John Butler Trio - Grand National small venue tour

Thursday, March 1...
Oh MY!
So Kristin and I scored front row seats at the Triple Door in Seattle, WA, to see JBT in an ultra-small pre album release tour. Let me tell you, it was the darn coolest thing I've ever seen. We showed up at the venue about an hour and a half before the doors opened - seats are first come, first served. We checked in and they led us right down to the FRONT - CENTER - seriously we were DYING.

We dined on fabulous Wild Ginger food and had a few beers... and then JBT came out. They played a fantastic, tight set of all of the new tunes, plus a few old favorites like John doing Ocean.
Intimate and wonderful - I can't wait until this summer when he comes back to do the Fillmore!!

I would definitely see another show at the Triple Door - very swank dinner theater type venue with tiered table seating. The only downside is that it's definitely not a "dancing" venue - seated shows only - so no standing up to groove to the tunes.

However, the intimacy factor more than makes up for that!

New Year's Eve "Sea of Dreams"

What can I say? Sea of Dreams... two nights of String Cheese Incident magic and mayhem. What a great weekend. The crowd was costumed and happy, the Anon-Salon folks had the Burning Man vibe flowing, and the music was fantastic. Two long sets both nights - a fantastic Texas, what more can you ask for?
The Pink Patooties were in full effect - wigs, boas and all. I'll post photos soon. Erin came down from Portland and we had a great time. It's sad to think that it might be the last SCI NYE, based on the announcement last fall that this summer will be the end. So glad we went both nights and had a blast.
ALO opened the main stage on the 31st with a great set as well. Nershi came out and joined them for one song, and overall it was solid. They played a few new tunes and the crowd was diggin it.

Live Music in December

Last Friday I saw Trey Anastasio at the Warfield in SF. He is coming back in a big way... he was so much stronger than last year - more focused. It was a great show - they started out the set by jamming through the crowd with hand percussion. More cow bell!!

Violent Femmes coming up at the Fillmore week after next - they always rock.

Most importantly, I'm looking forward to the upcoming NYE extravaganza again this year. SCI will surely be pulling out all of the stops in what seems to be their last New Year's show ever, with Nershi leaving the band this summer. The pink patooties will be in full effect. MRRP!

Check out the Website for SCI NYE:

www.seaofdreamsnye.com