6 posts tagged “neko case”

Not much happened this weekend. We had a full weekend.

Saturday was Sasquatch. It was both hot and then quite chilly, depending on the time of the day. The drive home was pretty tough because while I was wired a bit on caffeine, my body still would rather be sleeping. But we made it back in one piece.  I took some photos, almost none of which turned out that great. That's par for the course, though. The music was pretty darn good. The artists I saw:

• Mix Master Mike - He started things out with a short DJ set that was pretty good.  We probably didn't have to get there as early as we did, but it was cool to see him do a set.
• Saturday Knights - A local hip-hop/rock type group, they were actually better than I thought they would be based on their description. The mainstage acts need to fill the space, and they seemed to deliver.
• The Hold Steady - I have heard a lot of their songs hear and there, but I haven't sought them out. They put on a solid set and I was entertained.
• Two Gallants - I only caught about half of their set, but I liked what I heard for the most part. Not necessarily my thing, but they are definitely a talented duo (with a talented friend joining them for the set).
• Mirah - The sound mix wasn't very good, and I could hardly hear her vocals. From what I understand, it's the vocals that are a major reason to hear her, so I gave up after a handful of songs.
• Neko Case - Hey, I love to see Neko perform. Unfortunately, her setlist doesn't seem to vary anymore. I've seen her three or four times in the last three years, and every time she's done pretty much the same songs. This lack of surprise in her act is really disappointing; I could just watch her Austin City Limits DVD over and over again if I didn't want variety.
• Visqueen - I've never taken the time to look into this band, and now I'm a little bummed I didn't discover them earlier. Luckily, they're apparently working on a new album and still performing, so I should get more chances to hear them play.
• The Long Winters - I was looking forward to hearing the MIA M.I.A., but I do like the Long Winters so they were a welcome substitution as far as I was concerned.
• Manu Chao - is a big fan and I'm somewhat less so, but he was pretty darn good live. He had the crowd really into it, too. The unfortunate thing was that he played way past the proper end of his set, saying "Thank you, Sasquatch" about 5 times before finally leaving the stage.
• The Arcade Fire - This performance was incredible. They have so much damned energy and passion when they perform. Maybe the emotions are a bit manufactured, I dunno, but the music was great as always.
• Björk - This was pretty late when she finally took the stage, so we ended up staying for only about five or six songs. She wore a dress that resembled a mop (observed Elizabeth) and had a brass band dressed in brightly colored mu'umu'us. She played "Earth Intruders" and played "All Is Full of Love" right before we took off. Apparently, the set got even better later once the brass band really started being used in the songs. However, I was very glad to be back on the road sooner rather than later.

Gorge Amphitheatre panorama

On Sunday, SIFF started for us. I saw probably two of my favorite movies of the festival on Sunday: In the Shadow of the Moon and King of Kong. Both were good for different reasons. When King of Kong comes out in theatres, you really need to see it. It has some of the best documentary characters (the best villain, especially) that I've seen.  Today, we saw Doubletime, an excellent documentary about competitive jump-roping and double-dutch teams, and Battle of Wits, an epic about generals and kingdoms in ancient China. This last film was a bit hard for me to follow in parts, but that may have been the fatigue finally setting in.

This week, I go into the office to do some training, and I take a few days' break from SIFF. Starting Friday, it begins again. 

On Saturday, I did another Flickr photostroll with the Seattle Flickr Meetup.com group, and it was a pretty good time. This time, I stayed a little (OK, a lot) later, and I got a few OK night shots as a result. See the photoset here.

Escape

On Saturday, I did another Flickr photostroll with the Seattle Flickr Meetup.com group, and it was a pretty good time. This time, I stayed a little (OK, a lot) later, and I got a few OK night shots as a result. See the photoset here.

Other than that, it was a pretty forgettable weekend. Coming up is SIFF (we need to buy some tickets before I can post our line-up) and the Sasquatch Music Festival on Saturday (Björk, The Arcade Fire, Neko Case, a bunch of other folks). 

Geez, the one time I went, it was kinda miserable, but this year's line-up at Sasquatch almost makes me want to go. If we just did Saturday: Björk, The Arcade Fire, Manu Chao, Neko Case. That's worth it right there. Sunday's not so much of a draw, with "only" the Beastie Boys, Spoon, Mirah, and Jesse Sykes really catching my fancy.

On the wedding front, we may have settled on a photographer. We're getting a good deal, so we can save that money for the food. Which we need to arrange very soon! It's still 6 months away. I have to remember that

Sometimes, the amount of stuff on YouTube overwhelms me, so I sort of avoid going there to avoid a timesuck. But I got interested in seeing if anyone had filmed recent Neko Case live shows. Sure, some have, but I found the following video, which is even better:

That's Neko Case in Maow, her old "punk" band (that must be one of their pop songs). Mid-'90s Neko Case. Nice.

(I also noticed the actress who plays "Callie" on Battlestar Galactica has a bit part as a singer in the New Pornographers' video for "The Laws Have Changed". Those Canadians and their small acting scene!)

Speaking of TV, who was the African American guy who was talking to Veronica Mars last night? Walter? Wendel? Oh right, Willis. Where have you been?

It was another nice weekend. Saturday was negihama's birthday, so we spent the day doing stuff she likes. After a great breakfast at Cafe Moose in Ballard, we headed up to Capitol Hill to visit one of her old hangouts, the Volunteer Park Conservatory.

I took lots of photos. (Click to see the set.)

Shine

After that, we walked around the hill, going to some of her favorite old shops. In the evening, we had dinner at our favorite sushi place (Mashiko) and rented a movie.

On Sunday, Elizabeth worked at a booth at a Chinese New Year celebration put on by the Families of Children from China. (Yes, I know that the actual new year is next week.) The performance portion is the best part: Lots of cute kids, dancing in colorful costumes. I took lots of photos. (Click to see the set.)

Streaming

On Sunday night, we saw Neko Case open for Merle Haggard. We only stayed for maybe a half dozen Haggard songs, but it was a good night. Neko was awesome as always. I didn't take photos, but I guess I could have because Paramount security wasn't bothering any of the other people taking photos. Oh well!

I thought she put on a phenominal performance, considering the fact that supposedly she now hates Seattle because of all the development. Her old art space is condos, they cleaned up and remodeled Hattie's Hat (where she bartendedbartendered?), etc. And her last two performances in the state were foiled by weather (last summer's ZooTunes show was rained on heavily and hail did a number on her set at Sasquatch this May). Just about all the favorite songs were played, although I do wonder about "Thrice All-American." Once again, she didn't play it. When people shouted requests for her to play it, others in the audience booed. It got me wondering: Sure, Neko may not like the song much, but why do some of her fans not like it? It's one of my favorites! Anyway, that was weird and a little disappointing. So were the people sitting next to me, who sang along at times and danced in their seats, annoying everyone else nearby. They would calm down and then start right up on the next upbeat number. Augh! Anyway, I loved the show.

On Sunday, we bought a ton of fruit (cherries, strawberries, raspberries) at the farmer's market, and Elizabeth baked a cherry pie. I cleaned off the BBQ in preparation for some grilling on Tuesday. It was a nice Sunday.