Where’s the peanut butter?!

Monday night was music night in Seattle and I was really excited for the show at Neumos. Camera Obscura headlined with Portastatic opening. Part of me wants to dislike Camera Obscura and not for the usual reason (that is, they aren’t generally popular) with their semi-disinterested Scottish ethos, but their melodies are just irresistable and in spite of my inner grump, I can’t deny they sounded really, really good. But it was Portastatic I was really excited to see. I wasn’t sure how the format would work since I only ever see pictures of Mac as Portastatic. This turned out to not be too far from how they roll as a band - on stage it was just Mac with an acoustic guitar and a violinist. The arrangements sometimes seemed a little sparse but I thought it worked. Every time I’ve seen Mac has been a treat - a couple years ago he was in town as part of Lambchop’s ensemble (which felt very close to what i’d expect from a backcountry hootenanny) and Superchunk always played with a confidence and energy on par with the best shows i’ve seen (like the Pixies). Overall, it was a great night.

Now I’m trying to find someone to go to the Thermals show next week. It’s hard when you’re twice as old as the kids going to the shows and none of your friends are into the same bands, sometimes…but The Body, The Blood, The Machine is too good to pass up. The last time I saw them was a couple years ago at the Showbox with David Cross and the cast of Tinkle. Eric came along to that show and I’m now reminded how sad it is that he’s not around - I probably could have talked him into going next week.