The bands who played the Stranger SXSW Send-Off showcase last Friday--Plan B (who performed downtempo electronica with a live mini-orchestra), IQU, Cobra High, and the two winners of our contest, the Lights and the Spits (who dressed in monster costumes, which provided a nice shield for the drummer when he vomited behind a Wolverine mask during their show)--were all amazing, even if they only got 30-minute sets, finishing up the live music portion of the night just when things were warming up. (The Yo, Son! DJs turned the end of the night into a dance party, though, keeping the floor packed for what was supposed to be a Massive Monkees showcase, but for reasons still unclear, the breakdancing crew didn't perform.) As always, IQU were really good and I loves me some Kento, but you'd think no one has ever heard of or seen a musician play a theremin before, the audience was slobbering so much about it afterwards. If you are enthralled and wish to hear/see more bands play the extremely interesting instrument (ever see the movie Theremin about the old lady who was a master at the intricate technique involved?), you should check out a band from this shortlist of names: Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys, King Crimson, Man or Astro-man?, Add N to (X), Air, Ambulance, Blur, Marilyn Manson, Buffalo Daughter, Cibo Matto, Cornelius, Deathray Davies, Melt Banana, Fantômas, Mercury Rev, the Flaming Lips, Muse (Matt Bellamy has one built into his guitar), Julian Koster in both Neutral Milk Hotel and Music Tapes, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Pinback, Scanner, Spectrum, the Polyphonic Spree, Super Furry Animals, Tomahawk (Mike Patton uses a pocket version), and of course that ham of hams, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
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You may have heard that Jason Fitzgerald has left the organization officially called Neumo's (meh), and is now booker and manager at Premier, a new large-scale venue located at 1700 First Avenue South, a block from Safeco Field.
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Here's a good one: Jon Auer of the Posies and his fiancée are set to get married on the March 11 episode of Evening Magazine. I'm not kidding.