The great old Neptune Theatre has been reborn as a live performance venue of to-be-determined quality, but tonight’s bill is top-notch. Opening the show: New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus, whose heady ambition and ramshackle attack recall the Replacements without falling into any kind of pigeonhole. Headlining: Austin’s Okkervil River, the well-respected melodic folk rockers who’ll have their work cut out for them following the explosive clamor of their supporting band. (Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St, www.stgpresents
.org, 9 pm, $20 adv/$22 DOS, balcony all ages/floor 21+)
David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest... More by David Schmader
I was at the Neptune last night for the Mark Lanegan show. The show was really great (including the opening duo of Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss), but the venue definitely has some kinks to work out.
The seats were uncomfortable and unnecessary. The floor was 21+, but you couldn’t bring drinks to your seats. As a result, people congregated in the bar at the back of the room, which would normally be okay, but many of these people chose to talk REALLY LOUDLY during a very mellow show.
Why you’d pay good money to see a great artist like Mark Lanegan and then talk REALLY LOUDLY during the entire set is beyond me. Perhaps you just went there to “be seen”. Lame.
@1. Was the whole ground floor outfitted with those padded folding chairs used during the first week of SIFF? Will they not be using the chairs for the more rock-ish show?
Good old STG, why even finish the venue before charging top $ admissions? They screwed up film festival and they will screw up live shows. Anyone who has had the misfortune of seeing a show at the Moore can tell you that. Non profit my ass.