Showbox - Seattle, WA
February 10, 2007
I guess you could call tonight my first "real" Pete Yorn gig in a really long time. One where he's not the opening act and not in some smaller performance area where the time he plays is limited. Although I'm not complaining about either of those types of performances. It was a wonderful experience to hear Pete, I was just taking in the whole performance without taking notes, photos (well, except the end) and just think with every new song they started playing thinking "that one's my favorite."
Back tracking a bit to the beginning. After being dropped off at the venue, The Showbox (or "Sh Box" as it says outside) I stood there by myself. Well, not really, but without the company of someone I actually knew. To one side of me was this guy named Finger Jack. A street musician, but he certainly has a nice fun sound for the classics. I was reading Westerns blog on myspace. Who is in Pete's entourage, master of the merch table, and blogger to the fans on Pete's myspace page. He mentioned this gelato place in Seattle. I wondered where it was since I'm addicted to the stuff. About 20 minutes before the doors of the venue opened I saw the gelato shop was just across the street. Torture. Stand in line in the rain or get myself a couple scoops of goodness? I opted to stay in the rain. However, I did see Westerns pass by the line and Mal Cross (of Minibar) walking around.
Inside I saw some PY peeps. Saw Westerns at the merch booth and picked up a shirt. Would've loved to have settled into the bar somewhere so I could sit, but all the good spots were taken near the front lines. Which was okay since I hung around the floor and noticed Mal in conversation. During a break I introduced myself saying that my friend would probably smack me in the head if I didn't say "hello." Actually, I would probably smack myself if I didn't do it. Of course we talked about Minibar. I asked if he was going to play drums for Pete and he wasn't sure, but he did and wow...he was amazing to watch. You know I like myself some drummers. During the show he also gathered the crowd into hand clapping percussion. Wish I was that coordinated to try and keep his beat. Anyways, Mal also suggested I check out this band called Of Montreal. He told me not to forget it. I haven't. I also didn't forget that he was wearing a shirt that supported Sonic Boom, a local indie record store chain.
I went back into the depths of the young crowd (since this was an all ages gig) and was surprised that the dominating smell was french fries.
The first of two opening acts was Charlotte Martin who has worked with Ken Andrews (who has also worked with Pete). To sum it up she plays piano. So of course there's your comparisons to Tori Amos and such. Not bad. There was an odd ball number in there about stalking. It was quite humorous and a tad creepy. I was standing next to your typical teenage guys who think they're "too cool to listen to this chick" tone which was annoying. At least they shut up or moved away when Aqualung began.
Aqualung right off the bat played their hit single "Brighter Than Sunshine." They played songs from their newer album Memory Man which would be released sometime next month. Although I enjoy Matt and the other guys, I felt I needed a nice little bed to sleep in. Perhaps a chair. There's some live music that you need to sit down for and others that you need to stand up / dance to. Well, they livened up the place with the experimentation of creating a new upbeat song. It didn't really seem like their other songs, but seeing them playing it live you have to believe it's them. After Aqualung, some of their fans filtered out so I was able to get a better view of the stage. Probably one of the best views I've ever had at the Showbox without actually being smack in the front. It was great. I didn't have to strain my neck or feet.
When Pete & Co. came on stage it was pretty late. It was maybe 10:45pm-ish. Below is the setlist, courtesy of PY's myspace.
