Posts by Gabriel Scheer

Having recorded her first album in 1990, Dar Williams is a folk legend. Her appeal lies in a combination of brilliant, approachable storytelling conveyed via an airy voice with a disarming sense of honesty. Her self-effacing, humble style was on full display at her April 3rd show at Seattle’s Neptune Theatre, the beautiful venue full […]

Walking out of a gloomy, wet Seattle December night into the music palace that is Benaroya Hall is something of a transcendent experience; howling wind laced with cold, wet drops is quickly replaced by a warm calm, a sense of something culturally rich about to unfold. One immediately feels a connection to the myriad other […]

Violent Femmes have been making their quirky brand of folk punk music since they were teenagers, irreverently pushing the boundaries of musical exploration with a cacophony of wild instruments and infectious energy. This legacy was evident in the sold-out, exuberant crowd that spanned three-plus generations at the Femmes’ October 11th show at the Flynn Center […]

The pair behind Underworld has been making music since Ronald Reagan was president, or Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, and the band itself coalesced in those years. And yet, at Seattle’s Showbox Sodo on May 20th, the duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith blew the roof off with an unrelenting, two-part set that drove […]

The group of friends who make up the band Travis has been around, as lead singer Fran Healey shared, for 34 years – a remarkable feat. Rising in the early 1990s, the band led the post-Britpop wave, arguably setting the stage for bands such as Radiohead and Coldplay. In a career spanning 10 albums, the […]

Star Wars has arguably the most iconic set of leading songs of any movie out there. Whether the “Star Wars Main Theme” or “The Imperial March” (think any Darth Vader entrance), anyone who has lived through or in the last…. 40+ years (!!?) can likely identify the provenance of a given Star Wars tune within […]

Odesza is finally wrapping up their two-year tour run in support of their Grammy-nominated album, The Last Goodbye, with a final new tour segment aptly titled ” Fittingly, they chose one of the most beautiful venues imaginable – and one just hours from where the group formed, in Bellingham, WA, as well as from the […]

Peter Gabriel is currently nearing the end of the North American leg of “i/o – The Tour,” in support of his most recent album, i/o. The veteran performer and activist is supported by a fantastic band including long-time collaborators Manu Katché, Tony Levin, and David Rhodes – each of them a proficient musician in their […]

First Aid Kit just wrapped another leg of their tour in support of their fifth studio album, 2022’s Palomino, with an enchanting show at Seattle’s historic Paramount Theatre. They performed for around an hour and a half to an enraptured fanbase who sang happily along with many of the songs from across their career. Backed […]

Nation of Language recently played two sold-out shows in support of their new album, Strange Disciple. Playing at the new version of Seattle’s storied Crocodile, the band treated fans old and new to a rollicking, joyful show, an exuberant escape from the world around. The Brooklyn-based trio played with a fun and unselfconscious stage presence […]

Experiencing Harry and his band live on December 20th at the unrivaled Benaroya Hall in Seattle provided a stellar opportunity to realize the depth, breadth, and fundamental, quality of Connick’s performance, music, band, and stage presence. 

Pet Shop Boys – England’s best-selling musical duo – are back on the road, and they haven’t lost a beat.

CHVRCHES recently brought their sold-out show to Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on September 30th for an exhilarating night of upbeat pop dance tunes in support of their Screen Violence album. The Seattle show came near to the end of this fifty-plus date tour, which kicked off in their hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, in March. Despite that, […]

Odesza is back with an energetic vengeance that will likely see them continue to grow in justifiable popularity.     After a three-year touring hiatus, the Seattle-based electronic duo of Clayton Knight and Harrison Mills have launched a tour on the back of their new album, The Last Goodbye. With a live show that will animate the […]

Bonobo recently returned to Seattle for his first show in the Emerald City in, as he proclaimed, five years. Coming as it did in the latter days of the pandemic, the show at Showbox SoDo on March 22nd felt like an apt reflection of this paradoxical moment in time.  Returning to a concert venue, one […]

From their first encounter around a roaring bonfire on the Washington coast to headlining sold-out shows at Seattle’s most prominent venues; March to May has quietly become a group to watch in today’s modern folk landscape. The guitar,  piano and Celtic harp led duo layers serene harmonies and intimate lyrics augmented by lush violin and […]

LP5 is the 6th studio album from German electronic artist Apparat. It is a balm for a troubled world: at once relaxing, invigorating, and simply beautiful. Fans of Apparat’s side project as part of supergroup Moderat will find things to love in Apparat’s more downtempo, more organic sound; however, similarly, Apparat fans will likely see […]

Writing music reviews, at its most base, is an attempt to bring the audience into an experience and to open new doors of thought, of expression, of feeling. In some instances, it’s very challenging; many live shows are good but largely forgettable, enjoyable in the moment but mostly not so much as to provide fodder […]

“She had such a kind smile, and her music is so good, that I didn’t want to go to sleep!” So said the nine-year-old whose father would consent only to be her being listed as “W,” when asked what she thought of the May 21st all-ages show featuring German artist Mogli at Seattle’s Vera Project. […]

Beyoncé and Jay-Z last week played the final show of their On The Run II Tour to a nearly sold-out Centurylink Stadium in Seattle. Spanning more than two and a half hours, the show included everything one might expect from these megastars: dramatically choreographed songs, innumerable costume changes, pyrotechnics, and massive visuals. And despite the […]