A Time to Watch My Heroes: Silversun Pickups at The Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Sat July 31

On Saturday, July 31, I found myself at my friend Mandy's apartment where I was staying, just south of Seattle, my mind swirling with the realization that after 3 weeks of touring, in 24 hours I would be on a plane headed back to New York City for a week. It all seemed kind of strange - 3 weeks doesn't sound like a lot of time, but I had become used to life on the road. After over a week in Seattle, it felt more familiar to my brain than the metropolis I had been living in for the last 6 years.

But as the afternoon wore on that gave way to a bristling sense of excitement. My friend Corynne, the singer in the band I am in in New York City, Atomic Shotgun, had told me before I left that one of my all-time favorite bands in the world, Silversun Pickups, were going to play Brooklyn the final week before my tour was set to start. Unfortunately (I felt at the time), with all the various tasks related to packing for the tour and moving out of my apartment, there was no way I thought I'd have an entire evening to go to a show.

Almost as soon as I landed in Seattle, I saw posters everywhere announcing that Silversun Pickups would be playing The Paramount Theatre here on July 31st. Having missed them in my home city, there was no way I was going to miss them this time.

As I've told many friends over the last week or so, this band is really the only nationally successful band I can rightfully claim "I know them when..." I was in Maine visiting family in 2005, browsing at a record store, when I heard this incredible music over the sound system. I asked the clerk who they were (the first time I had ever done such a thing), and he told me it was a new band from L.A. whose first EP they were promoting in the store. I picked up a copy and proceeded to listen to it non-stop for days. The song "All the Go-Inbetweens" was one of the most beautiful, passionate, heart-crushing songs I had ever heard.

A few weeks later I signed up to volunteer for the CMJ Music Marathon festival in New York. The Universe very nicely arranged it so that I worked the club Silversun Pickups would play on the very night they would play it. I went to the Ace of Clubs, a great, small club I would later see my friends in Ruby Bullet play on more than one occasion, and there they were. This band I had heard on the record store sound system for the first time a few weeks earlier. Live in the flesh.

After that I saw them each time they played New York City, about once a year, and each time they had moved up the chain of the music business a bit and were thus playing a larger venue. They headlined at the Mercury Lounge in 2006, headlined at Webster Hall in 2007, then opened for Wolfmother at Hammerstein Ballroom in 2008. I missed them only at the All-Points West festival in 2009 (a fairly pricey ticket to see a slew of bands, to which I lacked the free time to devote in order to get my full money's worth) and at the aforementioned 2010 show in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

So needless to say I was pretty damn pumped to go see them on their home coast the last night before my trip to NYC. I got Mandy a ticket, but at the last minute she had to back out because something came up. I of course understood but was a bit sad for her - she was totally unfamiliar with Silversun Pickups, but I knew they were one of the best rock bands performing today.

Mandy, bless her kind and generous soul, let me borrow her car again, and I drove up the now very-familiar I-5 into downtown Seattle. I parked the car in a nearby garage and headed to the Paramount. I had timed it pretty well, and had only a short time before the headliners were set to come out on stage.

To say it was a great show and that I had a blast seems not enough to cover my experience. The band played an amazing show, and I knew every song by heart from listening to all 3 of their records constantly over the last few years. It was a bit odd to be at such a huge show by myself, but any weirdness dissipated immediately the moment they began playing. Not only are they a great band, but they have a strong but quiet confidence in what they do, matched with genuine humility as human beings and a profound aura of gratitude to all the people they know make whatever success they are enjoying at the moment possible.

At one point, frontman Brian Aubert (a real hero of mine not only for his incredible musicianship and songs, but also how he works a crowd of any size and conducts himself on stage) took some time to speak to the crowd, and after explaining why the music fans of Seattle were key in their early days to getting them to where they stand today, he shouted "Thank you!" to us about 20 times in a row - no exaggeration.

Another reason the show was such an incredible experience was the crowd. I'm not sure I've ever been at a large venue like that to see a nationally-known act and had the entire place completely fixated on the band the entire time, and cheering genuinely and deafeningly after every song. In fact, the band played 4 songs at the start without stopping to talk to the audience. When they finally did, Brian had to wait 2 or 3 minutes because the cheers from the crowd simply would not stop. There was a love and an amazing energy in those moments I'm not sure I have ever felt before watching a band play.

I continue not only to love this band for their music, but for how they present themselves to, and conduct themselves with their fans. It makes me thrilled for them, that they seem to be such genuinely nice and appreciative people, and continue to get so richly rewarded for their collective talents and hard creative work.

I left the Paramount on yet another natural high my tour has provided thus far, but also insanely jealous. I hadn't played with the band I am in, Atomic Shotgun, in quite a while, and I wanted to go play a show with them right after that. It was difficult to accept that I had a couple of flights, a couple rehearsals, and a week of waiting before I would get the chance. But boy oh boy, when I got that chance, was I gonna be READY to rock the house.

Obviously, I didn't play that night, I went to see somebody else play. So instead of my set list, I'll give you theirs. If you have not heard of this band I so encourage you to check them out. Their music is awesome, and if you become a fan and go see them live, you'll get the royal treatment I've been fortunate enough to receive from them every time I've seen them play.

Thanks to Silversun Pickups and SoundontheSound.com for the photo above, taken at the show (I figured I wouldn't be allowed to bring my own camera in). As my intent is to promote both the band and this great Seattle music website, I am hoping it is permissible for me to use the photo here.

Silversun Pickups, Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Sat July 31, 2010

1. Growing Old is Getting Old (off their latest/3rd record, the LP Swoon)

2. Well Thought Out Little Twinkles (off their 2nd record, the LP Carnavas)

3. Sort Of (off Swoon)

4. There's No Secrets This Year (off Swoon)

5. The Royal We (awesome song! off Swoon)

6. Little Lover's So Polite (off Carnavas)

7. It's Nice to Know You Work Alone (off Swoon)

8. Future Foe Scenarios (awesome song! off Carnavas)

9. Kissing Families (awesome song! off their 1st record, the EP Pikul)

10. Catch and Release (off Swoon)

11. Panic Switch (off Swoon)

12. Brian Aubert Guitar Interlude

13. Lazy Eye (off Carnavas)

ENCORE

14. Substitution (off Swoon)

15. Three Seed (off Carnavas)

16. Common Reactor (last track off Carnavas, the only way to end a SSPU show)

Furry Friends and Transportation Challenges: Seattle July 28 to July 31

On Tuesday July 27th I met my new friend Stephanie again in Bothell, just north of the city, and she showed me yet another amazing coffee shop. After chatting for a while, we drove to a charming little shopping village a mile or two away (apologies, the name escapes me - this is why it's good to blog every day!). We spent a leisurely afternoon just walking around from shop to shop. A lot of the stores sold various things to decorate a country home with. As an owner of a huge farmhouse herself, these were right up Stephanie's alley. The guy from New York City essentially living out of his Honda Civic? Not so much. I still had a great time, though. I know I never would have seen this pretty little area without a native taking me there. I was really psyched when we found a shop that sold gemstones and beautiful little rocks, for purchase as they were or made quite skillfully into all sorts of things. Stephanie bought a gorgeous lamp made from a good-sized, pink quartz-looking sort of stone, and being a huge fan of gems and rocks, I picked up a bunch of nice looking stones to make the Civic's interior a bit more homey.

I was then headed south to Auburn, Washington, south of Seattle and not too far from my hotel at the time in Kent, to hang out with another new friend, Mandy. Unfortunately, the tour hit its first major bump in the road, almost literally, as I came down I-5. The Civic started vibrating violently and a very audible grinding noise seemed to be coming from the general area around the front wheels. The steering wheel started shaking so badly it was tough to keep a grip on it. I slowed the car down, and under 50 mph it seemed a bit better, although I could tell the vibration and the grinding noise were still there. I figured I would just get to Mandy's for our visit, get back to the hotel afterward, and take it to a repair shop in the morning to see what was up.

Mandy and I had a great time hanging out. She's a massage therapist who works out of a couple of different places in the Auburn area. As she is a huge music fan, and has her own apartment with a couch that folds out into a bed in her spacious living room, she very generously offered me to move out of the hotel and crash at her place for a while. I thanked her profusely and took her up on her kind offer. I drove (slowly and carefully) back to my hotel and slept there for one last night.

On Wednesday, July 28, I packed up my stuff and said good-bye to the Days Inn in Kent. I drove (again, slowly and carefully) over to Mandy's and dropped some of my stuff off, then dropped the car off at a repair shop conveniently located about a mile from Mandy's place. They said they would look at it on Thursday and call me to tell me what they found.

Mandy's place was a pretty crazy center of activity when I got there. She has a wonderful, friendly, little dog named Ezra (pictured adorably, above right), and two beautiful cats, Percy and Deirdre. But she was also dog-sitting for two members of her family, so the pups Lola and Manini were also there. Good thing I am a huge animal lover.

They were all good pets, but Lola and Manini were both pretty young - I forget how young exactly, but definitely still puppies, and the two of them and Ezra, who is older but who has perpetual puppy energy, were a trio to be reckoned with. They wrestled, ran, jumped and cavorted all over Mandy's apartment for hours on end. Mandy and I would take all three of them out for walks at the same time, and it was like trying to manage all the animals of a circus. They would constantly jump on, over and under each other, and get their 3 leashes so tangled it would take Mandy and I forever to get them all sorted back out again. Honestly, it was a bit exhausting, but a real joy. As I say, I love animals, so to get to be around these 3 great little dogs for a while was a real unexpected treat.

Wednesday and the next 3 days into the weekend were a bit odd compared to the previous part of the tour. Mandy was nice enough to let me borrow her car a couple times, but mostly she needed it to get back and forth to work and for her personal commitments, so I was a bit stuck at Mandy's place while the car drama unfolded. Not that I am complaining one bit - Mandy has a great place so I was mostly fortunate. But the first news I got from the repair shop was that the car was in such rough shape they needed to do $1,200 worth of work just to be able to drive it safely and find out what was really wrong with it. Yikes. I haven't owned a car since 2004, and I knew with the vehicle would come all the other inevitable expenses - gas, oil changes, insurance, the occasional parking ticket, the occasional repair. But $1,200 and counting in my first month of ownership was fairly disconcerting.

Mandy and I continued to hang out when she was home, having some really great, long talks on her outdoor deck. The update from the repair place wasn't wonderful to hear either. Once completing the first round of repairs to get it drivable, they found the real problems, which were going to cost an additional $1,300 to fix. After that, they assured me, my car should run great for a long time. Well, I should hope so after paying $2,500 out of pocket.

The last few days of July I was also quickly scrambling to pull together my trip for a week back to New York City which would start on August 1st. The band in NYC I am in, Atomic Shotgun, had a brand-new drummer we invited on board just before I left on my solo tour, and we had an important show that our singer Corynne had worked very hard to get booked in Washington, D.C. on August 6. So I was flying back primarily to rehearse with our new drummer Vinny and to go do the D.C. show with them. I also hoped to see a few friends, get a doctor's appointment out of the way, and run a few errands while I was there.

Thursday night Mandy let me borrow her car so I could go play at the Gypsy Trader in Fremont, the same place I had played the previous Thursday. This time I decided to play my Fender Stratocaster guitar with a little distortion on the amplifier, instead of my acoustic guitar I've been using most of the trip. Generally, I find the sound of electric guitar a bit disconcerting without other instruments (drums, bass, etc.) to accompany it. But every once in a while, I see a performer who plays an electric guitar solo in their own unique style that really works. So I thought I would break out the Strat and see what happened.

I really liked the sound I got out of the Strat, and again there was a room full of friendly, attentive folks there to play for. I felt like I played pretty well, and as always I had a great time. I met some other musicians that had not been there the week before, and had a nice time chatting with Linda Lee, who runs the Thursday night show there. She joined me on drums again, in fact, on "Beautiful Wanderer," and it really helped support the sound of the Strat that second time around.

Eventually the car repair shop called and said they would not be able to have my car fixed before I left for New York. I told them that was fine, I'd pick it up when I returned. Saturday July 31st I spent the day getting the last few things to prepare for my New York trip done, and then got ready for another unexpected surprise I had found out about about a week before. I was going to see one of my favorite bands in the world, Silversun Pickups, play the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

Set List from Gypsy Trader Show, Thursday July 29:

1. Home of Love

2. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Cover)

3. Beautiful Wanderer

Songwriting, Socializing and Sports in Seattle: Fri July 23, Sun July 25 and Mon July 26

I forgot to mention that Friday night, July 23rd, the Boston Red Sox rolled into Seattle for a weekend series with the Mariners. I got myself a ticket and went to the game, having not had a chance to see the Sox play in at least a couple of years. I had a great time and the Sox won, but I did have a bit of empathy for all the local Mariners fans. Looking out at the rest of the stands, there seemed to be almost as many Red Sox fans as Mariners fans, so there was a lot of cheering when the Sox got a hit or made a good play.

The Mariners have been struggling with internal issues and lousy records the last few years now, and as a Red Sox fan who struggled with them through the 80's and 90's, I could relate to how frustrated they were not only by their home squad's lackluster performance, but having to endure the cheers of so many fans of the visiting team. I think we Sox fans meant well, but when I cheered I almost felt like I was personally adding insult to the local folks' injury.

Hopefully their organization will turn their ship around and do something good next year - given how far out of first place the Mariners are at this point, I still saw an awful lot of loyal, dedicated fans that night who would of course enjoy their team being back in the running for the playoffs sometime soon.

Sunday July 25th I mainly took it easy at my hotel in Kent, Washington, south of the city. That night I drove up to Ballard to meet my new friend Stephanie at one of her favorite coffee shops. I was going to see what sounded like a cool local band The Lake at a club in Ballard afterwards, so I drove over and parked near the club, and proceeded to just walk around Ballard for a while. It was a really cool part of town, and there seemed to be several music clubs with fans gathered and chatting outside. I ended up not sticking around for the show, however, as I eventually found out The Lake would be playing much later than I had thought, and I was dog-tired. So I hopped back in the Civic and drove back to Kent for some shut-eye.

Monday July 26th I had been invited to the home of two other musicians, a woman named Simone and her mother Alecia (pronounced "Ah-lee-thee-ah"). They had both played after me at the Gypsy Trader show the prior week, and after the show I spoke to Alecia about the possibility getting together and the 3 of us writing some new music. Alecia is a yoga instructor, but in addition to being a great musician is also a talented painter. In addition to her own unique, musical talents, Simone is a professional ballet dancer employed by a troupe in Germany. She is home in Seattle for the summer and will return to Germany in the fall.

Alecia and Simone could not have been more gracious hosts to me. They had prepared a fantastic vegetarian dinner that was absolutely delicious. They showed me numerous paintings Alecia had done and I was blown away by them all. These two ladies are two of the sweetest, smartest, kindest, loveliest, most talented artists I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I felt completely welcomed and comfortable during my visit.

After dinner we headed into their house and set about making music. First we worked long and hard created vocal harmonies for a new song of Simone's...we eventually hammered out beautiful parts for Alecia and I do to in the chorus and on the song's ending. I had never worked so diligently before on additional vocals for a song, but it sounded really great when we were done.

Then Alecia suggested we write a song together from scratch. Truth be told, this had been my expectation prior to the visit, but sitting there with two people I was still just barely getting to know, I got a bit intimidated by the prospect. Despite my tiny bit of resistance, I agreed and we set about writing a new song. I came up with a guitar part, then Alecia expanded on it and made it into something new and intriguing. Then we began work on lyrics, and I must say this part ended up being one of the most gratifying collaborative experiences in all my time as a musician.

It became obvious that as we wrote the words, what needed to happen was us finding words that resonated for all 3 of us, not just with any one person. When I write lyrics there is definitely a bit of a mental editing process as part of what I do - I might write a line and then later come back to it and make changes, knowing the original line doesn't fit my vision of the song. But this process took that to another level - all 3 of us were challenged to find the group songwriting energy that was naturally flowing amongst us, tap into it, and find something in it. I've always had a fair amount of confidence in my songwriting, but this process took my mind, heart and soul to places for words I know I would not have arrived at on my own. It was pretty cool.

We worked long and hard into the night and got I would say about two-thirds of the song hashed out. There was still more to be done, but it was time for me to go home and for everyone to go to bed. So we recorded what we had so far on Simone's computer, and played it live for Simone's younger sister (also a dancer, as it turns out), and agreed to meet later down the road before I left Seattle to finish the song.

I left Alecia's and Simone's that night riding a strong, natural high. I marvelled at how this trip was leading me to so many wonderful, unexpected experiences that went far beyond just a tour to play music for people. With a big smile on my face, I drove back to my hotel.

Pike Place Market Performance/Seattle: Sat July 24

Yeah, um...so, obviously I haven't blogged in a while. I really appreciate everyone who has told me they've been following my summer travels here pretty faithfully, and I do apologize for going almost 3 weeks with no post. I'll try not to go on about it, but I've always had a bit of a struggle with time management, and even though I'm not working a day job right now, the trip presents all sorts of tasks that I have to keep up with in addition to all the normal life stuff - paying bills, keeping up with friends on the phone, on Facebook and on e-mail, etc. After my last post I got to a point where it was difficult to post here every day like I had been. I'm gonna try to get back on track here, we'll see how it goes.

Saturday July 24 I headed to Pike Place Market, possibly the largest center of activity in the heart of Seattle. It's a fun, beautiful area, with tons of cool stores, restaurants, and (of course) coffee shops. I hope I get some time to talk about my experience of the Seattle obsession over coffee, it's like a whole thing in and of itself.

It was another gorgeous, sunny, summer afternoon. There were a few other musicians performing on the streets, so I had to search a bit for an area that was getting a lot of people traffic but wasn't stepping on any of the other musicians' turf for the day. I finally found a great corner that tons of people were walking by. I set up and began playing. Performing by myself on the street for passersby is a whole new thing for me, and a totally different experience than playing in bars and music clubs. In a way, it's slightly more intimidating - in a club where I have a show booked, someone has invited me to play and people come out expressly to watch me. On the street, no one's committed to watching me at all, so it's really up to me and my music to grab people's attention. That can be tricky for any performer - to me it can feel like pressure to do something extra, something over the top to demand someone listen to me. But so far I feel like trying too hard at anything in life never works. I think it's always best to just show up and do my thing as best I can, and let whatever happens happen.

The advantage of street performing over the clubs I've found is that sometimes I'll play a venue and there are some people who are there but who aren't particularly interested in hearing me play. They may be there for another band or musician that played before me or will play after me, they may have come primarily to hang out and talk to their friends, or what I do may just not be their cup of tea. But because I'm limited to whoever is in the place, to be looking out from the stage and see people actively ignoring me can be kind of tough to take.

I've had experiences when I'm playing what I feel is one of my best songs, and really being into it and playing well, and someone right up front will stop watching, turn around, and head straight out of the room. Now in reality I'll bet that sort of thing has very little to do with me or my music - maybe they just need to go to the bathroom, maybe they had a rough day, they're tired, and they really need to leave and go home. But it's still a challenge sometimes to be feeling like, "Yeah! I'm really rockin' it right now! People should be digging this!" and then immediately have someone turn and leave.

With street performing, so far I've felt this really cool sense of freedom - no one has to watch me or listen to me, but I'm not infringing on anyone either. I feel this great sense of having a right to be in the world, to be on that corner, doing my thing. People are free to stop and listen or not, they have total freedom of choice. So far, I haven't had a single person give me any negative signal whatsoever. If I'm in the right spot, I have a steady stream of people walking by me, so if somebody doesn't stop to listen, it feels like there's nothing wrong with that at all.

So I played and played and played, and although both of my street performances so far have been nerve-wracking at the start, that Saturday I really got into just playing for my own enjoyment, and the pleasure of anyone who might like what I do. I think I played for 90 minutes or more, and I just had fun the whole time. When someone stopped to put money in my little collection box, it was such an amazing feeling. There was one person who didn't stop, but just started dancing once they heard me, and kept dancing down the street as they kept walking. I know money is very important, but sometimes there are really are cooler things in life than money.

After playing I went down to the piers on Puget Sound and had my breath taken away by the view. Mount Ranier to my left, the Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges to my right, and the waters of Puget Sound before me. Pretty darn amazing. I called a friend back in New York to catch up and describe the amazing day I was having.

On the way back to my car I found a cool little independently-owned punk rock music store, so I went inside and picked up some CD's. I got "God Bless the Go-Go's," their reunion CD from 2001 I think. As I mentioned earlier I had listened to Belinda Carlisle's autobiography on CD in the car as I headed west. She mentioned that CD and I was curious.

I also found a CD by Digger. Digger had this guy Chris in it before they broke up, and Chris is a friend of mine who at least a while back was in a new band called The Horrible Truth About Me. I met him and his new band at a show in Pennslyvania and they came up to play with me in Brooklyn one time. I had never been able to check out his previous project so I scooped it up.

Finally I picked up a fairly recent Joan Jett and the Blackhearts CD. I saw the movie about the Runaways a few months back, and although I thought the film had issues I really enjoyed learning the band's story. I was curious as to what Joan Jett's sound is like these days so I picked it up. I had a nice chat with the guy working the counter (who may have been the owner or one of them, not sure) about the Go-Go's and Digger. He is a big Digger fan, so that got me even more excited to finally hear them.

After purchasing my CD's, I headed back to the car and got back on good ol' I-5 to go back to my hotel for some much-needed mindless TV-watching and sleep.

The list of songs I played that day in Pike Place Market:

1. Jagged Cross 2. Name Today 3. The Door 4. Short Little fire 5. Make the Escape 6. Binge 7. Toxic Tornado 8. Sarbanes-Oxley 9. Junk 10. KC Writer 11. Scary Mary 12. God Bless the USA 13. Knockin' on Heaven's Door 14. Spin Cycle 15. Alien Homeland 16. Beautiful Wanderer 17. Into Debt 18. Home of Love 19. When I Fall 20. Better Lives 21. Final Friend