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Speaking of national breakthroughs, former Posie Jon Auer could be on the brink himself. His solo show at the Crocodile drew a huge audience, most of whom were there to see him, not headliners Gigolo Aunts.
Harvey Danger raised $4,000 for Andrea Mulrain at their benefit show at RKCNDY. Another will take place August 14 at the Crocodile, with Harvey Danger, Huge Space Bird, Alien Crime Syndicate, and Braden from Super Deluxe.
* * *I saw Murder City Devils roadie Gabe buying a half-rack of Black Label and some six packs of something else at 10:30 am last Thursday, and while rock-related beer purchases are a common sight at the Harvard QFC, this one might have been a contributing factor to his joining the Warped Tour that very afternoon as roadie for the Amazing Crowns. There's scandal involved, however! Remember that at last year's EndFest it was Gabe (there as a roadie for Modest Mouse) who bumrushed the stage during Blink 182's set, grabbing the mic from singer Tom Delonge, and calling him an asshole for repeatedly asking teenaged audience members to show their tits and then making comments like "too small" or "ugly" after they complied. This resulted in a huge security huff that damn near ended with ejection, until Green Day's Billie Joe stepped in to smooth the waters. The End wasn't so easily allayed, though, and threatened to never play Modest Mouse or Murder City Devils on their station again. Anyway! So who's headlining the Warped Tour? Blink 182. That Gabe's got some big balls, I tell you.
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I thought I read it wrong when I flipped past an ad for a Pete Krebs show at fancy pants Pacific Place's brewery/restaurant Gordon Biersch. It's true--the establishment offered him a buttload of money, so what the hey? I went down there on a Thursday night, and though it was strange to see Krebs hunkered over his guitar while a big screen television broadcasted baseball above him, it was also nice to enjoy a good dinner while listening to something other than jazz for a change. Hipsters will have to put up with a high cheese factor, including the restaurant's faux street-corner "ambiance," so a certain amount of sucking it up is in order. If you think you have it in you, however, it ain't all that bad. Krebs will play there again on July 22, then Marc Olsen will take over for a few weeks after that.
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The Showbox is just about finished with its renovations, and they've made some pretty big changes. Most noticeably, the wall separating the showroom from the lounge is gone, creating one giant space. The VIP area has been improved, a proper backstage has been added, and the white linen table service has expanded a few feet. The two-tiered viewing space makes for better sight lines for those of us who can't see past the forest of Northwest trees, but the retreat offered by the former lounge will be missed.
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On the ARO.space tip, the Go-Go's showed up there after their fab show at the Pier. They also spent time at the Wild Rose. Ms. Carlisle and the rest of the gals dropped in looking stunning, but while they were at ARO.space, Belinda was rumored to have been running around asking for "Tina" -- apparently a friend of hers.
