Band of Horses "Secret" Show @ The Vera Project, 10/6/07

Everyone adores Band of Horses. It's a fact. When their debut album, Everything All the Time, came out in 2006, KEXP was all over it, and thus Band of Horses status as Seattle indie darlings and a total buzz band emerged. They burst onto the national indie rock radar when they signed to Sub Pop, and have enjoyed well-reviewed success through their career. Obviously, to start a review of a band by describing their successes isn't the best introduction to such a well regarded group, so I'll take a stab at describing their sound. Audio and visual imagination will be required.
Imagine you are in a forest in the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by color schemes of evergreen, bark, and river rocks. Depending on the song, it could be a mild sunny day, a rainstorm, a cool night, or one of those melancholy post-rain sun breaks. But then you notice there's a clearing in the woods where there is a welcoming bonfire, and surrounding it are the members of Band of Horses. Walking into them midway through one of their spooky yet intimate folk songs is like entering a warm room filled with a unique mesmerizing energy. The haunting now-classic "The Funeral," to the dynamite "Great Salt Lake," to the explosive echoes of "Is There a Ghost" highlights the band's distinctive sound. Folky road-trip worthy songs such as "The General Specific" and "Window Blues" are relaxing moments after the intense classic Band of Horses numbers. Then when they end it with a dirty blues song, you leave that little conclave in the forest, returning to your humble abodes better than you were when you left it - happier, maybe, more satisfied, perhaps, but most likely just glowing from observing such majestic sounds for an entire hour and fifteen minutes.
This is how I felt after the show at the Vera Project. Since it was a secret show (to an extent), there wasn't a ridiculous crowd. Nobody was rowdy or annoying, the audience was diverse and receptive, and everyone was as excited as the next person for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Having Band of Horses at the Vera Project is kind of like having them play at school. A big deal. So, in a wonderfully intimate setting, Band of Horses pulled of a long set of continually enchanting songs. However, this is to my low standards for them - I've never heard any stories of mind-blowing Band of Horses shows, to anyone I've discussed it with. After all, wouldn't it be hard to live up to that unique, explosive sound that they capture brilliantly on recordings? But Band of Horses proved them wrong at this show; with a promotional tour for their upcoming release soon, they were ready to present their new work and let their fans drink it right up. And, of course, they did. Band of Horses at the Vera was a beautiful show, and anyone that skipped it really missed out.

Oh my GOD I've been BUSY!

Good thing I remembered about how I have to post about the TOTALLY AMAZING all-ages weekend the Vera Project has planned for us all!
Since it is late, I'm tired, and these two events are the only two you should be going to this weekend anyway, if you only choose two events...well, here's at em.
FRIDAY: The Blakes & The Saturday Knights @ the Vera Project. $8, doors @ 7pm.
SATURDAY: HOLY BAND OF HORSES! @ the Vera Project as well. FREE! doors @ 6pm.
So tired...must sleep...save energy...for...WEEKEND!!!

A Hipster's Favorite Number Sequence

American Apparel, as we all know, is a phenomena of hip - almost everything sold there is designed with a hint of irony. But most young suckers-for-marketing such as I have fallen for American Apparel and their overpriced basics. Okay, so I might sound cynical here, but I really do love the store.
Recently, they've expanded on the success of their ultra-soft grey t-shirts known as Tri Blend. This blend of 50/25/25 has everyone scrambling for the quintessential hip t-shirt. Its remarkably soft, comfortable, slimming, and a pretty color. So hey, whats not to love? That's exactly what AA thought when they expanded the line of Tri Blend to tank tops, leggings, long sleeves, rompers, and even more colors. My personal favorite is a combination of the two American Apparel items I love most: the cardigan meets 50/25/25. Although its pricey, it would be incredible to wear that all day long. So soft! They've also added different hues of blue to the collection, as well as a violet and emerald.
If you've gone through this whole article/pseudo-advertisement without knowing what I'm talking about, hang out on lower Capitol Hill for a few minutes someday. Then you shall see.


Ooh! Aah!

Apologies for the lack of excitement...

This blog hasn't been too exciting lately, so I've decided to create weekly features to make Teaspoon of Sugar the best blog you will ever read.
Mondays: "Localsplosion" will be a post highlighting any local bands, stores, individuals, brands, places, etc. that are creating a buzz in Seattle.
Tuesdays: Even though it takes a LOT of courage to go up to someone on the street to tell them how good they look, I'm going to make this my weekly mission to bring you the BEST of Seattle street fashion. So every Tuesday, I'll have a new fashion-ista/isto up on display for all you hip cats.
Thursdays: "All Ages Weekend" is a segment I've already started (speradically, yes), but I'll compile a list of all the events worth going to over the weekend.
Sundays: "Fadtastic!" This will be so much fun: a blog about trends. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome.

This is super ambitious of me! Can I do it? Bring the entertainment to the people? We shall see, readers...let's hope I can pull this off.
Adventures, awaaaay!

A Film Recommendation

Across the Universe is a new addition to my top ten movies because:
- It is total eye candy.
- The music is done impeccibly, and the casts voices are fantastic.
- Even though the 60's clichés are laid on thick, it seldom feels cheesy.
- Not loving any of the characters is difficult.
- Jude (Tim Sturgess) is a total fox.
- Its whimsical but still emotionally engaging.
- The story is worked around the songs they use in the movie, which potentially could be dumb, but actually was very cute.
- The special thing is, anyone can connect with this movie. And I want to see it again.

Since a reveiw of this movie will just turn into paragraphs of raving about this film, I am just recommending it to anyone thats been curious.

Boring week, no?

While my scheduele picked up, I think the town was in a general fog...what with the notoriously crappy weather rolling in lately.
This weekends going to be awesome, though. Lots of all-ages clubs putting on some sweet shows. I'm also including Thursday, for those independent spirits who don't give a shit about school nights for the sake of a good time. And I wonder how people chose between these two great shows tonight?
THURSDAY: The Flaming Lips @ The Paramount. $39, in like, an hour? 8pm.
Peter, Bjorn & John @ The Showbox Market. $23, at the same time!
FRIDAY: The Pharmacy @ Old Redmond Fire House. $6, 8pm.
No Age, Sex Vid, Talbot Tagora @ The Vera Project. $7, doors at 7:30pm.
SATURDAY: Endfest w/ Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground, Bright Eyes, Minus the Bear, Hot Hot Heat, and more @ Quest Field. $39.50, noon.
These Arms Are Snakes @ Old Redmond Fire House. $6, 8pm.
SUNDAY: The Feelings Hijackers @ Gasworks Park. FREE! Noon.

All Ages Weekend

Thank you universe...tomorrow is Friday. Is anyone else with me that this week was ridiculously sloooow?
So again...thank you universe...for providing us with abounding gifts of all ages happenings!!! Here are my recommendations for the weekend...
FRIDAY: The Lonely H @ Vera. $7, doors at 7:30pm.
SATURDAY: Presidents of the United States of America @ Town Hall. $5, 11am & 1:30pm.
AC Newman @ Sonic Boom (Captiol Hill!). FREE! 6pm.
The New Pornographers @ The Showbox (original). $22, doors at 8pm.

Have fun!

How did I not find out earlier about this SPOON BONUS DISC?

I lost my copy of Gax5, my favorite and the latest from Spoon. I still have the jewel case, however, and was searching through it today hoping my dad might have possibly stuck it in there, somehow. Gax5 has paper packaging, not a plastic jewel case, so I looked underneath the peice that holds the CD and guess what I found?
"Get Nice! (Bonus Disc)"
A twelve-song, 22 minute bonus EP.
How did I not hear about this before?
I have yet to listen to it, but I am anticipating genius.

The newest and healthiest way to spend $3.50 when you're on Broadway

I am in love with Crazyberry. Its super pricey, but ridiculous amounts of delicious!
If you've been living under a rock/havent been to Broadway in a while, you are totally missing out. Crazyberry is an off-shoot of Pinkberry (super popular in California), which is a chain of [genuine] frozen yogurt shops. I love me some TCBY, especially during airport layovers, but what makes this different is that it doesn't taste like softserve ice cream, it just tastes like super cold yogurt. Crazyberry has three flavors: plain, strawberry, and green tea (my favorite), and a long list of fruit and dry toppings. It also comes with a pocky stick on the side, which kind of made my heart flutter.
I'm broke because of you, Crazyberry. Please get some punchcards or something, so I can atleast not feel money-guilt afterwards.

Yum.

http://crazy-berry.com/
131 Broadway Ave E.
Seattle, WA 98102
(inbetween Hollywood Video and U.S. Bank on Broadway & John)

Spoon @ the Showbox - 9/5/07

Spoon is a band much before my time, as many well-established American bands are. They're a popular indie-rock group (oxymoron?), they've put out several records, they have a fan base of people averaging around ten years older than myself, which include some die-hards who would at any instance school me in any part of the band's history/discography. The band members are around twenty-plus years older than me. Their first single came out before I even moved to Seattle, when I was only four years old. Why would this sort of set-up that’s just asking for pretentiousness against young fans appeal to me so much?
The band, composed of Britt Daniel (guitar and vocals), Jim Eno (percussion), Rob Pope (bass), and Eric Harvey (keys, etc.), came onto the stage around 10pm to a sold-out Showbox. With a quiet confidence-verging-on-cockiness, Daniel & company started off their set with a track from 2001's Kill The Moonlight. A twenty-something song set list followed, including a generally equal ratio of songs between old and new records, for about an hour and a half. Following Spoon's set was an unusually long but very enjoyable 5-or-so song encore, including a few songs from Girls Can Tell, and closing with a fan favorite, Fitted Shirt.
Onstage, each member of Spoon sits comfortably in their role, most of them mainly supporting Daniel's intriguing stage presence. Eno drums with precision and certainty, backing up the band but not remaining forgettable. Pope is expressionless, which is as much as I can say for keyboardist Harvey, but Harvey has a broader range of instruments (he also plays tambourine and guitar) to support his stage presence. Daniel is the member taking one for the team. His jerky and erratic antics are quite entertaining and unpredictable, and they increased the more he took sips from a red plastic cup.
From being a frequent listener to their past three albums (Kill The Moonlight, Gimme Fiction, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), I've grown to love Spoon. I don't necessarily want to call it an acquired taste, but Spoon took me a while to really get into. The band creates consistently satisfying songs, but its not instant gratification. They use techniques in their sound that I'm not used to, but that’s what sets Spoon apart from every other indie-rock band out there. They use noise, but control it. Onstage, Daniel can pull off a meandering two minute guitar solo by making as much jagged noise with his guitar as he can, but they don't get lost in it. Spoon is unique in the way that they can wander away from the path and yet are still accessible. Spoon doesn't demand anything from you - the listener gets the choice to pay attention. That’s another thing that makes Spoon one of the most unique and creative bands out there today. Like I've already mentioned, there’s a quiet confidence-verging-on-cockiness that’s subtle, but so very appealing. And there I was, front and center, loving every minute of it.

Under the Umbrella of Love

Bumbershoot! Bumbershoot! Bumbershoot!
The most hyped-up, attended, talked about, and adored weekends in Seattle, not to mention the best closure of summer ever imaginable. Man, are we lucky.
Here's a recap!

SATURDAY
My weekend started off by seeing a long-time favorite band, The Shins. They performed a set of songs ranging through their whole catalog, with the addition of a Pink Floyd cover. I wasn't blown away, actually, but to really appreciate a live Shins show it would've been better in a more intimate setting. They sure did turn out a huge crowd, though, even with an early time slot. (Here is my one decent picture from the weekend.)


Around 4pm, local favorite powerpop band and close friends The Lashes took the stage with their signature unmatchable energy and excitement. It marked the much anticipated return of Eric Howk, guitarist and official super nice dude, after an accident in May which has left him in a neon green wheelchair. Their show drew a huge crowd of friends, family, fans, and supporters, which motivated the band to put on one of their craziest and funnest shows since their CD release party back in February '06. The Lashes roared through a set of new songs interspersed with fan favorites from their debut record Get It, including a prank call to King 5 and a finale including a massive dance explosion and silly string. The most heart-warming moment was when the Lashes played a new song called "Eric's Song," which was actually a song Eric wrote for his impressive solo project, Palmer, AK. In all honesty I cannot say enough about this band, but it was a fantastic set and was truly awesome to see them playing together again.

Aqueduct arrived on the Backyard Stage as the sun started to set, with frontman David Terry in all smiles exclaiming that this was going to be his best show ever. The audience agreed and happily bobbed along to his punchy, synth-driven pop for a solid and satisfying set. Carly Nicklaus (of The Catch and U.S.E, friend and hair stylist) joined Aqueduct on stage for a handful of songs on guitar, including a kickass cover of R. Kelly's Ima Flirt. Although it was no Geto Boys cover, the Nicklaus/Terry/R. Kelly combo was a pretty sweet deal.

SUNDAY
Sound-Off 2007 runners-up and teen dream band Natalie Portman's Shaved Head stormed the Sky Church stage early Sunday afternoon in coordinating DIY tassled outfits and enough energy to power a small town. Hounds of teenagers loaded in the Sky Church to see the much-buzzed-about band with the ironic name and witty electropop songs. It's easy to get cynical at a NPSH show, while surrounded by kids dressed head to toe in American Apparel and who shout "BEARD LUST!" inbetween every song, but when its possible to look beyond that, this young band puts on one hell of a dance party. They've been thouroughly entertaining the 3 or 4 times I've seen them, but their Bumbershoot performance tops them all. Hilarious onstage banter and interaction with the crowd adds to their remarkable stage presence - they're not an awkward teenage band trying to make funny songs. NPSH are talented, when it comes down to it, and each song sounds fresh and fun.

And now its time for me to rave about my favorite set of the entire weekend: Art Brut. This British rock and roll band is clever, hilarious, exhilarating, and fantastic. Frontman Eddie Argos introduces every song by declaring (in a to-die-for English accent) "Go, Art Brut!" while the rest of the band members explode into action, captivating the audience with every song. They got the crowd going during Formed a Band when they urged the crowd to shout "Art! Brut! Top of the pops!" I've heard about their live shows some, but nothing could compare to actually experiencing the pure fun of being in the audicene of an Art Brut show. They're coming back and playing at the UW this fall...count me in.

Fergie sucked.

MONDAY
At noon, one of my favorite bands Fleet Foxes did a Live at KEXP session of which I had the pleasure of being an audience member. A cozy atmosphere filled with a large crowd of appreciators and fans of the local folky pop outfit set the tone for a beautiful set featuring all new songs. I was reading an article in Seattle Magazine recently about Robin Pecknold, frontman of Fleet Foxes, which described his songs as "rough-around-the-edges pop gems." I can't put it any better than that. The whole band is dripping with talent; the perfection of their songs comes from the imperfections. I wholly reccomend seeing them live, and expect them to make their mark very soon.

On an entirely different note, I stepped out of my usual zone and see a band I've been hearing a lot about, The Blakes. They played a crowd-pleasing set of good, cocky garage rock that packed a punch. I was surprised how entertaining their set was, and ended up enjoying it. However, it is pretty easy to win me over when a band has its own designated tambourine shaker.

Judging by the enormous turnout and the first five or so songs of Tokyo Police Club, they brought it. The entire lawn of the Backyard stage was packed by the time they took the stage. All of the cool-yet-danceable, pop-but-not-sweet sounds from their EP echoed from their live performance. I got to listen to a couple of my favorite songs (Cheer It On, Your English Is Good), so I left a happy camper.

It was unfortunate I had to choose between Tokyo Police Club and Fleet Foxes, so to compromise I left the Backyard stage in time to see the entire Fleet Foxes show. For the second time in a day, they impressed and had me in a trance for the entire set. Even in the less intimate setting of the Sky Church, the Foxes were well received. During a pretty new song featuring just Robin Pecknold and acoustic guitar, I was afraid to even breathe, it was so quiet. An hour of beautiful music was a perfect way to close out the Bumbershoot weekend - totally happy, exhausted from head to toe, and perfectly satisfied.

You can always count on Bumbershoot.

Ripe for the picking.

What a perfect time to start this blog I have been dreaming of all summer. Bumbershoot weekend officially starts in twelve hours, the annual epicenter of Seattle culture; school is starting, which inspires numerous afternoon adventures; I consider fall the beginning of a new year as oppose to January, anyways; and fall means TOUR!
There will be so many things that I am excited to get started on this blog.
Details will follow soon enough, so hang on tight while this blog takes its first steps.

Thanks for reading.

PS) Thankyouthankyou to Emily G, who helped me come up with this name.

This is going to be the best blog ever!

TEASPOON OF SUGAR is a blog about what makes the Emerald City a fun, hip, and interesting place, through the perspective of an underage girl-about-town. Follow me through my weekly adventures around this city, as I highlight all-ages happenings, street fashion, trend updates, show reviews, and Seattle culture.
TEASPOON OF SUGAR is a sweet reminder to have fun and enjoy this wonderful city of Seattle. Treat yourself to a TEASPOON OF SUGAR!