"Storm photo," by Seattlest Flickr contributor ntisocl After the loss of Lauren Jackson to ankle surgery a few weeks ago, the Storm powered their way into the playoffs with strong defense, good rebounding and an uptick in backcourt scoring. Last night, in their 71-64 season-ending loss to the L.A. Sparks, the Storm failed on all three. From the opening tip, the Sparks were the tougher team, until, with their backs to the wall and trailing......

ROOTS MUSIC IN BALLARD!?: Yeah, we know this happens pretty much every night, but there's a good batch of bands at the Tractor tonight. Local singer-songwriter outfits Husbands Love Your Wives and Jack Wilson & The Wife Stealers open a bill for the wonderful and interesting anti-folk fabulousness of Elliot Brood from north of the border (and east a bit). 9 p.m. // Tractor Tavern // $8 HIPPIE WOO-WOO TALK: (We can call it that......

THAT'S FUNNY, BITCHES: Chris Rock is one of those people who can just stand there and we'll laugh. But when he opens his mouth, forget it. We kind of laugh so hard we can't even hear what he's saying half the time, cycling through our various laughs from chuckle to cackle and snort. So you're probably glad we won't be at the Paramount tonight for his show. We'd just distract everything, and he'd probably make......

As Tuesday afternoon rolls around, we're trying to recall what we did last weekend and remember—hey yeah!—we hit two concerts: a five-band line-up at the Showbox on Friday, and Nine Inch Nails on Saturday. How could we have forgotten? Oh that's right, it was a boring-as-hell time. Friday night we headed down to the Showbox at the Market to catch Tea For Julie with Slowly We Survive and Shyforshy, all opening for Gin Betty! and......

Yes, there's other shows this weekend besides the Capitol Hill Block Party. Tonight, there's The Watson Twins, who will bring their lovely harmonies and creepy identical-ness to the Tractor. And if you're lucky, they'll cover The Cure: For something completely different, there's Kill Hannah, along with The Medic Droid and Innerpartysystem at El Corazon. Or head to the Sunset for the island-smooth pedal steel guitar stylings of Neko Case sideman Jon Rauhouse, with Visqueen's own......

In a landmark settlement that brings to an end four decades of NBA basketball in the Emerald City, the City of Seattle has accepted a $75 million buyout from the Supersonics to release the team from the remaining two years of the club's lease at Key Arena. In addition to the cash payment, the city will also retain the "Supersonics" name and the franchise history, which could be applied to a future franchise. The......

HAVE SOME FAITH: George Michael wrote songs that informed the sexuality of millions of young girls around the world—songs that went on to become gay anthems, long before he came out. The 25Live Tour promises to be the hottest, funnest, gayest, screamy-est concert Key Arena has seen all year. Wave to this Seattlest who will be sitting in the second row. 8 p.m. // Key Arena, Seattle Center // $49.40-$250 A BIG NIGHT OUT: Columbia......

Judge Marsha Pechman will preside over the City of Seattle v. Sonics trial, scheduled to begin Monday. Since the fate of our beloved pro basketball team rests in her hands, Seattlest wanted to take a closer look at the person standing at center court. A former law faculty member at both UW and Seattle U, Judge Pechman has been described as an energetic and hard-working jurist who rose fast in the legal community. Bob......

We didn't know Neil Diamond has a new album (Home Before Dark, out May 6th), and we don't care that he has a new album (even though it is his second collaboration with uber-producer Rick Rubin). We're just glad to hear that this September, Neil Diamond is coming to town. Even after he whored himself on this week's American Idol, it's hard to hate on the legend. With a four-decade long career that has......

A week from today the NBA teamowners will meet in New York to, among other things, discuss and possibly vote on moving the Sonics from Lower Queen Anne to Oklahoma City. It will be interesting to see how Portland Trail Blazer owner Paul Allen votes. He is a Seattle native, who lives, works, and develops here. He also owns the Seahawks, many of whose fans would be devastated if the Sonics were to move. On......

Is it a felony to advocate semi-civil disobedience? If not, the few remaining souls tough enough to stomach the funeral that is the Sonics last home game this Sunday should consider storming the court or at the very least burn former owner Howard Schultz in effigy outside. Emphasis on should. After considerable soul-searching, we’ve determined getting arrested on a Sunday evening doesn’t exactly fit into our end of weekend plans, but we have no......

Seattlest John pointed out earlier today that Dino Rossi is looking to use the Sonics impending departure as yet another wedge-issue in his re-match with Gov. Gregoire. We'll refrain from commenting on how awful we think Rossi is and won't say anything about how if Rossie were still in the State Senate, he'd be fuming mad at the idea of the state taxing citizens for a basketball team. No, we won't comment on that. Instead,......

Dino Rossi is savvy enough to know the state’s inability to broker a Key Arena remodel is the type of far-fetched, wedge issue just ripe for exploiting come November’s election. Considering the hotly contested runoff between him and Governor Gregoire several years ago, the Sonics impending departure is the perfect issue to highlight as an example of weak-kneed Democrats not taking care of business on Gregoire’s watch. Of course, there is the fact Key......

It's that special time of month when the Seattlest inbox starts filling up with notices and pre-sale info for upcoming concerts. Big news--Foo Fighters, Key Arena, Friday, July 11. 107.7's got a presale--click here to buy you Foo Fighters tickets this Friday, 2/21, from 10am to 10pm. Presale code: theend Enjoy!......

We tried to get into the Obama Rally at Key Arena this afternoon, but we couldn't. The crowd had already filled up Key Arena by 11:15 (doors were at 11), so we were relegated to standing outside with a few thousand other people in the cold, wind and rain. Seattlest Katie was inside and had this to say: Key Arena was packed. I sat on the floor in the aisle on the third level. It......

As our friend who sent us the info announced this news, so shall we: "GAY GASP! Hillary's coming to town tonight!" Okay, so we were at an event on Saturday, when Maria Cantwell joined longtime local Hillstumpers Jay Inslee and Ron Sims for a chat about Mrs. Clinton's Clean Energy Plan. A young woman who claimed to be a UW student stood up and asked the three if they could do something to get......

Ever notice how Luke Ridnour gets the loudest applause at Key Arena? It’s kind of strange since the 5-year NBA vet is one of the worst Sonics point guards to actually start or get playing time in team history. Laying claim to the lowest field goal percentage among a miserable cast of point guards on one of the worst teams in the league should be a recipe for early retirement; Ridnour even trails our......

The Seattle Times' Jim Brunner points out a head-exploding irony in the Sonics' legal case to escape their Key Arena lease. For a lifetime, we've heard professional sports owners trot out the argument that we ought to pay for their arenas because they provide an economic benefit to the community. Think of the waiters, the parking attendants, the ushers and all the people that make money when the team plays. Or don't--they'd be getting their......

This is pretty heartwarming stuff. The NBA asks teams who play against New Orleans to do a little community service while they're there. Teams do, often haphazardly, sending a couple of players along to some pre-selected site. But the Sonics entire staff--coaches, players, security people--showed up to serve food at a New Orleans substance abuse center for 45 minutes, reports the P-I's Gary Washburn. Then, after that, coach P.J. Carlesimo wanted to do more, so......

You'd assume that the few people who showed up at Key Arena tonight were hoping from a show from Kobe Bryant. They got one. Bryant scored a season-high 48 points, including the final three baskets of the game to get his Lakers the overtime win. The Sonics were up four points with under two minutes to go, and with Kurt Thomas at the line for two shots. Thomas missed both, and then Bryant hit ridiculous......

Could we be any vaguer? No, but that doesn't mean there's still not any reason to get excited. With In Rainbows making its formal debut atop the Billboard charts, Radiohead is set to cover North America in two tour legs, one prior to and one following their recently announced European summer tour (June 6 in Dublin through July 8 in Berlin). There's no exact dates or venues just yet, but the band has confirmed......

Yeah, yeah, yeah… we’ve bawled a bunch about the blahness of Queen Anne cuisine, from the "exotic" Chinoise at the top of the hill to the "exotic" Racha at the bottom of the hill. So we lowered our expectations a bit to try some good ol' American food at Floyd's Place, which reviewers consistently Yelped as, well, "decent." "Decent" is a decent enough descriptor of the BBQ pork loin sandwich, served with sides of slaw......

The Sonics open their season tonight in Denver. Game's at 7:30, you can watch it on FSN. If the Sonics' owners weren't trying to move them, we'd probably write about how this is a rebuilding year for the franchise, about how this season isn't really about winning but about watching Durant and #5-pick Jeff Green learn how to play in the NBA. We'd write that the Sonics' front office wisely brought in a couple......

For everyone that doesn't have an eight, nine or ten-year old daughter or doesn't work at either paper or any of the local television stations or at Key Arena, Hannah Montana is some Disney television thing that toured through Seattle yesterday to a storm of coverage and over-inflated ticket prices. The show's pretext is that this teenager leads a double life: everyday anonymous jerk by day, rock star Hannah Montana by night. It looked like......

It's hard to think of Ozzy Osbourne as scary anymore, after seeing him unable to work his remote controls and shuffling around in a haze from all the meds he's on, but rest assured, at one point in time, he was a freaky, bat-beheading maniac. Perhaps he can borrow some freakiness from Rob Zombie, who lately is known more for his gory movies than for his music. The two are embarking on a forty-show......

After paying for a financial feasibility study, the Muckleshoot tribe announced today that they'd be willing to donate land for an NBA arena down there in Auburn. The land is more or less here: The Muckleshoots' study indicated that people who attend Sonics games are no less likely to go to the games if they are in Auburn than if they are at Key Arena, and there's a certain logic there. As for us, we......

Musical hyphenate-extraordinaire Shawn Smith has been fronting bands and playing solo in Seattle for about 15 years. As recent, local music history goes, he’s as seminal a figure as Kurt Cobain—and more prolific—though not nearly as high-profile. He should be. Always busy, Shawn’s currently spending time with Kevin Wood, covering Malfunkshun tunes (and writing new ones) as From the North. His band Brad has a new album recorded and will, he’s confirmed, play in......

You know how a band comes to Seattle and plays Key Arena, but somehow you've completely missed their rise to power and barely know who they are? Tomorrow, Muse. Last year they were at the Paramount. Seattlest fav the Ruby Doe are at the Funhouse tonight. Here is the first Youtube band clip you've ever seen from Squilchuck State Park. Mustaine and Megadeth are at the Moore tonight. If Seattlest has to read or hear,......

Save our Sonics & Storm appealed to Seattle pride in a letter to supporters today.In case you have not seen it Sonics and Storm fans have been "called out" in the Oklahoma City Newspaper owned by the Bennett family. This issue is getting national attention for the inept handling by ownership, the lack of leadership in our region, and the general apathy of the fans. NOW IT IS OUR TIME!The "calling out" they refer to......

Sonics minority owner Aubrey McClendon confirms what we all suspected from the start. In an interview with the Oklahoma City Journal Record, he says:We didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle; we hoped to come here. McClendon, who previously got bad publicity in Seattle for being anti gay rights, lauds Clay Bennett for "artfully and skillfully" (translation: underhandedly) getting the team. Here's the full quote:We started to look around, and at that time......