Folks
to read a 'professional' review of the weekend - click here:
www.thequietus.com/articles/two-decades-of-sub-pop-steve-jelbert-flies-to-seattle-to-celebrateI travelled to Seattle with Mr Steve Jelbert (a very nice man he is too) and he is a proper writer as opposed to my part time hacking! ha ha!
I agree with almost everything he says - aside from the bit about No Age! They sucked.
We watched Tads new band at the Showbox on Saturday night and I'm sad to say that they did kinda suck... as did the Gutter Twins!! Can't Lanegan just quit it with the collabs and make ANOTHER solo album without QOTSA, Dulli, Soulsavers etc etc etc... Come on Mark - got to be worth a try.
Highlights for me of the weekend were not just about the music - I was the dude in Steves piece who saw an eagle fly over with a fish in it's mouth - beautiful!
Marymoor Park was possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Two bald eagles flew over at one point. It was hot - it's surrounded by snow peaked mountains. Insane!!
The vibe was lovely. Great food - music - weather - beer - stalls - lovely people (friendly folks who wanted to talk to you) all added up to Sub Pop Festival heaven.
Bruce Fairweather from Green River gave me an (Olympia) beer and a t-shirt as a thanks for flying from London for the weekend (something he thought was kinda crazy:). What a lovely lovely man.
There was so much going on it was insane. There was a cool vibe all weekend. Seattle is a nice place. It's walkable in the centre - but ya need to bus it up to Ballard - I liked Ballard! Cool vibes and nice bars/record shops etc.
Sonic Boom - I picked up a copy of the Pierced Arrows CD (Dead moon folks). Every things so cheap! My £200 turned into $400 (almost). Treated myself to nice jeans (x 2) and lots of nice food. I ate with Steve in the bar where you could buy Kurt Cobain Clams - I had a nice burger.
If anything - thankfully - aside from one ironic hotel toilet door at the Max (where all the bands and press folks were staying) there was no mention of Nirvana - or sight of them as a band anywhere all weekend. Chad was around though - hanging out with Jack Endino. He seemed to be digging it all.
Other grunge celebs? Kim Tahyill and Matt Cameron - heck why no Soundgarden set?....
Food and booze wise? The beer!! Snoqualmie Falls Pale Ale and Mannys! I LOVE EM! had an incredible pulled pork salad platter in this great pub:
www.seattlealehouses.com/Hilltop/index.aspreally nice area too!
Downtown Seattle - i was surprised at how nice Pike Place Market is - nice food (and cheap Levis!).
I was worried about flying before I went - but the flights were easy. 8 and half hours there and back - virtually no turbulence at all on the way there - packed plane. Seriously easy.
Way back I slept most of the way. Jet lag hit me hard on the way back.
So all in all - I want to go back.
A Pacific Northwest Holiday taking in Vancouver - Seattle and Portland (stopping off in the great outdoors) would be so so cool.
Just need to save a bunch of money now!
cheers
