The revolution will not be electrified...well maybe amplified.

Back in October, the sly and dangerous Don Andrews, the deceptively cunning Ashley Morrison and myself all headed up to Seattle to check out Blind Pilot.

Have any of you ever wondered what it's like in Seattle? It's pretty much the same as down here in little old Portland, but the roads are confusingly well laid out and the drivers have a horribly irritating handle on driving amidst some of the worst congestion you can ever imagine running into on a Wednesday afternoon at roughly one o'clock.

Don't get me even started on how they have more and better coffee than we do...just kidding, nothing beats Stump Town.

About a month ago, we got the pleasure to go listen to Blind Pilot at the Tractor Tavern located just a little bit outside of downtown Seattle where many other great Portland bands have had the pleasure of playing. (Including Hillstomp who will be gracing our page later this week.)

The first thing that hit me when the show started to get under way was the shear number of people that were coming out to the show. From what I gather, the Tractor Tavern is not one of the biggest venues in Seattle, and to be honest, it was an out of town band performing on a Wednesday night. Let's say it would be the equivalent of going to a show under the same circumstances at the Tonic Lounge.

The crowd pretty much packed the place from the stage to the back of the general hall space and the bar was amazingly crowded. Think Doug Fir on a Saturday night with a big act.

Seattle certainly gets points for having people eager to come check out an amazing act.

Next came the biggest shock.

I have been listening to Blind Pilot's 3 Rounds and a Sound over and over again for the last couple of months now. It's quite simply the best local album I have heard this year. Go get it. That is an order...I'm not kidding.

Needless to say, I thought I was going to be prepared for what the show was going to be like. I've been to a good number of shows over the years now, and you start to develop certain expectations about how a show is going to go based on the album. You can hear when an album is dependent on the controlled and altered environment provided by the studio. You can get a sense of a band that relies on randomness and will most likely provide a very different experience when viewed live. You can even tell when a band is just simply amazing and is going to provide a great live performance. Blind Pilot falls into the amazing category of course, but what got me was how I underestimated their sound.

Being blessed with a large cast of members, I was taken back by how they filled the place with sound. Not a single instrument being played was electrified. In front of us was a group comprised of Israel on his acoustic guitar, Ryan on his drums and backed by various other artists playing instruments ranging from violin, banjo, xylophone and others.

The place was trembling with the sound of these seven just sitting up there having the time of their life. I've seen big arena rock bands that could learn some things with presenting a wall of sound. This was out of this world.

The whole time, the band played through their new album. The crowd was obviously in love with these guys. Singing along to many of the songs and applauding loudly when old favorites were being played.

Through out all of this Israel spoke and interacted with the crowd, apologizing and explaining that one of the members was stuck on her way to join the band. She did eventually make it near the end of the set and was welcomed with excitement by the crowd and the rest of the band, where she jumped straight onto stage and got to playing.

Listening to the album I had gotten the impression that these guys were a collection of extremely wonderful people that were passionate about their art, and after our sit down interview and seeing them perform, I can tell you that you will not be let down by the new indy pop offering from our fair city. If you haven't gotten a chance to get a feel for how these guys sound, feel free to hop over to the album review for 3 Rounds and a Sound. There is a video there for you to take a look at.

See you all at their next show!

Jake Carlsen

Editor for LiveMusicPDX.com

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