2023/04/18 - Live at WAMU Theatre in Seattle

[rynostar]

Seattle 2023 WAMU Theater
Show of Purposed Intention

****WARNING! Another long narrative review by rynostar****

Since the Coachella announcement, the anticipation in seeing Tom & Ed again for the second time in less than a year was peaking. I was particularly eager to experience the Coachella experience again with my last visit all the way back in 2006 (Daft Punk). I listened to the Portola recording approximately 1-2 a week from the announcement. Coming off a particularly lazy holiday season, I set a major goal for myself to get in better shape by taking 1 million steps, in part by starting to run 2-3 times a week, in order to have better cardio in preparation for the desert heat. I also made a commitment to see the show in a clean state as the Portola experience made me realize that I need to reevaluate how I approach shows.

When the Seattle show was announced, it was clear that Coachella costs would be beyond my means, and that many here would be attending Seattle (or SB), I made the tough decision to commit to this show. It changed my perspective as now this was going to be a show in what could be considered my back yard with Seattle being a 3-4 bus / train away from Vancouver, and that this would now be an arena set meaning encore w/ The Reel was highly likely. This change did not change my preparation plans.

As more Fourm brothers, sisters, and siblings confirmed there attendance, my excitement peaked. Knowing pooter was going was exciting as our connection has grown stronger with every encounter. Seeing Enjoyed confirm made me excited to have the synchronized dance team back in action. When actionjackson780 and metta confirmed, I was over the moon to have the hometown crew represent as we have discussed ways to see a show since our first meeting back in 2019. Hearing Bosco commit to coming was a bonus as we have had conversations for over a decade here on the forum. My family, friends, and coworkers all knew I was hyped for the show as I would not stop talking about it for weeks ahead.

Going into the weekend prior to the show, I knew this round of sets would not be too different from Portola as the Estero set mirrored last years sets. I chose to watch the Coachella stream to get a sense of what the rest of the community was talking about live. As mentioned in the other thread, it was interesting to see the three generations of chems fans interact in totally different ways. Upon reflection, I recognized this would be my ninth chems show in 19 years. instantreigen hype us up as OG forum members was a cue to me that I've been around the block enough to know what to expect from a Tom and Ed show, and still love every moment of it. The rest of the weekend was prep, and watching other Coachella sets. On Monday, I got off work early at 11:30am, headed to the bus station, texted actionjackson and pooter in anticipation of arriving, and read book suggestions from the Portola trip on the rainy bus ride down to Seattle. Once there, it was a quick train to the hotel pooter managed to arrange after the airbnb, dinner at a random Mexican restaurant, and catching up for the rest of the night on the nice lounger chair of the hotel suite (as mentioned above).

In the morning, we had breakfast together before I journeyed on my own to find records and video games in U District, Capitol Hill, and the International District. While in U-District, I walked around the University of Washington campus reflecting my professional career in higher education. At the time of Portola,  I had a sense of hopelessness in trying to accomplish my goals. Now less than a year later, I'm in a study abroad position doing what I aimed to accomplish since first deciding to go to grad school back in 2015. Walking through the campus, I realized the goals are now at a different point and been redefined. The rest of my hunt was successful in the sense that I found the Timmy Thomas's "Why Don't We Stay Together" album for 1/2 price ($8), Shinichi Osawa's "Star Guitar" for $3, and Japanese versions of Pokemon Stadium 2 and Gold/Silver for $30 altogether (I have become a giant Pokemon nerd in the last few years). I walked by the venue prior to heading back to the hotel and was lucky enough to hear New Order "Tutti Frutti (Tom Rowland Remix)" going full tilt through the doors. Clearly not main soundcheck, but clearly they were getting ready.  I then headed back to the hotel, met our other associate for the evening (Josh), and we headed to Bad Bishop to meet the rest of the crew.

At Bad Bishop, it was like a family reunion where some of us picled up on old conversations, some of us were introduced to the family, but the conversation never stopped and was always engaging. One memorable moment was telling Alexa that I've seen Enjoyed perform live and her getting jealous saying "You've seen my husband perform live and I haven't!". ActionJackson had made Seattle specific pins off the group ahead of the show that he gave us during dinner. I was so hyped to get them when he told me a few days previous. It was sad to not have Bosco as he had to cancel a few days prior. He was deeply missed.

The conversation continued to be lively as we walked to the venue. Upon arrival at WAMU, we split in different directions with some going to store coats (thanks again Enjoyed), some heading towards the stage (pooter), and some scoping out merch (actionjackson and I). After buying the tie dye shirt and going pee, we headed in to find the rest of the crew. Actionjackson and Metta decided to stay along the sound booth while the rest of the crew chose a spot half way back to the left of center. Overmono was good, but clearly not capturing the whole crowd (and I didn't hear the killer Streets remix). It was at that point that I could, this was going to be a Tuesday night crowd. There was a good amount of people there, but it didn't feel packed. It clearly was a mix of an older crowd who have professional lives, and younger crowd who were ready to dance. The interesting part to me was to see parents with their young teenagers in the crowd. I saw at least 5 or 6 kids in the crowd (and I mean 10 -13 year olds), and the kids were going hard at times. Between sets, the "When you start hating..." set was played, but was wrapped up after only 3 songs as the stage was already set.

Show starts. Now, I don't have much to say about the set itself as it was the same setlist as Portola / Coachella. What I can say is that many of the elongated transitions were welcomed. MAH with the drawn out parts was a great addition. Everything hit harder then normal. It's been pointed out by others on the forum / discord that some were guessing that something was wrong on some transitions. Chemical Beats and Wide Open were the best example of this as I could tell that a few parts that were supposed to come in were very low and distorted sounding static-y. When the EV second half started, Tom was clearly motioning to the stage side crew that one of the pieces to his left was not working properly. My guess was that a wiring went faulty on whatever piece of equipment was on his upper left. The side screens weren't up, but that wasn't too much of a concern outside of No Reason (no HBHG bass drummers). Throughout the show, I was going hard, pooter was going hard, enjoyed was going hard, everyone in our group was going hard! The crowd was a mix of dancing, taking video, or staring in awe, but still in a Tuesday crowd type of vibe. If it were a Friday or Saturday night, it likely would have been a full tilt crowd. I could tell a few in the crowd immediately next to us were not ready for the energy of our group. One middle aged lady beside me I could tell was more in awe that our crew was in time with the whole show. There was one moment where pooter had an involuntary release of (good) energy and it totally threw off my movements. Some random guy with a broken arm wanted to start a dance fight with me during Galvanize...it was just awkward as I was at a different speed than him. I finally caught and kept some of the GTKO confetti. It is now marked and on my fridge in see through sleeve.

Highlight of main set was Wide Open. Every time this plays, I am in a different mindset. This time, I was in a position in the middle of a journey. I've accomplished a lot, and I had a fair ways to go. The vibe did not disappoint.

Encore, cats out of the bag and I was right...S2A. That was magical. The bass synth line holding for an eternity was shiver inducing. The Snow vocals were well missed. The sine wave lasers w/ fog were mesmerizing as they pierced just above the crowd and onto the back curtain of the venue.

Then The Reel. It's always a religious experience. It is our prayer, it is our sacred hymn, it is our faith in times of good and bad. It was no screaming at this point, just movement. All of it ended as it usually does for me..."Thank you old friends"

We collectively gather to hunt down Connor and find him dead front centre with step-pa. We start buzzing about the show for a while before getting the "Y'all have to leave" spiel. We high tail it to the soundbooth as we suspect Errol is there and....good news, he is. Pooter flags him down and we quickly give our hellos and hugs. We ask if a meet and greet is possible, he said he'd check. However, by this time there was 12+ people in our group... Yeah it wasn't going to happen. But no worries. ActionJackson was able to get the pins he made to Errol before we departed the now very lit venue. It was at this point that you could tell the space was just a convention type space transformed for the show and pretty bland if not for Tom and Ed.

We left the venue to get coats, gave hugs, got rides to hotels, and basked in the glint of our dionysian experience for the rest of our evenings.  The next morning the remains of our group get breakfast before heading our separate ways. I head back toward WAMU, but instead go to the ball park for a Mariners-Brewers game. Spoiler, the chems marquee was still up at WAMU before and after the baseball game. I would later take the train back to Vancouver, attempt (and fail) to write a first draft of this review, and ponder the set. By the time we got back to Vancouver, I could hear the couple seated behind me playing clips from GTKO and The Reel. I snicker as I know I wasn't the only Canadian to have the same journey (outside Actionjackson, Metta, and Josh). While waiting for customs at the station, I could hear people talking about making the journey down on Tuesday and a number of people going to the show (Not on the Monday bus with me though).

Overall, this was a show of purpose and intention in my mind. There was a goal in my mind, I reached it, I have a ways to go, and I couldn't ask for more. I wrote this (second) draft while watching the Coachella set on my couch that I originally was meant to be at. Sure, it wasn't the initial show, but it was just as nourishing in many ways. There is more to the story that I may or may not add later.

[rynostar]

Can anybody find themselves? You can see my hands multiple times, especially my 'flippers' dance, as stepdad calls it, under Mildred's foot 40:56-41:09

49:50, the brotherhood synchronized dance team (me and Enjoyed) are going hard on the claps for GTKO

[actionjackson780]

Beautiful writeup Ryno! It really was an awesome thing to get to experience the evening with you after meeting and dreaming about it 4 years ago.

One thing I'll never forget is Enjoyed and I discovering we both had VHS copies of the Fatboy Slim & Chems Red Rocks special kindly taped by our dads. Metta and I watched it tonight in prep for the week 2 Coachella stream and it brought back great memories.

I'll post photos of the pins I passed along to Errol soon (time for bed)

[actionjackson780]

Here are the two pins I gave to Errol to pass along to Tom and Ed.

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I nicked the starburst shape on the "Love is All" pin from the cover of the Brothers Gonna Work It Out promo cd release, and the famous Frasier skyline in the other pin in honor of the Seattle show, of course.

[Wolkenkrabber]

Ah, the 2023 encore.

[Bosco]

Rynostar, thanks for detailing us about the show, and non-show events that you've experienced over your short trip to Seattle. Hope the good spirits gained on this journey has refueled your drive and invigorated the soul. (Was that a little too corny?) Dude, I'm glad you had a good time.

Hope to have another shot at partaking on one of these adventures with you and the rest of the PNW crew sometime soon.


@actionjackson780, sweet pins!

@Conn6orsuper117, happy to hear you made it up for the show after the mishap with the truck! Got To Keep On, good for you!

@MadPooter, nice score on the room!

@mesamm99, Midwest love. Enough of this travel bullshit, we need a (drivable) home game!

[MadPooter]

Rynostar, thanks for detailing us about the show, and non-show events that you've experienced over your short trip to Seattle. Hope the good spirits gained on this journey has refueled your drive and invigorated the soul. (Was that a little too corny?) Dude, I'm glad you had a good time.

Hope to have another shot at partaking on one of these adventures with you and the rest of the PNW crew sometime soon.


@actionjackson780, sweet pins!

@Conn6orsuper117, happy to hear you made it up for the show after the mishap with the truck! Got To Keep On, good for you!

@MadPooter, nice score on the room!

@mesamm99, Midwest love. Enough of this travel bullshit, we need a (drivable) home game!

I second Rynostar's sentiments--you were missed, dude.

[inchemwetrust]

Encore, cats out of the bag and I was right...S2A. That was magical. The bass synth line holding for an eternity was shiver inducing. The Snow vocals were well missed. The sine wave lasers w/ fog were mesmerizing as they pierced just above the crowd and onto the back curtain of the venue.

Ive been treading back and forth to those vids of that show and my recent show. Its one of the most beautiful things I've in my life. The snow vocals are like an old friend, waiting to be pulled in for a hug! Deep!

I think Pooters released energy was aimed at you like some SF2 Hadoken fireball! Thats what thru you off! Or maybe he was transfering some of his power to you so you can double-wield! Energy sharing is caring! 

You mentioned the 3 generations of chem fans! Our brotherhood runs deep! 
teach the young, and learn from the wise! Of course there is no rank, but I think we can make an exception for Captain Ryno! 

The Timmy Thomas album is one of types of albums that I feel everyone has except for me. Of all the digging i've done, I still never stumbled upon it in a record store. You got some got pick ups there!

Overall I think your review is great when you put perspective on others and give emphasis on it. It surrounds the actual show review and gives it more weight. Like the mention of your friends at Bad Bishop, (seeing Enjoyed perform live) or the excitement of the confirmed forumites attending, and telling about each one thats coming to join in the excitement.

I'm glad that the show was a stepping stone for you Ryno. btw, your doing fine in life, and if you ask me, you carry yourself pretty well and you talk about what you want to do and the career you chosen. Your very self assured if you ask me when I talked to you the first time. Hopelessness goes away, but if it comes back, you can always look back at your past and see that you conquered it before! Keep doing what your doing and you'll be ok! Trust me!

 

[Conn6orsuper117]

With pleasure. My voice is still recovering, but I got a few clips and pics I'll be posting on YT.
The sound quality is miles better than frisco, I promise 

[Enjoyed]

Wow. Almost a week since the show. It's been a big one catching up with work and getting stuck into Pizza Week here in Portland, but I wanted to chime in now that the confetti has fully settled.

Let me start by saying that I legitimately couldn't dream of a better bunch of people to spend time with during these shows. I don't know if this would be considered a negative thing, but I've found myself enjoying the company even more than the actual music these last couple of shows.

Big thanks to everyone who made it down to Bad Bishop. @actionjackson780 - it was super great to meet you and Metta! And thank you so much for the awesome pin! It went straight onto my only jean jacket, ready to show off the next time it's on! I think the bar worked out to be a pretty great spot for the hang. I maybe over estimated the amount of sports-fans that would be out so I do feel bad about it being a little walk away - but the Citra IPA was an excellent counterpoint to a longer stroll!

I have bigger more general thoughts about the show/set in general. I've been diving back into older sets, and slowly digesting the Coachella show to fully formulate my thoughts. I do echo Ryno's sentiments about Wide Open though - it felt like part of the journey and worked perfectly in that moment. And wow, the Snow to Air Tuned to D was a really special treat for the longer-time fans.

Anywho. It was a brilliant night. It's the first show I've really felt I was able to let loose with my wife (the Greek show was more of a take-in-the-spectacle kinda deal, so I wasn't bouncing around like a Saturate ball) which was special for me. I think I said this last time, but I will never, ever, get tired of hearing Star Guitar live. It just wont happen. And as long as it remains in the show, and as long as there's a solidly high chance of meeting up with you fine folks, I will be there whenever I can.

Thank you again for everything y'all.
Here's to the next show (hopefully in Chicago, amiright?!?)

Oh, and I found myself again in the video Connor posted - 1:20:49 - Bottom left, arms outstretched and fingers agape to absorb as much of the magic as possible and 1:21:18 - pointing to the sky for those train-wooshing-by synths in the build up.

[rynostar]

We've been gif-ted. Wait a second....why is Mildred peeking out at us in the corner??!???

@Enjoyed, reading this gave all the feels. I echo the sentiment that it's hard to tell if the meetups or the gigs have taken more glory in the past few shows. Both the social aspect and the chance to see Tom and Ed hold a special part in my soul.

[whirlygirl]

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!! 🫶

[Bosco]

@Enjoyed and @MadPooter ,

How'd you compare the Seattle venue and crowd compared to Denver of last year. 

I would've estimated about around 2500 made it for Denver at about 1/3 capacity. You think you exceed that in Seattle?

[MadPooter]

@Enjoyed and @MadPooter ,

How'd you compare the Seattle venue and crowd compared to Denver of last year.

I would've estimated about around 2500 made it for Denver at about 1/3 capacity. You think you exceed that in Seattle?

Seattle felt about the same size or even smaller than Denver.

Tuesday night show vs Friday night show.

[inchemwetrust]

Yes Yes Yes! I love this! More people make it so much more worth it! All of you look like from afar 'HEY! THESE ARE THE GUYS AND GIRLS I WANNA PARTY WITH!

Damn! Connor grew since I last saw him! He's like taller and bigger than me! And seriously, I like that tie-dye shirt! And Ferns (Hi Fern :)rocking the BITE shirt...Woo! 

SG Live will never die Enjoyed! And I too am still coming down from the Coachella withdrawals. So much memories to hold on to, but the ones that stand out are the ones that you shared with someone. 

[Conn6orsuper117]

Haha, I think it's because I was hunched over back in frisco. the bigger part you can blame Lockdown for that, but its 15 pounds much better than last year.
The shirt was authentic hand dyed, from a hippie shop up the coast. Same day I got my toy killer robot.

Edit: come to think of it, That mightve caught toms attention during the ending, as I was meant to be eye catching for everybody. I may be hyping myself up and it was just a general point in our direction (unless the great Mr. Rowlands says so himself?)

Just wish Ned, got to join in on the shot. So here he is at the pregame show all shots from him

Spoiler

Did I mention he's a professional Photographer?

[Stefan]

49:50, the brotherhood synchronized dance team (me and Enjoyed) are going hard on the claps for GTKO

Haha, that's amazing

[rynostar]

Haha, that's amazing

...and here's the replay of the brotherhood synchronized dance team in gif form.
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[ThePumisher]