When: March 18

Where: The Shakedown

So, The Shakedown finally opened! Everyone is really excited (“Alright hipster, shuddup already”) and this show was an appropriate christening, especially with all the Harkonen 3B fliers pasted as standards to the, ahem, thrones. Here’s to many awesome shows in the future and everyone who made it possible. *swig*

Swayze, comprised of Lupe Flores, Don Stewart, and Mike Clam, was up first. Hard-pounding bass riffs rollick and lumber throughout their set against Flores’ slap-happy drumming. They alternate between mid-tempo hard-rock and shuddering breakdowns with the occasional chaotic ending. There was something lacking that I couldn’t put my finger on but I’m sure they’ll hammer it out. It was a good start for this new band and I look forward to hearing more.

Lozen was my favorite act of the night. Call and response vocals and syncopated rhythms conjured a primal feeling that I don’t hear from too many bands these days. Standing near the front produced a brain scrambling disorientation with guitar tones that broiled my innards. Drummer Justine Valdez and guitarist Hozoji Matheson-Margullis become indistinguishable from each other as their back-and-forth makes Lozen a cohesive monster larger than just the two of them. They’ll be back in April and everyone must attend.

Dog Shredder tore it up as usual with more than enough notes, starts and stops to make me puke. Hearing them through The Shakedown’s PA is a treat and it should be experienced by every local-music fan at least once… it might destroy you. As I write this they are on a West Coast tour with Lozen.

Who doesn’t love Ben Verellen? His bands, his amps, his lion roars… This night saw the reemergence of Harkonen in Bellingham as a part of a two-night reunion (I bet the Tacoma show was killer). There are more versed aficionados than me who will know about their trajectory from metallic post-hardcore to more noise-based material as well as all the times they played in Bellingham (see: the cover of their Dancing EP). What I can tell you is that they delivered and everyone (I’m pretty sure anyway) loved it. If you like mechanical riffs, if you like thick distorted bass, and if you like non-standard drumming, you like Harkonen. I like Harkonen.

What's Up Cover - March 2011. Design by Mitch Vega

As you might’ve picked up from the cover a great illustration done by Mitchell Vega it’s our 13th birthday! We’re teenagers now! Our voice is cracking, we’re getting hair on our chest and something weird is happening “down there.”

Thirteen years ago, myself and Sean Spain, with the help of Amy Marchegiani, published the debut issue of What’s Up! Magazine. The first issue was put out on a mix between campus computers we’d work in the computer lab till all hours in the morning though none of us were students and some little computer that had barely enough memory to run the programs for text documents. We had an office down by the library ($350 so big Sean ended up living in it for a couple of months), very little money and a real desire to do something cool for the Bellingham music scene. For reference, in 1998, the iMac had JUST been released, the iPod wouldn’t be invented for three years and e-mail was just starting to be used as a form of communication the magazine’s first e-mail address was my first e-mail address. Oh yeah, we didn’t have a website not many folks did at that point, certainly not small publications and demos that were dropped off generally were on tape, though “bigger” bands would duplicate recordings onto CD. So, it was a different world at a different time.

The town was vastly different as well there were, approximately, 15,000 less people in Bellingham and the music scene, while pretty cool, wasn’t anything like it is today. The top bands – Death Cab For Cutie, Sharpie, Eureka Farm, Pacer, Federation X were unbelievable and even now, 13 years later, are some of the best the town has ever seen. But, it was different – the overall support for the music scene just wasn’t there. There were no venues the size of the Wild Buffalo and if there were, there was no way they could have been at capacity three nights in a row, like what happened at the end of February. Sunday shows never happened no one would ever come out to ‘em and if there was a big show happening in town and you had a different show going, you could assume no one would be at yours. In their heyday, Man or Astroman would draw 225-250 people at the 3B. Over 10 years later, they drew 450 at the Wild Buffalo – that was the night after Delhi 2 Dublin was sold out BEFORE the show even started. The town has changed and in spite of what some old timers will say, the change has generally been for the better (though, I do miss the 3B).

In short, it was a fun town… but holy crap it’s fun now. This isn’t any kind of new revelation I talk about this damn near every month. I love this town love the people of the town, love the energy, and most importantly, I love the music scene. For 13 years, I’ve made the music scene my job month after month, following people making good music (and sometimes bad music). My life has changed dramatically over those 13 years but along the way, I always had What’s Up! I didn’t intend for the mag to last this long, but I feel lucky and blessed that it has. So, I guess what I’m saying is, thanks for letting me do this each month. It’s a pretty cool job.

Who could turn 13 without a great little birthday party? Come by on Monday, March 28 at the Cabin Tavern with The Strange Boys, Natural Child, The Clefts, and Marriage! Headliners The Strange Boys are one of my favorite bands a mix between the 13th Floor Elevators, The Rolling Stones (Out of Our Heads Era) and Jesus and Mary Chain seriously cool stuff.

Last month, I touched on the two new venues happening in town The Shakedown and the new all-ages venue. Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.

First, the good news. The Shakedown will be ready to rock, opening up on St. Patrick’s Day with Peader McMahon, 8 Hand Reel and MacArra playing Irish music all night long. The following day, Harkonen is reuniting with Lozen, Dog Shredder and Swayze opening up (Lupe Flores’s new band with members of Mico De Noche). Then, for the grand opening night, on March 19, The Shakedown will be rolling out a six-band bill half of which is confirmed as of press time. Slated to play are the Rooftops, The Slacks and Marriage but there’s talk of some mind blowing additions to the line up as if those three bands aren’t cool enough! For old timers who’ve been clamoring for a 3B style venue, our dreams have come true.

Now for the bad news. The planned WhAAM/Make.Shift space has, unfortunately, fallen through. The landlord pulled the plug on the project, leaving the groups without a space. Those who support WhAAM/Make.Shift as well as the donors to the kickstarter project should not worry they are pressing on with finding a new spot and will now be doing that with even more community support and money in their account. So, if anyone has any great leads on a space, please e-mail info@makeshiftproject.com.

VENUE NEWS

The Blue Horse Gallery, located at 301 W. Holly, is now a cool jazz club/cafe featuring not only jazz, but some Americana, spoken word and singer/songwriter events as well. A welcome addition to our local scene, the place is really intimate and has great sound. Check it out, you’ll dig it!

The Pickford is oh so very close to opening up, though as of press time, there is no official date. Michael Falter, the Program Director at the Pickford, was cool enough to take me on a tour of the new space and it is seriously, seriously amazing. We were having a great conversation, then we sat down in the new seats and Michael and I just stopped talking – the seats were just that comfortable. The way the seats slope, especially in the smaller room, is unbelievable there isn’t a bad seat in the house.

Take a snapshot of that area and look at potential evening entertainment: We’ve got the Wild Buffalo, Woods (which has plans for live music), The Pickford, The Temple Bar, The Cabin, and The Blue Horse Gallery not to mention Bayou just sitting there with some killer food. This is gonna be a damn cool hot spot for Bellingham within a few months.

RECORDS & RELEASES

Death Cab for Cutie has one member living in town, which makes ‘em local for us. And with that, I’ll mention their latest release, Codes and Keys, which will be released on May 31 through Atlantic Records. The band has a few tour dates confirmed including Sasquatch on May 28, hopefully they’ll be play in town again sometime soon. I’ve been told it has more of a Brian Eno feel to it, which makes me very, very happy.

The Violins are releasing their debut recording, Before We Die, on March 3 with a show at the Old Foundry on March 5. Have I mentioned how I like this band before? ‘Cuz I do A LOT! I’m especially glad they changed their named from Caulfield and his Magical Violin to The Violins way easier to deal with.

My friends, let me talk to you about a newish band called Plant Party. They’ve played a few shows here and there and developed a cool little off-kilter Americana sound. The band will be releasing a new recording mid-March with a CD release in April. I love ‘em, you will too.

Also releasing music in April, though deserving of mention now, is the mighty Polecat. And when I say mighty, I mean MIGHTY. I love this band, I love this band, I love this band, I love this band. They could make a room full of zombies dance til their legs fell off. Check ‘em out on April 8 at the American Museum of Radio & Electricity. Easily one of the best bands in town, so watch for the recorded goods.

The dynamic duo No-Fi Soul Rebellion is releasing a maxi-single on March 22 featuring the new song “Glass Eyes” as well as two other unreleased B-sides. It’s been a while since Mark and Andrea Heimer released some new material, so this makes me a little giddy. The world is a better place when No-Fi is releasing music.

Holy crap the new Baltic Cousins record is good!

If yer a Bellingham old schooler, you’ll dig what ya find at http://bellinghamrecordings.blogspot.com/. Downloadable and free are the unreleased Party Favorites album from 2003 as well as a couple Qualuude County Country Band albums from 2005. Am I happy about this? Absolutely. Will there be reviews, finally, of two great and legendary Bellingham bands? Again, absolutely.

COMINGS & GOINGS

Trevor Spencer, formerly of Addition, About Sprout and Skinny Whiskers, has a new band with Stephen Seed of the Violins, Drew Fitchette of the Rooftops and Sam Hutchens of the Mission Orange called Sea Shorts. They’ll be playing The Violins release show on March 5 at the Old Foundry with Karl Blau and the Palisades. I love me an all-star line up!

Zorbatron is on “hiatus” for now while the band tries to figure out what to do about their drummer situation. Aaron Roeder, the king shit on the stool, badly injured his hand awhile back and has been unable to play. So, while they try to figure out if/when Aaron’s hand will heal, Zorbatron is taking a break.

My favorite prog-metal lunatics, Dog Shredder, are heading back out on tour in March for a week down the West Coast. So, watch the news for melted faces in California, Oregon and parts beyond. Then watch for a story on the boys in the next issue.

Ex-Black Eyes and Neckties members, Ryan, Davey and Brenda have formed a new band called Rookery. Shows will be announced, but expect some cool happenings really, really soon.

Forgot to mention a while back that So Adult has a new drummer. His name is Erik Wallace and shouldn’t be confused with Eric “Ace” Wallace of Black Breath fame, ‘cuz that’s someone different. Former drummer, Bo Stewart, apparently realized you don’t have to be in four awesome bands, that two awesome bands is probably time consuming. So, he’s focusing his time as a touring member of BOAT as well as the Shook Ones, who apparently will be hitting the road again soon.

GOOD TIMES

Wild Out Wednesdays at the Wild Buffalo has been bringing in some cool live shows as well Murs in February and Jahdan Blakkamoore, Jah Sun and the Redemotion and DJ Coup on April 6. These guys aren not screwing around with their reggae they’re not just a bunch of trustafarians spinning Bob Marley records Ryan I and Triple Crown (along with other Blessed Coast DJs) live, breath and eat good reggae and all the subgenres associated with it. You doubt the night? Check out Murs’s video about his show in Bellingham. The phrase “out of control” was said nine times in a two-minute vid. Good times.

The second round of the Band Lottery will be held at Jinx on April 2. Sign up is on March 15 and the drawing will be by March 17, so that leaves about two weeks for bands to get together. The first lottery was a resounding success everyone had a great time, cool band names were had and surprisingly, some good music was made. If you can play an instrument, even a bit, then sign up, it’s gonna be a hell of a good time. It’s also a good way for people to get out of their comfort zone and play with some different folks. It’s another genius idea from Michelle Schutte, who is, without a doubt, one of my favorite people in town.

Well, I think that’s about it for this month. We’ve been updating our facebook page every day, so please “like” us. More good stuff to announce next month, so stay tuned!

Hugs and kisses, Brent Cole

editor@whatsup-magazine.com

Codeine Velvet Club: Codeine Velvet Club – Featuring Jon of UK faves The Fratellis, this new group combines a Nancy & Lee duet style, with James Bond style melodies and the cool swagger of the Last Shadow Puppets. Irresistible songs with tons of hooks.
Sean Berry

Vetiver: Tight Knit – Vetiver functions with a classic folk softness, country twang, and pop-rock mentality; it totally compliments the warm sunshine that’s been sporadically appearing in our town this last month.
Haylee Nighbert

Roky Erickson: True Love cast out All Evil – Featuring the amazing Okkervil River as his backing band, this is Roky’s first studio album in 14 years. The entire album is as inspiring as his life story, and the title track will surely break your heart. I can’t stop listening to it!
Anna Rankin

Harkonen: Dancing - Quintessential pacific Northwest rock. Every song is absolutely delicious.
Hollie Huthman

Teenage Fanclub: Bandwagon-esque – I am totally immersed in the rich guitar feedback and Beatley lyrics and harmonies of 1991′s “Bandwagonesque” by the greatest band in the world, Teenage Fanclub.
Boris Budd

The National: High Violet – The National returns with its bleak but beautiful song writing and baritone vocals. Check out Sorrow for an anthem for all of us lonely, post breakup kids. The rest of the album is brilliant and evokes a sense of dark alley ways and dense cigarette smoke.
Jordan Bright

Crash Test Dummies: Oooh La La – Yeah, I’m a big fan of these guys. Ridicule me to my face, sucker! This newest album has not changed my fandom one bit.
Django Bohren

Blind Pilot: Three Rounds and a Sound – Mellow, smart and glowingly acoustic, Three Rounds and a Sound manages to provide a hefty dose of depth to cheerful, pop-oriented melodies.
Stephanie Ashton

Surf rock king Dick Dale graced the stage of the Nightlight Lounge on Dec 14. Photo by Paul Israel.

Dick Dale

Harkonen brought their skull crushing sounds to a special reunion show at Cap's on Dec 30. Photo by Paul Israel.

Harkonen