wowed 8,600-plus with material from her last three decades of hit making. The most crowd pleasing numbers included "The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia," the rousing "Love Revival" and "Fancy,"

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