Young Jesus with Follies at the Bootleg Theater

I headed off to the Bootleg Theater on February's last Wednesday night to catch Young Jesus. It was their final residency night. I had previously seen them before at The Hi Hat and really enjoyed their set. I was eager to catch them again. They didn't disappoint. They started their set with an avant-garde flair. Then their set shifted to moments of calm and moments of explosion. It was all very thrilling. 

Young Jesus

Opening up was Follies.

Follies

Harvard and Stone Celebration

This is a night I had circles on my calendar. Harvard and Stone was celebrating its 7th anniversary and Lauren Ruth Ward was playing a set. It was kind of a secret, I guess. Though I wonder how much of a secret. It was listed on the Harvard and Stone website. Buzzbands listed it. Though posters for the event stated their was a special guest.

Turtles On Speed opened up the night with a rock sound that mirrored their fashion sense of torn and ragged cloths. I did have a conversation with a photographer, Robert Noise, who usually shoots stadium shows. We had an amusing comparison on ISOs. He stated he usually shot around 2500. I said I usually shot around 6400. Yep, the difference between shooting stadiums vs local venues.

Turtles on Speed

Up next was Bjorn and the Sun. I actually first saw them at Harvard and Stone. They haven't been active much recently as from what I can tell the lead singer spends time doing photo tours in Cuba. They provided some joyous folk inspired sounds.

Bjorn and the Sun

Then it was time for the special guest hitting the stage at straight up midnight: Lauren Ruth Ward. When she was about to start her set, she said, "I'm the special guest." Ha ha. The place was packed with love both from the audience and artist. Sure, Harvard and Stone is like 1/5 the size of the Echoplex, but that didn't make a difference. Laurent gave it all and her fans returned it.

Amusing moment: anyone who watches Lauren Ruth Ward knows that she likes to reach out and touch her audience. So I'm pretty sure one individual in the front row was new to seeing one of her sets. She reached out with her hand and there was an awkward ticking of seconds as the person she was reaching out to wasn't sure what he should do. Finally, he reached out and they had their moment.

Lauren Ruth Ward

Hearty Har and Dream Phases at The Hi Hat

I'll be honest. Sometimes a band DMs me and I tell them I'll check out their band someday. Well, that's what got me aware of Hearty Har, a simple DM. A couple months passed and I noticed they were playing The Hi Hat. Off I went even though it was practically freezing outside and it would have felt much better to just cover myself in blankets at home. I'm happy I went off. They have a '60s style flair to their sound, maybe a hint of the '70s, as well.

Hearty Har

Dream Phases opened the night. For both Hearty Har and Dream Phases, Stranger Liquids was doing the light show. The light show worked perfectly for Dream Phases and their magical sounds.

Dream Phases

Saigo Residency at the Bootleg Theater with MishCatt and October's Child

It was off to the Bootleg Theater for the residency night of Siago.

First up was October's Child with a world music charm.

October's Child

Saigo hit the stage with love songs mixed in with political songs. Sort of an interesting mix of lyrics.

Saigo

MishCatt just got a music visa. She's from Costa Rica. During her set, I seriously understood why she got a music visa.

MishCatt

Cheekface and Sun Sic at The Hi Hat

There was an art walk in Highland Park. And there was the vegan taco truck Plant Food for People. And then there was Cheekface and Sun Sic at The Hi Hat. Not a bad night.

Cheekface did some guitar slamming.

Cheekface

Sun Sic went hair wild.

Sun Sic

Laurent Ruth Ward at the Echoplex

It was off to the Echoplex for Lauren Ruth Ward's last night of her residency. It was a rush from one part of the Echoplex to the other. Well, not exactly a rush, but I didn't exactly get to see full sets of Madison Douglas and The Entire Universe. The reason was that I was also there to see Gypsum who did brief sets out on the patio right after Madison Douglass and The Entire Universe.

Madison Douglas gave the audience some wonderful singer-songwriter tunes.

Madison Douglass

The Entire Universe set things up for Lauren Ruth Ward with a rocking set.

The Entire Universe

Out on the patio, Gypsum gave two sets that brought to mind Local Natives. For their first set, I was able to get to the front of the stage, but for their second set the patio was packed in. So what did I do? I headed outside of the Echoplex and caught the show from outside the patio area.

Gypsum

As for Lauren Ruth Ward? What would you expect. A packed crowd. An energizing set. And wait, a sign language speaker on stage.

Lauren Ruth Ward

Modern Time Machines, Sun Colony and Old Toy Trains at The Satellite

It was experimental rock/shoe gaze night at The Satellite.

The night started off with Old Toy Trains doing a cover of Joe Meek's "I hear a New World." It was some spacey stuff.

Old Toy Trains

Sun Colony and Modern Time Machines brought the shoe gaze.

Sun Colony's lead singer went wild with the microphone stand throughout the set.

Sun Colony

What was interesting about Modern Time Machines was running into a fellow photographer. We see each other about twice a year.

Modern Time Machines

Bad Ass Bands Night at The Hi Hat

I will admit I was in a bit of a dilemma. On this particular night, Laura Jean Anderson was scheduled at The Hi Hat and Jennie Vee was at The Lost Knight. When Jennie Vee had to cancel due to illness, it made things easy. In a way, it all worked out great, because it was a solid night of music at The Hi Hat.

First up was Ainjele Emme with some Americana music.

Ainjele Emme

TwoLips stole the show with some R'nB grooves.

TwoLips

Laura Jean Anderson closed out the night with a solo set: a musician and her guitar.

Laura Jean Anderson

What was unexpected was that Bad Ass Bands was wrapping up 5 year project of filming local bands. So they had some awesome lights going on all night. I was shooting at like 2500 ISO, something I rarely get to do when hanging out at local venues.

Pinky Pinky with Hit Bargain at The Echo

It felt like I was doing a hit and run at The Echo. There was a birthday party that was coming up, but I also wanted to catch Pinky Pinky. So it was a quick run over with an eye on the time. This being my first time catching them, I wasn't totally sure what to expect. What I heard was an awesome lo-fi punk sound. I can't wait to catch them again.

Pinky Pinky

Opening was Hit Bargain. I say they threw out some beat poetry punk.

Hit Bargain

Jesse Kivel with Ex-poets and Sophia Knapp at the Bootleg Theater

My first 2018 residency night adventure was a drive to the Bootleg Theater.

The night started out pretty solid with Ex-poets. It isn't too much to say that their music does sound like poetry. They had just started off as I walked in and I was loving their sound immediately.

Ex-poets

Sophia Knapp did a Hotel Cafe style set.

Sophia Knapp

Jesse Kivel is doing the residency. He mentioned that he had taken a multi-year break from performing. It is good he's back at it.

Jessse Kivel

Brass Box, Egrets on Ergot and Spirit In The Room at The Satellite

This was a fun night.

Egrets on Ergot went crazy with the stage show. I swear one could think pirate, West Asia, random and any number of words and that would explain their show. And given all that, there was one fan who sat on The Satellite floor throughout the set.

Egrets on Ergot

Spirit In The Room wore the black for an all out rocking set.

Spirit in the Room

Brass Box also wore the black for ethereal sounds.

Brass Box

Low Volts and Stephen El Rey at Harvard & Stone

It was a free week of music during the first week of January. I started things off at Harvard and Stone. It was a night of blues/rock. Stephen El Rey started things off with Johnny Cash style. He gets the quote of the night when he said: I'll pass a box of razor blades around for you all.

Stephen El Rey

I saw Low Volts three years back. It was nice to catch this one man show again. There were some amusing moments where he had conversations with his fictional bassist and second guitarist.

Low Volts

Ever So Android with The Great Sadness and Aud Mammal at The Hi Hat

It was a final 2017 show for me. For this final show, I went off to The Hi Hat. There was a nice variety of music.

The Great Sadness opened things up with a two-piece buzz saw. It was a rush. 

The Great Sadness

Aud Mammal's lead singer was celebrating her birthday. In fact, the whole night was her night. She has some deep vocals that make you swoon.

Aud Mammal

Ever So Android is a band that I put on my Top 15 New Band List for 2017. They did not disappoint with their Seattle punk.

Ever So Android