THURSDAY 7/22


SCISSOR SISTERS, THE FITNESS
(Neumo's) See Stranger Suggests, page 19, and preview, page 31.

JAWBREAKER TRIBUTE NIGHT: KANE HODDER, BLUE SKY MILE, TOURIST, BULLET CLUB, AUTUMN POETRY, ANCILLE, BOOK OF BLACK EARTH, AND MORE
(Graceland) See All Ages Action, page 47.

Mobb deep
(Premier) See My Philosophy, page 37.

HEART
(Marymoor Park) So there we were, lost in San Francisco, and the driver asks me to reach into the glove compartment for the CD he'd just purchased: The Essential Heart, a two-CD greatest-hits collection. And though I winced at the mere mention of Heart, who have always been most closely identified with the '80s in my mind, I forked it over, he popped it in, and we spent the next hour truly and gloriously rocking the fuck out to one of the least abashed full-blown rock bands of the late '70s. I'm pretty sure we threw disc two off the Bay Bridge--"These Dreams" and all. But old Heart... Holy shit, old Heart! SEAN NELSON

VERONA, SHOES FOR DECEMBER, SPOOK THE HORSE
(Chop Suey) One more time, and at the risk of certain redundancy, repeat after me: Verona's Kyle Logghe has a goddamn gorgeous and versatile voice capable of jumping octaves with impressive ease. Verona as a band is equally elastic, with a rangy sound that snaps from melodic passion to resounding rock. KATHLEEN WILSON

FRIDAY 7/23


THE MEAT PURVEYORS, THE GREENCARDS
(Tractor) See Drunk by Noon, page 38.

WEST MEMPHIS THREE BENEFIT: THE SUPERSUCKERS, VISQUEEN, THE BLACK PANTIES
(Neumo's) See preview, page 29.

KILL ME TOMORROW, HUSTLER WHITE
(No Sleep House) For those who have yet to witness San Diego art punks Kill Me Tomorrow, this basement show should be an excellent experience. The electronically based three-piece uses drums, drum machines, guitars, bass, and lots of extra noise to savage the typical dance punk presentation with very sci-fi afflictions, as any sort of movement you could make to their songs would be jerky at best. The fact that members of this group are also artists and authors only adds to their charm. (The No Sleep House is at 1127 NW 64th St in Ballard. Show starts at 7 pm.) JENNIFER MAERZ

APPETITE FOR RECONSTRUCTION: A GUNS N' ROSES FUNDRAISER FOR NO VOTE LEFT BEHIND
(Sunset) Cover nights, schmuver nights, they're happening all over this city as of late, but one of the most badass of them all has to be tonight's, since it's dedicated to motherfuckin' Guns N' Roses! The local bands already set to bow down to the hard rock giants include the Lashes, Andrea Maxand, Fey Ray, Pleasurecraft, American School of Warsaw, and the Capillaries. And The Stranger's own David Schmader will also be performing excerpts from his play, Letter to Axl. Of course there will be Axl and Slash look-alike contests (but don't even think about coming as Axl unless you can pull off his dead-sexy dance moves), and besides all that, it's a benefit for No Vote Left Behind. You need no better reason to slam down seven bucks and suck down a few beers (Axl would want it no other way) for the cause. MEGAN SELING

FREE VERSE, FALL OF THE BASTARDS, SWARMING HORDES, BOOK OF BLACK EARTH, THE VILLAINS
(2nd Avenue Pizza) It's hardcore/death metal night at this all-ages joint as these bands battle for who can have the most ferocious--and fastest--attack on the senses. Book of Black Earth have the hounds-of-hell vocals in their possession (although I assume they're not the only ones), which always add a little rabid canine bite to a metal band. JENNIFER MAERZ

INDIGO GIRLS, KIM RICHEY
(Pier 62/63) Like many girls and sissy boys before me, I have long been living in the clutches of an illusion: that the first couple of Indigo Girls records were good and only their later work was crappy. Well, a truck-stop cassette recently disabused me of the notion that that first big record of theirs was much more than a bunch of hippie twirling for vegans and first-person poets--people for whom 10,000 Maniacs were too macho. However (and it's a big one), the actual singing on the record remains exactly as transcendent as it was in my mind. Cursory passes over later releases confirm it. The lyrics are difficult, the arrangements problematic, but when Amy Ray and Emily Saliers harmonize, the clouds still blow away. SEAN NELSON

ANNE HEATON, LANTERNA
(Sunset) Over the course of four albums, instrumental band Lanterna have made some strikingly beautiful soundtracks to accompany the cinema of the mind. But it's far from lackluster ambient due to a heaviness informed with reverb and plenty of psychedelia that sounds like more than the sum of its two-man team. Highways is the band's latest record, released last March. While certainly not the greatest output of their catalog, the album still buzzes and trips out, but the slickness does get in the way. KATHLEEN WILSON

SATURDAY 7/24


CAPITOL HILL BLOCK PARTY FEATURING THE LONG WINTERS, UNITED STATE OF ELECTRONICA, SIR MIX-A-LOT, AND MANY MORE
(Intersection of 11th Ave and Pine St) See Stranger Suggests, page 19, and pullout guide.

!!!, HINT HINT
(Neumo's) See Stranger Suggests, page 19.

DEVIN THE DUDE, DRAZE, GHETTO PREZ
(Showbox) See My Philosophy, page 37.

THE DELAYS
(Crocodile) See preview, page 35.

JAMES LAVELLE, DJs EVA & BPM
(Chop Suey) See preview, page 35.

SKELETONS, GORDON B. ISNOR
(2nd Avenue Pizza) Experimental pop act Skeletons claim comparisons to Múm and the Sea and Cake, while the art-damaged Gordon B. Isnor turns his work into a little more of a scramble. Using a laptop, synthesizer, and indie-rock-style vocals, Vancouver's Isnor creates songs that are both silly and charming in a geeky, DIY dance-off sort of way. JENNIFER MAERZ

TSUNAMI BOMB, LAWRENCE ARMS, PIPEDOWN, SCATTERED FALL
(Graceland) I think I was in San Francisco, after a rock show, when these four foxy little punkupines come over and give me their demo CD. They say they're called Tsunami Bomb and I say, "Oh, like Tsunami, the indie rock band from Virginia?" And they were like, "Whayt?" That was 1998, and now Tsunami Bomb--with their snide and catchy pop punk--is freaking huge and fewer and fewer people remember Tsunami. Which just goes to show you that youth culture is irrepressible and indie rock already didn't mean very much anymore six years ago. SEAN NELSON

HORRORFEST: BURNING BRIDES BURLESQUE, THE BLOODY HATCHET WOUNDS, THE DEAD VAMPIRES
(Fun House) Shtick, when executed correctly, should be equal parts fun and dumb, with maybe the slightest bit of snarkiness tossed in. The Dead Vampires know this, and push their smoke-machined, flashy-costumed shows to the limit; it's the kind of thing that's either completely embarrassing to watch or a total blast--depending on how many cans of Pabst you've downed. When I caught them by accident at the Sunset last month, they saturated the place with their sloppy mix of Legacy of Brutality-style Misfits gloom and Dead Boys crunch, tossing in plenty of jabs at the bemused crowd and a couple of sing-along covers for good measure. The fact that it takes a minute to get past the visual and toward the aural is half the point--the punk they make sounds exactly as vicious, dirty, and silly as their flailing arms, face paint, and masks look. For those along for the ride, it's dorky joy to the max. JOAN HILLER

RKL, THE ACCUSED, MILLHOUS, JACKMOVE
(Hell's Kitchen) RKL (Rich Kids on LSD) are one of my MOSTEST FAV-OR-ITE '80s hardcore bands... EVER! RKL's Keep Laughing LP, 20 years on, is STILL in my top 10 "Off the hook without a LOOK" list... when and if the time comes, I'm having that LP buried with me. There really was something GOOD about '80s hardcore that could be cheeky without being stupid, while still being REVOLUTIONARY. Right, so RKL are "incendiary"... well, sloppy, silly, and hard... er, rather that's "nard" like NARDCORE!! RKL were part of the infamous '80s Nardcore "scene"--hardcore from Ox-NARD County, California, dig? Anyway, so recently they've taken more to the Epitaph sound, but their cheeky sense of FUN remains intact. And unlike contemporary HC, RKL still seem without pretense--they're a party band, NOT embarrassingly earnest or rude, self-involved A-holes... all they're sayin' is like, "Hey, man, let's get drunk and let IT RIP!" MIKE NIPPER

SUNDAY 7/25


CAPITOL HILL BLOCK PARTY FEATURING THE MELVINS, THE BLOOD BROTHERS, COBRA HIGH, AND MANY MORE
(Intersection of 11th Ave and Pine St) See Stranger Suggests, page 19, and pullout guide.

GIRLS IN A COMA, COULTER
(Rendezvous) A local returns from a 35-city tour with a like-minded band from San Antonio in tow. The Seattle resident is Coulter, whose 2003 CD The End of Everything is perfectly titled, given that it conveys the maudlin moods of his strongest influence, the one and only Morrissey. But it's not all copycat, because Coulter beefs up the sound with horns, and even a bit of shoegazery effects can be detected. All-girl three-piece Girls in a Coma share a love not only for Morrissey's solo work, but the Smiths, too, so expect two entirely different sounds, however similar the motivation. KATHLEEN WILSON

MONDAY 7/26


THE FEMURS, TRINATION, UNIVERSAL MEASURE, VICTIM OF A MODERN AGE
(Graceland) The Femurs are one of those often-overlooked local bands that are so surprising when witnessed live you'll kick yourself for waiting so long to see them. Singer and songwriter Robb can certainly rock it out but his sincerity and sentimentality shines with a multifaceted brightness, whether you're listening to his self-titled album or seeing them play live. KATHLEEN WILSON

TUESDAY 7/27


OZZFEST: OZZY OSBOURNE, JUDAS PRIEST, SLAYER, SLIPKNOT, AND MORE
(White River Amphitheatre) See preview, page 32.

SEATTLE REAL MUSIC: BLUE SKY MILE, AMBITIOUS CAREER WOMAN, ELEVENTH HOUR, KANE HODDER, THE MYCLE WASTMAN PROJECT
(Paradox) See Stranger Suggests, page 19.

MATTHEW DEAR, DABRYE, MIDWEST PRODUCT, LUSINE
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests, page 19, and Data Breaker, page 44.

ERIC CLAPTON, ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND
(KeyArena) "There's always been something dead inside Eric Clapton." DAVID BERMAN

IRON COMPOSER
(Capitol Hill Arts Center) Taking its cue from the beloved cooking competition Iron Chef, Seattle School's Iron Composer throws two local songsmiths into a booze-fueled, high-mayhem songwriting battle. The "secret ingredient" is a randomly selected audience member, the facts of whose life provide the raw material for the evening's compositions. This week's edition pits fringe theater composer John Kaufmann against Tennis Pro's David Drury, each of whom will down six shots of liquor over the 45-minute composition period, then drag their asses onstage to bang out their brand-new songs with a real live band. DAVID SCHMADER

WEDNESDAY 7/28


sufjah stevens, joanna newsom, denison whitmer
(Neumo's) See Live Wire, page 29.

HIM, MICE PARADE, MERCIR
(Crocodile) Mice Parade's Adam Pierce has collaborated with Jim O'Rourke, producer/DJ Nobukazu Takemura, Múm's Kristin Anna Valtysdóttir, and HiM's Doug Scharin, showing already the range of musicians this post-rock/experimental electronica composer pulls from. His infinitely layered compositions also have the capacity to sound both delicate and rich at the same moment. JENNIFER MAERZ