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Seriously, how lucky can one city get in terms of music? Think of all the great artists that have come out of Seattle: Jimi Hendrix; Heart; Nirvana; Sunny Day Real Estate; Band of Horses. The grunge movement of the nineties had its beginnings in Seattle. Sub Pop Records is based in the city. Yes, Seattle is an important city in terms of music, particularly in terms of alternative music. It only makes sense that a lot of great artists roll through that town to play live, but a particular week in October is bringing the Big Dog out for his first visit to the “Emerald City”.

The Pogues
The festivities commence Saturday, October 10, with The Pogues making an appearance at the Showbox SoDo. Yes, the legendary Pogues of Irish folk-punk fame. What an amazing band, and the original line-up is playing together again! I have never seen this great band. The live album of The Pogues, Streams of Whiskey: Live in Leysin, Switzerland 1991 is a great disc, serving as the one live document of the band I always thought would be the only one I would ever have.

I really became a fan with the release of their fourth album, 1987’s If I Should Fall From Grace With God. A spectacular disc full of great Irish anthems, the band did a phenomenal job mixing up the folk and the punk well. Fiesta and the title track are wonderful, hyper-active anthems, and the duet with Kirsty McColl, the gorgeous Christmas tune Fairytale of New York, is a classic.

How good are The Pogues? In 2002 Q magazine listed them as one of the “50 Bands to See Before you Die.”

Snow Patrol
Hailing out of Northern Ireland and Scotland, Snow Patrol is a band that has been around since 1994, but when they changed up their sound a bit in 2003 with the release of their album, Final Straw, mainstream success began to bless the band. Already a fairly popular underground band, Final Straw saw the band creating a more mellow brand of indie-pop, and with the gorgeous vocal delivery of Gary Lightbody this was a smart move.

The Big Dog had the pleasure of seeing Snow Patrol a few years ago during the Eyes Open tour, and I was really impressed! The band really pumps a lot of energy into their live delivery, and Lightbody is an engaging frontman.  Best of all, they play their music very well, a lot of good polish to the live renditions of their music. However, the polish never came off as contrived, more a case of band that had really worked hard in practice to ensure putting on a great show for their fans.

This concert, which is on Wednesday,  October 14, and the fourth one I will talk about here will be at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. Built in 1928, this beautiful venue is a former movie-house. Remodeled extensively in 1994 and re-opening in 1995 as a music venue, the Paramount is an institution of the Seattle arts scene. “Shows Divine at 9th and Pine” continue to occur, much to the delight of the Seattle faithful. I am really pumped to check out this long-time venue.

Bob Mould
The third concert of the week, and the second night of three straight evenings, is the Bob Mould Band performing on Thursday, October 15, at Neumos. This show is a no-brainer. Bob Mould is a legend, having been in two of the all-time great alternative music bands, Husker Du and Sugar. Now with the release of his ninth solo album Life and Times, Bob is firmly re-establishing himself as not only a great guitarist and song-writer, but as a monster presence in music.

I have seen Bob Mould twice this year, once in Minneapolis with just him and his bass player Jason Narducy, then a month later at Coachella with his full band. I can say without hesitation that this guy still puts on one of the more intense performances live. Bob Mould belts out his lyrics with unbridled fury and viciously attacks his guitar while performing. The Big Dog felt his performance at Coachella was second to none, a mean feat considering the incredible show Paul McCartney had put on the evening before.

Neumos is the name of the venue where Bob Mould will be performing. Neumos Crystal Ball and Reading Room originally opened in 1992 as Moe’s Mo’Roc’N Café and re-opened in 2003 as Neumos. Not just a music venue, Neumos also includes the Pike Street Fish Fry, as well as a neighborhood bar by the name of Moe Bar. With three full bars catering to the music fans, Neumos has a great reputation in the Seattle music community as a great host to live music.

Sunny Day Real Estate
This should be the highlight of an amazing week of music! SDRE wrap up their reunion tour in their hometown on Friday, October 16. As great as the other three concerts will be, this is the show that solidified my wanting to make the trip to Seattle.

The original line-up of Sunny Day Real Estate existed for a mere three years before splintering in 1995. Nate Mendel and William Goldmsith joined the Foo Fighters, a great band that Mendel is still a part of, and Jeremy Enigk released a solo album of orchestral pop.

In 1997 guitarist Dan Hoerner rejoined Enigk and Goldsmith and the trio created two more Sunny Day Real Estate albums. Good material, but not up to the standard created by the original four. Live they were very, very good, but I was like many other fans. I really wanted to see all four perform togther again.

Well, 2009 has arrived, and Sunny Day Real Estate are hitting the road in their original form! If you have never listened to Diary or LP2, you really do need to get both of those great albums now. Emo performed as it should be, with both pure power and unadulterated emotion. There are so many great songs from those two discs, and rumor is the band plans to focus on those releases since the original line-up created those pieces of work. Sounds good to me!

Check out this video for Seven

If you live in Seattle, what a week you are in store for, and if you are from out of town like the Big Dog, what a great little vacation! As we get closer to the dates I will provide some information concerning travel and other odds and ends. The ticket prices range from $18.50 for Bob Mould to $50 for The Pogues. If any of those shows sell out, feel free to check out our listings for concerts in Seattle from RazorGator.

Take care,
The Big Dog