Walking Papers at Slim's Last Chance benefit for The Heroes Project 08.17.2012

The weather was gorgeous, and a tad hot, for a great benefit at Slim’s Last Chance last night. Performing on the Slims’ outdoor stage were Jeff Angell & Barrett Martin’s Walking Papers, with special guests: Duff McKagan, Mike McCready, Benjamin Anderson and Jeff Rouse followed by To the Glorious Lonely.

Who was benefitting from this shin dig? That would be Tim Medvetz’s The Heroes Project.  An organization supporting active & retired military and their families. Duff will be joining Tim and Marine veteran Kionte Storey on a climb up Mt. Rainier this Monday or Tuesday. The door price of $15 and show posters at $10 directly went to help pay for this climb as well as getting Kionte down to Antarctica to climb Mt. Vinson. Did I also mention that Kionte is a single leg amputee? Talk about inspiration! 

You can read more about the climb on Duff's blog in the Seattle Weekly.

Walking Papers took the stage just after 6pm to a packed house opening with the first song off of their new CD ‘Already Dead’. Jeff and Barrett were joined by Benjamin Anderson and Duff for the first three or four songs. Then Mike McCready joined them for another 4 songs. Jeff Angell left the stage for the final song and Jeff Rouse made his way on stage to take his place on vocals for Mad Season’s ‘River of Deceit’. A proper ending to an incredible performance. 

I hadn’t seen Walking Papers before and I’m glad that I’m the one who got to be there. Sorry Mike ;) I did feel for the guys all dressed in full musician attire and in direct sunlight. 


I know how hot I was, so I can only imagine how hot they were! It’s great to be at a show where the musicians are completely relaxed and totally enjoying what they are doing. I grabbed myself one of their CD’s so I can keep enjoying this new band.

Show sponsor KISW had a great presence with Jolene (taking a well deserved night off for fun!), Thrill, Mischa and Ryan Castle in attendance. Queensryche members Michael ‘Whip’ Wilton, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren were also there in support of the show and cause. 

Slim’s provided everyone with a great venue for this sort of outdoor BBQ with your friends kinda feeling. Add in their freakin’ killer chili and BBQ from sister restaurant Pig Iron next door and you have a one stop food, spirits and entertainment locale.

Who are Walking Papers?

Jeff Angell - Post Stardom Depression, The Missionary Position

Barrett Martin - Screaming Trees, Mad Season, Tuatara

Their guests?

Duff McKagan - Loaded, Velvet Revolver, Jane’s Addiction, GNR

Mike McCready - Pearl Jam, Mad Season, Temple of the Dog

Benjamin Anderson - The Missionary Position, Rorschach Test, Pamela Moore (Sister Mary - Queensrych)

Jeff Rouse - Loaded, To The Glorious Lonely, Vendetta Red, Alien Crime Syndicate 

You can see the full set of photos here: Walking Papers photos

Passion Pit at the Gibson Showroom for 107.7 The End's End Session, Seattle, WA 06.27.2012

Thankfully, I was asked to photograph the recent End Session for Seattle's 107.7 The End radio station. I wasn't familiar with Passion Pit and hadn't had the opportunity to see the Gibson Showroom before. Win win for me!

Lets start with the venue. This is a gorgeous location. The room is all set up with different Gibson equipment. I'd have to guess that it holds about 100-ish comfortably for a little intimate show. There are guitars and artwork handing on the walls and a beautiful piano when you first set foot into the venue.

Passion Pit was a wonderful surprise as well. During sound check Michael let the team know that someone needed to press a key on his keyboard so it didn't time out or he'd lose his settings. Sadie got the assignment. She dutifully sad on Michael's stool and hit a key every minute or so for about 15 minutes. 

Two of the five band members were present for the 4 song acoustic set. Vocalist/keyboard/guitar Michael Angelakos and guitarist Ian Hultquist charmed the crowd with their performance and their humor. At one point Michael completely went blank and forgot the words during 'Sleepy Head'! Thankfully he wasn't shy and asked the crowd for the next line. Listener 'Sarah' called it out and he dedicated the rest of the song to her. He said he didn't care if you had sung a song 8,000 times, you'd forget the lyrics at some point. 

You can watch a couple of the songs from the End Session at http://www.1077theend.com/VIDEO--Passion-Pit-Endsession/11684737?pid=250350

Collective Soul - Dosage Tour - Neptune Theatre - Seattle, WA 06.17.2012

This blog is nothing but biased today. Collective Soul is my all time favorite band. Hands down. They are rocking', they are positive, they can be moody, they can be sung along with and they are truly nice Southern gentlemen.

Thankfully, Mike and I met Will and Ed at their Gretch/Fender performances at NAMM in January. I hit it off with Will and we became Facebook buddies. When the tour was announced, I new that I wanted to see it, but I also wanted to shoot it. Will hooked me up with the full show for photos instead of their normal first 2 songs. He also gave me my very first Plus 1 of my own so I brought one of my girlfriends with me.

Once we got inside to set up, I saw Will and was able to visit for a few before he had to get back stage. He let me know then that I had the whole show and the name of the tour manager if there were any problems.

Last night was a unique show in that they did not have an opening band. This show was all about spending a evening with Collective Soul. The band came on stage at 8pm and let us know how the show would flow.

1. Perform the 1999 album 'Dosage' in it's entirety.
2. Take a little break
3. Come back and sing the songs we (the fans) love

I did have to laugh a little during the Dosage portion of the show. Ed apparently doesn't remember all of the lyrics. He had a music stand up there with him to be able to reference if he needed to. There was a little hiccup after the second song. Security tried to cut me off but we talked and the lead security guard found the tour manager and it was straightened out. I missed out on a couple of songs while he was verifying, but that was better than missing out on the whole rest of the show!

They took their break and it was time for some hits off of the rest of the albums including songs like Gel, Hollywood, Precious Declaration... Love, love, loved it. I had made my way to the balcony during Precious Declaration so I could be positioned for some fisheye shots from above. They exited one more time before coming back for an encore that consisted of December and ending the night with Shine.

What a great venue. I hadn't been there yet and I will definitely go back. Great restoration and a welcome addition to our historic venues.

Collective Soul Photos!

• 1. Dosage
  1. Tremble for My Beloved 
  2. Heavy 
  3. No More No Less 
  4. Needs 
  5. Slow 
  6. Run 
  7. Generate 
  8. She Said 
  9. Compliment 
  10. Not the One 
  11. Crown 
  12. Hits
  12. Welcome All Again 
  13. Better Now 
  14. Forgiveness 
  15. Gel 
  16. Hollywood 
  17. Why Pt 2 
  18. Precious Declaration 
  19. The World I Know 
  20. Encore
  20. December 
  21. Shine