It’s the final night of City Arts Fest, and plenty of great musical offerings pepper the participating local venues.
You know the rest of the drill: Wristbands for the Fest are now sold out, but single tickets for some of the events can still be purchased at the respective venues. As always, zip on over to the City Arts Fest website for purchase details. And get out there, already.
Here’s the most essential stuff among a pretty stellar closing-night line-up.
Sam Miller, Two White Opals, Eighteen Individual Eyes, The Tempers @ The Rendezvous. Show at 8:00pm.
Capitol Hill recording studio CryBaby Studios rolls out its showcase in the cozy environs of the Rendezvous tonight. I don’t know how CryBaby in-house engineer Sam Miller plans to replicate his dense gothic piano pop live, but his darkly gorgeous singing and Broadway-Musical-in-Hell tunes will render early arrival a must. The descent down the gothic romance rabbithole continues with Two White Opals and Eighteen Individual Eyes, two evocative guitar bands that navigate swirly melodies along twisty percussive side trips. Leigh Stone’s plaintive and lush singing receives backing from Ravenna Woods’ rhythmic genius Matt Badger with the former, while Eighteen Individual Eyes scruff up the beauty of Irene Barber’s voice with an art-punk instrumental attack that makes them a lethal live act.
Electro-goth trio The Tempers headline the evening. With their unusual-for-Seattle layout of vocals, synth, and drums and an infamous flair for the theatrical, this sibling-populated outfit should be a singular experience in the flesh. Lead singer Corina Bakker is one of this ‘burg’s most charismatic figures, singing in an over-the-top croon that sounds like Patti Smith affecting Bryan Ferry after an absinthe bender.
Stephanie, Hobosexual, Hounds of the Wild Hunt, “The Rolling Stones” @ Barboza. Show at 6:30pm.
Need an infusion of rock, yet still want to get to bed at a decent hour on a Saturday night? Get the hell over to Barboza, already. Big things are being muttered about for local five-piece Stephanie, who’ve only released one 7-inch so far (they sound like Guided by Voices playing a new-wave dance party).
Occupying the middle of the evening will be two of Seattle’s best live bands: The incredible synergy between singer/guitarist Ben Harwood and drummer Jeff Silva (the two-headed rock machine known as Hobosexual) is a thing of wonder live, and Hounds of the Wild Hunt remain one of the sweatiest, throat-shreddingest, all-or-nothing rock bands in Seattle onstage. Oh, and you get a Stones cover band including members of Whalebones, Truckasauras, and Blood Brothers to close out the night, too.
DeVotchKa with the Seattle Rock Orchestra @ The Moore. Show at 9:15pm.
DeVotchKa‘s been around long enough to have influenced a whole slew of bands with their cinematic sound, equally inspired by Talking Heads, gypsy music, Ennio Morricone, and David Lynch. Whoever thought to wrap the band’s immersive music in the gilded raiments of the wonderful Seattle Rock Orchestra should be canonized (or at least bought free drinks for life).