If 2009 was an unusually nostalgic year in local music for certain wistful Seattle Gen-Xers, 2010 was the opening cymbal crash of an encore. Defunct old favorites reunited. Extant old favorites continued to soar. A tight-knit community that first rocked the world a quarter-century ago grew ever closer, through remembrance of lost friends and the sharing of new music. Here are five 2010 music-related events that tickled those Seattleites who’ve been listening all these years. (Part one here.)
5. Cameron Crowe Shoots Pearl Jam Film
Director Cameron Crowe’s relationship with Pearl Jam goes all the way back to 1991, when he shot Singles in town, casting Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Eddie Vedder as members of local rock band Citizen Dick (wink, wink). In 2010, Crowe was shooting the band again, this time to commemorate its 20th anniversary. (He also directed the video for Backspacer single "The Fixer.") As reported in June, Crowe and crew were spotted in Madrona and Capitol Hill, presumably recapturing important locales from the band's past. Details on the film, Pearl Jam Twenty, are hazy, but it will see some sort of release this year. (Just in: said film will be accompanied by a soundtrack and book.) Stay tuned.
4. Pigeonhed Brings Back the Funk
Producer Steve Fisk and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Shawn Smith paired up in the early '90s as Pigeonhed, and the relationship spawned two funk-trip-rock studio records (the good Pigeonhed and great The Full Sentence) and a club-pleasing remix disc (remember "Battle Flag," as mixed by the Lo Fidelity Allstars?). Then the two moved on to other projects and life phases. In 2010, Fisk and Smith finally joined again for a couple of truly groovy Seattle club shows and unleashed their first new song since 1997, "Rollin Thru Oakland." It's as dance-friendly as their previous best, and, like all the duo's tracks, a refreshing diversion from whatever listening rut you might find yourself in next. A new record is on the way.
3. Brad Takes Center Stage
Essentially a side project of Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard (and ubiquitous frontman Shawn Smith) since forming in 1992, Brad commanded attention in 2010. In April, Gossard, Smith, drummer Regan Hagar, keyboardist/bassist Mike Berg, and new bassist Keith Lowe invited a host of old friends to jam at the Showbox. With sets from Brad, Satchel, Pigeonhed, and Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone (with Smith in for the late Andy Wood), it was one of the greatest local shows in recent history. The band followed Sasquatch, KEXP, and Easy Street shows with the release of Best Friends?, possibly its best record, on August 10. A tour with Band of Horses and a Late Night with Jimmy Fallon gig came in October. And the band closed the year with two Seattle shows and an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Since then, Gossard has suggested we'll see more activity from Brad in 2011. Not bad for a part-time act.
2. Fortunate Few Witness "Nudedragons" Return
If you're an attentive Soundgarden fan and were extremely lucky on the morning of April 16, you received an email from the reunited "Nudedragons" about their surprise, we're baaaaack Showbox gig that night. If luckier still, you clicked through the message, used the password it included, and smoothly bought your tickets online—with a magnificent grin. You can't fault the band for rewarding loyal, local fans, but the combination of limited availability, massive demand, and email delivery glitches—received hours later, the message was just salt in a raw wound—raised the hackles of some shut-out folks. The facts were and remain these, though: 1) Soundgarden, after 13 years, was back. 2) The band reemerged at home. 3) Apparently the show was amazing. Since then, the guys have played a couple of big-time non-Seattle shows and alluded to more, but it's very hard to believe most of us missed our one chance to see a more mature Soundgarden play Seattle.
1. Andy Kotowicz Remembered and Honored
The last time the Seattle music community lost a comic, enigmatic Andy, his friends made music in response. (Andy Wood's passing resulted in Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam. And the
excellent forthcoming documentary Malfunkshun.) The unfortunate loss of Andy Kotowicz was no different. Shortly after the Sub Pop executive and passionate music lover's death following an October car accident, his friends joined to remember him—and help support his surviving family—through their tunes. The December 4 Concert for the Andy Kotowicz Family Foundation featured Shabazz Palaces, Vetiver, Fruit Bats, Wolf Eyes, Pissed Jeans, Mudhoney, A Frames/AFCGT, and Michael Yonkers. More acts, local and far-off, contributed kind words, concert proceeds, and coveted goods—the latter, via everyone from Foo Fighters to the White Stripes, to help benefit the Foundation.
Andy was good people. The artists that befriended and respected him, from Mark Arm to Ben Bridwell, are good people. It's that quality, talent, and familial tendency that will keep this generations-spanning group sharing sounds with us, through thick and thin, into the foreseeable future.
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