Category Archive Seattle

ByGD

GOJIRA! GOJIRA DA YO! (at Studio Seven)

Gojira at Studio Seven

Caressing strings

After (not) seeing the first two bands at Studio Seven, I knew that I couldn’t just listen to Gojira when they played Studio Seven. I had to see the stage. I unloaded camera and coat on long-suffering spouse who camped against a pillar. It had been a long time since I worked my way through a crowd like that, so I was out of practice with the “This small girl pushing past you is so harmless you’ve already forgotten her,” mind trick. Plus, the Gojira fans were notably protective of their space. I made it as far as the next pillar before a group of very tall guys blocked my way. Currents of aggression swirled through the crowd. Read More

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The Atlas Moth and Devin Townsend at Seattle’s Studio Seven

Insomnium opening for Epica at El Corazon

Insomnium opening for Epica at El Corazon

It seems like I’m always most interested in the opening bands. I flew to L.A. to see Amorphis open for Nightwish, I saw Epica because Insomnium was opening, and I bought tickets to see Lamb of God last summer because Gojira was on the bill. I finally got to see Gojira at Studio Seven a couple days ago. The Atlas Moth and Devin Townsend opened. With a line-up of this quality, I thought the openers deserved their own post. Read More

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Getting Giddy at Seattle Opera’s Cinderella

Cenerentola opera bookletAge ain’t nothing but a number, and even numbers appear to be relative. My awareness of this concept most acute when I’m writing about music. Like the recent performance of La Cenerentola at Seattle Opera. Read More

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Bringing Reykjavik! Home

Reykjavik! band Not the city, the band. They were one of the best surprises of my Airwaves, and I later realized they shared the same joyful vibe as the old band Black Happy. I took a break from metal night at Amsterdam to cross the street to Gamli Gaukurinn and check out Reykjavík! on the strength of their video “Hellbound Heart,” which documents the flight from Reykjavík to the band’s home town Ísafjörður. (Unsurprisingly, this is the work of Bowen Staines.) Read More

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Freedom on the Edge

As a student of ecology, I learned about the importance of edges. The variability of resources and environments in the interface between the forest and the meadow, or the land and the water, allows a greater variety of species to thrive. Many species can only survive in the edge habitats, and others, like humans, thrive best there.

As a student of yoga, I learned about the importance of the edge. You grow most when you push yourself right to your edge, to the boundary between what you are already capable of accomplishing and what will injure you.

Koi and Blue and White Vase by David Kroll

Perhaps that is why so many of my most significant moments happen in the edge times – between putting the kids to bed and going to bed myself, at the very beginning of trip as I step out of the airport, between the bus stop and work. The Grover/Thurston Gallery [2014 update: now extinct] lies on my path from bus stop to day job, and I always look through the windows as I pass to see what’s on display. Sometimes what I see interests me, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes, I am transported by the art inside. Read More