Michael Alan Goldberg
Click the photo for a slideshow of the concert. All photos by Michael Alan Goldberg.
The Polyphonic Spree
July 15, 2007
The Showbox
Better Than: Organized religion.
By Michael Alan Goldberg
Sure, I'd heard all the jokes about Jim Jones, David Koresh, Kool-Aid, Up with People, and hokey old timey relijun, but before last night I'd never seen the nearly two-dozen-strong, Texas, symphonic-rock outfit the Polyphonic Spree play live. I was wondering if they'd come off a bit contrived and/or silly, but I've gotta say, I'm now a convert to whatever musical doctrine they're preaching after that whale of a performance. Big sound, big love, confetti, and smoke all over the nearly sold-out room; it was a joyful, kaleidoscopic musical experience akin to seeing the Flaming Lips (and to a lesser extent, Mercury Rev).
The show began with John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth" blasting over the PA while the lyrics were projected onto a large red swath of fabric that had been stretched across the front of the stage. As smoke poured from over the top and into the crowd, a pair of scissors soon poked through the middle, first cutting out the shape of a heart. Then, the scissors snipped the entire banner in half, revealing the entire band—23 members, if my counting was accurate—clad in black, military-style outfits replete with red crosses: It was kinda like the bizarro-world, evil-goth version of the Spree.
Click here to read the full review of The Polyphonic Spree's set at The Showbox in Reverb, Seattle Weekly's music blog.
Click the photo for a slide show of Lordi, and here for a Static-X and Lamb of God slideshow.
By T.J. Tranchell
Ozzfest
White River Amphitheater
July 12
Better than: Getting your nose broken inside the Behemoth pit. Oh wait. That happened, just not to me.
By T.J. Tranchell
In 12 years, Ozzfest has become the premiere place to see up-and-coming metal bands, as well as old-guard groups. This year's tour leaned toward the newbies more than the elder statesmen. Looking at the history of Ozzfest, being on the second stage can lead to much greater things.
Traffic sucked so I missed the first two bands, ChthoniC and In This Moment, but according to an e-mail from ChthoniC, they are "from the dark side of the world, Taiwanese and from this unique country with superpowers from the netherworld." Would like to have seen that. In This Moment is opening for Megadeth, so I'll have another shot at them.
I could hear Daath from the parking lot, but they were just finishing as I arrived at the second stage. 0 for 3.
Next up were my favorite Canadians: 3 Inches of Blood. The Ozzfest crowd didn't get to experience the full awesomeness of 3IOB because screamer Jamie Hooper was resting his voice. They still rocked though. I ran into guitarist Shane Clark later in the day and he said he was having a great time.
Click here to read the full Ozzfest report in Reverb, Seattle Weekly's music blog.
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