the stills // the paramount // 20 october 2008

On Monday night, Kings of Leon, We Are Scientists, and the Stills played at the Paramount. [flickr/slideshow].

But first, though, some quirks of the Paramount. Did you know, for instance that the entire interior is under copyright and that no photographs of it can be made without permission? Or, that for rock shows, the opening band is rarely listed on the ticket and that they start an hour before showtime? I knew the latter and arrived just as the Stills were tuning and a few extremely punctual VIPs were settling into their photopit seats.

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photo by josh; bumbershoot photoset [flickr]

Our friends over at the Times’ Bumberblog managed to get to the Monotonix show before it got shut down and have already posted pictures. When I talked to the Exhibition Hall staff about it, they said that the reason for the shut down was that it was too dangerous, and perhaps also because one or the other of the guys pulled down his pants. I don’t know what else you can expect from a band who sets its things up on the floor rather than the stage. I guess now they know.

Considering how that went, I’m a little surprised that they let Dan Deacon set up on the floor as well, but I guess it helped that the house lights were on. I know that a lot of people enjoy Dan Deacon, but his whole ‘let’s-hold-hands-and-play-games-together’ thing makes me really uncomfortable. Some day, Dan Deacon is going to start a cult. Nonetheless, the crowd was completely into it, doing whatever the man instructed with total commitment and vim. He’s like the shinier side of Monotonix’s crowd compulsion dynamics.

I’ve been telling you for a while to go and see Black Eyes and Neckties, and now that I have seen them myself (twice in one day), I can say that I really mean it. Even with the lead vocalist in a wheelchair they put in a performance unlike any I’ve seen in a very long time. They jumped on and off of things, broke things, climbed on to and over each other, played from the floor, and made me constantly wince because I was sure that they would hurt themselves. I don’t want to keep comparing them to the Murder City Devils, but I can’t stop.

Battles are definitely robots. I am more convinced each time I see them. I closed out the festival with hometown boys Minus the Bear, who sound better than they have in years. I think I like them most out in the open.

Goodbye, Bumbershoot. See you next year.

one pot, pre-dinner. photo by josh; bumberset [flickr]

I was looking forward to checking out the “One Pot in Residence” installation by Michael Hebberoy because it seemed like an interesting concept. Throughout the day Bumbershoot artist and members of the public are invited to join in preparation of a meal while film footage from other One Pot events around the world are screened on the walls. At the end of the day, people gather to share the meal and engage in discussion about the “Spirit of 68″. Unfortunately, the installation somehow manages to be both too structured and not structured enough. The theme, as expressed by Hebberoy, is a broad one and having people call for attention and stand up to present their contribution to the discussion makes it a little awkward for those who wander in out of curiosity and weren’t prepared in advance with their films, books and/or musical instruments.

“The Seattle-Tehran Poster Show” has some interesting poster art, if you’re into that sort of thing, and makes an interesting pairing with “Flatstock”.

“Drawing Jam” is a lot of fun - there are plenty of art supplies on hand as well as figure models, easels, and a comfortable environment for expressing yourself through various media. When I stopped in I saw people of all ages and all sorts of levels of ability really enjoying the chance to engage in making some art of their own.

“The Power of One” is very moving. Jackie Renn’s “Voices of Conscience”, Phil Borges’ “Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World” and Katharina Mouratidi’s “The Other Globalisation” all present powerful images of ordinary people transforming the world around them by sheer force of will are inspiring and beautiful. Nina Berman’s “Purple Hearts: Back from Iraq & Marine’s Wedding” with its photos and video of injured soldiers returned from Iraq makes a simple, eloquent anti-war statement.

last year at bumbershoot [flickr]

Starting tomorrow, Bumbershoot tickets hop up to “regular” price: three-day passes go from $80 to $100; daily passes go from $35 to $40. So if you think you’ll be spending Labor Day at Seattle Center (and you really should — every time I look at the lineup I see three or four exciting things I’d missed previously. For instance, did you know that FINAL FANTASY is playing on Sunday night? He is.), dial up the online order form [#] or make a quick trip to your friendly neighborhood Starbucks before the close of business.

And before you start complaining that in the olden days tickets used to be cheaper, please consider that the advance price for three days at Bumbershoot would barely cover a day at most other big summer music festivals. Plus, you don’t even have to see Jack Johnson!

Willie Bloomquist attempts to throw out a runner at 2nd base. photo by kevin.devin

If you’re a casual fan, you’ve probably forgotten all about the Mariners. You may even think that by now, after several years of miserable personnel decisions and a mostly lopsided win-loss record, they may be headed for a rebound. Please allow me to disabuse you of that notion vis-à-vis commentary regarding the Mariners’ recent choice not to part ways with starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn and his absurd contract:

U.S.S. Mariner:

In case you weren’t sure, today was a great reminder that we’re all rooting for the worst run organization in baseball. There’s not another franchise with worse leadership or more incompetence in positions of power. From the CEO on down, these people don’t know baseball. They don’t know how to run a baseball team, build a roster, or win baseball games.

This organization is a massive collection of failures. They pile ridiculous decisions on top of each other, only outdoing their stupidity with an arrogance that refuses to learn from their mistakes. They are the Pets.com of MLB, only they refuse to go out of business.

I’m far too attached to the childhood memories I have to ever root for another team, but if the M’s screw up this offseason and don’t completely overhaul the baseball operations department, hiring somebody who actually understands baseball, I’ll spend the next few years rooting for these people to fail miserably and be embarrassed publicly.

These people don’t deserve success. They deserve to be looking for new jobs.

Fire them all.

Lookout Landing:

For some reason the Twins generously granted the Mariners a glorious opportunity to at least partially undo one of their greatest recent mistakes, and they passed it up. In so doing, they only confirmed that, while Bavasi may be gone, his legacy remains, and that this is an organization that doesn’t understand the first, most fundamental thing about building a baseball team. This was a gimme. This was some higher power saying “hey you guys have been through enough, here, let me give you a break.” And the Mariners didn’t care. They just didn’t care. Were this a college exam, the exam consisted of one question, and the question was “Spell the word ‘blue’,” and the multiple choice answers were (A) blue, (B) green, (C) yellow, (D) black, and the Mariners wrote “6″ on their Scantron. This was the easiest test you could imagine, and the Mariners failed.

They failed.

Just sayin’.

photo by Shawn Brackbill via Sub Pop’s amazing pool of photos from last weekend. [subpop20].

• It seems very likely that you could still get free tickets to see the Jesus and Mary Chain tomorrow. [10things]
• Commenter debate: Are aggro crowdsurfers drawn to Wolf Parade or Neumo’s? I’m not sure, but it was still a fantastic show. [tig]
• That Murder City Devils re-reunion I mentioned for MFNW? Cancelled. [nwmb]
• Our city is full of scientists but no one’s writing about it at the local dailies. [slog]
• “Urban Bears likely to be killed” [p-i]

photo by paula thomas [flickr] via our group pool [#]

I don’t really know what happened on the internet for the last week or so because I wasn’t looking at it very much. Here are some links:

• In 1862, Mexican forces triumphed over the French in the Battle of Puebla; so visit your Mama. [belltowner]
• In 1215, Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John; so drink at Havana, Cha Cha, or Moe. [captothehill]
• Apparently there was some sort of ‘blog war [hillku]. Let’s hope that they celebrate their truce at one of the previously listed establishments. In sombreros. [capitolhillseattle]
• Traffic and construction have caused SIFF to say goodbye to the Eastside. [threadcount]
• Tao Lin annoys and/or delights the internet. [slog]
• On the topic of un-greening festivals, how does the Gorge stack up, ecowise? [reverb]

photo by shawn [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Hebberoy to continue the deep fried tradition of Frites (RIP) with Pike Street Fish fry. [voracious]
• All it takes for Slog commenters to turn nice is a lost cat. If you’ve seen a fluffy black one looking lost, please let Annie know. [slog]
• Nice, but sad story of how dogs help the homeless get more money. [bigblog]
• The P-I is now on Twitter. Isn’t that what RSS is for? [buzzworthy]
• CitizenRain relaunched with a nifty new design.
• On the occasion of this week’s re-issue of the Glow, part 2 (complete with a wonderful bonus disc of “destroyed” versions and other contemporary songs) Eric Grandy pays a visit to Olympia and Anacortes, gets some of the album’s backstory directly from Phil Elverum, and drives to the top of Mount Erie. Although he seems to come away from the experience mildly disappointed that an extraordinary album was born from such ordinary circumstances, I thought that this is maybe the most beautiful part of it all. Mount Eerie will be at the Vera Project on 17 April. Don’t miss it. [thestranger]

photo by Steve Mohundro [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Nifty! A schedule of the coming week’s worth of Everyday in April performances at the Anne Bonny. [reverb]
• In someone’s perfect world, the mermaid always has a split tail. [jakoblodwick]
• Victrola tells the Early Show that it will take more than an old mermaid and a new roast to win back our hearts. [capitolhillseattle]
• Popular Mechanics says: fix the goddamned viaduct already. [seattlest]