At The Crocodile

Hopped into much loved venue The Crocodile for the gigs. Never heard the bands much. Two from Los Angeles and one from Seattle. (Review of the gigs here.) Had to do some homework before the gigs so as not to sound silly.

Kinda weird to hold gigs on a Sunday night to start at 9pm, and have the headliner come on at 10.45pm. How would the organizers optimize attendance if people have to go to work in the mornings? Even though I don't live in the city, some things don't really change. By the end of the night, I estimated only about 100 persons came through the doors in a venue that could hold more.

King Washington

So glad that we made it for the first set of the night. 'King Washington' blew me away with their brand of classic rock and roll that focuses so much on songwriting, melodies and three-part harmonies. They've got superbly catchy songs that one couldn't help dancing to.

Of course we zoomed straight to the merch booth after their set. We now own signed copies of their two albums- 'The Overload' and 'The Gears'.

Hand of the Hills

Ermmm. Their guitar tones were weird man. Their gear was pricier than what the opening band used. But the tones achieved weren't as...rounded. Not too sure how to put it because they were also going for discordant tones, but they were just too thin. Bit of blues thing going on here and there. After 'Hand of the Hills' warmed up, the second half of the set was enjoyable.

Crash Kings

The band that many people were here for. I was amazed by their sound. Huge huge sound for a three-man band. But all right, Muse totalled the entire Rome Olympic Stadium with four humans, and they did the same when I heard them at the gigantic Estadio Ciudad de La Plata. Crash Kings left their label, used Kickstarter to fund 'Dark of the Daylight' and gone all out to make it work.

That wah-wah bar on the clavinet totally made Tony Believeau's keyboard tones sound like a guitar! Really liked how the band had such chemistry together and owned that stage at live shows.

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The uncrowded venue (not good for organizers or the bands) was a joy for me because I had space to breathe and chill instead of being shoved and trodded upon. Could go right upfront with sufficient personal space. Fun factor was still high with many jiving along to the music.

Beer of the night was Georgetown Brewing Company's Manny's pale ale. So very easy to drink. We could just walk off the calories. Downtown Seattle isn't that big. The night hovered at 6°C, perfect for walking back to the hotel that's just two blocks away. For a club that holds live gigs and functions as a bar, The Crocodile's got really clean restrooms. Absolutely impressive.