Set List: Flashes, Adelaide, This Life, Distress, Silver Lining, Do It, Riverwide (intro only), Spiral, Something True, Coat of Arms, Heart in Your Hand, Sureshot, Windows;
Encore: Dreaming (by Blondie), Island

Poster credit: LeAnn Mercer

The first opening band was Kim Virant. Seattle is so incestuous. Kim Virant (ex-Lazy Susan member) is married to Chris Friel, drummer for the Rockfords. WHO KNEW?! She has the most wonderful voice. She and Carrie (Akre -- Rockfords singer) both have amazing yet very different voices, and there was something very cool about seeing two women front two bands made up of mostly guys and just tear the house down. Kim had a great set, the audience was very into her band/music, and she has the most kick ass lead guitarist this side of Pearl Jam. He just WAILED. He totally made up for the absence of Peter Stroud (see below).

Second opening band: Pete Droge. Sadly, no Peter Stroud on guitar tonight; Pete was backed by Elaine Summers, of course, and most of the Baseboard Heaters, a Portland band with whom Pete has played several gigs. His set was fairly short and he must have been low on roadies, as he used the same guitar throughout the show and had to keep stalling with decidedly weird patter to retune himself. He played mostly rockers and 'hits' (Evan's Radio, If You Don't Love Me, Northern Bound Train) and my personal favorite, Sunspot Stopwatch, along with some new material and a Rolling Stones cover.

Now...on to the headliners. Between Pete's set and the Rockfords, the house PA played AC/DC until right before the band took the stage, at which point they played Abba's "Dancing Queen" at full blast. I kept wishing they'd turn on the mirror ball but it never happened. As the song was fading out, the band took the stage, and Mike and Rockfords bassist and resident showman Rick Friel were prancing around, waving their arms, shaking their butts. The first hour of the show seemed WAY better than their set at the Croc. They were much tighter, more energy, cool new songs, and more emphasis on Mike's guitar work, or so it seemed to me . Danny Newcomb still disappears into the floor somewhat, poor guy, but Chris Friel's drumming seemed remarkably better. I think part of what helped the entire performance is that the stage at the Showbox is probably 5 times larger than the one at the Crocodile. Mike jumped around and ran back and forth and wandered the stage much more, as did Carrie and of course, Rick. I couldn't recite the setlist if my life depended on it, but I do remember that Silver Lining rocked (it suits Carrie's voice so perfectly) and a couple of new songs just THRASHED. One was very punk and they killed the room with it. (It could have been a cover; whatever it was, it was GREAT.)

"Tattooed Love Boy"
Photo credit: LeAnn Mercer

I started out watching the show from behind the open 'dance' floor, on the front edge of the elevated bar area. When the Rockfords were about halfway through their set, I decided to try to move closer. I'd originally planned on moving down to the floor near the end of Pete's set but of course, half the bar had the same plan and it got crowded and looked unappealing, since it was a balmy 150 degrees in the club. As the Rockfords set progressed, the crowd thinned and I wandered down to Mike's side of the stage. During the next three songs as people left the stage area, I easily moved from about 8 people deep to 2 people deep. I could see the whites of Mike's eyes...the filter on his cigarette...HIS TATTOOS! The one on his right arm that used to be a treble clef and a few music notes has morphed into this rather large mural that says "Serenity" above the music stuff and "Courage" below. There's a very cool design below it that's new since July, too. He's added a star on each shoulder, on the front...some fighter planes circling one lower bicep...a small tattoo on the inside of his left forearm, one between the shoulder blades, near his neck...Mike's been investing in some serious ink. Much like the Crocodile, he was really into making eye contact and making faces and flashing goat horns at people. I think he only used 2 or 3 different guitars, one of which was a Flying V, but a different version than the one he's been spotted using at PJ shows. It wouldn't matter if he played a ...ukulele... he would still be a guitar god in my eyes!

I was really enjoying being so close to the stage and the band was just rocking out, so of course, some asshole guy started weaving through the front of the crowd, bumping into people. He was really obvious, as the bumping turned into full blown slam dancing, and when Mike first noticed him out of the corner of his eye, I thought his head was going to do a full 360, he whipped it around so fast. I've never seen Mike angry, but his eyes were flashing. Security was already on the move and Mike and Rick didn't take their eyes off this jerk in the audience as his antics escalated, (Rick was standing on the edge of the stage, probably debating whether to jump in after him) until security reached the offending patron and escorted him out, after a bit of a scuffle.

That crisis dealt with, at the end of one of the thrasher songs, Rick decided not to just pretend to stage dive, but to actually do it. After his bit of performance art, of course, people in the audience decided to hop onstage and attempt to dive back, too. I think 2 or 3 people succeeded before security made themselves useful and were a presence onstage. The last girl who made it up on the stage was escorted out and she seemed surprised at that action. stupid, stupid, stupid. About this time someone decided to toast the band by flinging a full cup of beer towards the stage, except of course it never made it to the stage and showered me and 2 or 3 other people in a little beer cloudburst. I guess it's not a real rock show until someone spills stuff on you, but I've always wondered how drunk you have to be to buy beer just so you can throw it at people. ; )

"Wenis!"
Photo credit: LeAnn Mercer

My curiosity peaked regarding one of the shirts the band was selling, with 'Wenis' printed on the front and 'Rockfords' on the back. A very special 'thanks' goes out to Carrie Akre, who explained to the crowd that, "Wenis is Mike's favorite word so we had it printed on the t-shirts." Mike then had the crowd yell "Wenis!" on the count of three...and when the band later left the stage and the audience was whooping it up for an encore, a small faction of fans started chanting, "Wenis! Wenis! Wenis!" I guess it's better than "Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!"

The band closed out their set with the same high energy Blondie cover (Dreamin') as their previous show, and a finale of the more surreal original track, "Island." They gave a shout out to some local celebs in the crowd (Garth Reeves; and one of the guys from TKO, whose introduction prompted some TKO guitar riffs from Mike). They also mentioned that they plan to book another show, around Christmas time, so the Rockfords tour continues...

LeAnn Mercer
Seattle, WA