Stumped in Seattle

I had the pleasure of visiting Seattle a few weeks ago for work, and took an extra day to explore outside the city while I was there. I rented a car and drove about an hour out to Rattlesnake Ridge, a hiking trail. After a while, I came across this amazing area with graying, almost anthropomorphic tree stumps alongside an old trail, adjacent to a small lake. I'm sure Temple of the Dog, Green River or Tad shot something here at some point!

The Pets. Next Month. Can't Wait.

I've been meaning to post about a couple things for ages. So here goes. Please ignore the poor writing. I'm not in the mood to pretend I'm smart right now.

First off, I'm extremely psyched for a show coming up in June. Sure, we've got an Obits show comin' up later this month, and I'm heading out to Buffalo to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with my brother (we're both total dorks for Petty), and I get to see Swervedriver play next month (their in-store at Kim's on St. Marks about 10 years ago was one of the best shows I've ever been to -- period).

But more than anything, I cannot wait to see The Pets play the first weekend in June. I fell in love with them when they played Maxwell's last year and they just keep getting better. Their new tune, "Walk Away" is just plain great. Such a solid band. Fun, upbeat rock 'n' roll. I'm really psyched they've got a full length coming out and they're trekking across the country all the way from Oakland to play.

Also, a quick note on the most recent Carbonas record. It's pretty addictive. Super short, of course. Can't understand a damn word. It's really poppy, more so than their other grittier, ballsier stuff, which I prefer. I dig it a lot though.

One more thing. We had great seats at the recent VH show at the Meadowlands in Jersey this Tuesday, thanks to a friend. They sounded great, and pretty much played the same set as the first time we caught them at Madison Square Garden last year. One tune was missing: "Little Guitars." It's one of my faves and I was so excited they played it the first time (it's kind of a deeper cut), I guess I was lucky to have heard it live even once. Another thing missing which I really loved the first time around was Eddie sitting on the edge of the drum stage puffin' on a smoke and noodling around on the guitar. He played pretty much the same solo noodling medley type thing this time around, but that little touch was missing.

Dave was prancing around the stage, completely enamored of himself. The guy's just so damn entertaining. And if that's not enough, seeing Eddie on stage with his kid, Wolfie, is special. They have such great chemistry and Eddie was grinning ear to ear the whole time; you can tell he's super happy to be playing with his kid.

OK. No more for now. Time to head down West Side Ave. for a little Park Tavern action.