So if you haven't caught wind of it yet, St. Vincent will be coming through town tonight to blow the doors off of Neumo's with their sweet layercake of daydreamy, lushy melodies. It's actually the first US show of their national tour, which heads down the left coast for stops in PDX and a few nights in California before a cross-country visit to our friends out east (hi, 9:30 Club!).

As if the alt.indie.orchestra.ish appeal of St. Vincent wasn't enough to get you out the door tonight, the show's also going to get lit up with some love from one of our favorite locals, Fences. Rumor has it that they'll be warming up the stage around 9, so don't wait around too long to hit the show!

(It's hip to be early sometimes, Seattle. And to stand up front for a killer show. And even to take your hands out of your pockets and dance a little. I promise.)

Here's a taste of tonight's lineup:

We'll see you at the show!

at The Tractor Tavern

{Photos by Jason Tang in the TIG Flickr Photo Pool}

I've been doin' the blogging thing for this here imaginary blog since around 2005, but living down in LA I don't get to see many (or any) Northwest shows. So when I booked a weekend trip to Seattle, and my concert buddy suggested a night at Tractor Tavern, I was -- as we say in California -- "totally stoked."

We arrived at the tail end of Willy Mason's set, and waited about fifteen minutes for local act Fences to take the stage. From listening to their Myspace beforehand I was looking forward to some breed of acoustic folk/pop -- unfortunately for the live show, something got lost in translation. Tattooed lead singer/songwriter Christopher Mansfield's acoustic guitar was backed at various times by a banjo, bass, guitar, drums, xylophone and synthesizer, but either I was too far to the side or the mix just wasn't great for his set, because half the instruments were drowned out by the other half. The band started off strong with a couple banjo-based songs, but about halfway through I was more than ready for the next set.

 

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This weekend was jam-packed with possibilities! Did you go to a free instore? The WE rock opera? Shoegazer? Ben Gibbard/Jay Farrar/Long Winters love fest? Or stay home to watch and phone in to the Haiti telethon hoping to have Taylor Swift answer your call?

Big props to imaginary photographer Jason Tang for sharing photos from the Fences / AA Bondy show on Saturday night.

Tell us all about it!

Got your running shoes handy? No, not your Chucks. I mean the ones that you lace up to go the distance. Yes, I know they're buried in the bottom of your closet. We'll wait.

Okay, good. Now, get your favorite socks on warm up those calves -- there's too much good stuff going on around town tonight for you to hit just one show. For starters, the opening set at Neumo's tonight will be a great place to pre-funk. I'm sure that Justin Nozuka is a tremendous headline, but our sources from back east swear that Elizabeth & the Catapault will be the glimmer in our proverbial eyes for the designated warmer-upper of the evening. The Brooklyn based singer-songwriter will be unleashing her endearing, charming ways on the earlybirds that make their way down to Neumo's tonight, and you'll be doing yourself a favor by making it the first stop of your night.

After that, it could go either way -- if you don't stay for the rest of the show at Neumo's, you have your pick of two not-to-be-missed performances going on that you can shuffle to your liking. The first would be making sure to see most, if not all, of Kay Kay & his Weathered Underground's headlining set at the Tractor. It's no secret that our very own ChrisB hearts them to no end, as stated in his loving and well-thought commentary on a past show: What makes Kay Kay such a special band is that there are not any limitations imposed on the music. When you listen to them, you hear elements of vaudeville, ragtime, psychedelic rock, show tunes, Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles, and anything else they can find under the kitchen sink. It’s like they raided their parents’ and grandparents’ record collections and ignored much of their own. All that, and the fact that Hey Marseilles' Sam Anderson hails as a member of their repertoire, makes this a win-win-win.

The other big sha-bang happening this evening is the benefit show for the recent GIVE compilation that was released, with a line-up to beat the, um -- band. Or something. Anyhow -- have a look at this: on one bill, for charity, and at a mere fifteen bucks [!!!], you can catch Grand Archives, D. Black, Kinski, Grant Olsen (of Arthur and Yu), Gabriel Mintz, Tilson (of the Saturday Knights), Fences [swoon], and the Tea Cozies. Really, that's less than a dollar a band member, if you splice it out the right way. And even at twice that, it's a better-than-fair price for a best-of-the-best kind of show.

So, bundle up tonight and hit the town -- whether you go Neumo's > Tractor > Croc, or Neumo's > Croc > Tractor > Croc, pick one to hit up with your birds and bliss the night away. With all this talent, you're sure to get a win no matter what venue(s) you choose!

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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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!}

Fresh off the presses from our inboxes comes this week's launch of GIVE -- 30 downloadable tracks from a variety of Seattle artists, who are donating their songs to benefit Arts Corps and local area foodbanks. The $7.00 (!) compilation, which was produced, curated, and funded by Caffe Vita, will be available online here. Physical compilations can be picked up at all Caffe Vita locations, Easy Street Records, Sonic Boom Records, University Book Store, The Crocodile, EMP, Neumo's, and Sorrento Hotel. The in-hand compilations will include a physical card with a redemption code for the download, and a prettied-up sleeve to make it a ready-to-give present.

Here's the full track listing -- nearly all of which are exclusive to the compilation:

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Here's a photo of Fences taken at a Neumo's show earlier this year by our Hot Avocados Photography friends.  You can see Fences as he "spills his guts onto your shoes" at this Saturday's Reverb Fest (10/3).  They'll be at the Tractor sharing the bill with The Maldives, Staxx Brothers, Widower, Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme, Raggedy Anns, Brent Amaker & The Rodeo, Southside, and Hallways.

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

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at Neumo's

A bright beautiful night with three great bands!

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We have a pair of tickets to giveaway to the ultra hot Tapes 'n Tapes show on Tuesday 1/20 at Neumo's. Opening is Wild Light and Seattle's very own Fences.

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