To paraphrase the Who: Meet the new Moe (or Neumo's). Same as the old Moe? It certainly has been spiffed up a bit, and will seem especially revamped to those who only saw the place when it was ARO.space and that pinball joint. But to those of us who hung out at the venue back in the days when it was officially called Moe's Mo' Rockin' Cafe, well, it's kind of the same. And before you get your skivvies worked into a butt plug, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. The stage is bigger, and while not set on the diagonal layout of yore, it's once again where it was back in the pre-ARO.space days. The sound system kicks total ass, so if you have a problem with LOUD, bring sufficient ear protection. The upstairs area has been designated a VIP section, with its own bar (and a new staircase replacing the old one, which was formerly adjacent to the front cocktail station and stood over the pinball machine and that goofy booth you would put a quarter in to make it light up for some reason--a reason that was lost on me). Anyway, the infamous slick and narrow wooden set of steps--many folks should remember them simply because years back they provided much hilarity as drunkards slid down them as if they were paved with ice--have been improved upon. The bar in the showroom is a nice holdover from ARO.space, and another one has been added to keep down the once insufferable lines--where in the past, one could quite possibly turn into a salt lick while waiting for a thirst-quenching beverage. Oh, and let me tell you--the downstairs "green room" is still the same concrete cube it was back in the day, but I hear renovations of posh proportions are planned to take place. In all fairness, only so much work can be done in such a short amount of time. One more thing, though: I was happy to notice that the door guy was the EXACT same one who first checked my ID before Garbage, way back during Windstorm '95, when I damn near rode the three blocks from my apartment to the club on one powerful gale. Whee!

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.

kathleen@thestranger.com