I’m having a bit of hard time coming up with something brilliant to write about last night’s performance. I certainly enjoyed the evening - the music was overall very pleasing, nicely paced, but it lacked any major swashbuckling or other dramatic flare that immediately jumps out, begging to bemuse or belittle. In general, the show was well suited to the quiet Triple Door venue with the performers calmly seated just like the possibly “younger than typical” audience. Though I do love (perhaps admire) the Triple Door, there are times when it doesn’t quite do justice to the extremes in music. That is, a dinner seating arrangement doesn’t exactly help someone get the crowd up and moving (e.g. Lykke Li’s up-tempo dance beats) or support the silence that would (read: should) have enhanced the dramatic effect that closed the opening set with Jamie Spiess of Husbands, love your wives crooning out the last dark lyrics of “I Love My Ghost” a capella. While my friend and I were certainly holding our breath in the front row, I couldn’t help but be slightly annoyed by the clink of wine glasses and forks behind me which interrupted Spiess’ well timed pauses and lingering, minor sounding guitar notes that complimented lyrics lamenting the ghost in her house. Spiess, looking a bit like Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeny Todd - delicate pale face, hair astray, black collared dress - opened the evening with a set of several melancholy tunes evoking images of sweet everyday things like clothes drying on a line and repeated themes of death and departure. Her soft, clear vocals and poetic imagery were balanced out with the accompaniment of her friend Damien (Jurado) - who I believe had written several of the songs with Spiess’ voice in mind. Despite a few discordant notes when they first started, Jurado’s voice and guitar nicely accented the slow strumming and “rise, rise fall” pacing of Spiess’ vocals. One of my favorite lyrics was from the song “Jamie All Your Moons,” which relates, “My friend Damien, oh he is so tender. And the songs he sings of ghosts and trees, yes they stay with me in the dark.”
Following Husbands, love your wives was Seattle-area native Joshua Morrison. Judging from the crowd reaction, quite a few folks were familiar with the pleasing indie folk rock stylings of Morrison and the well placed accompaniment of James McAlister (drums) and Neal Vickers (lovely embellishments and harmonies on cello and electric guitar). Having heard a few songs on the radio a year or so ago, I recalled that several local DJ’s had touted him as a strong up-and-coming songwriter, so I decided this would be a good time to have a listen. Morrison performs with a somber presence, strumming confidently yet quietly, delivering thoughtful if not overly complex lyrics largely about appreciating the moments we spend enjoying the company of others and the gift of being here in the now. The sound alone is rather relaxing, inducing a slow head bob that upon closer listen brings out some honest and enduring lyrics about love and life. Though Morrison joined the army in 2004, his songs notably have few references to war itself, instead illuminating ideas about relationships and love, albeit with a leaning towards an appreciation of ones who are missed and themes of returning. This one, I believe a new tune, stuck out for me.
This war has taken its toll on me
You’re a saint for giving me something to hope for
when I’m away
because
I am ill equipped to
handle something like this
but somehow you make it betterNo more friends in boxes
draped in color
no more doom and gloom
no more plans on back burners
grab her and tell her exactly what you plan
Though the lyrics suggest an urging tone, Morrison himself came off as extremely calm, if not shy through most of the night, although his last song before the encore did feature some driving drums that brought a sense of anger to his voice. “What’s so wrong with being twenty-five, confused, and mad as hell?” Hmm, good question.
As for the overall performance, Morrison noted that they had slowed things down a bit without bass although they still performed many songs at a bit faster paced than on the album (from which the comparison of various reviewers to Elliott Smith seems to have arisen). He chatted relatively little with the audience, mentioning briefly to keep an eye out for the person that broke into his rental car and stole his duffel bag of clothes and took a few cues from someone in the back to send the audience well wishes. He also noted that he recorded new material last week (playing several tunes that I regrettably don’t have the titles to) and that he will ship out again for his medic duties in January.
Morrison closed his set with a solo encore, a nostalgic tune about those salient memories of four-wheelin’, listening to music in the car and children waiting for school to be cancelled due to snow (perhaps a nod to our recent Northwest winter weather). A fitting finale for the holiday evening, one which may have caused this reviewer at times to find herself listening to the lyrics yet also being lulled into reminiscence about personal memories and loved ones.
Other note:
And to answer Joshua’s question about whether the venue used to be a porn theater.... My internet research revealed the Triple Door to be the old Embassy Theater, originally built for vaudeville and the like, used as an adult film theater and now the lovely dining-music experience, so yes, Joshua, it was a porn palace.
he is amazing bro his style can not be touched....some people dont know what he is talking about caz u dont do what he does he is sickkk bra
by dylyn on Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 11.59 am from the entry: Wiz Khalifa: Burn After Rolling (Mixtape)
Wow,Great post.Thanks for sharing with us. land wi
by wisconsin land on Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 09.53 am from the entry: of Montreal + Gang Gang Dance - Orpheum Theatre (Boston, MA; Oct. 30, 2008)
Ugh. Paste’s profile of Free Energy made me kind of hate them. So does your review. It’s this unctuous defense of good-time rock-and-roll ("we’re just here to party, and we’re awesome!") that seems more self-serving than fun-loving.
by beth on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.41 pm from the entry: Foreign Born + Free Energy - The Knitting Factory (Brooklyn, NY; Mar. 12, 2010)
that inescapable feeling you are referring to, is that like when you hear something and you could have sworn you heard it before because of the nostalgic catchy quality? or is is like when you’ve heard a band exactly like said band?
great post by the way!
by paul on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 03.15 pm from the entry: The Novel Ideas - "The Sky Is A Field" - Borrow It
Whoa! I had no idea she was enegaged. You would never know with the way she behaves! Wow!
by art on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.48 am from the entry: Nikki Darlin and John McCauley: 1+1=1
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
Wow, I was at this very same concert and had a totally different experience. Jaime gave more of a comedic performance than musical. Her pauses were often too long, her singing was very off key, and her special friend Damien was the only one keeping it together. I think towards the end, when her dramatic pauses were accompanied by wine glasses clanking and a bit of laughter from the crowd, it was because nobody could believe she was even allowed to perform. I was saying that I need to pick up a guitar and start charging. Joshua Morrison and his band were amazing. The sound filled the entire venue and his vocals were on point. I even enjoyed his banter with the crowd about his car being broken into, much more interesting that hearing about Pear, Jaime’s cat. Will I check out Joshua Morrison in the future? Yes. Husbands love you wives? Don’t count on it.
Hi. This is Jamie (and my cat PEAR!), from HLYW. I wanted to thank you for the sweet and kind words, you are the exact type of person I would ever want to hear my music......you seem to understand it quite well. And as for the negative comment below your post, I find it sad that someone feels the need to even post negative words about something they very obviously don’t understand. Well, I am not writing songs for her to judge, or for anyone to judge, I am just telling my stories....So, thank you melophobe, and all the other wonderful people at the triple door who had nothing but positive wonderful things to say to me, and as for the negative and cynical people in this world who can’t find the better time than to write negative reviews about another persons work, I hope you find the time to “pick up the guitar and take charge....” and that you put your energy into something more productive and positive. Because my songs are not written in your interest.
Thanks again nicole.....
bad reviews will ALWAYS be written, no matter whether it seems “unproductive” or not, it’s just goes with the territory if you are a musician that one will be written about you.
and the internet has taken a shit on musicians waaay better, and far less deserving of it than jamie spiess!! i’m sorry, someone had to say it, and quite frankly i’m surprised i haven’t seen more music bloggers/ commenters brave enough to call her success as a “musician” into question.
no one’s judging her as a person, here- in fact she’s sweet as a button, and she deserves just as much as the next guy to tell her story to the world however she feels most accurately depicts her heart. i can give her credit for really going for it gangbusters on that front.
however, the fact that she has any credibility as a musical act is still pretty shocking to me. are seattle music reviewers, bloggers, and audiences in general completely tone-deaf?
maybe she should consider writing the songs and having someone who knows how to sing in tune and play perform them. that way her story can still be told, but just- in a way that people can actually listen because they don’t have to put their fingers in their ears.
i’m sorry, that last line about fingers in the ears was maybe a little over the edge.
just to follow-up, i would like to say that i think one other commenter put it well, over at an interview in the stranger: “It’s great if it helps her through her hard times, and I wish her all the best, but there’s no reason for the rest of us to endure it out of sympathy.”
my issue isn’t with jamie, but with the seattle music community embracing her music out of what feels a whooole lot like pity- sorriness for her terribly unfortunate situation. is that a good reason to proclaim someone as a great artist? to give her interviews and positive reviews in music newspapers? to put her on the bill with legitimately good musicians? to continue booking her places, and asking people to pay money to see her?
artists who become successful out of an audience’s pity aren’t really successful ARTISTS- they just have a lot of emotional support (which it sounds like jamie has really needed, so i guess at least that is good). and i understand from other articles that she doesn’t even really consider herself a musician, so i’ll just emphasize that this really isn’t a gripe about her, but rather about what she’s been hyped to be as a musician by the seattle music community, and the cred she’s been given.
it makes the whole seattle scene a little bit more disingenuous, just one more reason it was so easy for me to make a recent move away from there.
i can’t help but wonder why someone would be posting a response to this 5 months later, and obviously looking up other articles about HLYW from the stranger at the same time. i have to wonder if it is some kid of personal vendetta, while trying to play it off as another “oh the seattle music scene is so disingenuous” bit. seattle is one of the best places on earth for music, for the reason that all kinds of music are appreciated and excepted, and yes, sometimes even praised! seattle’s got ears and minds that are not formed around a specific idea of what music is or what it should be, but hearing the music itself as an individual project from band to band and person to person. everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and everyone is entitled to go out and buy a carrie underwood cd to hear some real tone, but seattle is great because it is a city full of open minds, people wanting to hear something different, and hundreds of independent musicians doing their own things. if you moved away from seattle, that is too bad for you because you are missing out on a lot of wonderful things happening there, and to try to sum up the seattle music “scene” in one word is impossible.