Last night Seattle got rocked by two great bands. The Plain White T's started things off right, engaging the crowd with favorites. They played some new stuff which was exciting to hear. Their sound has gotten a lot smoother and more accessible which was evidenced by all the people singing along. After a longer than expected break, Snow Patrol woke everyone up with some rowdy renditions of popular singles. Some of the lesser listened to music took on new life with passionate and powerful stage performance. The Paramount in GA mode remains a great venue, especially for smooth rocking bands who feel intimate but have a full presence on stage and a diverse audience who aren't necessarily used to rubbing shoulders. Snow Patrol captured my ear again and the chance to hear the accent live and watch the guitars rip in real-time was a treat I'll always be down to catch. If you have half an ear you'll want to find a performance to watch for yourself.

The first time I saw Secondhand Serenade was at the House of Blues in Anaheim. It was a one-man acoustic show and his passion and powerful lyrics got to me. It's hard to compare this show, as he was headlining with a band, and the Showbox SoDo was in it's more intimate arrangement. But having Evan Taubenfield open was a flash-back that made me smile. Usually I'd be seeing gigs like this at El Corazon or Chop Suey, so it's nice to see the artists upscaling to the likes of the Showbox and the venues expanding their audiences. Watching acoustic songwriters transition from carrying a show to performing in front of a band isn't always the easiest. They can over- reach and end up sounding formulaic and repetitive. Take Matt Nathanson for example. I'd quit a job, lie to my mom, stand-up a date with Mrs. Draper, or mug an old lady for tickets just to watch him play a 5 song solo set. But tell me he's headlining his band again and I'll have to check the calendar to see if there aren't any good movies playing first. The difference is that significant. All in, the bands were engaging and lively, while the crowd was festive and typical for Seattle. I'll definitely head back to SoDo whenever it's in small setting though, because that was well done.