Passion Pit at the Gibson Showroom for 107.7 The End's End Session, Seattle, WA 06.27.2012

Thankfully, I was asked to photograph the recent End Session for Seattle's 107.7 The End radio station. I wasn't familiar with Passion Pit and hadn't had the opportunity to see the Gibson Showroom before. Win win for me!

Lets start with the venue. This is a gorgeous location. The room is all set up with different Gibson equipment. I'd have to guess that it holds about 100-ish comfortably for a little intimate show. There are guitars and artwork handing on the walls and a beautiful piano when you first set foot into the venue.

Passion Pit was a wonderful surprise as well. During sound check Michael let the team know that someone needed to press a key on his keyboard so it didn't time out or he'd lose his settings. Sadie got the assignment. She dutifully sad on Michael's stool and hit a key every minute or so for about 15 minutes. 

Two of the five band members were present for the 4 song acoustic set. Vocalist/keyboard/guitar Michael Angelakos and guitarist Ian Hultquist charmed the crowd with their performance and their humor. At one point Michael completely went blank and forgot the words during 'Sleepy Head'! Thankfully he wasn't shy and asked the crowd for the next line. Listener 'Sarah' called it out and he dedicated the rest of the song to her. He said he didn't care if you had sung a song 8,000 times, you'd forget the lyrics at some point. 

You can watch a couple of the songs from the End Session at http://www.1077theend.com/VIDEO--Passion-Pit-Endsession/11684737?pid=250350

107.7 The End - Broken Bells End Session at Hard Rock Cafe, Seattle, WA

Luck was on my side this day. I hopped on to Facebook for a quick look at posts and saw this:

Hard Rock Cafe Seattle Official Page We have 2 spots for the super exclusive acoustic End Session with Broken Bells today at 3:00pm at the Hard Rock before their sold out show at the Showbox tonight! Post a comment here about your favorite concert you've ever gone to. Winner will be chosen randomly at 12:30pm and must be able to be at HRC Seattle by 3:00pm today!

I decided I would give it a shot since I only work 4 block from the cafe. My entry was:

Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg - Snoqualmie Casino 2010. A legend behind the drums and nothing but energy from Michale Graves, Clare B and Alex Kane. 31 songs in about 70 minutes. I was in punk rock heaven.

And at 12:51 I got the message from the Hard Rock that I was one of the lucky 2.

I made my way to the cafe and checked in. Got my nice little The End 107.7 laminate and headed in to grab a seat. The ones right in front were already gone, so I headed to the side of the stage. Not a bad location at all. I had my little point and click that I keep in my purse so I was ready for photo ops and maybe a little video.

Out come Broken Bells - James Mercer and Danger Mouse. James waves to the crowd and they open with their hit 'The High Road'. No one is using flash photography so I tried to get pics but my little camera wasn't good in that light. I decided to tape the second song 'Citizen'. I didn't realize what was to come and I didn't tape the next song. I had been to a show like this for their sister station The Mountain so I guessed they would play for about 40 minutes or so. I had time to tape another one after this song.

 I was wrong. They played 3 songs and left. Never once addressing the crowd. Didn't stay to sign autographs for the 30 people that made the effort to come and see them. I was glad that I only walked 4 blocks instead of driving in from Lynnwood, Issaquah, Tacoma - Who know where everyone came from to see it. 

It was totally strange. People didn't know if they should leave or wait.. Just strange.