5 posts tagged “live music”

Who: Rufus Wainwright (with opener Teddy Thompson)
When: April 22nd
Where: The Triple Door

Notes: Where to begin? At the beginning, I suppose. I stumbled into the ticket for this concert, randomly checking the Triple Door's website the day the tickets happened to go on sale. I was joined by friends for the show, including two who had come up from Oregon, which was pretty awesome I have to say. We got in line wicked early because we wanted to ensure that our three sets of reservations were seated together, and it paid off, because we were given the best seats in the house.

No, really.

See? Yay. Also, please to note Rufus's stripy pants.

But first, Teddy Thompson opened, which was fantastic. His set was nearly entirely from his upcoming album, which is straight-ahead old school country. Partway through I was thinking it was the sort of set where you expect him to say at any minute, "And now a tune by Townes Van Zandt." He didn't, though, but he did cover Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Dolly Parton. Which is pretty awesome for an English folksinger, I have to say. His voice is just gorgeous. I am looking forward to the release of Upfront & Down Low because I, unsurprisingly, have a soft spot for classic country, but I guess I have to wait a bit.

Then Rufus came out (with a full band!) and blew us all away. His first number was the title track from Release the Stars, and seriously, I could not take my eyes off of him. I could barely -breathe- he was so ON, and he didn't let up a bit. It's the first show of this tour, so he joked about it being a rehearsal and there being songs he "had to do". He did every single song off of the new album, plus a few older songs, two from the Judy Garland show, and an Irish song his mother told him he had to do since he had a horn section. She was right.

There were a few flubbed lyrics... easy to do when the songs are as wordy as his... but he's utterly charming and the audience would have forgiven him anything, I think. The last time I saw him was an outdoor show & he had some trouble with his voice (we remember "Vibrate" in particular being tricky), but this show was note (if not word) perfect

His band is great, and look! They are all stripy too! What you can't see in the photo is that they're all wearing rhinestone brooches. Very sparkly & fabulous. There was a second show on Monday night, and it was all I could do to not go down and get in line for a standing-room-only spot.

At the merch table they were selling the new album, more or less. You got a copy of the liner notes & a voucher to pick up the CD when it's released next month. Said voucher was also a ticket to get the liner notes signed after the show (!). He was down to whispering at that point, but I got to look him in the eye and say "Thank you", and that was all I really wanted.

Rufus's album (Release the Stars) is amazing and comes out on May 15. I put Teddy's most recent album below, but his new disc comes out in August, I believe. And I'm going to try to stop looking at Rufus's tour page and plotting out trips I really can't justify taking to see him again. And again. And again.

Who: Girlyman
When: April 13th
Where: The Triple Door

Notes: I think this is my first show of the year with company! A friend took the bus down from Vancouver, which was really nice, especially since the patrons on either side of us filled me with puzzlement. On one side were two girls who had come just for the opener (Chris Pureka, who was fine and all I guess, just not interesting) and left before the end of the show, and on the other was a couple who appeared to come mostly for the drinks. They did buy the opener's CD, but the guy flat out laid his head down on the table during Girlyman's set, which had me all O.o

Because their set? Was AWESOME. I've been seeing them for a few years now, so it's been pretty cool to see them develop and improve.  Plus, they were not all in good voice at the last Seattle show, so they particularly blew me away this time with everyone totally ON.  They did a good mix of songs, including a lot from the new album, which is FANTASTIC, and as usual closed out with a few really great covers. I'd kill to have a proper covers album from them someday, because I have a deep and abiding love of covers that mess with gender, and no one does that like Girlyman.

Their new album is called Joyful Sign and is available through their website. Amazon has the first two albums shown below, which also make my toes curl.  They keep on getting better, which is both not fair and made of win.

Who: Richard Shindell
When: April 3rd
Where: The Triple Door

Notes: The evening began with tragedy. I had forgotten my knitting. To add insult to injury, I had an off-the-needles sock I was planning to rip back, add a few rows to the foot, and then re-turn the heel, but my sock that's always in my bag... wasn't, which meant I didn't have my needles either. So I had to rely on a Games magazine I still had in my bag from the flight this weekend.

On the less tragic side of things, I was seated in the very front row. I've often wondered what you have to do to get put there, and I am guessing the answer is "be lucky".

The show itself was fantastic. No opener, which was fine with me. Richard's one of those amazing artists where you never feel like anything is filler; every song is a song you were really hoping to hear. Just fantastic.

I've linked his live album below, but he does have a new album out which he is distributing himself. It's all covers, and can be picked up via his website or at a show. I got it last night, but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.

Who: Jeffrey Foucault with opener Kasey Anderson
When: February 22nd
Where: Tractor Tavern

Notes: A laid-back, seated show, which was exactly what I needed last night. Anderson was a great compliment to Foucault, both playing solo, and I look forward to hearing more from him. Jeff's set included unrecorded tunes with lyrics taken from "dead" poems by David (Goody) Goodrich's wife, and they're planning to record an EP, something I very much look forward to. It was a small crowd and a show light on banter, but we did get a new lie about Peter Mulvey, which is always entertaining, as well as Jeff's thoughts on "American Idol" ("If I want to watch people systematically destroy their lifelong dreams, I'll turn on C-SPAN"). Yay :)

It occurred to me during the show last night that Vox would be a good place to track the concerts I see this year. So, here we are. (It took me a while to get going this year, but I think the post holiday time is always a little slow.)

Who: Erin McKeown with opener Eleni Mandell
When: February 15th
Where: Tractor Tavern, my favorite Seattle venue.

Notes: Mandell did nothing for me, which is kind of a feat considering that her band included upright bass, which I am an absolute sucker for, and her set included nautical tunes, as it were. But she and her band just exuded this air of utter boredom. But Erin was superfantastic, and I'm not just saying that because she came onstage in a pinstripe suit. Though, that certainly didn't hurt. Great band, too, with a bonus appearance by Seattle sax player Jessica Lurie.