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TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013
Defunked, Marina Beat and Junk Drawer at the Vera Project
I signed up to steer the Defunked show at the Vera Project without knowing anything about the bands, pretty much par for the course for me. We had a small volunteer crew but we handled things well enough and Junk Drawer took to the stage to open things up. I enjoyed their set quite a bit. They had guitar, bass, keyboards, drum, and vocals, a nice sound and a good group vibe. The lead singer said something like "if you don't like this song's genre, just hang on a minute and it'll change with the next song" which was amusing. I got a chance to talk to her a bit between acts and she told me the different interests of the members of the band drove that wide selection of genres - the punk bass player, classic rock guitarist, jazz keyboardist - I'm misquoting her to some degree, I ought to take notes since I know I'm going to be blogging about it. I also thought from her shout-out to Riverside and the headliners that her band was from Riverside, it was more along the lines of several members were from there sometime back, they're a local northwest band.
Next up was Marina Beat
The Marina Beat has dual guitars (strats), bass and drums, and a nice fast upbeat rock sound, They played several songs I liked, one is "Hey Josephine".
Two talented bands already, and the headliners perform with a horn section - I love horn sections!
Defunked took the stage, and they filled it. The horn section with two saxophones and a trumpet along with 2 guitars (1 Strat style and 1 Les Paul style), bass and guitar. They play fast loud rock and roll with a punchy horn section and plenty of noise and pounding to make you want to bounce around and work up a sweat. Nice stuff with that kick-in-the-rear beat that makes you want to move in time with it. Fun rhythm changes, ska sounding guitars, it opens a bit more punk, moves more ska in the middle, then back to that punk fast thrashy beat.
I like the breakdown that leads into this one, and the different paces that rise up, giving it a back and forth feeling. It switches back out to that slower feeling beat, more tentative or pent up, then back to the main beat - and the second horn breakdown around 2:00 in is pretty killer. They also just nail the ending, fun song done extremely well. I like this stuff! Fun show with three talented bands, I hope these bands are able to connect with the kind of solid fan base they deserve, the music they cranked out was fun and makes you want to bring others to hear it. At it's best, it demands to be danced to, and I just love a good funky band that plays fun music that irresistibly gets you moving.
POSTED BY VIRTUAL SOUND AT 11:09 PM
LABELS: DEFUNKED, JUNK DRAWER, LIVE, LIVE MUSIC, MUSIC, SEATTLE, SEATTLE CENTER, THE MARINA BEAT, THE VERA PROJECT, VERA - Virtual Sound NW
TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013
Defunked, Marina Beat and Junk Drawer at the Vera Project
I signed up to steer the Defunked show at the Vera Project without knowing anything about the bands, pretty much par for the course for me. We had a small volunteer crew but we handled things well enough and Junk Drawer took to the stage to open things up. I enjoyed their set quite a bit. They had guitar, bass, keyboards, drum, and vocals, a nice sound and a good group vibe. The lead singer said something like "if you don't like this song's genre, just hang on a minute and it'll change with the next song" which was amusing. I got a chance to talk to her a bit between acts and she told me the different interests of the members of the band drove that wide selection of genres - the punk bass player, classic rock guitarist, jazz keyboardist - I'm misquoting her to some degree, I ought to take notes since I know I'm going to be blogging about it. I also thought from her shout-out to Riverside and the headliners that her band was from Riverside, it was more along the lines of several members were from there sometime back, they're a local northwest band.
Next up was Marina Beat
The Marina Beat has dual guitars (strats), bass and drums, and a nice fast upbeat rock sound, They played several songs I liked, one is "Hey Josephine".
Two talented bands already, and the headliners perform with a horn section - I love horn sections!
Defunked took the stage, and they filled it. The horn section with two saxophones and a trumpet along with 2 guitars (1 Strat style and 1 Les Paul style), bass and guitar. They play fast loud rock and roll with a punchy horn section and plenty of noise and pounding to make you want to bounce around and work up a sweat. Nice stuff with that kick-in-the-rear beat that makes you want to move in time with it. Fun rhythm changes, ska sounding guitars, it opens a bit more punk, moves more ska in the middle, then back to that punk fast thrashy beat.
I like the breakdown that leads into this one, and the different paces that rise up, giving it a back and forth feeling. It switches back out to that slower feeling beat, more tentative or pent up, then back to the main beat - and the second horn breakdown around 2:00 in is pretty killer. They also just nail the ending, fun song done extremely well. I like this stuff! Fun show with three talented bands, I hope these bands are able to connect with the kind of solid fan base they deserve, the music they cranked out was fun and makes you want to bring others to hear it. At it's best, it demands to be danced to, and I just love a good funky band that plays fun music that irresistibly gets you moving.
POSTED BY VIRTUAL SOUND AT 11:09 PM
LABELS: DEFUNKED, JUNK DRAWER, LIVE, LIVE MUSIC, MUSIC, SEATTLE, SEATTLE CENTER, THE MARINA BEAT, THE VERA PROJECT, VERA - Virtual Sound NW
Discography
Ready, Set, Beat! (EP) 2013
Singles: "On My Way", "Big Booty Judy", "Hey Josephine!"
Bonus Download Track: "See You Later"
Photos
Bio
The Marina Beat was founded by Rob Jimenez and Daniel Benitez in the Spring of 2011, although the pair had
previously performed together in other projects, The Marina Beat would prove the breeding ground to
their signature sounds. Backed by Jonathan Lor'ee on Bass and Blake Radley on Electric guitar the
band would lay down tracks for their debut EP, "Ready,Set,Beat!" (2013) which highlighted lead
singer/songwriter Rob Jimenez's catchy songwriting and Daniel Benitez's thundering drumming. With a
stage show that will surely hype up even the calmest of crowds The Marina Beat now set their sights
on performing often both in and around Seattle as well as throughout the entire U.S. and beyond!
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