KEXP has been hosting free concerts at Seattle Center at the Mural every Friday and it's the perfect way to check out bands and wind down from the week. Sometimes it's local acts like hip hop dynamos Dyme Def. Last week was opener Army Navy and main act The Dodos.
I've been to a couple, but it was the first time I arrived early enough to see the opener. I have a weird weakness for nasally indie rock with poppy hooks (see The Rural Alberta Advantage), so I naturally loved Army Navy. They had a great, confident presence and the show made me want to listen more closely to their music.
The Dodos were the stars of the show, and I also loved their quirky, creative music, including what I thought was a xylophone, but was actually a vibraphone (I had to look it up.) The vibraphonist played with mallets, but partway through pulled out what looked like a cello bow and coaxed out wistful, haunting sounds from his instrument. Some people describe them as folky, and they sort of verge on folkish, but they're really much more abstract. I was mesmerized by their show.
This Friday is the Fruit Bats and opener the Moondoggies, with doors at 5 p.m. and the show at 6 p.m. Think about passing an evening sitting on the grass in the beer garden (until security rousts you vertical because of overcrowding), drink a cheap beer and check out some creative people at work.
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