June 2011: U2, Lenny Kravitz, KISS, Amanda Hardy and Jason Kertson & the Immortals

The June 2011 catch up blog will actually be broken out in to 2 blogs. This one is the shows I went to in the states and there will be a separate blog for the two things we attended in London so watch out for the London blog too!!!

06.03.2011: U2 & Lenny Kravitz at Qwest Field in Seattle, WA
Well, I can say that I attended this show but I'd only be half correct. Mike was photographing the show while the kids and I waited outside the stadium and listened to the music. Since Qwest is an open stadium, we were able to enjoy the show from a patch of grass right outside. I do have to say that Live Nation was pretty damn brilliant when they decided to have actual merch booths OUTSIDE of the venue. I was able to buy myself a U2 T-shirt. So they still got my money even though I didn't buy tickets. Brilliant.

We had a lot of fun outside just hanging out and we could see the video screen above the stage from our area as well. I did get to see the show a little bit :)
Mikes photos:
U2 - Pre-Show Day Stage Pics - Qwest Field - Seattle 6/3/11
Lenny Kravitz - Qwest Field - Seattle, WA 6/4/11
U2 - Qwest Field - Seattle, WA 6/4/11

06.23.2011 KISS at the Everett Comcast Arena in Everett, WA
We took the kids to this show and amazingly enough - Ryan stayed awake the whole time! It was due to the fire. I'm going to warn you that I'm about to pan this show. The fire was fine, the music was fine but we had been preparing the kids for the cool things they were going to see like Gene going up into the rafters and singing from up there and for Paul going across the crowd on a wire and singing from a little stage at the rear of the venue.... didn't happen. The arena was too small for those parts of the show. We were all pretty bummed about that. It was still good, but not great.

'Firehouse'

'Modern Day Delilah'

06.25.2011: Amanda Hardy at Louie G's in Fife, WA

You are going to see quite a bit of the young musician's we support from the Seattle/Tacoma area. Amanda Hardy is one of them. 14 years old singer, guitar playing songwriter.

Mike's photos: Regarding Silence w/ Amanda Hardy - Louie G's - Fife, WA 06/25/11

06.28.2011 Jason Kertson & The Immortals at Louie G's in Fife, WA

Here is another one of the young musicians from the area. Jason Kertson is being mentored by Dave Mustain of Megadeth. Yip, he is. You can find tons of videos on Youtube.

Mike's photos: Jason Kertson & The Immortals - Louie G's - 6/28/11

May 2011: Loudness, Rammstein & Nolan Garrett

Wow... We actually had a pretty calm month! BUT, I know what's coming - London. So I think we planned it this way.

05.06.2011: Loudness at The Boardwalk in Orangevale, CA

OK, I had no knowledge of this band at all. Why did we drive down to the Sacramento area for this show? Loudness is one of Mike's favorite bands. They are an 80's rock band from Japan and they seldom tour the states. This worked out perfectly cause we had plans in Reno the day after the show so we drove down a day early to catch Loudness in Sacramento then drove to Reno the next morning.

The place was packed. I stayed up front and snagged a pic from the bass player. There were a ton of people there that knew all the words to the songs. Mike was the only photographer allowed. 

Here are the shots: Loudness - The Boardwalk - Orangevale, CA 5/6/11

05.15.2011 Rammstein at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA

OK.. WOW is the only way to start off talking about this show. Are you kidding me? Crazy good music and even crazier good show. How they get away with some of their antics and show posters, I have no idea! Check out my video:

05.27.2011: Nolan Garrett at Louie G's in Fife, WA

We go from 80's rock to a young blues guitar player. Nolan is only 13 and is already opening up for Randy Hansen (The composer and Jimi Hendrix tribuite musician). Nolan plays a lot. if you have a chance to catch him, please do. The youth musicians in this area are really something to be excited about. There is a new generation of musician that really have bright futures and they all play styles that are just a little bit different from each other.

Photos: Nolan Garrett Trio

April 2011: System of a Down, Deftones, Record Store Day & Syft

04.13.2011: System of a Down with Gogol Bordello at Key Arena in Seattle, WA
OK, I was VERY disappointed that this show was no pro photographers at all. However, this rule provided some of the best entertainment that I've had at a concert. BUT this meant that Mike nor I got photo passes so I can't re-live this show through our photos. AND I still got a guitar pick even though I wasn't even close to the stage :)

The Story: We knew there were no photographers for this tour so when we saw a guy walk by with a tripod and camera gear, we watched. It took just a few minutes to see the guy get escorted to the rear of the floor surrounded by security. Then SOAD's personal security guard arrived along with their manager Beno (Beno brought me my pic). Mike asked him what was up.
Summary of Beno's reply: He asked the guy who he was and who gave him the photo pass.
Guys reply: Their manager.
Beno: Really, Who is their manager?
Guy: His name is xxxxx xxxxx (Not Beno)
Beno: Interesting, cause I'm their manager and I didn't give out any photo passes
Security: Escorts guy out of the building

This show was especially fun for me cause we brought the kids. Ryan and Elisa had a good time, but for the second time, Ryan fell asleep at a major, and loud, concert. I'm sure he was snoring the way he was sitting in his seat. He's also done that at an AIC concert at the Paramount. We were standing on the side and he sat on my feet and fell asleep for almost an hour. I don't know how he does it.

Both SOAD and Gogol left me wanting lots more. This was the second time I'd seen Gogol and they were just as much fun the second time around. SOAD was a first for me. I absolutely loved them. They didn't sing my favorite song, Vicinity of Obscenity, but they sang 29 songs total. 29!
Here are some snapshots: SOAD/Gogol

04.14.2011: Deftones at The Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA
LOVE their energy. I still don't know enough of their songs, but you don't have to to enjoy this band.
Here are some of Mike's shots from the 2010 & 2011 shows: Deftones/Chino Files 2010/2011
I was excited to see Dillinger Escape Project open, but they played in the actual dark which really wasn't fun at all.

04.16.2011: Record Store Day with Duff McKagen's Loaded at Easy Street Records on Queen Anne in Seattle, WA
I had no idea that Easy Street had a stage behind the garage door at the back of the store. You literally stand between records to watch a band play. We love Loaded. Love the guys, love seeing them play any time we can. This is a band that we support big time. Please take the time to have a listen. Duff has been in Loaded longer than he was in GNR now. Pretty amazing.
Here are my photos: Duff McKagan's Loaded - Easy Street Records - Seattle 4/16/11
I also have several videos up from the show on my Youtube channel: stefferzz1970
This one was my favorite video showing the garage door going up:

04.29.2011 S.Y.F.T. CD release show at El Corazon in Seattle, WA
Syft are a local rock/metal band with a bunch of promise. The lead singer, Sean, is a very good front man. Great stage presence and he gets the crowd going. Technically they are a 4 piece but sometimes bring an extra guitar along.
Photos: S.Y.F.T. CD release party @ El Corazon 04.29.2011 

March 2011: Dokken, SGL, Dirty Heads, Rock Out ALS, New Politics & Devo

03.05.2011: Dokken & Sword of Judgement at the King Cat Theater in Seattle, WA

It's been 4 years since I met my husband and I still feel like I'm in Metal 101 class. Yes I have always known of Dokken, but I didn't know a single tune. It was a good time though and I got to continue practicing with my new camera.

Sword of Judgement is a young local band and had some good shredding going on. They are a throw back to the 80's style metal bands like Megadeth, Flotsam and Jetsam & Rage. 

View photos of both bands here:

Dokken - 03.05.2011

Sword of Judgement

03.07.2011: Dirty Heads at El Corazon in Seattle, WA

I cannot praise this band enough!! Dirty Heads are amazing live. They and their fans are always full of energy. Good energy. Energy that is out to have a great time. This show was the first time I had seen them  headlining with a sellout of their very own. It was completely packed in there. It was so hot that the security guards, stage right, were squiring the crowd with Super Sucker water guns to cool them off. I was luckily up on the second level, but I still had to keep and eye out for the water to my camera was ok.

Here's a video from the show - 'Check The Level' and 'Paint It Black'. There are several up on my Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/stefferzz1970

Opening for Dirty Heads was a new band to us called New Politics. We left fans of the band as well as the guys. They were super nice to chat with after the show. I'm sure you'll recognize their hit!

03.11.2011: Super Geek League at the King Cat Theatre in Seattle, WA

You really really have to see SGL to understand their so called Sci-Fi Punk Circus. Circus is a very good adjective. Take a punk band, dress them up like Geek super heroes, add in an aerobatics act, Go-Go dancers, a priest and a devil and you can just barely begin to understand this spectacle... To see what I mean, see the photos! Super Geek League - 03.11.2011

03.12.2011: Rock Out ALS with Pretty Enemy, Late September Dogs and History For Sale at Club Motor in Seattle, WA

First, Rock Out ALS, is a non-profit group who have a mission to raise money for ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease) research through Rock 'n Roll shows around the Seattle area. As always, this show featured some great local bands from the Seattle area. It is always a good time for a great cause.

Pretty Enemy - Rock Out ALS, March 12, 2011

Late September Dogs - Rock Out ALS, March 12, 2011

History For Sale - Rock Out ALS - March 12, 2011

03.15.2011: DEVO at The Moore in Seattle, WA

I really don't need to say anything but DEVO. It's really all that needs to be said. If you've seen them live, you know. If you haven't, they put on a great show. You'd have no idea how old they really are! They move around like they are still in their 30's or 40's. You can see Mike's shots here:

DEVO - Moore Theater - Seattle, WA 03/15/11

It was a very good March!

Feb 2011: Slash, A7X, Stone Sour, Hollywood Undead, New Medicine

February only had a couple of shows this time around, but they were good ones!


Slash with Myles Kennedy:
February 5th was Slash at the Tacoma Dome opening for Ozzy. Mike shot Slash, but he didn't get a pass for Ozzy. Dailies and weeklies only this time around. No radio stations or blogs. We had great seats and I was allowed to bring in my point and click so I did manage to get a few shots in.

This was the second time that I had seen Slash perform with Myles Kennedy. I liked them better in the larger arena. Myles sounded better too. I think he may have had a cold the previous show.

Ozzy held his own. To this day it amazes me that he is coherent on stage but completely incoherent off stage. He is alive when he performs and seems to be really present. I'm not an Ozzy fan, but I did enjoy my first Ozzy show. Here's a video of 'Iron Man':

Ozzy Osbourne - 'Iron Man'

Toyota Center, Kenewick, WA 02.12.2011:
Headlining the show, Avenged Sevenfold of course killed it along with it's tech in this video of the opening song 'Nightmare'. He's just fine ;)
I've seen Avenged several times and am NEVER disappointed with their show, other than it ends.

New Medicine opened up the show and I got to use my new D7000 for the first time to shoot it. I only had a photo pass for them so you get videos of the rest. We are friends with the guys so I am completely biased when I say they totally nailed it. Next up was Hollywood Undead who I had never seen before. High high energy. It was interesting but a little much for me. Before A7X took the stage, we got to see Stone Sour. I've seen them a few times as well. This time though, I was actually distracted by Corey's hair. I'm used to seeing in shorn very short. After Stone Sour was done, Corey came out to the soundboard and was standing right in front of me visiting with either M Shadows OR Synyster Gates wife (they are married to twins dontch know).

Stone Sour - 'Digital'

Hollywood Undead - 'Young'

Since October - Thanksgiving 2010

We knew that Since October was coming to town to bless us with a performance at El Corazon the night before Turkey Day. What we didn't know was if they had any time off for Thanksgiving. So we asked. Sure enough, it was an off day and they had a show on the 26th in Spokane. Not that far away. Mike asked if they'd like to join us at my Aunt's house for a home cooked meal. Needless to say, they were all for it!

So the 24th came along as we met up with the guys at El Corazon. The stage was front loaded so the guys really didn't have much room and we all know that Ben is quite the mover on stage. Add to that the famous pole on El Corazon's stage and he was like a captured animal when he was trying to move around.

I was standing on the left of the stage getting shots of Josh. He was totally entertaining me pouring water on his hair and flinging it at some girls who were a tad prissy to be up in the front.

Their performance was great, as always. This is a high energy band that always keeps the attention of their fans and makes new ones along the way.

Thanksgiving day came and we awaited their arrival in the quaint little town of Sumner. The van arrived and out came 4 rockers and their merch guy Chad. My cousin David took one look at Audie said that guy could eat a whole turkey himself. :)

They got settled inside when we got a surprise and saw that Josh had shaved his head and the long locks he was watering down just last night were gone! In it's place was a stocking cap that he wouldn't remove except the one time to show us the new do.

The guys were very happy with the spread and took a bunch of it with them when they got on the road for Spokane. Little did they know, the snow had been coming down on the pass for a few hours and they ended up having to stay in North Bend for the night as the pass had been closed for avalanche control.

I felt really bad they we may have caused them to miss their show by trying to look out for our friends and give them a good Turkey day on the road. All was good! They made it through the pass on Friday and onto the show that night.

Have a look at some of our Thanksgiving fun!

Iron & Wine - House of Blues New Orleans, November 20, 2010

Jeannie and I headed out for the Seahawks game in New Orleans on November 18th. We made our way over to the Hard Rock for dinner the first night.

The next day we started to explore the town. The main thing was to find the House of Blues. We were trying to see Supervillains and B-Foundation. I had a connection trying to get me tickets, but there was a misunderstanding.

We decided to go ahead and buy tickets to the show... but... they had canceled and we didn't realize it. What we bought was tickets to a burlesque show. We had a BLAST though! Fun misunderstanding!

My husband let us know that there were tickets for us into the Foundation Club at the House of Blues for Saturday. The contact didn't realize that B Foundation was a band but got us into the private Foundation Club at the House of Blues for the Iron & Wine show on Saturday night. The club was amazing inside. We got to watch the show from a private deck above the stage. The show was sold out and there weren't any seats on the main floor. This made us even more happy that we had the view we had.

We didn't stay for the entire show as we had planned on a night on Bourbon Street. We headed out from the House of Blues back to our hotel to change from our nice clothes into our Seahawks jerseys for our night out on Bourbon Street with the other Hawks and Saints fans. Such a great time. We got teased some, but we knew that would be coming. Since it was two girls, we weren't picked on too badly.

Hawks lose, but we had so much fun at the game and around the city, the away trip was well worth it!!!

Pain in the Grass Pre-Funk party: Aug 27, 2010 @ Studio Seven

The 2010 pre-funk featured Windowpane, Klover Jane, Post Modern Heroes & Astro-Creep. There were two other bands, but we didn't get there until after they were done performing.

This was the fist time I had seen Klover Jane with Rane Stone on lead vocals. I really liked Stefan, but I think Rane brought KJ up a level. This band is worthy of getting some good traction on an EPK.

Windowpane is just a great rock band. I like them more and more every time I see them.

PMH - Loved seeing them so hyped up to be the opening band for Pain in the Grass tomorrow!!! They were able to play early enough to get out and get home for some sleep. They have to be at White River at 8am tomorrow to get their gear front loaded for the 1pm start.

Post Modern Heroes: Pain in the Grass Pre-Funk at Studio 7

I didn't really know what to expect from Astro-Creep. This is a full costume cover band of White Zombie. What a fun band! Loved the costumes and the black light paints.

I love seeing so many great live acts in Seattle!! We are a pretty blessed area.

Post Modern Heroes and Witchburn on August 20, 2010 @ Tony Z's in Everett, WA

You will be hearing a lot from me about these bands. Both of these bands are friends of ours. We support both of them madly!!

Witchburn took the small stage and owned it! The crowd was very in to it. They travel well. People come out to see the lead singer Jamie Nova. Many of them know her as the lead for the all-girl Hell's Belles AC/DC cover band.
Witchburn is a 5-piece band with chicks on bass, lead vocs and lead guitar. They have a Sabbath type of sound. My all time favorite live picture that Mike has taken so far is of the lead guitar player Mischa. She has a head full of dreds that make her looks like Medusa on stage.

Here's a link to one of Mike's video's of Witchburn stills with the song 'Army of Voices'.

 Witchburn - Army of Voices

Post Modern Heroes - Our friend Travis Bracht (formerly of Second Coming) heads up this band. Travis is a stage mover so it really cracks me up to see him on the tiny stage at Tony Z's. There really isn't any place for him to go. Their retro Bowie sound fills the rooms and the crowd with their tunes. Their signature opening - They freeze for the first 2 minutes of 'What Would You Do' then break in to their moves.

Post Modern Heroes - 'The One'

Please make an effort to listen to both of these bands. They are very much worth it!!!

Review: Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg, Snoqualmie Casino, Snoqualmie, WA 05.06.2010

Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg
May 6th at the Snoqualimie Casino Ballroom
Doors at 7pm
Show at 8pm

ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!
Clare B counts 'em in to the opening tune 'Rockaway Beach'. ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! Directly into the next song 'Lobotomy' followed by 'Psycho Therapy', 'Do You Wanna Dance' and 'I Don't Care'. Taking in all the energy I finally had time to observe the members of Marky's band.

Left: Alex Kane on the lead guitar and backup vocals. Wild hair and guitar strings coming off their pegs like Einstein's hair. Constantly running and jumping in the air. An energy he would retain throughout the entire performance.

Right: Clare B on bass. Purple, neon yellow and natural dark blonde striped mohawk. British accent and piercings galore. Exactly how I love my punk rock girls! She counted in each song and performed backup vocs. She played to the audience truly conveyed the passion she has for what she is doing.






Center front: Former Misfits singer Michale Graves has a voice so perfect for this band. Close your eyes and you don't know that you aren't actually seeing The Ramones back in 1989 at CBGB. My favorite part wasn't his voice or his constant movement. It was the fact that the man's pants were being held together with a roll of black Duck Tape.

Center back: The Ramones legendary drummer Marky Ramone. Effortlessly playing and even cracking a smile - once. He looked amazing. It was a total treat for me to be a part of this evening.

ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! brings me back to the set.. 'Sheena', 'Havana Afair', 'Commando', 'Beat on the Brat', '53rd & 3rd', 'Rock N Roll Radio', 'Blue' and 'Shock Treatment'. At some point in this portion of the show Alex broke a string and finished the tune as best he could. It was funny to see him have to get Clare's attention so she didn't count them into the next song before he could change over to his other guitar.

'Rock N Roll Highschool', 'She's the One', 'Judy', 'Poison Heart', 'Miracles', 'KKK', 'Pet Sematary', 'Chinese Rocks', 'I Wanna be Sedated', I Don't Wanna Walk' and 'Pinhead' round out the main set. The band leaves with Marky blowing a kiss. The crowd starts to chant: 'Hey Ho, Let's Go!' until the band makes it's way on stage.

Once back on stage, the band quickly gets back to it with 'Something to do', 'Cretin Hop' and 'Ramones'. Back off stage. Once again, the crowd knows there is something missing from this show. 'Hey Ho, Let's Go!' once again calling the band back to finish the show properly.

Encore #2 does not disappoint. 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain', their new single 'When We Were Angels', 'It's a Wonderful World' and finally the closer - 'Blitzkrieg Bop'.

If you take the time to count them yourself, you'll see that there are 31 of them. Yes, 31 songs in 75 minutes. When the lights went up I could hear a guy whine that it was over. His pal turned to him and said 'Dude! They played like 80 songs!'.

Back stage, the band met with nearly 30 people. Pictures were taken, autographs were happily signed on anything around. A lucky few had gotten set lists (I got half of their 2 page set list). Michale had his own stack of photos that he signed and handed out. Alex came over to Mike and said during the show he thought "Hey, your the dude from Facebook! I remembered we were punk on stage and thought I should flip you off!". He did.


Marky was sedate until we asked about his pasta sauce. Look for it to be in stores in the coming months. He's a bit overwhelmed with it's success thus far.

All in all - This is one 80's teen who has never been so glad to still be stuck in the 80's!