I knew I was going to be in town for three days & was going to shows in two different parts of town, so I found a hotel near one of the three Seattle Dave & Busters locations & decided I’d spend the extra evening there.
The first show was Spiritbox, which was at The Neptune Theater in the University District. I didn’t really spend any time in town around the show. But I wrote a review of the show that ran in Sage Cigarettes Magazine.
I live 2.5-3 hours away from Seattle over mountain passes & this was one of those shows where I drove into town late in the day, checked into the hotel, got ready, & then turned around & spent another 45 minutes in traffic to get to the venue. By the time I got there, it felt like I’d been awake for a couple of days & was a little cranky.
On the day between the shows, I went to Dave & Busters for the first time. I was already a fan of classic arcade bars — specifically Coin Jam in Salem, OR & Ground Kontrol in Portland, OR. But my brother was right, D&B is different. I spent most of my time playing basketball & coin pusher machines.
On the day of the second show, The Sounds of Animals Fighting, I was a little hungover & a little addicted to Dave & Busters & decided to find another location. So I spent most of the day in Lynnwood between D&B, H Mart, & Guitar Center. Living in the middle of nowhere makes it so I have to order most of my instruments off of the internet & while I know Guitar Center can kinda be its own circle of hell, most of the times I’ve gone in there it’s been mostly empty & I’ve been able to quietly try things out.
I didn’t get to Seattle until later in the day & since The Showbox at the Market is downtown, I parked in the garage I found during The Mars Volta show.
& as with many shows, my brother was with me. We’re both musicians (him more focused than I), have similar taste in music, & he’s a taller & more intimidating than I am — the perfect show friend.
Another thing we have in common — being in our 30s while having the bladders of 80 year olds. He immediately needed to pee which was low key a nightmare in a downtown area. Especially, since we came into town after the market had already closed for the day. So we started wandering & ended up at Westlake Center where we not only found clean bathrooms but a bad ass candy store that I’m looking forward to returning to next time I’m downtown.
After, we walked back to the venue & ended up being able to go into the bar anyway. After hanging out for a bit, I went to the bathroom & came back out to my brother acting up a little. After a guy walked by he finally says, “That was Anthony Green.” Of course it was. As usual I am face blind even with musicians I’ve known of & loved for years when they’re off the stage & also was a bit shocked that dude was shorter than me. The last time that happened was at the TFOT show in Spokane when Zac Garren was standing next to me & I didn’t recognize him even though it was the third time I’d seen the band that year.
My actual review of the show also ran in Sage Cigarettes Magazine.
I ended up driving back over the pass right after the show & that sucked. I really need to stop doing that.
