photo by Kyle Johnson (view set)

Portland band Blind Pilot are no strangers to KEXP. They’ve performed live on air before, in their own hometown back when they toured by bicycle! Since then, they’ve been on the road almost constantly, pairing up with The Decemberists and Andrew Bird, The Hold Steady, Laura Veirs, Point Juncture WA, and others, while selling out many venues along the way.

As they finally wound their way back to the Northwest at the end of the year, they stopped by KEXP for a proper in-studio on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, and we captured all four songs from the session just for you!

In effort to bring you more of our photographers’ amazing work, we’re gathering some of the best uploaded pics each week with links for you to view more. Here’s a sample of what was uploaded this past week:

photo by Alex Crick S.U.E… I mean, U.S.E bring the dance party (and the letters) last Wednesday to the lunch hour listeners [more] …

photo by Jeremy Center while San Diego post rock instrumentalists Tristeza slowed it down on Friday and gave everyone a chance to digest. [more]

photo by Kyle Johnson Though they’re no strangers to KEXP, last week was the first time Portland’s Blind Pilot has made it to the Seattle studio. The band has toured exhaustively this year, thankfully no longer by bike!, supporting The Decemberists and The Hold Steady, and playing alongside Laura Veirs, Point Juncture WA and others, while selling out many venues. Perhaps they’ll get some rest after this. [more]

photo by Brittney Bush Bollay KEXP listeners are sure to remember Halou, a dream-pop meets trip-hop project out of the Bay Area, but now Rebecca and Ryan from the band are called Stripmall Architecture (with a lineup change) and while they’ve expanded their sound, if you liked Halou, you’ll love the new band! Rebecca and Ryan, with their new compatriots, played new songs on the Midday Show on Wednesday. [more]

photo by Brittney Bush Bollay A band name like We All Have Hooks For Hands might not be the catchiest, but their quirky indie pop sure is. And a band with two drummers? Great! …with two drummers playing the same kick drum? Awesome! [more]

photo by Brian Cullen Califone performed a set from their new album, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, which is also a companion to the film they showed (and played a live soundtrack to) at the UW HUB Auditorium that night. Here’s a portrait of frontman and auteur Tim Rutili. [more]

photo by Jill Rachel Photography Brazilian ex-pats Forro in the Dark prove they have sole. [more]

photos by Caitlin Enwright At the Sunset last Saturday, KEXP’s Audioasis broadcast in support of Teen Feed, an organization that works with the community to address basic needs, build strong relationships, and ally with homeless youth as they meet their future off the streets. Charles Leo Gebhardt IV and The Shackles performed. [more]

photo by Beth Eisgrau-Heller While over in NYC, John Darniele brought The Mountain Goats over to the Cutting Rooms Studios NYC for a session on the Morning Show with John Richards [more] …

photo by Keith Goldstein …followed by UK group The Big Pink, who showed up on the Morning Show to play moody, dancy music. [more]

review and photos by Chona Kasinger

This past weekend, Redmond’s Marymoor Park hosted a weekend of great shows, including Friday’s gathering of folking indie rock favorites The Decemberists, Andrew Bird and Portland’s Blind Pilot, who got the party started promptly at 6PM, as people steadily streamed into the park, newly relieved of the miserable traffic plaguing the 520.

With the gentle Redmond wind gently lifting his trademark tousled hair and face frozen in a seemingly permanent whistle purse, Andrew Bird is a character I would strongly liken to the kind of guy that could have been your favorite music teacher in high school. Bird is just about as talented a multi-instrumentalist as they come, and his live set totally touts this.

His live performance is confident, effortless and unforgettable. Bird’s music is you, the protagonist, in your heartland, playing tag in the fields and wading in warm rivers in the summertime. Its magical and nostalgic quality is difficult to describe without experiencing it firsthand.

“Moderation is a kind of extreme,” Bird coos before biting his lips and shutting his eyes, ostensibly in lost in inner peace as he sways his thin frame during the song “Lull.”

“That was fun!” Bird exclaimed midway through his set before pausing momentarily and quipping, “I like music.” It appeared to me that Marymoor also really liked music at that very moment. Bird performed several songs off his latest release “Fitz and the Dizzy Spells” and also reached into his back catalogue and performed a handful of old favorites, like “Scythian Empire” before wrapping up with “Fake Palindromes,” one of my all time Bird favorites with its tongue in cheek lyricism and grandiose violin trills.

“A Short Fazed Hovel” is the name The Decemberists chose to give their latest endeavor across the United States, and as we saw back in May at Sasquatch, included Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond, along with My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden among Decemberists personnel.

The Decemberists opened up with The Hazards of Love (this time, the landscape free of people in the heat of lovemaking) and continued on with many tracks of their latest release, The Hazards of Love. With Jenny Conlee complacently bobbing her head at sidestage over her various keyboards, Funk stoically chewing gum over the audience on the right hand side, and Stark and Worden occasionally taking turns on lead vocal efforts, Meloy indulged the audience in his iconic and highly stylized delivery. Anyone who is anyone can do some sort of ludicrous Colin Meloy impersonation, which just goes to show how idyllic he has become in the world of indie rock music.

Stark’s stage presence was unworldly, as she waltzed across the stage in some sort of wonderful trance. Meloy took things to a personal level as he chided the audience to give Gibbard the message “I want my shoes back.” Meloy also explained that Death Cab for Cutie’s show the next day at the very same location would inevitably involve a set list chockfull of the greatest songs Gibbard had ever written, but would not contain the worst. With about as much discretion as Britney Spears in an upskirt paparazzi shot, Meloy confided “I’m going to play you the worst song I’ve ever written. Okay guys, this song is pretty bad.” before jumping into “Dracula’s Daughter,” in which he sings the following over a self described “douchy chord progression (Cm to Gm, if you must know)

Dracula’s daughter
Dracula’s daughter’s got it bad
You think you got it bad?
Try having Dracula for your dad

The Decemberists encore included an assortment of older tracks, such as “The Bicycle Song” and “July July,” along with a jawdropping rendition of Heart’s “Crazy On You.” Stark shocked the masses by hitting the high notes on the chorus, I couldn’t help but burst into incredulous laughter at how surprisingly incredible the cover, as a whole, was. Though relatively unfamiliar with the music of My Brightest Diamond, I never would have guessed that such a voice could have come out of such a pixy-ish little figure. The temporary dimension these two ladies has added to The Decemberists live show has been mind boggling (in the best possible way).

Per usual, the band wrapped up with arguably one of the best tracks off The Crane Wife: “Sons and Daughters.” The timing of this song couldn’t have been any more perfect, as the fog and lights mingled to reveal the magical insects flying high over the stage in an ethereal fashion. The audience was clearly ready to join in with the band in their chants of “Here now the bombs fade away.” This epic call to a distant end never fails to inspire, the sheer beauty and simplicity of the song clearly superseded by an ulterior message of peaceful engagement and love.

We’ve got a few more videos from our broadcast this past fall at Doug Fir Lounge during Musicfest NW. One of the highlights, of which there were many, was the energetic and effervescent performance by Portland’s own Blind Pilot. The group detoured midway through their second tour (by bicycle!) to return to home for the festival and this performance. Strings and vibes accompanied the four touring members of the band (Israel, Ryan, Kati, and Luke) for a lush sound, perfect for that amazing venue. Here are a few songs from the set:

Go On, Say It:

Story I Heard:

We Are The Tide:

You can read an exclusive interview with the band from that same day and download the full performance as one of our Live Performances podcasts.