Something something… some sorta pun about studying animation at my Alma Mater, Warren Dunes…

This last Saturday, Warren Dunes made the epic trek down from Seattle to perform a show in my very own Tacoma! Did I forget to post about the show beforehand like I usually do? SURE LOOKS LIKE IT.

The show was at Alma Mater (specifically “Fawcett Hall” in the back half of the building), which is an absolutely gorgeous venue in downtown T-Town. Seriously high-quality all around. A couple of cool things happened other than the show: Warren Dunes got me into the green room and I got some fancy green room tequila, and I was able to stand in the venue while they did their soundcheck to make sure it all sounded good (it sounded frikkin’ great; this is a high-quality venue with high-quality sound).

I made a couple of animated .GIFs of the performance, as is my nature.

Ch-ch-ch-check it out (the soundcheck)…

A bit of the Emerald City in the City of Destiny…

I promise I will try to give a heads-up for the next show I go to so you won’t just hear about it afterwards. You can also always check out my calendar to see what upcoming stuff I’m into. If you’re into that kind of thing.

The band, not the state park…

On Saturday I went to the Seattle to go to the album release show for Warren Dunes. As is my fashion, I made some animated .gifs of the festivities:

o yes

Has Sonics Guy seen any photos from this event…?

I also snagged the album! It turns out it’s only a 6-song EP, not a full-length album. What’s the deal with my friends only putting out EPs recently? See Exhibits A, B, C, and now D (this EP that I’m talking about now).

Anyway, it’s pretty great to get these songs in my own grubby mitts after what seems like such a long time. Strangely, it looks like they haven’t actually released this album anywhere online yet(!?). I got it directly from Julia Massey’s hands. But here’s what it looks like:

Welcome to zombo.com. I mean Warren Dunes.

Hopefully you’ll be able to listen to it soon, too!

This guy.

Last night I went to see my pal Open Mike Eagle at Barboza in Seattle. I don’t know that I’d ever been to Barboza before. It’s a little bar underneath Neumos. Anyhoo, it was a great show. Mike killed it as always. Here’s the obligatory animated .GIF that I made of the performance:

Animated Eagle 2017.

The place was plenty packed. My pal Travis was even there! And after the show there was a line of like 50 people waiting to get to Mike’s merch table. I had to go on account of a long drive back down to Tacoma on a school night, but Mike was nice enough to give me big ol’ hugs and chat for a minute, and take a selfie:

These guys.

I missed him on his last tour (when he became the mayor of Ferndale), so it was good to see him again! He’s a <wypipo voice>real class act and just a swell fellow.</wypipo voice>

But enough about Mike. Something amazing happened to me that got me super hyped. I got to meet none other than the one and only…

VIDEO DAVE!

Check it:

That ain’t Photoshopped. That’s really Video Dave!!!

Look how excited I am in that photo to be meeting such a celebrity! You might even say I’m “giddy.” It was so cool to meet him after admiring his work. Scroll back up and look at the animated .GIF of Mike, and look at the projections splashed across him and the background. That’s all Video Dave! Didn’t he do an amazing job!? I think Mike & Prolific & Sammus were way too hard on him before last night:

AAAAAA I’M STILL HYPE ABOUT MEETING HIM!

VIDEO DAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!!!!!

It’s not just a state park in Michigan anymore…

Last Friday, Carrie & I were honored to be on a very short guest list of a very private show in Seattle: the debut of the brand-new supergroup Warren Dunes.

Warren Dunes is the smooshing together of Seattle stalwart bands Julia Massey and the Five Finger Discount and Electric NoNo. This turns out not to be too difficult of a feat, since Electric NoNo is only a two-man band, and drummer Dom Cortese is also the drummer for JM+FFD. So, basically, you take JM+FFD and add Electric NoNo guitarist Jared Cortese to it and voila you’ve got yourself a Warren Dunes.

First things first, though. This invite-only concert was held at Earwig Studios, the locale where the likes of Julia Massey, Electric NoNo, and Gentlemen of Leisure have laid down tracks. It also just happens to have an antechamber that is decorated to look exactly like the black lodge from Twin Peaks.

Opening act was the sweet acoustic stylings of Reggie Garrett:

Funk acoustic folk

You should really go check out his musics. Good stuffs.

Second act was the first-ever Seattle performance of my pals the Gentlemen of Leisure!

“If you are not a gentleman, then why are you alive?”

It was great to see them live for the first time. I was able to make an animated .GIF of ’em!

Gentlemen of Animation

The headliners were, of course, Warren Dunes. Here’s their first-ever animated .GIF!

Warranimated Dunes. Wut.

I honestly expected the Warren Dunes sound to be more of a direct result of smooshing the Five Finger Discount and Electric NoNo together, but it was very heavily weighted towards Julia’s sound. Jared doesn’t even provide any vocals, which was very surprising. It sounded much like the Five Finger Discount plus an electric guitar.

Which is to say it sounded frikkin’ great. Just not at all what I was expecting.

You can hear the Warren Dunes sound in this video of them performing their song “War Cry” (recorded earlier, not at this show):

I’m excited to hear more of them! I just don’t wanna hafta wait for an album to come out! I = impatient for good musics!

Go, Julia, go! Shake out them tunes!

Here’s a photograph of a photographer photographing.

Last Friday Night my wife an I ventured (with several members of Gentlemen of Leisure) up to the Great White North of Ballard (the Sunset Tavern to be specific) to watch a rocks-and-or-rolls show featuring our friends to Cortese Brothers, who make up the band Electric NoNo.

Normally Electric NoNo consists solely of Jared Cortese on Guitar/Vocals and Dom Cortese on Drums/Backing Vocals/Every-Once-In-A-While-Keyboard. But this time they were sporadically joined by a whole bevy of additional musicians: a saxomophonist, an additional guitarist, and none other than Julia Massey on Keyboard/Backing Vocals!

As is my nature, I made some animated .gifs of the performance:

O Winged Jared!

It’s Skeletom Dom!

Julia + Jared Sharing the Stage!?

The show was a record release for Electric NoNo’s new EP, Rain City Blue. GET IT GET IT GET IT!

The only thing wrong with this album is that it’s an EP, and I wants me an LP! Hop to it, Bros!

Also, expect some exciting announcements soon from Gentlemen of Leisure, as well as a joint Julia/NoNo venture called “Warren Dunes.” Stay tuned, dear reader…

Can you find me in the crowd?
(Photo by Bebe Labree)

Last Thursday my wife and I went and stayed out late on a school night. Gasp! What could tempt us so? Why, none other than an amazing music show at The Crocodile filled to the brim with amazing local musicians!

First up was…

1. Stereo Embers

The Embers, Now in Stereo!

Stereo Embers is one of the many, many musical projects fronted by Seattle musical mainstay Robb Benson. This is a very straight-up rock band. Lead guitarist Tim DiJulio could be described as someone who “wails/shreds/rips.” They’re very good live. They’re also very good recorded. Take a listen:

2. Fine Prince

Mmmm, damn… them princes be FINE.

I had never heard of Fine Prince before. It’s a rather large band for Seattle, with six full members including two keyboardists and two guitarists. Their sound is kinda hard to describe; it’s kind of light, gots a slight groove to it, and is just thoroughly… pleasant. They were a lot of fun. Take a listen:

I had to take off my glasses to hear this Fine Prince (thanks, Howard).

3. Julia Massey & the Five Finger Discount

JM+FFD at the Crockie!

Miss Joooolia.

Here’s the real reason there was a show at all: This was the release party for Julia Massy & the Five Finger Discount’s new album, Heart Tones. It’s now available to purchase on Bandcamp! You should download it now!

Dem tones, dem tones, dem Heart Tones!

Not sure if you really want to own this amazing album? Well, then (1) you’re an idiot and (2) you should listen to this song and watch this joyful video. Then go and buy Heart Tones.

And, as is my nature, I made an animated .gif of the proceedings:

Animated JM+FFD.

So I got a lot of pretty good photos. Unfortunately, as is often the case when I see JM+FFD, I was not at a good angle to get a good photo of Dom Cortese (the drummer). Here’s the best I could do:

Sorry, Dom (sad trombone).

4. Special Guest Chris Blount!

Photo by Bebe Labree

Chris Blount (pronounced “Blunt”) is a good friend of mine who also happens to be an exceptional hip-hopster. He guests on a song on JM+FFD’s new album, which you can listen to (and watch the video) right here:

He guested on that song live on stage as well. I was gonnnnnna take a photo of him performing, but I got so wrapped up in the moment that I plumb forgot. He absolutely killed it up there, and got probably the biggest pop of the night at the end of his verse. So big thanks to Bebe Labree for providing me with some photos from the show and letting me use them here!

You do you, Mr. Blount.
(Photo by Bebe Labree)

Coming “soon” — a full-length album review of Heart Tones! Honest!

Animated Avery!

Last Sunday we three in the fam went on a fun excursion to Downtown Seattle for the afternoon. Here’s what we did:

• Parked beneath Pacific Place. Parking there is only $6 on Sundays!
• Walked out through Barnes & Nobles and down 5th Ave (with quick stops in Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters) to our first stop:

The Fairmont Hotel

At the Fairmont Hotel lobby.

The Fairmont does this thing where they completely deck out a suite with Christmas stuff and metric tonnes of teddy bears. They call it the Teddy Bear Suite. Behold the cuteness:

In the Fairmont Hotel Teddy Bear Suite.

In the Fairmont Hotel Teddy Bear Suite.

In the Fairmont Hotel Teddy Bear Suite.

In the Fairmont Hotel Teddy Bear Suite.

In the Fairmont Hotel Teddy Bear Suite.

In the Fairmont Hotel Teddy Bear Suite.

After the Fairmont we:

• Walked up 6th Ave towards Westlake Park, where they have:

The Downtown Carousel

At the downtown carousel.

After the carousel we:

• Headed upstairs at Westlake Center and got on the:

Monorail

On the Monorail.

The Monorail took us to:

Seattle Center

Where we got lunch in the Armory and Avery watched the model train go ’round and ’round its miniature village.

At Seattle Center.

At Seattle Center.

At Seattle Center.

The Spaced Needle.

After Seattle Center we:

• Took the Monorail back to Westlake
• Walked back up Pine St to:

Pacific Place

Where they had these letters that were conveniently setup in such a way that Avery would look completely adorable on them:

At Pacific Place.

FUN DAY!

Here’s all where we went: Thanks, Gorgle Morps!