On Monday, the much anticipated Counter Burger located in the new Ballard Blocks opened.

Counter Burger has been “previewed” several times already on several different blogs. So far, the buzz seems to be favorable.

We checked it out during one of their preview parties, and the food was excellent. I’d be interested to hear if anyone has been there in the past two days.

Be sure to follow them on Twitter as well. They often tweet specials or coupons.

Eddie Vedder during Pearl Jam’s sold out Key Arena show last night

Wow what a show. Not only does Pearl Jam still have what it takes to kill it at a huge venue like Key Arena, but they can do it for over 2 hours. Above all it was just a good old rock show. No fancy screens or effects, just some nice stage lighting and Pearl Jam doing what they do best. The songs were a nice mix of old and new, along with a couple from their newest album, “Backspacer”. (Speaking of “Backspacer”, if you have Rock Band you can download the entire album to play in the game as of today.) As of this morning there were still some tickets left for tonight’s show. If you are still thinking about going though you should act fast!

Here is the full set list from last night. Sounds like people are split 50/50 about what the set is going to look like tonight. I’m guessing they change it up and play a lot of older/obscure stuff along with the songs from the new album.

Set List: Long Road, Corduroy, Gonna See My Friend, Got Some, Hail Hail, Amongst The Waves, Daughter, Even Flow, Johnny Guitar, Unthought Known, World Wide Suicide, Small Town, Off He Goes, Down, Save You, The Fixer, Life Wasted

1st encore: Just Breathe w/the Octava String Quartet, The End w/ the Octava String Quartet, Inside Job, Rearviewmirror

2nd encore: Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, Better Man, The Real Me (Townshend) w/ the Syncopated Taint Horn Quartet, Indifference, Alive

For many many more pictures I took at this show, keep reading after the jump… (more…)

girl talk at the showbox; photo by me; more in the photoset [flickr]

Girl Talk is one of those acts that reminds you how fortunate it is to be in a place with a floor built on a bed of springs. Mere minutes after Greg Gillis ran onto the stage, made a round of front-row high-fives, scaled his table, and settled into his spot behind a card table decked out with plastic-wrapped laptops (“2 laptops and a pair of giant studio monitors are the new 2 turntables and a microphone.” [@asa]), the sold out crowd was putting the structure to the test. A track or two in, and the empty stage began to be filled by a not entirely unreasonable cross section of Seattleites — a low key programmer type for every two neon spectacled party kids — and a duo of jerseyed leaf blower operators who sent toilet paper, confetti, and the occasional inflatable into the house.
Really, though, the onstage spectacle of dancers, a sweaty disrobing (not a) DJ hardly stopping his bouncing while hammering away at the mix, and retro projected graphics, hardly mattered. The stacks of samples, cutting across decades of popular and obscure culture, colliding into each other, being mixed into new mental connections, and made fresh in an on-the-fly live experience made nonstop dancing entirely more compelling than people-watching. I’m sure that someone with a better ear and mind for cataloging will come up with a brainbending setlist; my favorite moments of recognitions were for classic Nirvana, Kelly Clarkson, Journey, the usual set-ending Elton John, and some new (disc of the summer) Phoenix making it into the mix. After something like an hour and a half, the show ended promptly. In the moment, stopping before midnight seemed too soon, until you realized that maybe if it went on forever people would die of dehydrated exhaustion, making the leaving while wanting more just about perfect.

get up kids playing the roseland for musicfest nw. photo by me; more in the photoset [flickr]

Last weekend Portland (a.k.a., the new Ballard) turned over some of its finest clubs to host Musicfest Northwest, a sort of (I imagine) South by Southwesty citywide parade of excellent shows. Over the four days, it seemed like just about every important touring band converged on the town to torment fans with difficult decisions about how to best make use of their wristbands and to balance strategic decisions about lining up early versus seeking out taco stands and worlds of books. To an infrequent visitor, this collection of packed nighttime performances and small daytime performances in basements or former funeral homes only enhanced the perception that Portland is a sprawly city with a bit of magic in the air. Schoolbuses with confused drivers shuttled between clubs, a costumed wrestling match took place on our hotel’s covered courtyard, the per capita concentration of plaid and heavyframed glasses were so far above the national average it’s hardly even worth trying to quantify, entire villages of food carts have come to occupy stray parking lots, and sometimes people say “the evil swoosh” out loud.

Of course, the shows were great, too. Explosions in the Sky make melancholy sound heroic like nobody’s business; Frightened Rabbit make continual heartbreak seem like not such a poor life choice; Arctic Monkeys kept the dance floor rolling while seeming incredibly tired of being young and famous; Mount Eerie are wrapping sprightly nature poems in harsh metals; the Local Natives provided an excellent reason to get out of bed before ten; Pink Mountaintops were pleasantly less psychadelic than advertised; and the Get Up Kids had me screaming with Napster-era nostalgia during certain parts of their set. Also notable was a KEXP–Caffe Vita co-production at the Woods, a venue carved out of a former funeral home. The Lonely Forest, Langhorne Slim, Fences, John Vanderslice, Bobby Bare Jr., Black Whales, and others played tiny sets in the parlor as the perfect soundtrack taking it easy on a Saturday afternoon. Keep an eye on their blog [caffevita] for performance footage. All in all, the festival was a wonderful reason to visit our neighbor to the south to be reminded that there are cities even more relaxed than Seattle.

6:30 PM – Heather Barbieri: Lace Makers of Glenmara
SPL Montlake Branch
Fashion designer has crisis, travels to Ireland, and finds self (amid lingerie). Because pretty panties make everything better.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Stephanie Kallos: Sing Them Home
University Bookstore U-District
“Everyone in Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, knows the story of Hope Jones, the physician’s wife whose big dreams for their tiny town were lost along with her in the tornado of 1978. For Hope’s three young children, the stability of life with their distant, preoccupied father, and with Viney, their mother’s spitfire best friend, is no match for their mother’s absence. Larken, the eldest, is an art history professor who seeks in food an answer to a less tangible hunger; Gaelan, the only son, is a telegenic weatherman who devotes his life to predicting the unpredictable and whose profession, and all too much more, depend on his sculpted frame and ready smile; and Bonnie, the baby of the family is a self-proclaimed archivist who combs the roadsides for clues to her mother’s legacy, and permission to move on. When, decades after their mother’s disappearance, they are summoned home after their father’s sudden death, they are forced to revisit the childhood tragedy at the center of their lives.”– I have no memory of where this description came from.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Staged Reading: Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Town Hall Seattle
“Town Hall Seattle and Intiman Theatre present a dramatic reading of selections from the Lincoln-Douglas Debates convened during the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign. Lincoln, the Republican challenger, was a little-known upstart taking on a political giant. His oratorical brilliance and passionate support of racial equality helped make him an American hero. In this year of the Lincoln Bicentennial, actors Erik Lochtefeld and R. Hamilton Wright – who will play Lincoln and Douglas in Intiman’s production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois – will recreate this seminal moment in political history. The 45-minute reading will be followed by a discussion with the audience.” -Town Hall
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Carolina De Robertis: The Invisible Mountain
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“The history of Uruguay through the 20th century sparks personal tragedies amid political intrigues and cultural upheavals in this enchanting, funny and heartbreaking debut novel. Three generations of women populate this sweeping saga … This novel is beautifully written yet deliberate in its storytelling. It gains momentum as the women’s lives spin increasingly out of control while Uruguay sinks into war, economic instability, and revolution. An extraordinary first effort whose epic scope and deft handling reverberate with the deep pull of ancestry, the powerful influence of one’s country and the sacrifices of reinvention.” – Publishers Weekly
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Jess Walter: The Financial Lives of the Poets
Barnes & Noble University Village
“…a hysterical, heartfelt novel about how we can reach the edge of ruin—and how we can begin to make our way back.” –from the publisher’s description
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Red Pine: In Such Hard Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu
SPL Central Library Microsoft Auditorium
“Planned to be in large part a bilingual reading, this evening showcases this first book of English translation devoted to the work of Wei Ying-wu (737 – 791), a poet who quietly worked in government posts and crafted simple poetry rooted in the natural world. Red Pine’s other translations from Copper Canyon include the classical anthology, Poems of the Masters, The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain, and the forthcoming reissue of Lao-tzu’s Taoteching. As Bill Porter, he is the author of the recent, delightful travel account, Zen Baggage: A Pilgrimage to China.” –EBB
[LINK]

Image via Nate Watters

I’m sure you’ve noticed that Monotonix did not burn down Neumos. Thankfully. There was no fire at all which, given how tightly the crowd clustered around whatever member of the band was closest, was definitely for the best.

The last time I saw Black Eyes and Neckties was kind of a high water mark for me in terms of impressive ridiculousness, what with the wheelchair and skull. I enjoyed them no less this time around. It was a little sad when they came onstage, knowing that this was their last Seattle show. They are sinister and seething when they play and charmingly goofy in between songs. If you can, you should probably head up to Bellingham on Halloween and catch their final show.

Second opener Unnatural Helpers have a singing drummer, which is a thing that always amazes me because it seems like it would take an extra helping of coordination.

(more…)

7:00 PM – John Crowley: Fantastic Fiction Salon
Richard Hugo House
“Three-time World Fantasy Award winner and recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, John Crowley is the author of eleven novels, including the classic “Little, Big.” Crowley will read from and sign his new novel, “Four Freedoms.”" – RHH
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Lesley Hazelton: After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia – Sunni Split in Islam
University Temple Church
“…Americans in general, and our politicians in particular, often can’t tell Sunni from Shi’ites. With the publication of this outstanding book, we no longer have any excuse. Hazleton (Jezebel) ties today’s events to their ancient roots, resurrecting seventh century Arabia with reverence and vivid immediacy … The battle to name Muhammad’s successor is gripping—but it is Hazleton’s ability to link the past and present that distinguishes this book … anyone with an interest in the Middle East, U.S. – international relations or a profound story masterfully told will be well served by this exceptional book.” – Publishers Weekly
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Nicolette Bromberg: Picturing the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: The Photographs of Frank H. Nowell
University Bookstore U-District
ENOUGH ON THE EXPOSITION, ALREADY! [LINK]

7:30 PM – Janet O. Dallett: Listening to the Rhino: Violence and Healing in a Scientific Age
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Dr. Dallett brings to bear science and intuition, weaving a tapestry of both theory and living examples to instruct as well as emotionally involve the reader. As an analyst, I always find her books provocative and illuminating. She is no ungrounded Pollyanna, but rather a shamaness who offers compassionate guidance into the dark forest—and knows when she must let us find our own way.” – Nicholas French, Ph.D
[LINK]

Saturday , September 18, 2009
7:00 PM – Shifting Words: Poetry Reading
Dunshee House
Shift hosts the fourth installment of this spoken word event. Part of National Recovery Month.
[LINK]

Sunday, September 19, 2009
4:00 PM – Kenneth A. Burr: Coming Out, Coming Home: Making Room for Gay Spirituality in Therapy
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Gays, Guns, and God” takes on a creepy subtext with this book, which purports to “provide readers a rare opportunity to enlarge their belief systems, and interpretation of Scriptures so they can make room for spirituality that includes homosexuals.” I found this book problematic on many, many levels, not the least being the smarmy “see how enlightened we are? We don’t hate all teh gays… only those that don’t love Jesus!” tone. Excuse me while I gouge out my eyes with a spork.
[LINK]

girl talk, performing tonight and on monday at showboxes. photo by josh (me) from last year’s block party. [flickr]

• Philadelphia master of pop-culture mixes, Girl Talk, and Illegal Art labelmate Junk Culture (who mixes hooks, samples, field recordings, and live drums into a “love letter from outer space” join forces tonight at the Showbox SoDo to drive your brian wild with new connections between deeply ingrained cultural fragments, send your body into wild spasms of recognition, and call scenesters to the stage to become part of the performance. Tonight’s show is reportedly sold out; paradoxically, tickets may be still be available for next week’s school night performance at the more intimate Showbox (Original flavor) at the market. (sold out) / 21st: $15-20[sodo / market]
• If you don’t have tickets, but still are looking for a party, head to Fremont where Mad Rad will be celebrating P’Smoov’s birthday at Nectar. Mad Rad headline, maybe from the rafters — who can say?, with support from Ninjasonik, Totally Michael, and an early DJ set from Darwin. $10, Friday. [nectar]
• On Saturday, horror punks Black Eyes and Neckties wind down by playing their last Seattle show EVER at Neumo’s. If the place is still standing, Israeli garage anticeers Monotonix will do their best to correct that, playing a floor show, and likely getting into all sorts of shenanigans. $13, Saturday. [neumos]
• Not satisfied with the offerings in town (there’s also the Get Up Kids and Arctic Monkeys!)? Why not pack up the kids and head south to Portland where Music Fest Northwest continues tonight all around town. We bolted down last night and had our faces melted by Explosions in the Sky and hearts squeezed by Frightened Rabbit. Space allowing, a $60 wristband gets you into bazillions of club and day shows by the likes of Mount Eerie, Sunny Day Real Estate, Arctic Monkeys, Mudhoney, Arctic Monkeys, BOAT, Deer Tick, Port O’Brien, Mayer Hawthorne, and the Get Up Kids. Portland, through Sunday.  [mfnw]

I’ve been on a weird Free hiatus, but I’m back with a vengeance! Check out these Free things fast. Some are ending soon!

Park(ing) Days – I just went to the one on University and 1st. It’s worth going to see the musician in velvet pants. Wow. Go right now because it all ends at 3pm.

Festival of Fruit – Saturday September 19, 11 am – 3pm. Talk about fruit at Carkeek Park for free.

Cascade Free Market – every Sunday at 1:30pm – After seeing the size of their squash and zucchini blossoms I can attest that if you’re looking for free produce, you won’t be disappointed. I’m not sure the logistics of this, but heck just go and see their bountiful garden anyway. It’s free!