Yesterday afternoon KEXP’s John “In the Morning” Richards and Microsoft’s Bill “Richest Human on Earth” Gates convened in the plaza of Westlake Center to sell the world on Microsoft’s new mp3 player. Wearing Zune-branded outerwear, they briefly chatted about the joy of wirelessly sharing DRMed music with your pals and John promised to put his own very special playlist online. Then Gates decided that rather than tossing his Zune into a pile of his spare toys he’d hand it off to someone in the audience. John decided that the winner should be someone with brightly-colored hair, they granted her a very slightly used consumer electronics device, and introduced the Secret Machines.

While the band played a short set, local media swarmed around the winner of Bill’s Zune as well as anyone else in attendance who’d managed to score one of the devices ahead of schedule. The Secret Machines play a brand of rock that’s deeply appropriate for overcast on the verge of downpour weather. Although they sounded pretty good, they sound a lot better when they’re inside a venue with someone capable of calibrating the speakers so that each member of the trio is audible. Nevertheless, there was plenty of front-row fan appreciation and the band managed to finish seconds before the rain arrived and everyone contemplated making use of the comemorative Zune ponchos being handed out around the plaza.