⢠The Pixies played the Paramount last week, and it was half great. Frank Black and the gang (with a new bassist who is not Kim Deal, but dresses like Wednesday Addams, which must count for something) mixed in too many new (see: not very good) songs for our taste, and even had the nerve to start their encore with a new song (see: horrible). Rude! You know that's not why we're clapping, guys.
⢠Doom-metal pioneers Pentagram played El Corazón on Saturday night. Frontman (and star of highly recommended music documentary Last Days Here) Bobby Liebling wore a rainbow boatneck sweater small enough for the average third-grader; a bearded man with a projector off to the side of the stage moved bowls of baby oil, rubbing alcohol, and some kind of dye to the music, creating a customized "trippy blobby" backdrop. After the show, Liebling was spotted at the 5 Point Cafe, eating a club sandwich and talking about how much he loves Black Sabbath.
⢠Ani DiFranco kicked off her concert at the Moore on Saturday night with the song "Fuel," whose lyrics make explicit reference to the slave history of Manhattan. It was the only acceptable way to start out, after the singer-songwriter's sorry mistake of failing to apologize for setting a songwriting "retreat" in a former slave plantation. After she leveled some implicit self-criticism, we were able to remember why we'd liked her in the first place.
⢠On a related note, we were even almost able to forgive DiFranco's fans, several of whom seemed to believe they were having a personal conversation with her all the way through the concert.
⢠While in San Francisco last week for Red Bull Music Academy's Bass Camp, Seattle producer DJAO tweeted, "It's going to take a lifetime to process the fact that Erykah Badu blatantly hit on me in front of everyone during her lecture #BassCampSF."
⢠Thursday night at the Lo-Fi, as local space-rock hellions Jetman Jet Team were closing out their set, Miguel Diaz, perhaps feeling regretful he'd recently quit the band, joined Jetman onstage to play tambourine for about five minutes, before abruptly stopping and running out of the club. In other band news: Former JJT bassist Adam Breeden has replaced Diaz. We're as confused as you are.
⢠Mark Kozelek, aka Sun Kil Moon, asked the crowd at the Neptune on Friday night, "Do a bunch of morons write for The Stranger?" Apparently he didn't appreciate Trent Moorman asking him about notorious serial killer Richard Ramirez "nine times" in an interview. An audience member yelled out "Too much reverb!" in between songs, prompting a bit of back-and-forth between Kozelek and the crowd, including such gems as another person yelling, "Show up to your own sound check, asshole!" and a woman trying to bring some positivity to the proceedings by shouting, "Seahawks! Woo!" 
