Seeing Seaweed take the stage in 2007 was truly a mind warp. The band, who hasn’t been active on the scene for the better part of a decade, reunited for a weekend’s worth of shows this Labor Day. I didn’t make it to their sold-out High Dive show on Saturday night, but was excited to see what they’d pull out of their hat for the Bumbershoot crowd.
Speaking of the crowd, it was a mixed bag: I saw some familiar faces from back in the day dotting the EMP Sky Church floor. But there were also tons of folks who couldn’t have been more than 10 the last time this Tacoma band played. The band themselves — nearly an original lineup save for a new drummer in place of Alan Cage — looked a bit worn for the weather. But their energy hasn’t dwindled during their off-season. I never could confidently call Seaweed a tight band, though that rarely mattered: their brand of skate-punk pop-rock always puts a smile on my face.
They covered a huge lot of the material off Spanaway, including “Free Drug Zone” and “Start With.” “Kid Candy” (a song whose video once graced the almighty “Beavis and Butthead”) was also fun to hear again. They also played a couple of new songs, which reportedly will be recorded for a new album.
The biggest highlight of the night was the closer: a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” a song originally released as its own single during the Four era, and which also appeared on the soundtrack to “Clerks” (who knew?).