CMJ Seattle
Reports From the Front
By the Pando Street Crew

From July 20-23, 2000, CMJ magazine held a regional music conference in Seattle. 75 bands, including Weezer, the Supersuckers, Zeke, Juno and Death Cab for Cutie, performed. Here's the lowdown from downtown:

Opening Party w/DJ KO, HIM, ZEKE & SUPERSUCKERS
July 20, 2000, I-Spy

I go to I-Spy early for open bar. The joint is sweltering. The beer is warm, but it is free, so it is good. Wait in line, get beer, go to the back of line, drink beer, get another beer, go to back of line....

Missed DJ KO completely. Lots of beautiful scenesters everywhere. Who turned up the heat? Bartender sez free drinky time is over. It's ten minutes before the publicized cutoff time. Someone calls her on it. She apologizes....drink beer, go to back of line...

HIM feature two drummers and two sax players and therefore they are very rhythmic and jazzy. Cool acidy jazz too with lengthy improv stretches and monster grooves. I will seek them out again.

Zeke should follow the example of The Knack and title their next album "And The Little Girls Don't Understand", since there seemed to be a mass exodus of the female kind during their set. Can't blame 'em much either--Zeke are as guy rock as it gets. If you've seen 'em before, there's nothing new except the fire explosions at the beginning of the set. If you haven't, you owe it to yourself to see the most raw unbridled biker hardcore punk metal rock ever to surface on this planet....at least once.

The Supersuckers brought the girls back, but with fingers in ears. It was so unforgivably loud that I, Rod Moody, have been unable to hear the phone all morning. The Supes Rock with a capital R, with fingers contorted into devil horns and stiff middle fingers upraised, tossing off Thin Lizzy covers like they owned 'em, rock star posing in abundance....I've said it before and I'll say it once more: The Supersuckers are the AC/DC of the new millennium. -Rod Moody

Daytime Friday

The ChangeMusic Conference at the Washington State Convention Center - Panels on Friday were a big old wash if you ask me. An aspiring band or musician could have saved their money and continued to do what they already are doing in the brick and mortar world. It would end up making them more money if they succeed, and it seemed to be the only choice according to the web experts gathered there.

The panels were supposed to be about getting the music to consumers and marketing in the new digital landscape. During the first one, everyone was concerned not so much with how we the consumers would end up with the best and the most music. No, instead they were concerned with making sure everyone got a cut of the pie. Lots of platitudes were spoken concerning the little guy (bands) making more and the big guys (labels and distributors) having to make due with just a bit less. But somehow that seemed to mean cutting the pie up even more. Now it is obvious that while the little guy will make more (because something is more than nothing) and the big guy will make less because the tech folks and web developers need a cut too... and you can be sure they plan to be just as big as the existing big guys.

The other message of the day was about marketing on the web. The over riding consensus from the panles made up of ".com" owners and workers was that a band has to keep doing what they have always done. Apparently, they have no idea how to make money on the web and to even try to tell us how to do that would be pointless. "Make stickers, get local airplay, sell your record in local shops. Use the web only as a means to make your product more available to the people. Not as a marketing tool" one panel member from Amazon.com said. I found this to be unbelieveably frustrating. People know all of that already and only wanted something for their money paid. Obviously these people know something about marketing on the web. They came from Real Networks and Amazon.com, and Mp3.com. these were the people who are the web's biggest players and offer the most benefits to aspiring musicians on the web. Yet they weren't willing to share any secrets. Well, I ask, what was the point of even having them there? -Charles Redell

Friday Night

Del the Funky Homosapian, Blackalicious and Source of Labor at the Showbox - Throw your hands in the air, and wave em like you just don't care! That seems to be what hip hop shows are all about, so much interaction. The shows were superb. People came out for all of the different artists, and showed their support by miming back lyrics and waving all sorts of things in the air. Blackalicious were in full force, and Del rocked everybody. I would have liked to have heard more of the beautiful female vocals that are on the Blackalicious cd, but I've come to realize that hip hop artists aren't about trying to perfectly emulate their cd's. They are about the moment, the rhyme, and getting every body screaming really loud. -Sarah Doriss

Carissa's Wierd at I-Spy - Caught about 30 seconds of them. They sounded quiet. -Rod Moody

Carissa's Wierd at I-Spy - Poor Carissa's Wierd. They really are wierd.... but in such a good way. In front of a packed audience they seemed to lumber about the small stage too big for the small room, but not big enough for a bigger space. They were beseiged with technical difficulites ("My guitar hated me, his drums hated him. Somehow, all of our instruments just turned on us tonight," one meber was heard to say). But even through falling symbols they filled us all with an ethereal, haunting music that left many of us wanting more. -Charles Redell

Kinski at I-Spy - Kinski, on the other hand, is too big for the I-Spy, and any other room that they enter. And that's just fine with me. Everytime they play, they become giants on stage. Tonite, picking up on the unavoidable heat and stangnant air in the room, they took us on a joy ride. Their music seemed to be road trip space rock with a 70's flair. Larger than life, and full of interchangable and wildly different rhythyms, for their forty minutes, we flew down the open road, top down, and stereo blasting. -Charles Redell

Kinski at I-Spy - KINSKI roused a rather full house at I-Spy with their cool yet locomotive instrumentals.  These folks have gone from being a short take on drone-blare European progressive rock to being a well-oiled and often thrilling group.  They play so great at this point that it seems especially stupid to laundry-list their influences.  So I won't. -Tim Midgett

Kinski at I-Spy - Saw their whirlpool of cacophony on display once before and I was quite impressed. This time though, I was kinda bored. Like Sonic Youth, Kinski likes to build up a germ of a song to its final orgasmic twitch, kick it out of bed and do it to the next song. Sluts. Anyway, the spark wasn't really there tonight...I'm sure it was just me. -Rod Moody

Love As Laughter at the Crocodile - There are some folks up on the stage now, looking like they're just going through the motions. Their music cannot be lumped into any one particular bag, but one thing is for sure -- I don't like it. There they stand, flailing away on their instruments without anything interesting coming out of the mix. Pointless.

The Makers at the Crocodile - Was gifted with the new record the night before and absolutely loved it. I was really looking forward to this show, but as I should have known, there was no way they could come close to replicating the sound live without the additional instrumentation that helps make the album a star. Not the worst Makers show I've ever seen, but I bet they could be so much better on the right night. For an encore, somebody punched the bouncer, then got his ass kicked and arrested. Don't mess with the Croc bouncers, fool! -Rod Moody

The Makers at the Crocodile - Local noise glam heroes The Makers force fed the Crocodile a snotty stew of old school glitter rock colliding with punk aggression. -Rich Evans

Pete Droge at the Tractor - Pete Droge turned in a solid acoustic set (augmented by Sheryl Crow/Don Henley guitarist Peter Stroud) of new material mixed with tried and true favorites, like "If You Don't Love Me I'll Kill Myself." -Rich Evans

Alien Crime Syndicate at Graceland - Cliched songs + pre-recorded backing tracks + a cheesy flashing sign featuring the acronym of the band's name = Alien Lame Syndicate. If Warrant was an indie rock band, this is what they would sound like. -Rich Evans

Daytime Saturday

The ChangeMusic Conference at the Washington State Convention Center - The sparsely attended (possibly due to a recent, similar NARAS sponsored shindig) conference/schmooze-fest featured a gaggle of "been there - done that" independent music industry folks dispensing advice on methods to promote a band in the wake of evolving technology. The various panelists (aided by informative handouts summarizing their key points) discussed topics such as starting a website ,uploading MP3s, and internet radio stations. Another big topic of conversation was Napster. At a panel titled (Dawning of a ) New Era:What is the Future of the Internet, the big question was "How do artists get paid in the age of Napster?" Apparently, no one had the answer. The overall consensus seemed to be that the digital transfer of music over the web has the potential swing the balance of power from the major labels to the artists, but poses no serious threat to replace the CD any time soon. I also spent a good chunk of the day trailing Matt Sorenson from local band Surething to demo listenings with various A&R representatives. Some of the reps (CMJ and Sub Pop in particular) genuinely listened to the CD and offered honest opinions and useful constructive suggestions on how to proceed in future recording and promotional endeavors. Unfortunately, some others just pressed play and wearily advised "just keep at it." -Rich Evans

Saturday Night

Pinehurst Kids at the Showbox - 6:30 is awful early to rock out and start drinking, especially after a very late night before, but somehow Rod gets down to the 'box for the Kids. The Pinehurst Kids first caught my eye when I saw 'em on the cover of the Rocket. To be truthful, it was their cute drummer that really made me notice... She didn't let me down at the show either, as she transformed a fairly decent melodic emo outfit with Built To Spill overtones into a two-headed rock beast. With hair flying everywhere she pounded the living crap out of those skins and made those Kids come alive. Quite the indiffererent all-ages crowd they played to though.... -Rod Moody

Gardener at the Showbox - After the stellar performance by the Pinehurst Kids, this was kind of a letdown. Aaron from Seaweed with his acoustic guitar crooned kinda charming pop songs in harmony with his sister Sarah. Van Conner has played with Gardener in past shows and had filled in the cracks with a variety of instruments, but he was MIA this time and his absence made for a more sparse and awkward performance that was not entirely up to par. -Rod Moody

Death Cab For Cutie at the Showbox - Death Cab For Cutie turned in an energetic and inspired set of moody, textural emo - rock in spite of their wounded guitarist. DCFC provided the perfect soundtrack for a rainy summer afternoon. -Rich Evans

Automaton Adventure Series at the Crocodile - This all-too-brief (25 minute) set was a highlight of the conference for me. Automaton kicks out thick, chunky waves of clangorous post-punk. -Dave Liljengren

FCS North at the Crocodile - FCS North lived up to their per usual standard of excellence by erecting a seamless sonic rainbow on which the tripped-out and tranced-up audience could climb to the heavens, or at least up to the smokier levels of Crocodile air near the ceiling where the Croc's wicker light fixtures live. -Dave Liljengren

Joel R. L. Phelps at the Crocodile - With a voice that falls somewhere between Steve Earle and Steve Strange, Joel Phelps sings mournful anthems from a pensive America which doesn't exist anymore, but should. Accompanying himself on guitar and occasionally joined by a second guitarist, tonight's show was particularly affecting and featured "Now You Are Found," a song written in the wake of Phelps' sister's suicide last December. In one of the most interesting onstage twists to happen in Seattle in some time, Phelps and his guitarist were joined for several songs by two of the members of FCS North. The resulting intersection of jazzy trip hop with downer folk went down like the last shot of vintage bourbon; smoothly, with a hint of sadness, some fire at the core, and a kick like a mule. -Dave Liljengren

Juno at the Crocodile - There's no stopping Juno. If Arlie's broken neck couldn't stop them last year, the departure of their bassist this year will be little more than a speed bump. Playing with a fill-in bassist named Nathan, Juno hit terminal velocity quickly and stayed there, debuting some new songs for the local fans and powering through the canonized favorites from This is the Way it Goes and Goes for the out of towners. -Dave Liljengren

Shawn Smith & Ken Stringfellow at the Baltic Room - OK, I admit it - I had never been to the Baltic Room and forgot where it was, so I looked up the address--the 1200 block of Pine--and shared a cab with my brother-in-law up to Broadway. After introducing Mike to Linda's and the Cha Cha, we then trudged up to 12th to where we logically thought the Baltic Room would be. Then the downpour started. Summer in Seattle, indeed. We got up to 12th and looked here and there, the Cuff on one side, the Elysian on the other, and stopped into the latter to get directions, and of course found out that we needed to go back the way we came---sheets of rain be damned! We arrived soaked and sore (Mike's feet were blistered from wearing the wrong shoes the night before) to an absolutely packed house. There was no way to see the performers on the low "stage" and it was impossible to hear their quiet solo piano sets because of the din. So we drank a couple, admired the lovely interior of the joint, then took a cab to Graceland. We needed to rock. -Rod Moody

Sean Smith at the Baltic Room - The rich, smoky voice of the Satchel/Brad/Pigeonhed veteran Sean Smith was on full display. One highlight was his wonderful Leadbelly-ish cover of Mother Love Bone's "Crown of Thorns." Smith is on the short list of people in Seattle who could cover MLB and not leave the club drenched in beer. -Rich Evans

Ken Stringfellow at the Baltic Room - Ken Stringfellow's wistful voice serenaded the severely dark Baltic Room with thoughtful acoustic ballads chock full of minor chords. -Rich Evans

The Bangs at Graceland - The Bangs gave us the rock fix that we needed after "quiet time" at the Baltic Room. Classic Runaways/Ramones punk rock fronted by two girls that have the hooks, harmonies and riffs down cold. Even when they argue about what songs to play, they end up just putting their heads down, gritting their teeth and pummeling ya. Vive le rock! -Rod Moody

Mecca Normal at Graceland - The intro-- or so I thought-- was a woman performing annoying spoken-word poetry with a taped piano backing. It progressively got worse and since no band had shown up after 20 minutes, and this strange woman kept up with her repetitive monotone spiel, I decided that my work was done. Sleep is good. -Rod Moody

The Drop at the Tractor: All dressed up for the party, Chris and crew kicked of the night with an emotional set that got the night off to a great start. Good crowd with lots of interest and energy. "I Don't Know" is a killer song that can't help but reaffirm The Drop's place as a great new band, and impress the uninitiated. -Pete Everett

Diamond Fist Werny at the Tractor: What a great live band. Hypnotic and groovy... Todd Werny is an amazing vocalist and the band packs a wallop. The crowd was really into it as proven by the sheer volume of CD's sold at the DFW table. I swear anyone who did not already own a DFW CD bought one this night. A total original that really delivered. -Pete Everett

Voyager One at the Tractor - If we lived in a world where bands had to play at only one club and nowhere else, I hope Voyager One would play at The Tractor for ever. Whenever they do, they have the best, most responsive corwds, great sound, and become more experimental with their songs. This Saturday was no different. Even though they were playing as a part of the CMJ music festival they took the stage like they were in their own practice space all alone. Confident and calm, the band's presence was noted immediately by the crowd who inched closer to be a part of the action. And we were not dissapointed. They played a set of old favorites tweked in new ways (one song -Young Halo- was almost funky in a very Led Zeppelin backbeat kinda way). They had everyone moving and swaying the whole time. One audience member was so moved he had to climb up on the stage and actually stage dive into his friends in the most rambunctious display of love for a band that this town has seen since the days of RKCNDY. It was big Rock n Roll night and V1 played a big Rock n Roll set, much to everyone's enjoyment. -Charles Redell

Voyager One at the Tractor: These guys are real pros. They have their live show down and play with great acumen and confidence. "Asleep in a Stereo Field" was just great.... as always. V1 really fed off the energy of the crowd and turned in a spirited performance. -Pete Everett

The Melody Unit at the Tractor: Note to bands out there, it is never a good idea to berate the sound man over the PA, in front of a packed audience... -Pete Everett

Sunday Night

Weezer at the Showbox - When I arrived at the Showbox at 3:45 PM, a full five hours before Weezer were slated to hit the stage, I expected to be amongst the first people waiting in line. No such luck. As I took a seat at the end of the block, I discovered that Weezer fans started gathering at 11:30 that morning for the band's first Seattle show in over five years.

Was it worth the wait? The fact that what was arguably the most anticipated show of the year culminated in a capacity all-ages crowd losing their minds to songs like "Tired of Sex" and "El Scorcho" has to mean YES. Keep in mind that both of those songs are culled from Pinkerton, Weezer's 1996 commercial "failure." Unlike the band's last tour through town supporting that album, this was not a one-hit wonder, buzz-band show; every crowd member, of every age group, knew every word and every note of every song. As one of my companions put it, this was "like a fan-club show."

After a noise collage of digitally-altered "Brady Bunch" soundbites, the band opened their set with "My Name is Jonas," and proceeded to play nearly every song from both albums, from "Buddy Holly" to "Why Bother," rarely letting up in intensity for the rest of the evening. The major exception was the first new song, a slower, 50's-style emo toe-tapper. Although unusually attentive to the four new songs the band debuted that night, the frankly ecstatic crowd (remember what it used to be like to go to a rock show in Seattle?) happily bobbed and crowd-surfed through the entire set.

For a man who's reportedly grown bloated and neurotic, frontman Rivers Cuomo looked and sounded great on stage and led the band through an emphatic set, double-guitar solos and all. While newcomer bassist Mikey Welsh couldn't quite carry the harmonies like Matt Sharp used to, the basslines were solid and his enthusiasm was obvious. All in all, the band sounded confident and played with more than enough exuberance to match that of the crowd. At the end of the night, after the encore, everyone I saw was sweaty and smiling, and the merch table had sold out of T-shirts. -Matthew Parker

Weezer at the Showbox - Rumors can be dangerous things. They can ruin friendships, destroy marriages, and cause you to write off some of your favorite bands prematurely. The rumors regarding one of the best alt-rock bands of the 90s, Weezer, were quite painful to endure. From the common "They broke up" rumor you hear about any band that takes more than a year between albums, to more creative fantasies, like "their main creative force has been obsessively bouncing a rubber ball against the wall of the studio," the rumor mill surrounding Weezer has left many of us scratching our heads. But I'm here to tell you that Weezer is not only alive and well, but that they damn near tore the roof off of the Showbox.

The evening began with a 90 minute wait to enter the Showbox, due not only to the sheer volume of ticket holders, but the multitudes of laminated CMJ pass holders (funny, I didn't see most of these people at the conferences.) Portland's Organic Mechanic started things off with a poppy set of genre - hopping indie pop. They were OK, mixing jangly guitars and saxophone riffs you've heard countless times before. But they never seemed to really connect with the crowd, musically or otherwise. Maybe this was because it was only their (per the sax player) 7th show (what's up with that?) Or perhaps it was due to the fact that they were obsessed with introducing the members of the band at any break in the music. Whatever the case, they received a polite (read "typical Seattle club scene") response from the sweaty masses.

Weezer took the stage to the intro music from the game show "Family Feud." Launching immediately into "My Name is Jonas," the world (or at least the Showbox) was immediately their oyster. There is a theory that on any given night, any band can be the best band in the world. On this night, Weezer fit that bill.

Leaning heavily on their first, eponymous album, Weezer proceeded to work the sold out Showbox into a frenzy of singalongs, fistpumping, crowd surfing, and all out mayhem. The crowd was pogoing so intensely that the speakers on the sides of the stage were in danger of toppling over. For most of the set, there were actually people holding these speakers in place!

The all ages crowd seemed to know every word to every song Weezer threw at them, save for the handful of new songs debuted on this incredible night. From "El Scorcho" to "Say it Ain't So" to "In The Garage" to God knows how many other gems, this was a band that just couldn't lose if they tried. Their drummer even snuck in signature drum licks from various Rush tunes (for the Rush freaks: YYZ, Tom Sawyer, La Villa Strangiata) between songs. Quite a far cry from the image of a band in terminal turmoil, wouldn't you say? After the obligatory encore, Weezer left the crowd screaming for more, a rarity in the jaded nightlife of the Seattle club scene.

One final note: the security at this show was also at the top of its game. No rough stuff was in evidence, and one guy working the front of the stage made a Griffey-esque catch of a crowd surfer that was worthy of a highlight on ESPN's Sportscenter. -Rich Evans