Whether you're debating what to do tonight, out of town on March 5th, not going to SXSW, or just need to get your indie.stringed.goodness fix -- you're in luck. Hey Marseilles will be headlining an all-ages show tonight at the Vera Project. Come on down and get your swoon on with Seattle's favorite seven-piece!

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Only a few more hours and the weekend will officially be upon us (that is, unless you started it last night... is so, my hat is off to you!).

There are so many good shows to thrust us to and fro. Tonight, the Fruit Bats will be at the Vera Project with Sonny Smith and Tu Fawning while another TIG recommended show, Drew Grow and the Pasters Wives will be at the Comet.  And then there's Steve Earle at the Moore (zow!).  Here's the full list of tonight's choices:

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at The Vera Project

Nana Grizol played The Vera Project on Tuesday, Jan. 19th along with Max Levine Ensemble, iji and A Million Years Ago. If you didn't already know about this show... see here, here, here, here, and here.

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I am fairly certain that imaginary keenan and I have created an airtight case to get yourself to the Vera Project on Tuesday {1/19} to see Nana Grizol {exhibits one, two, three, four}, but here are a couple more reasons to get you and your posse there:

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{Nana Grizol photo by Jon Manning}

Update! Looks like we found another pair of tickets! Folks who've already entered are still eligible! Details after the jump!

There are some bands that we could go on for hours about how much we love. Athens, GA's Nana Grizol are no exception. I've personally taken to describing them as a combination of the Thermals and the Weakerthans with a horn section, but that barely even scratches the surface of their sometimes 8-infinity piece band awesomeness (complete with floppy hair-ed jumping up and down). Their songs are so heartwrenchingly beautiful and meaningful, complete with lyrics that make you rethink your entire attitude towards life (ex: "Cynicism isn't wisdom/it's just a lazy way to say that you've been burned" from their new album Ruth).

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at The Vera Project

While Seattle Thermals shows in the past few years have been an ever intensifying, sometimes dangerous, almost orgy-like melding of bodies dancing and screaming along in a completely packed and joyful room, Seattle once again proved its often icy disposition and the half empty crowd stood quietly tapping their feet and nodding along, occasionally mouthing along the lyrics with little emotion. Was it too cold outside to dance? Were people tired since it was Sunday? I guess it made me feel a bit nostalgic, as years ago, my friends and I used to be the only ones up front dancing our asses off at Thermals shows. The one clear benefit of this, was the ability to stand up front without fear of being crushed to death or accidentally punched in the eye. Still, I missed the chaos, and it looked like the band did as well.

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If you are a Thermals obsessive like many of us at TIG (check!), then you've probably been counting down to this weekend for months (like me). This weekend provides you with not one but two nights to see my favorite live band ever, The Thermals: Saturday night at Neumo's for KEXP's Yule Benefit (sold out, 21+ with the Cave Singers, the Builders and the Butchers, and Grand Hallway) and an all ages NOT SOLD OUT show at the Vera Project on Sunday (I'm pretty sure it's been at least since Fuckin' A just barely came out that they've played at Vera). I've often spouted on forever about how Thermals shows are better than therapy, and how it's impossible not to leave sweaty and bruised with a giant grin on your face. So pull out your deads roots and pull out your best suit and get ready to have fun. See you up front

at The Vera Project

As stated, much was underfoot in town last Saturday night -- but if you didn't dodge the raindrops to make your way out to the Vera Project for this show, you missed quite the treat. For what seemed like hours, the boys from Fences and Hey Marseilles took the stage amidst constant cheers from the all-ages crowd and served up song after song of swoon-worthy delight. We were spending this particular imaginary Saturday on an all-access photo pass, and made good use of it from the first twangs of soundcheck to the very last encore:

 

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Happy 9,000 Flickr Photos Day! Thanks to all the fab photographers around town, the Three Imaginary Girls Sparkly Indie-Pop Photo pool just surpassed the 9,000 mark! That's just as dreamy as the recent Hey Marseilles show at the Vera Project. Photo thanks to our Hot Avocados Photography friends.

Should we try to hit the 10,000 photo mark by the end of the year? Let's do it!

To gaze are more neat Seattle show photos (or to add your own!), clickety clack over to the TIG Sparkly Indie-Pop Photo pool.

Local all-stars Hey Marseilles and Fences will be bringing the bliss to the Vera Project this Saturday, November 21st -- and you'll do yourself a big favor to not miss this show. Really, everybody. I can't think of a better ten dollars you could spend this weekend while you're out and about in Seattle.

In case you've been trapped under a heavy object for the better part of 2009: Hey Marseilles is a rad, rad band. There's really no other way to put it. This year alone, hey've spanned the stages of the Capitol Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot, Doe Bay, and Music Fest Northwest with their seven-piece ensemble (yes, I said seven) of earnest young men wielding a veritable slew of stringed instruments. Lyrically, these guys have perfect the art of liquid heartbreak, painting gorgeous pictures with their flawless vocals over a series of full indie-slash-alt.orchestral compositions. They're smart, catchy, and there's big things coming down the pike for them in 2010 -- mark our words when we say that this will be one of those bands you'll want to say you were able to catch in a venue like Vera while you had the chance.

Don't believe me? Have a look at this, live from the CHBP this past summer:

Right? Seriously. But that's not the only thing on the dance card for tomorrow's show -- another local favorite, Fences, will be playing a full-band second-slot set before HM graces the stage. Fronted by the perpetually broken-in-a-good-way Christopher Mansfield, this is one of those bands that makes you sit up and pay attention -- Mansfield's deep, semi-haunted vocals layer with talented, trained-but-not-wrote guitar playing to create a compelling better-than-singer-songwriter sound you won't want to miss. As this week's interview with the Stranger puts it, "...he could be the kind of damaged, bad-for-you heartthrob that the Northwest hasn't convincingly produced since Elliott Smith (or at the very least, Art Alexakis)." Sold.

Let's top all of this off with the fact that we're supporting one of our nearest and dearest all-ages venues in town by going to this show -- it would just be downright silly at this point if you didn't attend.

{Catch Hey Marseilles and Fences at the Vera Project on Saturday, November 21st -- get your tickets in advance here. We'll see you at the show!}