Break out the hackysack and butterfly wings, because former Phish bassist Mike Gordon is at the Tractor tonight in support of his new solo record, The Green Sparrow. Sub Pop singer-songwriters Sera Cahoone and Daniel Martin Moore play Neumo's, while The Architects bring the crazy to El Corazon.......

ARTISTS X-ING, WITH CAMERAS: A motley crew of photographers are gathering down at the Market tonight to explore the area through their camera lenses for the evening. They're meeting at that brass pig by the fish throwers (could this event get any more Seattle?) and will be snapping photos around the Market, downtown, Pioneer Square, the waterfront, and more. It's open to anyone who wants to join in the spirit of discovery and photography. 6......

LOCAL LIT: Tired of living la vida loca after pride weekend? Sick of the sun and the heat? Want to retreat back into your dark, shade-drawn house and dream of the rain? Of course not, which is why it's so hard to recommend you spend your Monday at a literary reading. Still, local author and medical expert Carol Casella has a reading tonight down at Elliott Bay Books, for her debut novel Oxygen. Casella, a......

Tonight, Das Llamas celebrate their new album Class Wars: K-12 at the Comet. The local rock fourpiece stomp out a little bit of everything, from synthy no-wave punk to dirty electro rock, offering up "a platypus of sound that is a new noise in a new era." Tonight is also the second of three shows (in three nights) for the CD release of Sounds from the Seattle Underground, care of the good folks at NadaMucho.......

FREE BOOTY: Scion is desperate to be cool, and the latest result of that pathological drive is a CD sampler of work from IHEARTCOMIX, the LA-based label/lifestyle company. The CD is available at Scion dealerships, but the real cool news is that IHEARTCOMIX is sending dj Franki Chan (with Radiocl*t and Drop the Lime) on a limited and exclusive tour to support the release that comes to the War Room tonight. The show's free, but......

It may not feel like summer in Seattle, but tomorrow afternoon is The End's Summer Camp II at Marymoor Park. It's a mix of the good (Nada Surf, MGMT), the bad (Flogging Molly, Pennywise), and the emo-ey (Armor for Sleep). Meanwhile, all weekend long Noise for the Needy marches on, raising money for Urban Rest Stop. Come tomorrow night, it's Matt and Kim, YACHT, and local band Feral Children at Neumo's. Here's a clip of......

HUGE AMOUNTS OF CHEESE: The Cheese Festival is upon us! This is one of our top three favorite events of the year (#2: our birthday, #3: Christmas). Several reasons: a city block full of cheese, friendly vendors, wholesale prices on bottles in the wine garden (don't buy the red wine that says "bacon" three times in its description, we made that mistake last year), and (it bears repeating) a city block full of cheese. 10......

Head to the Showbox this weekend for Ghostland Observatory tonight and tomorrow night. We've seen the Austin duo thrice before, and we can guarantee their yelpy dance-rock is much better live than in the recorded form (and much better in a packed and sweaty room like the Showbox than a spacious outdoor venue). Also two days in a row: local epic shoegazers Voyager One, who have a free listening party for new album Afterhours In......

As previously mentioned, tonight's Wig Bash at the High Dive, as well as the second, final, and sold-out performance of Nada Surf at the Showbox. Also sold out: Springsteen at Key Arena Saturday. But never fear, there's still other options out there, like Golem at Nectar tomorrow night. We don't know much about them, but we've heard that the six-piece klezmer band play "Eastern European drinking songs" and that they're "fun as hell." That's enough......

Another year, another Wig Bash. The local music website/indie PR firm is celebrating their fourth year in existence with four shows, two in Seattle followed by another two in Spokane, excellent line-ups for all. Festivities kick off tomorrow night with the official Wig Bash 08 preshow. Check it: Thursday, March 27 @ The Comet (preshow) Blackie (Blondie tribute band) -- headlining Paris Spleen Mistress & the Misters Oh Man! 9pm, $6 Friday, March 28......

Last weekend was dead, so of course this weekend there's approximately one bajillion bands playing. We've already mentioned Kaki King, Dengue Fever, and Born Ruffians, so here's the other weekend shows of interest: Tonight, Boredoms will be at Neumo's for their first show in Seattle in thirteen years. Though Pitchfork describes them as a "beauty and noise machine," it's pretty clear that, at least live, they're heavier on the noise than the beauty. Some clips......

Been a while since we've been out for a truly good time on a Saturday night. We want music, but not just any music. Something upbeat and a little crazy. Something that'll leave us sweaty and exhilarated when it's all over. Lots going on this weekend, sure, but one show in particular shines bright through a crowded calendar. It's a triple threat of great music this Saturday night at High Dive in Fremont. First off,......

DAYTIME MUSIC: The venerable Kell's down in Post Alley is having a St. Patrick's Day Festival (10am-2am, $20), with an all-day line-up of Irish music. So is downtown's Fado (10am-2am, $15, with $10 gift certificate for next visit). Over in Ballard, Conor Byrne opens at noon, with live traditional Irish music starting at three. At 8pm, they modernize the music with DJ Mapes's collection of Pogues, U2, Thin Lizzy, Waterboys, Stiff Little Fingers, Boomtown......

Tonight, if you're not already going to the second sold-out Magnetic Fields show, there's still a few tickets left for John in the Morning at Night at Neumo's, with the Duke Spirit, the Voom Blooms, and Tulsa. There's also PWRFL Power's (aka Kaz Nomura) second CD release show at the Vera Project. Since Kaz won a slot at last year's Capitol Hill Block Party (via the Stranger's Block Star contest last spring), he also won......

Here's another chance to get out there and support the, cough, "dying" Seattle music scene. This is going to be a killer show for all you folky, country-loving, singer/songwriter-digging people out there. Jack Wilson and his band are kind of Townes Van Zandt-y folk-rock. Husbands Love Your Wives is lyrcis-driven country-pop....think Victoria Williams. And, Eric Miller is just a beautiful songwriter--kind of Dylan-meets-Jeff-Buckley. Gosh, sometimes we think it's kind of silly to describe music......

This weekend offers a bevy of live music options. Tonight take your parents to see the Kingston Trio at the Moore, or leave mom and dad at home and head to the Comet to see the guaranteed awesome live performance of Monotonix. Sometimes the Tel Aviv punk trio lights the drum kit on fire, sometimes they play their instruments as the crowd lifts them into the air. Tonight is also Yoav's show at the High......

With everyone still nursing their post-NYE hangover, there's not much going on this weekend in terms of live music. In fact, your best venue bet for the foreseeable future is Chop Suey. Head there tonight to help Unscrew the Croc Employees with a all-local lineup including Coconut Coolouts, The Intelligence, The Girls, and Das Llamas. Tonight there's also Carrie Akre's last show before she takes a loooooong (and well-deserved) break. It's at the Triple Door.......

Time magazine claims, "You can't swing a dead cat this time of year without hitting a Top 10 List." Never one to waste a perfectly good dead cat, we decided to take a swing and create a Top Random-Number Shows Seattlest Saw This Year. And now, without any further ado, here's how your favorite bloggers broke down the year: According to Dante, everything else pared in comparison to Daft Punk at WaMu Theater 7/29/07. OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!......

Making up for weeks of hibernation and workaholism, Kim will hit the parties this weekend. Tonight, she’ll don her Groucho glasses for a lesbian function at Jabu’s celebrating the births of her two favorite Sagitarii. Saturday, it’s to the War Room for a company party with the missus and her workmates. Finally, she’ll ship off to the sub-tropics on Monday, where she’ll spend what remains of 2007. While his wife is taking a Wilderness......

This weekend, it's all about Friday and Saturday; Sunday is the Lord's day, so music is taking a night off. Tonight, there's another great Canadian band, Immaculate Machine, at the Vera Project. The pop trio features Kathryn Calder, who just so happens to be the New Pornographers' Carl (A.C.) Newman's niece. Way to keep it in the family. Meanwhile, the High Dive's got so-so-hot Chicago collective Scotland Yard Gospel Choir who, despite mountains of accolades,......

A few weeks ago, singer/raconteur Jenny Owen Youngs was in town, playing at the High Dive the same time as the Fremont Bridge was being closed evenings, which led to our arriving mid-set in a state of high dudgeon. We decided to skip a half-assed review, and afterwards fired off some impertinent questions via email. We just heard back, and as you'll see, Jenny schools us a bit. Now we adore her even more. If......

Jack has already mentioned Stars at the Showbox, and Katelyn's put the word out about Grayskul and Hangar 18 at Chop Suey. That leaves us to mention M.I.A. and the Cool Kids at Showbox SoDo, or, if you like things a little more old-school, Mudhoney is at El Corazon. Here they are playing "Hate the Police" in Prague: Saturday, it's a Brit-pop double-header with Travis and openers Maximo Park at the Moore. There's also The......

A sign inside Fremont's High Dive states that the little bar's maximum occupancy is 98. Saturday night, with Bellingham's The Trucks in the house, it felt more like 398. Good for the band's young ladies, not so good for the claustrophobic. When Seattlest arrived, the Dive was already crowded for opener Black Eyes and Neckties, an appropriately costumed hard-punk outfit. The hyperactive, Seth Rogen-y singer's unintelligible shouting quickly became tiresome and the set--admittedly well-played,......

We're doubling up this evening, and dropping in at chamber guitar group Tuning the Air, in their new CHAC-tastic location, for some Robert Fripp-ist unchained melodies. Here's the pdf of their Seattle Magazine profile. If you like acoustic guitars, this is your home on Monday nights. 8-9pm // CHAC // $10 suggested donation Then if the power's still on, we're off to Fremont, and the Jenny Owen Youngs show at the High Dive. We had......

The glorious fall sunsets have disappeared along with the mouldering husks of Halloween pumpkins, and according the weather report, we can all expect a long, cold, wet weekend. But this being the Northwest, that's never stopped us from getting out and about; here's the weekend plans of your intrepid Seattlest contributors: By the time this hits the digital newsstands, Jeremy is going to be on his way to Fadó for post-work cocktails; after that......

We've already mentioned this weekend's Pyramid Alehouse Snowed In Party, featuring the Presidents of the USA (tonight) and the Dandy Warhols (tomorrow). Tonight, there's also Black Dice bringing their wall o' noise to the Vera Project. A lot of shows tomorrow night, starting with MTV-buzzworthy Minus the Bear, along with Helio Sequence and Grand Archives, at the Showbox. There's also Seattlest's favorite kick-ass female foursome the Trucks at the High Dive, and the lush pop-folk......

It’s been five years since soft-rock-but-hard-when-they-want-to-be Brad has released a proper album, and about three years since they’ve played live. Now the local quartet (Shawn Smith, Stone Gossard, Mike Berg and Regan Hagar), one of our favorite bands anywhere, is back in action—they’ve got an album in the works and they’re playing NYC and Seattle this month. And we’re pissed. Brad hits Neumo’s on October 19, after headlining a Tim Robbins-hosted Huntington’s Disease benefit show......

Kevin Wood and his brother Andrew formed Malfunkshun, one of grunge's true ancestors, in 1980. The band (Kevin’s on the left in this 1983 photo) contributed two tracks to the legendary Deep Six album in 1986, then fizzled soon after. Andy moved on to the almost-famous Mother Love Bone, but became a statistic in 1990. For years, Kevin played in various bands with other guys who'd nearly become well known. Then in 2006, Kevin......

KEXP is having an auction of some kind where they sell off a lot of crap they have lying around to the highest bidder. Fanboys and girls of the radio station can get a place at the High Dive VIP table, the transmitter, their urinal (those wacky DJs), or an evening with Systems Coordinator Cyrus Despres. Despres is described thusly in the auction listing: While most people strive to be on-air DJs or work......

This is a big weekend due to the Esurance® Capitol Hill Block Party alone. Tickets are not sold out yet; if nothing else, just by 'em at the door. But what to do if you want to avoid the Hill and the confluence of all those hipsters? Tonight, there's Ryan Adams at the Moore. He's no longer the junkie hot mess he used to be, so this time around he probably won't go nutso if......