West Seattle, Washington
26 Sunday
The West Seattle Weekend Lineup was stuck in traffic today and just arrived here on the page tonight, but we’ve been talking a lot about the big events anyway (and much of it has been on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar for months) … First, tomorrow’s West Seattle Grand Parade (above, 2008 photo of a Seafair Pirate having a blast – they’re here tomorrow of course) and Rotary Kiddies’ Parade (more here with road-closure info too) … then a great chance to cool off tomorrow night:
Outdoor Movies on the Wall (co-sponsored by WSB) starts its six-week run in the courtyard between Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and Dr. Wolff, with “The Princess Bride,” tomorrow night (doors open @ 7) … Then on Sunday during the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, it’s all about DIAPERS!
That’s how things went during WestSide Baby‘s “Stuff the Bus” one-day diaper drive last year but this year (also co-sponsored by WSB) you can do even better – get your donations to the bus parked at the Farmers’ Market 10 am-2 pm Sunday!!! And once you’ve dropped off those diapers, off to enjoy beautiful West Seattle gardens …
The West Seattle Garden Tour, which benefits local nonprofit endeavors, is all day Sunday and your ticket includes not only visits to all the gardens (like the Hailey Family Garden in Admiral, above) but also a chance to see/hear Ciscoe Morris at noon at The Kenney. But wait! There’s more! Like the Mediterranean Fantasy Fest, the Alki Classic Car Show and Shakespeare in the Park … more than 50 events in all, ahead in the slightly belated Friday night-Sunday night West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club … here goes!Read More
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Rev. Pat Wright and the Total Experience Gospel Choir – which practices at West Seattle’s Kenyon Hall — co-headlined tonight’s first-ever Westsidewalk three-act concert: At three venues in Fauntleroy Church and the old Fauntleroy Schoolhouse across the street, each group played half-hour sets simultaneously – punctuated by breaks so audience members could rotate to the next group/venue. While Total Experience played inside the church sanctuary, the Ballard Sedentary Sousa Band performed outdoors:
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And Sambatuque‘s sleek samba jazzed up The Hall at Fauntleroy:
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Tonight’s proceeds benefit Seattle Artists, which operates Kenyon Hall and its programs (including Kindermusik with Lou Magor). Lots more summer music ahead – in addition to live indoor shows like those at Skylark Cafe and Club (WSB sponsor) Thursdays-Sundays (schedule here), two outdoor series are still to come: the Admiral Neighborhood Association’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (co-sponsored by WSB) start Thursday night with Alma Villegas (full series details here), and Providence Mount St. Vincent will present its Friday night concert series starting August 7.
Chas Redmond shared that photo from Camp Long, where it was a beautiful night to sit in the forest and enjoy the Mater Matrix Mother and Medium performance. We also received this photo from Sharonn Meeks, who estimated about 200 were on hand and shows us a closer look:
Tonight’s performance is over, but artist Mandy Greer‘s crocheted river, part of the Water Calling “temporary public art” series, is scheduled to remain in the forest through the end of this month.
That’s the Rev. Pat Wright, leader of the Total Experience Gospel Choir, at West Seattle’s Kenyon Hall (March 2008). Tomorrow night, you can see and hear Rev. Wright and her choir as part of Westsidewalk, three performances in three venues right across the street from each other in Fauntleroy, presented by the folks behind Kenyon Hall, Seattle Artists, who are sponsoring WSB this week to get the word out. Westsidewalk proceeds benefit that venue and its programs (including Kindermusik with Lou Magor, who works regularly at Kenyon with Total Experience and accompanies Rev. Wright in the video clip above). The performances at Fauntleroy Church and Fauntleroy Schoolhouse also include Sambatuque and the Ballard Sedentary Sousa Band. 7 pm tomorrow, ticket info at kenyonhall.org. Also tomorrow night:
That crocheted “fiber river” has been months in the making — artist Mandy Greer has installed it in the trees near Polliwog Pond at Camp Long (where we photographed it yesterday), and tomorrow night her city-funded “temporary public art” project Mater Matrix Mother and Medium culminates with a free art/music performance in the park. 6:30 pm tomorrow, more details here.
One more unique performance ahead: Saturday night at C & P Coffee, a benefit concert to support Real Change, which isn’t just a newspaper, but also, as concert organizer and performer Mike Buchman describes it, “an aggressive community organizing agency helping to create a more humane world.” He and Real Change director Tim Harris will perform; it’s free but donations will be accepted, and they have a match for the first $500 received. They’re performing 6-8 pm – early enough that you could drop in and still make it up the street a mile to the first Outdoor Movies on the Wall (“The Princess Bride,” dusk Saturday).
At left is The Kenney‘s CEO Kevin McFeely, when we caught up with him at West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction last weekend. This afternoon he’s expected to be at the Municipal Tower downtown as The Kenney introduces its landmark nomination for the Seaview and Sunrise Buildings to the city Landmark Preservation Board (see the document here), a prelude to The Kenney’s redevelopment plan moving forward. 3:30 pm, board room on the 40th floor of the Muni Tower. The rest of the Wednesday highlights happen tonight:
(Photos by Matt Durham of mattdurhamphotography.com)
ArtsWest ‘s “Sweeney Todd” opens tonight. It’s a production of the Summer Youth Musical Theater Apprenticeship Program and plays through July 25; showtimes and ticket info can be found here. Also tonight — three meetings tackling an array of big issues:
NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC CALMING: The traffic circle at left is just one example of the many tools that can be used to “calm” neighborhood traffic. If you have questions, concerns, ideas about your neighborhood, anywhere in West Seattle, come to an SDOT public meeting at 6:30 tonight in the South Seattle Community College board room. The Southwest District Council-presented event also includes a Backyard Cottages briefing at 7:30 and an 8 pm version of the briefing that will happen earlier at the next event:
DELRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL: Haven’t made up your mind yet on the bag-fee referendum that’s on next month’s ballot (official city voters’ guide info here)? That’s the measure asking city residents whether to approve or reject the City Council-approved fee for using non-reusable shopping bags. A pro-bag fee rep will speak to the Delridge District Council tonight, among other items on the agenda at 7 pm, Youngstown Arts Center.
MORGAN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: We published a preview last night (see it here); tonight’s MoCA meeting, 7 pm at The Kenney, includes a long list of hot topics from The Viaduct to RapidRide to future work at the Lowman Beach pump station.
That’s our video of Mudhoney‘s first song at West Seattle Summer Fest tonight – “The Money Will Roll Right In” – following the introduction by the West Seattleite who’s running for the biggest job on this year’s ballot, and is backed by many members of the music community, King County Executive candidate (and County Council chair) Dow Constantine. Mudhoney played more than an hour on the Alaska Stage (in the street by Junction Plaza Park). Thanks to Babs (one of many awesome WSBers we were honored to chat with during the festival today – we’re there Sat/Sun too) for sharing photos including this one:
Tomorrow’s Summer Fest live music slate starts at 12:30 pm – see the full schedule here – with highlights including Supersonic Soul Pimps on the California Stage (north end of the festival) at 8:15 pm.
ADDED MONDAY MORNING: Lots of buzz about “bodypassing,” “moshing,” “crowd surfing,” whatever you want to call it, during Mudhoney’s set. Found someone else’s video on YouTube that actually caught it on camera during the later song “Touch Me I’m Sick”- about 40 seconds in:
West Seattle Summer Fest is happening RIGHT NOW! It rules the weekend, 10 am-8 pm today and Saturday, 11 am-7 pm Sunday, but we’ve got more to share too — like the Seafair Pirates Landing on Alki Saturday, swing dancing in Puget Ridge on Saturday night … more than 50 events in all, ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club … (And good luck to everybody riding the STP!!!!) …Read More
With the much-publicized memorial just hours away, Michael Jackson headlines are rampant again. We have just one here at WSB: West Seattle designers/artists/musicians Heart On My Sleeve (profiled here in March) have designed and are selling the Jackson tribute T-shirt shown above.
No fireworks in Elliott Bay? No problem. (If somehow you haven’t heard, the 4th of Jul-Ivar’s show is no more – which means NO fireworks clearly visible from Alki, unless you count fragments of the Lake Union show.) Lots happening anyway, even before you pack up and go see fireworks somewhere else … more than three dozen events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club … Read More
Before West Seattle’s biggest summertime celebration – the three-day West Seattle Summer Fest (sponsoring, and co-sponsored by, WSB) – takes over The Junction, Friday-Sunday (7/10-7/12), the night before is a celebration all its own: New venues have joined the West Seattle Art Walk this summer – and now there are FIFTY-EIGHT participants all over West Seattle! New venues include WSB sponsors Ventana Construction (between Alaska and Morgan Junctions), Coffee at the Heights (in Sunrise Heights), and Endolyne Joe’s (in Fauntleroy). As you can see from the section of the map shown above (click here to download the entire map, which also includes a list of venues and their addresses), it’s all over West Seattle, from Alki to Fauntleroy, but there’s a special feature for The Junction this time around – since it’s the night before Summer Fest, California will be closed, and you can wander in the street (The Bubbleman will be outside Elliott Bay around 7 pm, like last year). Drop by the other spots too – you will often find snacks and beverages, and meet great people, both entrepreneurs and artists. The official Art Walk website continues to add more info about the specific exhibits (and venues’ own sites have info too, like the big three-show extravaganza at Twilight) – keep an eye on it at westseattleartwalk.blogspot.com.
The deadline’s just been extended for artists to propose a project for the Delridge Community Center park (shown in clickable Google Street View above), explained by North Delridge’s Nancy Folsom as “a separate, companion project to the planned Delridge Skatepark. … Youngstown Cultural Arts Center is shepherding this community-driven project.” You have till July 31st to apply; as the application says in part,
The artist will consider the structure’s access and location to the skate park and accommodate its possible use by skateboarders, spectators, visitors, and neighbors. Design and placement of the artwork will focus on its relationship with the skate park and the social environment by serving as a gateway to the Delridge neighborhood.
Get the application here – and get it in by the end of July!
When Mike e-mailed to share the news about West Side Music Academy “Girl Band” students performing tonight at a special all-ages Easy Street After Hours in The Junction (here’s our preview), we knew we’d want to share a bit of the show – so here you go – Pop Rox at Easy Street: Danielle Howard, Annie Murphy, Olivia Norberg, Maryellen Fleming, Oly Mosely and Erica Schwartz.
It’s on our latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup – but we got extra details courtesy of Mike – good thing tonight’s Easy Street After Hours is “all ages” because the lineup includes 9- and 10-year-old musicians! The West Side Music Academy Girl Band is from a class that’s described on the WSMA website this way:
This class is designed for the experienced girl rocker who likes a challenge. This 5 day class includes playing several instruments, working with peers, rehearsing songs, and preparing for a real rock show at the end of the week. SO FUN!
So come cheer them on, during the 9 pm “Easy Street After Hours” show tonight (also with Exploding High Fives and Black Swedes, $5 cover). 5:29 PM P.S. – Mike adds that the WSMA band performing tonight is called Pop Rox and its members are 9-12 years old: “This is the culmination of the last five days of hard rocking by Danielle Howard, Annie Murphy, Olivia Norberg, Maryellen Fleming, Oly Mosely and Erica Schwartz.”
Daunted by that list of road closures elsewhere in the city (including The Viaduct on Saturday)? No worries – no need to leave West Seattle this weekend, with a slate of activities including the Westwood Village Street Fair on Saturday (come see us at the WSB table!) and the West Seattle Farmers’ Market 10th anniversary celebration on Sunday (including WSB sponsor Square 1 Books‘ tent sale at The Market and free berry sundaes!), lots of indoor and outdoor live music (including an all-ages Easy Street After Hours tonight) … more than 40 events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
Playing Talarico’s tonight, a West Seattle musician who’s battled his way back from a serious injury.
By Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Trevor Ras knows a little something about perseverance.
Three years ago, this West Seattle resident and musician went out surfing in Huntington Beach, Calif., and twenty-four hours later landed in the hospital with a fractured vertebrae. “When I got out of the hospital five days later,” Ras said, “everything had changed for me at that point. I was in pain everywhere. The next six months, that was the real test.”
His life up until that fateful day?
Two months after first word of the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s first-ever summer concert series at Hiawatha (which WSB is co-sponsoring), concert coordinator Katy Walum confirms the official slate is out. Here’s how ANA describes it:
Thursday, July 23rd – Alma Villegas – An exquisite and passionate selection of Latin standards and favorites.
Thursday, July 30th – Tom Colwell & The Southbound Odyssey – singing the songs – some you know, some you don’t – for life’s journey. From West Seattle’s “Red Baron” in the 70’s, and more recently from Seeger’s 90th Birthday Celebration at our own Admiral Theater and the NW Folklife Festival, they are folk-rooted and fun.
Thursday, August 6th – A TWO act night with Swamp Soul and Ragged Glory — Swamp Soul is Cajun/Zydeco foot-stomping music. Ragged Glory is a lot of Neil Young and a little more.
Thursday, August 13th – Elizabeth Carpenter Trio — This trio delivers your favorite jazz standards from the 1930s and beyond.
Thursday, August 20th – Brian Waite Band
Thursday, August 27th – West Seattle Big Band — A local favorite who donates 100% of their earnings to raising awareness of and funding instrumental music programs in West Seattle area public schools.
The Admiral Neighborhood Association’s free concerts will be at 6:30 pm Thursdays on the east lawn at Hiawatha – after that same spot plays host to the July 14th West Seattle Hi-Yu Concert in the Park. Elsewhere in West Seattle, Providence Mount St. Vincent will bring back its Friday night concert series in August (the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th), too, so — also counting outdoor venues such as Cafe Rozella – this will be a summer full of outdoor music (not to mention outdoor movies!).
That’s Trio Lucero del Norte earlier this year at Cafe Rozella, where they’re back at 7 tonight – just hours before Summer Solstice – which will then in turn be followed by big events including the Clean and Green event in The Junction on Saturday (be at the new Genesee/42nd P-Patch site for all the excitement starting at 9 am), the California Place Park celebration later that day, Relay for Life starting tonight, the Lincoln Park wading pool opening tomorrow … more than FIFTY events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
Just got word that one of the final TBA slots on the music slate at West Seattle Summer Fest (WSB sponsor), the three-day festival in The Junction that starts three weeks from Friday: Caspar Babypants, the family-music act launched by Chris Ballew, who you probably know best as lead singer of The Presidents of the United States of America. They’ll perform at 2:15 pm Saturday 7/11 (currently listed as “TBA” on the official Summer Fest music-lineup page). They also have a new CD out (more info here; more videos here) and we’re told that this is yet another West Seattle link to the Summer Fest slate – because Ballew has just bought a house in West Seattle. Read on for the list of Summer Fest bands with West Seattle ties (besides Caspar Babypants):Read More
The Morgan Junction Community Festival on Saturday is this weekend’s marquee event – we’ll be reporting live there all day and hope to see you too – more music, more food (the “Bite of Morgan” freebies!), etc. Also in the spotlight this weekend, … more than FIFTY events ahead in the full West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Cafe and Club:Read More
That’s the Fraternal Order of Eagles Band performing at The Kenney last night during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk. Other sights from along the route:
Twilight Artist Collective celebrated its June group show. (And remember, they’re accepting applications for the Art Dive at West Seattle Summer Fest next month – full details here.) To the south, Curious Kidstuff unveiled its new Curious Art Kids and Curious Party Kids additions:
And in the Admiral District, Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) featured Mixed Greens Blog and celebrated 10 years of the West Seattle Farmers’ Market with rosemary/lavender lemonade, homemade crackers with rhubarb and Beecher’s cheese (second photo), and co-proprietor Frances Smersh‘s cork jewelry:
The West Seattle Art Walk (official site here) adds new participants quarterly – here’s a Google Map with sneak peek at who you will find on the next three WSAWs – July 9th will be particularly fun because that’s the night before Summer Fest, so you can visit stops in The Junction while wandering the closed street. And the new participants include venues outside The Junction, too, like Coffee at the Heights (WSB sponsor) in Sunrise Heights.
That’s Mandy Greer in a shot we captured on Delridge Day May 30th, as she continued adding to the crocheted river she’s creating as part of Mater Matrix Mother and Medium, art to be installed later this month at Camp Long. And that’s where you’ll find here today, noon-4 pm, as she invites anyone and everyone interested to join her in crocheting more of the rest of her work. That’s not today’s only art event:
WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits is one of the 40-plus stops on tonight’s West Seattle Art Walk, 6-9 pm, with a “fresh” theme – read about it here. For the full list of Art Walk stops, check out the official website; here’s a direct link to the printable map. And while you’re in The Junction, remember tonight is the grand opening for Curious Art Kids and Curious Party Kids at Curious Kidstuff (WSB sponsor), 6-8 pm (with cupcakes!) – read more here. Finally, for hundreds of West Seattle teenagers and their families – this will be remembered as graduation night:
That’s a photo from the 2008 West Seattle High School graduation at Memorial Stadium (Seattle Center downtown). That’s where WSHS’s Class of 2009 will graduate at 5 pm tonight; then at 7:30 at the Seattle Lutheran High School gym, the SLHS Class of ’09 has its commencement. (Here’s a full list of West Seattle-linked graduations taking place over the next week.) This is just part of what’s happening today/tonight – check out the WSB West Seattle Events calendar for more (including the Alki Idol finals!).
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From tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting: The ANA’s first-ever summer concert series (first reported here in April) is taking shape – with two bands lined up, four to go (and 20 possibilities from which to choose!), according to Katy Walum, who’s coordinating the series. The series of concerts on the lawn east of Hiawatha Community Center is set to start July 23rd, continuing every Thursday night through August 27th; the bands lined up so far are Tom Colwell and the Southbound Odyssey – who headlined the recent Pete Seeger 90th-birthday celebration at the Admiral Theater – and the West Seattle Big Band (shown above in a WSB clip from their performance at last year’s summer concert series at The Mount). ANA also is busy lining up sponsors to cover the costs of the free series, and is about three-fourths of the way to its goal (if you’re interested in being a sponsor, you can e-mail katy.walum@gmail.com). The working name for the concert series: Admiral Neighborhood Association’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, and you’ll hear a lot more about it as the summer progresses. (More later on other topics the Admiral group discussed tonight.)
WEST SEATTLE WINS KEXP HOOD-TO-HOOD: Thanks to a note from Beth, we were able to share the news here last week about the KEXP radio pledge-drive Hood-to-Hood Challenge, offering a special event to whichever neighborhood had the most pledgers by the end of the drive last Friday night. Today we get word (thanks to David for the first word, confirmed on the KEXP home page) that West Seattle won! Working now to find out (a) by how much (not sure if this is the final tally), (b) who came in second, and (c) when/where that event will happen. 4:21 PM UPDATE: (a and b) answer, $70,000+ with Ballard in second at $65K+, (c) answer, sometime in the first quarter of next year, though many details remain to be worked out.
EASY STREET RECORDS ON TWITTER: The latest West Seattle business to hop onto Twitter is the legendary music store that started in the heart of The Junction. You’ll find them at twitter.com/easystrecords. (If you “follow” us at twitter.com/westseattleblog, you know we also send word when we spot any other West Seattle business/institution turning up – over the weekend, for example, Westwood Village restaurant Eats Market Cafe got on board – twitter.com/eatsmarketcafe – other West Seattle eateries on Twitter include WSB sponsors @skylarkcafe and @caferevo.) In addition to our human-powered, interactive account at @westseattleblog, if you just want links to WSB stories, follow us at twitter.com/westseattlenews. You can also see our “tweets” and others mentioning West Seattle on the WSB Twitter page.
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