Thread the Needle

We got to Seattle nice and early, so we decided to go do touristy stuff. Joe, Lotje, Rob, Andrew, Ross and I decided to go to the Space Needle, where we paid the $16 to go up and look around. I had been up once before on a trip to Seattle with my mom, but it was nice to see it again. The day was fairly cool and crisp and the view of the Olympics to the West, the Cascades to the East, Mt. Baker to the North and some other mountain to the South was unobstructed and really quite breathtaking. By the time we’d all gotten down and we met up with Bora and Zubin again, it was time to go to the venue. However, being hungry, we thought we’d get some food first. Lotje, Joe, Rob, Andrew and I went to a Greek place at the foot of the Needle that was quite tasty. I had the falafel and it was fair. Not as good as the pita place we went to in Phoenix, and a far cry from the deliciousness that was a La Villa pita, but it was passable.

After dinner and some wandering, we headed off to Nectar, the venue for our Seattle show. Nectar is a pretty cool place with a capacity of 450. There’s a modest floor section, which, for our show, was alcohol free, and an ample balcony that wraps around two sides of the upstairs. The stage is located across from the balcony and is raised about 36” off the main floor, and there’s a monitor world/DJ position SR, between the stairs to get up on to the stage and the stage. I wish now that I’d taken more pictures, because it’s rather difficult to describe. The main sound booth was located across the main floor (roughly 25’ away from the downstage edge) and was also raised 3-4 feet. You access the booth via a precarious and narrow set of 3 stairs. It’s a miracle I didn’t smash my face, considering how many times I jumped up and down those steps.

The Greenroom at Nectar’s was a real trip. I guess this is a case of space maximization, but I never thought I’d see a green room in a trailer outside of a big rock festival.


(looks creepier than it is). I didn’t get a shot of the inside, but it was quite nicely appointed once you got used to the idea that you were in a trailer.

Nectar’s sound guy, Brian, is a fellow masshole and a pleasure to work with, he did a yeoman’s work on the monitors while I mixed it up at FOH. People seemed to think we were twins or something. I guess the fact that Nectar had really low lighting was part of it. What do you think?


Brian and I looked similar enough, at least, that my Aunt Peg, who came to the show with my Uncle Chris, tried to get his attention with my name. Obviously, that didn’t really turn out so well.

Speaking of my Aunt and Uncle, it was great to see them. They live a little ways outside of Seattle, so it was really nice of them to show up. Unfortunately, we didn’t connect until the Tally guys were about to go on, and I had a bunch of work to do after the show, so we didn’t really get to hang out at all. It’s hard having friends/family at shows. You never get to hang out with anyone and you’re left feeling like you’ve been a jerk. Of course, it’s hard for most people to be a host to friends at work, I imagine.

Our opening band tonight was a Seattle “supergroup” according to Seattlest. They were called “Awesome.” Awesome was, well, quite awesome. They had great stage presence, getting some for serious gut laughs out of the audience, and playing a really cool brand of multicultural power pop. Someone from the Tally Hall crew got a hold of their cd, and it’s been in consistent rotation on the van stereo. I think I liked the live show more than I like the cd, but they’re both worth checking out.

Tally put on a pretty good show this night, including house bringer downers Freebird and Praise You. Here are some pictures:





The acoustic set was extremely well received tonight, as well. My FOH position was pretty well positioned for some good overhead shots. Here are a few:


Joe, Lotje and I took the van back across town to our hotel and decided to turn in, since our drive to Provo was going to be a long one. Sleep came easily and wakefulness came too soon.