Screens and Cracker Facory at Darrells Tavern 9-28-13

I went out to hear some live music for the first time this season. I was in heaven as I entered Darrells. My favorite staff people were there and at the door was Jenna, the only person on the face of the planet that will dance with me. Damien was behind the bar serving me the killer drinks and Scott was mixing the tunes. I didn't care who was playing, I knew I would have a great time.

Here is Damien delivering our Kamikazes.

I spend my summers at my lake cabin in the far northeastern corner of Washington State. I love classic boats and vintage mercury motors. Any project that is done with your feet in the lake is a good one.

Here is my mid-fifties Custom Craft Thunderbolt with a 1959 Mercury Mark 58 outboard motor. This combo is beauty at high speeds and great handleing. A go-kart on the water.

Here is the view on one of the gorgeous evenings on the water at Diamond Lake.

I am not going to have the time to do justice to the two bands in this post. This particular Friday evening preceded a Husky Game. I have season tickets to the games played by University of  Washington Football team, The mighty Huskies. That evening I went to bed at 1, got 4 hours of sleep and went to start partying at the tailgate party with the rest of my buddies. I didn't get the chance to blog the next morning after a show. The memory of the show fades with time...and party favors.

The next day turned out to be one of the wettest days of the year hear in Seattle. The parking lot for the stadium was a lake, or river. All depending on where you parked. We had to wait for 20 minutes while the maelstrom continued until we could even put our tent up. Here is a pic of the hurricane pummeling the neighbors.

As always I enjoyed the bands Scott had arranged for the evening. He is a talented composer, assembling great bands for a memorable evening. Tonight was no exception. He had scheduled 3 sweet bands for the evenings repast.

First up was Screens. They had a unique flavor compared what I usually witness. Every member of this band had the cutting edge high-tech audio equipment. They produced the killer electronic/vocal music and made a mighty sound: great vocals, jamming bass, sweet 6 string and awesome trad/syth percussion.

Here is a link to their site: http://www.screenstheband.com/

Screens is Allison Tulloss on keys and vocals, Carlos Tulloss on bass and vocals, Doug Port on Drums and Colin Higgins on lead guitar and vocals. All were stellar musicians. And as stated, not necessarily my kind of music, but none-the-less, I loved.

Here is Allison singing lead vocals.

Her hubby, Carlos rocked the bass and singing vocals.

Doug was in the back keeping the beat and adding a few surprises. He had many sounds, many faces.

Carlos was playing the bass with help from the incredible tech-toys he had assembled. Here are the pedal boards of Carlos and Doug.

Here is Carlos complimented by the light show.

Here is the light artist at work.

I loved the band, the light show less.

Allison had a great voice and a marvelous stage presence. She was striking in a tight striped top as she rocked the psychedelic electro rock that is Screens.

Great entertainment, talented artist tonight.

Allison was riveting.

I am a big fan after seeing their show. The have the killer sound, marvelous original music and stage aesthetic that I appreciate and admire. This was the way I wanted to get back into seeing live music. It will be tough to beat this great group of musicians.

Thanks to Darrells for giving these talented musicians a place to perform. See Darrells here: http://www.darrellstavern.com/

Next up was Cracker Factory. I had seen them before and after reading my previous review, I remembered why I like them so much.

The bill themselves as Cascadia Rock referring I assume to their location in the shadow of the Cascades. Seattle is a lovely place and it attracts and produces some wonderful musicians. This is one of those collections of talented artists. Local or not, they do their thing here, that is a good thing.

This was rock with a capital R, awesome guitars, killer drums and a driving beat.

Cracker Factory is RL Heyer - guitar, vocals, Shane Smith - bass, vocals, Denali Williams - drums.

Here is RL kicking ass.

Shane rocks too.

Denali is killing the skins in back.

They had the talent and songs and were not afraid to put it up there for all to see and judge. They were great.

They have a new collection of music on vinyl. You can buy that here: http://crackerfactory.bandcamp.com/

Much to my chagrin they died, right there on stage. I thought maybe it a serious medical condition, but only the band was affected. It turned out to be great theater served up with dynamite music and a sense of humor.

Now that they are gone I am sorry I didn't see them more. They are very entertaining and talented. Great original music played with passion and skill.

Thanks to Darrells for presenting great music every week. Get out an see some live music soon.

See Darrells here: http://www.darrellstavern.com/