Seattle University Spectator

Issue: 7/14/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Joshua Lynch Reverend Peyton, above, takes advantage of the the intimate space at Chop Suey during an all ages show this summer.

Though it may never again reach the point it was at during its hey­day with bands like Nirvana and Screaming Trees swarming the community, Seattle's music scene is anything but dead.

Seattle has a long heritage as a musical city. Jimi Hendrix shaped its classic rock roots in the late '60s, and bands like Heart helped carry the rock resonance through the punk rock period that was the late '70s and early '80s. The late '70s also marked the launch of Subterranean Pop, a zine that would pave the way for what is now Sub Pop records, which celebrated its 20th anniversary July 12 and 13 at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Wash. Seattle was likewise the birth place of Duff McKagan, who would later join the itsy, bitsy rock group Guns N' Roses. The city may have the eternal cloud of Kurt Cobain's death loom­ing over its head, but nowadays it is one of the most pertinent musical cities in America.

Sub Pop probably accounts for a considerable amount of Seattle's success as a city with a thriving mu­sic scene, especially in recent years. The label hosts and has hosted such internationally renowned bands as The Shins, Band Of Horses, Flight Of The Conchords, Mudhoney, Ugly Casanova (a Modest Mouse side project), The Postal Service, Iron And Wine, The Thermals, Fleet Foxes, Wolf Parade and No Age. The label's quaint offices can still be seen in downtown Seattle on 4th Avenue, and its persistence for two decades shows the tenacity of both its artists and its surrounding scene.

Seattle is also home to several notoriously awesome music venues, and several of the best are located right on Capitol Hill. Neumos, a cool club with fantastic acoustics that alternates between 21 and older and all ages shows, is only a block north from Seattle University. It has hosted bands from all over the world in the last decade, from Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear to the Japanese noise gods Boredoms. Seldom does a show at the venue cost more than $20, and its acts never abide to any standards of genre or style. One night, Neumos might host the Wu-Tang Clan's GZA/Genius on his "Liquid Swords" tour, and in the same week, it will showcase the subdued folk-pop of Wisconsin-based Bon Iver.

Continued...

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