My friend Tim (who I was staying with in Seattle) and I got there about 15 minutes before the doors opened, and there was already a line outside. While we were standing in line, I saw first Janet and then later, right before the doors opened, Carrie and Corin walk by. I started getting excited.
Once we got in, we staked out spots right up against the stage, on the right side, close to where Corin stands.
The opening band Gene Defcon was a lot of fun. They remind me of the early B-52s. I was disappointed that their set was so short, and that they won't be accompanying S-K to the East Coast later this month.
From where we were we could see Janet sitting on the steps leading up to the stage during the first half of the set. She seemed to really enjoy them. They had this really amusing "New Wave" look guy who was back dancing on stage the whole set. Otto (the lead singer) said he wasn't really in the band, and that they were making dance in return for getting him into the show for free. Everyone seemed to love him. During one of the last songs, they made him get up on top of a giant speaker or box something. It was quite a hoot.
The second band was The Need. The drummer had a lot of personality and energy and was interesting to watch, but their music was a bit too "metallish" for my tastes. I let a young girl who was excited about them and who was having trouble taking pictures over the people in front of her have my "front row" spot. After The Need finished, I reclaimed my spot.
When Carrie and Corin came out to set up, a lot of the young teenage girls up front started pointing and shrieking. It was funny, and reminded me of old footage I have seen of Beatlemania. After they finished setting up, Carrie came over and told us "We'll be back in about 10 minutes" before she left the stage. I was impressed with how thoughtful she was. The band were awesome. They started with a couple of tracks from the new album, but played songs from Call the Doctor, Dig Me Out, and The Hot Rock, too. I was so happy to see them and to be so close that I went a little overboard and shot two whole rolls of film. With my prime location and a pretty good camera, I got some excellent photos.
I guess the high points for me were the "White Rabbit" and "Fortunate Son" covers, and the last encore, "I Wanna be Your Joey Ramone", because I had been disappointed that they didn't play it when I saw them in DC last year. For "Fortunate Son" Gene Defcon and The Need were invited on stage. Otto from Gene Defcon came out with a poster size lyric sheet, which for some reason really amused me. I guess they made it so large so multiple people could read from it.
As when I saw S-K before, I was struck by how much Carrie and her personality and energy really come through when you see the band live. When I listen to the records, the dominant thing seems to be Corin's vocals. But live, Carrie really steals the show, at least in my opinion. My friend Tim was won over by this show. I'd tried to turn him onto S-K before, but like some people, he found Corin's vocals a little hard to get used to. But seeing them live, he was most impressed with their musicianship, especially Carrie's guitar playing.
On the way out, I bought the orange cat T-shirt, the "The Bad One" T-shirt, a set of pins, and the promo poster, all for only $23.
