review by Jason Kinnard
photos by Alex Crick

Last Monday night was my first time inside the newly remodeled Crocodile Cafe. The place is definitely a lot different than I remember, but it looked much more polished than last time I had been in. Nice big stage at a proper height, new lighting, good sound; all the elements were there for a great show. Local 5-piece Feral Children started things off with a full compliment of instruments; their unique blend of experimental yet melodic rock sounded fantastic as Jeff Keenan and bass-player Jim Cotton traded vocals. I loved how they used multiple drum sets and switched instruments. It was only the second time I had seen the band play after a long hiatus. They draw deserving comparisons to bands like Modest Mouse and Animal Collective, but they have definitely their own unique vibe. I loved their opening performance. This was shaping up to be a fantastic night of music.

Next up was Brooklyn band The Subjects. I didn’t know anything about this band going in, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was excited to hear a band I had never heard before. I also knew they were touring with headliners White Rabbits so that couldn’t be a bad thing. Their music was different and for some reason the first thing that came to mind for me was Vampire Weekend. They sounded very harmonic but also pretty relaxed; the Croc crowd wasn’t exactly sure how to take them in either. Then a song like The Hounds of War kicked in, and they sounded like they were exactly where they belonged. Another New York band for Seattleites to fall in love with.

Finally, Brooklyn transplants the White Rabbits took the stage. The Croc was quite full at this point and I had a great vantage point of all the action (aka the bar). The sight lines of the club are definitely a lot better now and it sounds every bit as good as the old joint. Another stage full of members, White Rabbits are a six-piece who use every single member to produce their signature sound. I was into the band when Fort Nightly first came out, but the material from their new album, It’s Frightening, just explodes off the stage. Songs like Percussion Gun sounded fantastic alongside original classics like The Plot. The band played an efficient, near non-stop set of just about every song from their new album plus an encore. The piano was an important element to the band, but I thought the drums and vocals really stood out. Singer Stephen Patterson definitely doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves for being a first rate showman. This was the type of performance that would have swayed even the casual fan. They may really be onto something with this new album. It was clear the Brooklyn / Seattle love connection was in full effect and the crowd ate them up. What a great night to get re-introduced to the Croc.

review by Jason Kinnard
photos by Alex Crick

Sunday night was a great night out for an All Ages show at the Vera Project. I had finished all my Father’s Day activities earlier in the day and noticed the nice line-up; it was a perfect night to check out the new location and listen to a few bands. Noticeably absent from the initial bill was Viva Voce, who were just wrapping up a tour, their spot being replaced by one of my favorite local bands Thee Emergency. I was already excited to see Kiwi rockers Cut Off Your Hands again (we reviewed their first show back in February) so this new addition to the line-up was just icing on the cake.

Little did I realize just how much the kids must love their fathers – the place was absolutely dead for a Sunday Night. Dead enough that you start actually feeling bad for the bands. In fact, with a few other photogs and writers in attendance this may have been one of the most well documented small shows in Seattle history. Based on the lineup alone, the low turnout was surprising.  When the local opener went on, there were fewer than ten people on the dance floor — myself and a couple photogs included. The band managed a quick set of poppy tunes that wasn’t incredibly memorable (what was this band’s name again?), but not incredibly horrible either. What was funny is just how young they looked as they finished their set and took the front of the stage to watch veteran local soul rockers Thee Emergency. I had previously only seen Thee Emergency at bigger local 21+ venues where their throwback rock seemed to enhance heavy drinking; the kind of raucous band made for partying. It was going to be fun watching how frontwoman Dita Vox was going to handle the all-ages crowd. When the band started, I wasn’t exactly sure if Dita was pissed off or if this was her normal demeanor. Then I saw what caught her eye; it was the opening band busily munching away on a bag of Dick’s fries at the front of the stage. This elicited her first warning to the youngsters; “If you don’t put that bag of food down…” or something to that effect. Flash forward a few songs later and Dita had moved a couple of stage monitors out of the way so she could get closer to the crowd. This is when things started to get interesting. I noticed that the bag of food in question was now at the feet of the teen bandmembers yet they still continue to reach down and grab the occasional fry. Without skipping a beat, Dita reached down, grabbed the bag and launched it all the way across the venue: fries everywhere. In her own little way, she was saying this is what rock & roll is all about. She then did a great job of slinking through the crowd and making some of the kids uncomfortable, dancing on tables and singing dangerously close to some people. Most everyone smiled but a few kids looked like deer caught in headlights. For them, it was probably their first close encounter experience with a band as explosive as Thee Emergency. The intimate performance was over before we knew it and the band hurriedly exited the stage, leaving an incredibly raw and wonderful set in their wake.

Next up were New Zealand headliners Cut Off Your Hands . I’d seen them earlier in the year and wanted to see how they had progressed; plus they were a fun live band to watch. Alex had seen them play the previous night in Portland, so it would be interesting to hear his comparisons. I loved how they started too. Quick soundcheck, no warning. They immediately ripped into their set before anyone even had a chance to react. The floor was completely empty until they started playing, so it was funny to see everyone scramble. They played a near non-stop set of what you might call pop/punk with a dance twist. I thought it sounded much crisper than their earlier appearance, and Alex said it sounded even better than the previous night as well. Gone were all the thrashing stage antics from before; they seemed much more focused on sounding good than anything else. Nothing wrong with that; they sounded fantastic.

Despite the small size of the crowd, both bands gave incredible performances and taught the kids of Vera a valuable lesson. Always give it your best, even when it seems nobody’s watching. If you’ve never been to the Vera Project or don’t know what they’re all about, give them another look.

review by Jim Beckmann
photos by Alex Crick (courtesy of Ear Candy)

On Tuesday night, PJ Harvey returned to Seattle and played a nearly sold-out Moore Theater. Those fans expecting to see a variety of the many faces and voices of PJ Harvey — the raw punk anger of Rid of Me, the red seduction of To Bring You My Love, the New York strut of Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, the somber balladry of Is This Desire?, the ghostly fairytale minimalism of White Chalk — would have to wait. This tour is all about her work specifically with long-time collaborator John Parish and supports their second album together, A Woman A Man Walked By. It would be only those songs written in collaboration between Harvey and Parish — she the lyrics and he the music — besides one song in the encore entirely Parish’s own — for the night’s set and there’d be no deviating from the mood. We were told at outset to expect nothing else.

And the mood of the night was plain to see as the band took the stage, each dressed in black and dark gray, the men in suits and brimmed hats (except drummer Jean-Marc Butty in a tan suit and with purple hair). Harvey arrived barefoot in a shifting black satin gown shaped something between a nightie and a peasant dress, appearing as if she’d awoken late at night, stepped out of her cottage in some Burtonesque country landscape, and found this foursome of dapper men performing privately in a field far from town. Yes, it was all very theatrical, even on the minimally designed stage, but if anyone can get away with this without it seeming like a contrivedly melodramatic high school production, it would be PJ Harvey. Her movements as the band played were equally apropos, as she drifted across stage occasionally as if in search of her lost lover, or waived her hands about her head in hysteria, grief, or anger (or a combination thereof); as in her songs, she seemed both spellbound and bewitching.

Of course, the music itself was the highlight, and for what could have been a one-dirgelike-note performance, the set was surprisingly dynamic, partly because the songs on the pair’s latest album are themselves more varied but also because much care was put into the arrangement (which, by the way, doesn’t seem to change at all from one show to the next). The slow lament of “The Soldier,” for instance, was followed immediately by the frantically wailing “Taut,” and many of the newer songs themselves are more internally diverse, so it was difficult to feel bored, even as you were fruitlessly hoping for a “50-foot Queenie,” a “Sheela-Na-Gig,” or even a “A Perfect Day, Elise.” And whether it be a groan, a scream, or a sustained falsetto, Harvey’s voice was impeccable. She touched no instruments, besides the occasional shaker, preferring to leave it all to Parish and his more than adequate crew: Butty on drums, Giovanni Ferrario on guitar, and Eric Drew Feldman on bass and keys, each accomplished and renowned well beyond their association with Harvey. When one loud fan yelled for PJ to “play guitar,” no one near me at least clapped in support. With this caliber a band, why would she?

The show finished after the howling “Pig Will Not” with a two-song encore consisting of John Parish’s own song “False Fire” and “April,” the centerpiece of A Woman, a song I tend to gloss over when listening to the album, but it was my reaction with its performance that reflected my experience with the show overall: during the first few minutes as she covered her face and flattened her tone while straining her voice through repetitive verses like an elderly woman, I was ready to give in, to say I just wish she’d play something older, and cooler, and, well, different, but then she opened her hands and voice and held the most powerful and beautiful melody I think I’ve ever heard sung live. It was more than enough. She needn’t sing anything else, and fortunately it was the last song she’d sing of the night.

review by RJ Cubarrubia
photos by Chona Kasinger

With only one all ages show throughout the week, Noise for the Needy made sure to make it a good one. Combining the electropop producer-trio Miike Snow with the English garage punk of Art Brut, Saturday’s Noise for the Needy show at Neumo’s was a raucous good time. The packed crowd was diverse, from sweaty huge baldheaded beasts of men raging to Art Brut to parents and their kids having good clean fun, leading to hilarious situations like two girls in dresses getting whomped by suspiciously old moshers slamming their weekday cubcicle woes away on teenagers (it’s SATURDAY, everybody parties).

Before the show, I knew these things about Miike Snow: there’s three guys in the band, two from Sweden, one from Brooklyn, and the Swedish dudes produced Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and have worked with Kylie Minogue and Madonna. AWESOME. Unfortunately, although I thought this was going to be a totally awesome pop music dance party, the six person live band and mostly unresponsive crowd turned this set into a confusing experience. There’s a lot to be said about producers who venture out of the studio and into “artist” territory, but the live sound of Miike Snow didn’t have the clean and fresh pop feel of the record, and less people danced. Maybe by taking a more “live band” approach, they want less bump and grind, but listen to tracks like “Animal” and tell me you can’t rumpshake all summer day and night to that jam.

Strangely enough, the same comatose audience awoke with the force of freshly hatched 17-year cicadas when Art Brut hit the stage. The consistently fun and always loud English band rocked everyone’s socks off, turning the floor into a rowdy pit of mindless shoving. Tearing through old and new with Eddie Argos’ signature “Ready, Art Brut?” rally calls, Art Brut raged through songs like “The Passenger,” “Modern Art,” and “Emily Kaine.” After Eddie’s antics carried him into the middle of the circle of ridiculous behavior, the crowd exploded into a frenzy and never looked back. After leaving the stage, the band returned for an encore, teasing the audience with the intro riffs of “Back in Black” before shredding a few more songs and even taking an audience request for “St. Pauli.” Art Brut was just a brutal good time.

Saturday’s Noise for the Needy was a great time for a great cause. You can never go wrong with that. Miike Snow wraps up their summer tour at Lollapalooza, August 8 in Chicago; visit their Myspace page for more information. Art Brut ends their US tour on July 19 in Los Angeles and will return to Europe for a Summer and Fall tour. For more information, visit their Myspace page.

review and photos by Philip LaRose

Last Monday night when I went to Nectar Lounge to see The Juan MacLean and The Field, I didn’t know that I’d be at the hottest show in town. These two groups played sizzling sets of electronica to a packed and enthusiastic crowd. DJ Nordic Soul warmed up the club with a solid mix of dance music.

The Field is the stage name of musician and producer Alex Willner, who builds his music out of samples and loops and synthesizers. He has ties to minimalist and ambient electronica, as his music features long repetitions of rhythms that are added, changed, and dropped slowly over the course of the piece. However, these rhythmic patterns play out over a quick dance beat, making the music vibrant rather than languid. For this tour he enhanced the live aspect of the music by sharing the parts with a couple musicians, one who alternated between bass and drums, and another who mainly played additional synth but also played some guitar and glockenspiel. (A fourth person spent all his time a little off to the side at a laptop, and I couldn’t tell whether he was contributing to the music as well or mixing the accompanying video projections.) Having these additional musicians helped forge a strong connection with the audience, who could see when a featured part, such as the bells or the drums, was being played and thus could relate the musicians to the music—a relationship often lost in the button-pushing knob-twisting realm of deep electronica. And the audience responded to this connection with great enthusiasm, cheering loudly and bouncing a lot. The Field’s music is very cool stuff, and I could easily listen for a few hours; it seems tailor-made for airplane flights, and I’ll have to pick up the aptly-named album From Here We Go Sublime before my next trip.

While The Field kept the club simmering for an hour, The Juan MacLean brought it up to a full boil with their high-energy synth rock. John MacLean and Nancy Whang shared vocals, synths, and miscellaneous percussion, backed by Nicholas Milhiser on additional keys and percussion and John Fuchs on a mixed electronic and acoustic drum set. MacLean also had a theremin hooked up to his synth, and sometimes he just let it color the synth sound, but sometimes he totally rocked out on the theremin directly, which was amazing to see and hear. Although MacLean’s theremin skills were the most obvious sign of rocking out, followed closely by Fuchs’ motion-blurred drumming, all of the musicians contributed to the electrifying performance. Despite the predominant role of synths in the band, the music had a very warm and vital sound that had the whole club hopping. They built up to a stunning conclusion with “Happy House”, extended to over 20 minutes and climaxing several times, and then cooled things down in the encore with the mellow and dreamy “Tonight”. Both songs and much of the set came from their latest album The Future Will Come, which I also need to add to my collection. This was a great show and I’d love to see both bands again soon.

photos and words by Chona Kasinger

Though regretfully absent at the last Broken Social Scene show at the Showbox Sodo in February, jack-of-all-trades front woman Emily Haines and friends took center stage at the Showbox at the Market last night around 10:20 PM. The heat inside this sold out venue swelled to a calescent broil as Canadian five piece Metric blasted off into an onslaught of their vast catalogue, including their new single “Help Me I’m Alive.” Around five songs in, Haines paused to plaudit Washington’s own Bear Creek Studios before dedicating the 6th track off their new album, Fantasies, “Gimme Sympathy” to Seattle, in which she curiously broods “Who would you rather be, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?”

Haines glass doll voice has a breathy, yet breathless quality at the same time. The contrast of this with James Shaw’s sporadic shredding on guitar highlighted the band’s trademark musical aesthetic as they dove into the ambulance-wailing intro of dancer “Dead Disco.” There was certainly no shortage of pretty girls in dresses honing their best dance moves.

Metric was recently added to the crescive list of bands on the Bumbershoot lineup this year. Catch them on Monday night while you eat your funnel cakes and tall (and egregiously greasy) order of curly fries!

review by Jason Kinnard
photos by Alex Crick

My ears are still wrecked from a hot night of music at Neumo’s on Friday at the sold out John in the Morning at Night show. I’ve never left a single one of these shows disappointed and this year was no exception. In years past ,these have always been amazing shows to highlight up and coming bands, introducing us to acts such as Vampire Weekend, Maps, and Jamie T. The line-up this year was definitely intriguing when I first saw the show announced; I could only begin to imagine how a high-energy band like United States of Electronica was going to blend with a headier band like Iran and vice versa. Then again; isn’t that eclectic mix what KEXP is all about? I love the mixed bill. I don’t know why more shows aren’t like this. 

The evening started pretty much on schedule, ast the on-stage action coordinated with the live broadcast seemed to go off without a hitch. DJ Michele Myers got the party started with her infectious energy, dancing her way around the back of Neumo’s where the live broadcast station was set-up. The fact that the show was being broadcast live just seemed to add another cool element to the evening; it was almost like we were all at a secret party that everyone was trying to get into. Ha Ha, suckers! As soon as DJ Michele announced local opening act Throw Me The Statue, the place went nuts and the party was on. Alex and I were right up front for all the action!

In addition to being the hottest ticket in town, it also happened to be one of the hottest nights of the year so far in Seattle. The inside of Neumo’s quickly became a sweatbox as the crowd was just starting to fill in for local band Throw Me The Statue. This was my first time hearing the new material live and there was a lot of it that I liked: straightforward synth-pop. They sounded fantastic turned up on their brand new amps and set the bar high for the rest of the bands who were to follow. Next up was highly anticipated Brooklyn band Iran.

Iran had the most interesting stage set-up of the evening, a wooden chair in the middle of the stage next to a stand-up microphone stand and a full on rock band. I was excited to hear how the new material from Dissolver would sound live. Aaron Aites had a mesmerizing presence on-stage as he shifted from sitting to standing. Turns out the song that had me blown away though wasn’t from their new album at all but was their lead off song “We Could Go Away For a While” from their 2002 album, The Moon Boys. That was some of the sickest guitar work I’ve heard in a long time and it fit absolutely perfect with Aaron’s vocals. Hearing that right up front with the guitarist was a treat; my ears were luckily still intact at that point. They finished their short seven song set with favorites like “Buddy,” “Evil Summer,” and “I Already Know You’re Wrong” from their new album. A nice mellow set by Iran: what a perfect segue-way into Electronica.

In contrast, U.S.E brought the dance party to JITMAN. First of all, you have to respect any band that brings their own letters to a show, in this case giant white letters complete with white Christmas tree lights, letting you know the party is about to get started. U.S.E also brings their own beautiful singing/dancing girls who had no problems whipping the crowd into a frenzy as the band played their unique mix of dancey synth pop, complete with vocoder lyrics, multiple percussionists, and keyboards. It all went off without a hitch until the lead keyboard station went completely dead with only two songs left to play. The band improvised well but it didn’t help the near full capacity crowd from sweating any less. The place was dripping at this point as the stage was puddled with water and littered with empty water bottles and half empty gin & tonics. Confetti was being blasted everywhere. The band played a couple more songs to end their set and the stage was finally set for the headliner, Pela.

At this point, the crowd inside Neumo’s was packed like sardines, the place was buzzing and it wouldn’t be long before the boys from Pela took the stage. Everything and everyone was sweating at this point. We were in fact live on the air, with the clock ticking down, so luckily they don’t waste any time getting set up. John soon introduced the band and each band member gave him a giant hug before they took their spots on stage. The last time I saw Pela was at their epic 2007 KEXP BBQ appearance, so I was definitely excited to see them play again and hear some of the new songs. Anyone who saw them that day at the BBQ definitely left as a fan. One thing was for certain, Billy loves KEXP and it felt good to hear him complimenting the station and calling the city “blessed” for having it. Seattle and New York have a strange sort of connection with music, and Seattle and Pela seem to have an even stronger bond. As soon as Billy grabbed the microphone and screamed “Seattle!” the crowd roared to life and it was clear they were ready to rock. They were who everyone was here to see. This is also when I discovered not bringing earplugs was probably a bad decision. This was big anthem rock coming straight at you, right in your face. I was merely inches from the action, and not much further away from the amplifiers either. Standing in front of the fantastic guitarist Nate Martinez was a mind-blowing experience and I loved every ear numbing minute of it.  The band ripped through 14 or 15 songs of pure American rock including classics from their wonderful first album, Anytown Graffiti, and new songs like “Augustine” and “Juarez” from their upcoming album. They finished the night with a quick encore (no time to waste when it’s live on the air!) and confetti canons marked the finale as the group posed for a bow. We love you too, Pela. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.

review by Jim Beckmann
photos by Christopher Nelson

Monday night at The Triple Door, Stax recording legend Booker T. Jones returned to Seattle to promote Potato Hole, his first solo effort in a couple of decades. Although backed on the album by Neil Young and the Drive-By Truckers, Booker T brought along a different crack team of musicians: Troy Gonyea and Rick Holmstrom (of Mavis Staples’ band) on guitar, Ron Weber on bass, and Darian Gray on drums. With their combined skill, the group performed from the entire catalog of Booker T, typically alternating visually suggestive new songs like “Warp Sister” with rollicking older classics like “Green Onions.”

Throughout the night, the band members paid due deference to the master organ player while he sat almost royally before his signature Hammond B-3 and introduced each song with a bit of story behind it. Assigning any kind of meaning to instrumental music is ridiculously subjective, but Booker T spoke clearly to the images inspiring his new songs so it was like walking through his memories as he performed “Reunion Time” or spying on the Wall Street stockbroker jamming out an airguitar during “Native New Yorker.” He sang only twice during the set — on his song for Albert King, “Born Under a Bad Sign,” and the encore of Mavis Staples’ “I’ll Take You There” — and although his surprisingly confident signing left you wanting to hear more, that’s hardly what you go to a Booker T show for. His musical genius, going back to his house band days at Stax Records, has always lied in the voices of the melody, and his recent instrumental interpretation of OutKast’s “Hey Ya,” composed off of Andre 3000’s lyrics, proved that he still had the chops.

It’s hard to critique a Booker T show — so rare and masterful — but at times it seemed like the band members were a bit too deferential and holding back to let Booker T’s performance rather than let his music take center stage. While he’s a laid back performer by nature, his songs aren’t necessarily so, and it would have been nice to see more jams. Not that Gonyea and Holmstrom didn’t have their moments. Gonyea’s dirty, distorted riffing, obviously pointing to Neil Young’s influence in the album, brought some needed punch to the set, as during the organ-to-guitar call and response of “Potato Hole,” in which all the flourishes were his. And Holmstrom vigorously choked the blues out of his guitar, particularly on “Bad Sign” and the 70’s epic “Melting Pot,” the latter being one of the two songs that showed the band really grooving as a unit (the other being main set closer, “Time Is Tight”). These are minor grievances, though, as everyone on stage, including the much-tattooed Weber on bass, holding his instrument at a constant 70 degrees and almost imperceptibly tickling the strings down low, and Darian Gray, almost buried in the back behind his drumkit but able to pound his way out when the moment required. Besides, there’s no better location in Seattle than The Triple Door for such a special moment, and Booker T’s fans came out in force to pack every booth and table in the joint. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait another 20 years for more material, as the 65 year-old continues to write music as vibrant and fresh as he appears.

review by Katy McCourt-Basham
photos by Jessica Carina

I arrived to the very packed Vera Project just before the Iron & Wine set began. Sam Beam came onstage to roaring applause and then, all at once, complete silence the moment he picked up his guitar. I, sadly, missed the opening band (Bellingham locals Yogaman Burning Band), but everyone (including Beam) had nice things to say about them. The first thing he said to the audience was “If you don’t like that, you have to ask yourself, ‘Do I know how to have a good time?’”

Beam explained that they were doing something a little unusual with this tour. Fans were asked to submit requests via the internet for songs to be played at that show. Beam began the set with a short song, “Stolen Houses (Die)”, which he recorded for the Dark Was The Night compilation. Beam played alone, giving the show a more intimate feel. Though he had no one else accompanying him, the show was not lacking in any respect. His presence and sense of humor were great, and though he made his fair share of mistakes on his older songs, he was not at all flustered. His mistakes made him all the more endearing.

Because he was playing requests, there was a very interesting mix of older and more recent songs. He played big favorites like “Sodom South Georgia” and “Woman King,” and older tracks like “Muddy Hymnal” and “The Trapeze Swinger” (my personal favorite of the set). He also covered New Order’s “Love Vigilantes.” Everything was absolutely beautiful. There was a sort of electric silence among the audience members of this show. Everyone was dead silent while Beam played, and there was pretty equally distributed shock every time he cursed (speaking or in one of his songs).

Because he was playing requests, I was surprised at the absence of some of Beam’s more popular songs like “Naked As We Came,” “Jezebel” and his famous cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights.” Obviously, this didn’t put a damper on his performance (Sam Beam could sing me “The Hokey Pokey” for an hour and I’d be happy). If you ever get a chance to see Iron & Wine live, please do. You will not be disappointed.

Around The Well, a 2-disc compilation of Iron & Wine b-sides and odds ‘n ends comes out on Sub Pop this Tuesday, May 19th .

photos and review by Katy McCourt-Basham

Chop Suey was pretty quiet when I arrived last Thursday night. I got there at 9p.m. and was surprised to hear that the first band, Silver Teeth, had already played. It was an early night for Chop Suey (the show was over before midnight). Erik Blood took the stage not long after I arrived, and Hotels would close out the night.

I’m not going to lie, I had never heard Erik Blood before this show. I didn’t quite know what to expect, and, luckily, was very pleasantly surprised. His set was fantastic. The seven people crammed on that tiny stage gave a very energetic and heartfelt performance. One of the earlier songs in the set was about gay marriage, stating “I will not support the war on me.” Blood then began to play some awesome toe-tappin’ dance songs. Erik Blood is a confident performer, and his band is exceptionally talented. They used beautiful vocal harmonies throughout their set, and did a lot of genre mixing. The overall sound is hard to describe, but I would say that it’s a poppy version of The Cure meets The Beach Boys meets 60’s era soul meets super awesome.

The crowd had gotten a little bigger by the time Hotels took the stage. They opened with “Flight of the Navigator”, the last song on their most recent album, Where Hearts Go Broke. Most of their songs were from this most recent album, but they played a couple of new songs as well, including “The Bat Watusi”, their closing number. Their encore song was “Atlantic”, a track from their 2005 album Thank You For Choosing…. Hotels played exceptionally well, stepping up even from their great set on KEXP earlier that day. I look forward to seeing them play again soon.

Hotels will be playing at The Comet on May 21st and at the Noise For The Needy benefit at The High Dive on June 13th. Erik Blood will be playing The Tractor on June 16th.