Grand Hallway ~ Thursday, September 17
Pieter M. van Hattem
Titus Andronicus: They read Shakespeare and can throw down at hoops.
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Grand Hallway frontman Tomo Nakayama's warm, whimsical ditties about honeybees ("Blessed Be, Honeybee"), walking in the rain ("Raindrops [Matsuri]"), and girls with golden hair ("Elinor With the Golden Hair [Tsukimi]") would be lovely even if he performed them all on his own, but it's the symphonic accompaniments that keep his light, airy songs from hitching a ride on his feathery voice and floating away altogether. Shenandoah Davis' bright, operatic warble is a perfect complement to Nakayama's reedy, tremulous tenor, but it's the instrumentals—provided by Davis, Nakayama, and six other well-seasoned musicians who employ (at different intervals) two violins, accordion, pedal steel, multiple guitars, keyboard, bass, and percussion—that lend the songs on Promenade, the band's second full-length, much of their dramatic weight. Best of all, Seattle Rock Orchestra will accompany the band at this show, which is sure to amplify Grand Hallway's sonic impact a hundredfold. With the Maldives. Great Hall at Fremont Abbey Arts Center, 4272 Fremont Ave. N. 8 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. All ages.SARA BRICKNER
Pacific Pride ~ Thursday, September 17
Denver indie combo Pacific Pride have a deep and wide river of influences that's fed by everyone from Pavement to Pollard... OK, maybe that river's not all that deep after all. Nonetheless, the vocals of Paul Garcia do a lot to separate the band's sound from that of other noise-pop outfits; his lolling, dry singing style is half disinterested observer, half emotional wreck. Combined with the band's tendency to write songs that refract its more obvious American tastes through a prism of odd-pop icons like the Kinks and the Clean, the result is a sound that channels the clattering, energetic velocity of classic indie rock with a touch of cerebral catchiness that warrants more than a second glance. With Broken Chairs, Jaguar Paw, Hair Vest. Funhouse, 206 Fifth Ave. N., 374-8400. 9:30 p.m. $5. JASON FERGUSON
John Vanderslice ~ Thursday, September 17
Among that certain cadre of orchestral-pop troubadours—Leonard Cohen descendants like Rufus Wainwright, Tom Waits, DeVotchKa's Nick Urata, sometimes Billy Bragg—John Vanderslice stands out by sounding the most like all the others combined. In these Depression 2.0 times, that may seem like a bargain—like hearing a half-dozen singer-songwriters for the price of one!—but let's not be quite so cynical. Vanderslice isn't a pop composite as much as a musical Zelig, having rubbed shoulders in recording studios and onstage with the likes of Death Cab, Spoon, Okkervil River, the Mountain Goats, and Sufjan Stevens. That he remains relatively under the radar means that the lush arrangements and striking lyrics on his latest album, Romanian Names, can be enjoyed in a more intimate setting alongside fans who, like you, are in it for the music. With Pink Mountaintops and Mimicking Birds. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-5611. 8 p.m. $14 adv. ROSE MARTELLI
McCoy Tyner ~ Thursday, September 17 through Sunday, September 20
When that heavy left hand hits the piano, you know it's the sound of McCoy Tyner (or at least someone ripping him off). His signature dramatic low-end thwacks and thuds combined with his disjointed right-hand technique made him a perfect foil for the great John Coltrane, and thus an inspiration to basically every jazz pianist who's ever lived and ever will. But his post-Trane career has been just as exciting, if not more so—at four decades and counting, Tyner is a towering example of how innovative one can be within their own style. His recent Guitars was a collaborative effort with jazz six-stringers such as Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot. Never mind that it was a spotty collection—it was simply notable as being yet another offering from a (now-) 70-year-old legend who refuses to let his music go stale. Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., 441-9729. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. & Sun., 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.–Sat. $28.50. All ages. BRIAN J. BARR
Black Whales (CD release) ~ Friday, September 18
Black Whales' upcoming EP, Origins, is a hybrid of two musical styles that have been dominating Seattle's music scene lately: folk and straight-ahead pop. The best demonstration of this is the song "Young Blood," a peppy little number that's not only the EP's best track, but a hint as to where the band's sound might be headed, as it's the only song on the EP to feature the newest Black Whale, organist Mike Bayer. The band hasn't even been together two years yet, but it's already played every Seattle music festival of note—Bumbershoot, Georgetown, REVERB, the Capitol Hill Block Party—and if its debut full-length improves upon the promise of Origins, Black Whales is well poised to become Mt. Fuji Records' biggest band. With Bobby Bare., Jr., All Smiles. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave N.W. 789-3599. 9 p.m. $12 adv./$14 DOS. SARA BRICKNER
Dirty Three ~ Friday, September 18
This instrumental trio—guitarist Mick Turner, violinist Warren Ellis, and drummer Jim White—makes a distinctive racket that merges ancient folk melodies and textures with moody noir-rock, free jazz, and noise, although sometimes they allow their tunes to breathe quietly and gently, too. Its Australian-born members are plenty notable for other pursuits: Ellis has played with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for well over a decade (and in Cave's spinoff band, Grinderman); Turner and White have been in numerous Aussie punk bands and have recorded and toured with the likes of PJ Harvey, Cat Power, Will Oldham, and Smog. Occasionally in Dirty Three's compositions you'll hear bits reminiscent of those artists, which only serves to illustrate the crucial role the three play in the architecture of that other music. And when the trio comes together, the result is somehow greater than the sum of its already impressive parts. With Chris Brokaw. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-5611. 8 p.m. $15 adv. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
