It’s tradition here at the Weekly Volcano — like the doughnuts Suzy Stump brings to work every Friday morning and the bare ass Xerox copies Bobble Tiki makes at every Christmas party — to run a spring and summer concert preview this time of year. The weather is getting warmer (kind of), and the nights are getting shorter, which must mean it’s time for this year’s offering.



Just like most years here in the Pacific Northwest, 2008 has a boatload of concerts and shows worthy of ink in this, our spring and summer concert preview. Throwing objectivity to the wind and hoping for the best, here’s a look at some of this year’s hottest tickets according to the Weekly Volcano staff.

Cake

Five words: Best. Gloria. Gaynor. Cover. Ever. What else do you need to know about Cake? Well, how about their fun, jilted vocals detailing car races, short skirts, long jackets and friends who are, in fact, four-letter words? Some people think they’re S.Q.U.A.R.E., and that’s OK. Even vocalist John McCrea has noted his band’s “cultural irrelevance.” No amount of negative feedback could stop this Sacramento-based group from performing humorous takes on depressing relationships with cruel women Sunday at the Paramount Theatre. Sunday, May 11, $35 at Ticketmaster, Paramount Theatre, Seattle.

The Posies

See: Rock Rhetoric, page 18. Wednesday, May 14, 8 p.m., $12 at Ticketweb, Hell’s Kitchen, Tacoma.

The Kills

Like Royal Trux dragged, mangled and bloody from a car crash, NYC’s The Kills would sound dangerous if they weren’t such a beautiful mess. We’re talking J.G. Ballard-scale wreckage here with lead singer VV howling with all of Glass Candy’s pain and seduction and some dude named Hotel revving his guitar as if he could start it the same way he fires up a Harley. Their recently released third full-length, Midnight Boom, is a gang fight between the glam popsters and the blues hip-hopsters in your head. Thursday, May 15, 8 p.m., $12 at Ticketwest, Neumos, Seattle.

Sasquatch Festival

There are a couple of things fans of indie music can count on from the annual Sasquatch Music Festival at the Gorge in George. First and foremost, Sasquatch always rounds up a jaw-dropping lineup of the cream of the indie crop. This year, with the rejuvenated R.E.M. set to play Sasquatch along with Modest Mouse, the Cure, Death Cab for Cutie, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, the Mars Volta, Built to Spill, the Hives, the National, Mates of State, the New Pornographers, the Breeders, the Fleet Foxes, David Bazan, and about a gazillion more, things are no different on that front. Secondly, beards get warm in the Eastern Washington sun. Plan on both this year. May 24-26. $66.50/day or $154.50 for a three-day pass at Ticketmaster, Gorge Amphitheatre, George.

Rush

Once upon a time, Rush’s trademark combination of labyrinthine art-rock arrangements and piercingly nasal vocalisms was seen as punk’s absolute antithesis — the sort of sound the safety-pin contingent needed to destroy. A few years back, however, heavy acts such as System of a Down and the Mars Volta began incorporating many of the prog forms Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart have spent decades honing, and acts inspired by punk’s aggression but bored by its redundancy and limitations soon followed suit. Today, Coheed and Cambria and other acts experimenting with a prog-punk synthesis often sound fresher than their risk-averse contemporaries — despite the fact that plenty of their influences are older than they are. Call it Geddy’s revenge. Saturday, May 31, $44-$92 at Ticketmaster, Gorge Amphitheatre, George.

Iron Maiden

During the 1980s the pop metal variety may have gotten nearly all of the hits, but serious-minded metal groups — like the legendary British Iron Maiden — still have more than their fair share of dedicated fans. Since its debut album in 1980, Iron Maiden has displayed characteristics typical of its genre: heavy, accelerated riffs; overtly dramatic singing; attempts at meaningful lyrics; and ponderously long live albums.

The band heads into the White River Amphitheatre June 2 with three guitarists including Adrian Smith and lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson concentrating on their hits from the ’80s in front of the Powerslave era for set design. True fans will be excited that their heroes haven’t lost a step. Monday, June 2, 7 p.m., $25-$75 at Ticketmaster, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

The lines between pretty, grotesque music and chaos mean naught to avant-jazz-classical-rock purveyors Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. SGM’s curators — guitarist Nils Frykdahl and bassist Dan Rathburn — spent a decade in Idiot Flesh, explaining their penchant for visceral sound collages and uncommon “instruments.” Violinist Carla Kihlstedt flashes beauty within the intricate ugliness and growling voices around her, like Sarah Brightman knocking boots with John Zorn in a David Lynch flick. Just saying. With Jason Webley. Thursday, July 3, 9 p.m., $13 at Ticketswest, Neumos, Seattle.

Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival

Fucking Green River. That’s really all you need to know. Sure, the lineup for Sub Pop’s two-day 20th Anniversary Festival at Marymoor Park in Redmond also includes the likes of Mudhoney, Pissed Jeans, Tacoma’s Seaweed, the Helio Sequence, Wolf Parade, Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine, Kinski, and Flight of the Conchords — just to name a few; but let’s cut to the point. Fucking Green River is playing this thing, and that’s about as exciting as it gets. Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mark Arm, and almost certainly even Steve Turner — all at a huge dog park in Redmond. Who’d a thunk we’d ever see the day? Not me, that’s for sure. But I’ll take it with smiling appreciation. Bone dry! Sub Pop’s been around for 20 years now, and they talked the world’s first grunge band into reuniting for the afternoon to celebrate. It won’t get much bigger this summer. Saturday, July 12, and Sunday, July 13. $30/day or $50 for a two-day pass at Ticketmaster. Marymoor Park, Redmond.

Tinsley Ellis

Tinsley Ellis is one of the great guit-artisans — He captures all of the heat, swamp and mystery of the Southern rock genre with each muggy guitar chord. Reaching further into the Louisiana backwaters than the common Texas roots of most blues rock, Ellis’ music integrates elements of funk, soul and Memphis blues without sounding trite or flat. His modern blending instead walks a thin line between elegant, well-schooled professional proficiency and uninhibited, reckless musical abandon. Ellis still rocks the long, jagged solos that mark the wayward leanings of his blues rock, but he’s humble in respect to his true blues predecessors and routinely attracts wide accolades for his skills. Comparisons to Jeff Beck and Atlanta legend Blind Willie McTell are par for the Tinsley course. Saturday, July 19, 9:30 p.m., $12, Jazzbones, Tacoma.

Capital Hill Block Party

Leave it to the Stranger in Seattle to put together what must be the hippest music happening of the year. Vampire Weekend is all the rage these days and current holder of the meaningless “next big thing” title. Naturally, they’ll be at the Capital Hill Block Party. The Hold Steady will be there, too — a band that’s also seen its fair share of buzz from the über-cool music crowd and music critics alike. Throw Les Savy Fav, Girl Talk, Kimya Dawson, and about a zillion other hipster staples into the block-party mix and you have what should be one of the raddest happenings of the whole season. Think two days of booze and top-notch bands, blazing in the Seattle sun between Pike and 12th on Broadway. Now think of a way to get yourself there. Friday, July 25, and Saturday July, 26, $18/day or $34 for a two-day pass at Ticketswest, Capitol Hill, Seattle.

Nine Inch Nails

In July, Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails will embark on a nearly two-month nationwide tour. The good news for the Pacific Northwest is Reznor and company will be hitting Key Arena on their second stop. Nine Inch Nails shows don’t happen every day, as hardcore fans of the band can attest, and when they do they’re not to be missed. Of course, referring to NIN as a group of people is a bit inaccurate, since anyone who knows NIN knows it’s Reznor’s show, but onstage the man can’t do it alone. He’ll be joined this time out by Robin Finck, Alessandro Cortini, Josh Freese, and new addition Rich Fownes. Finck has experience touring and playing with NIN, having contributed to the Downward Spiral and Fragile tours. Saturday, July 26. $35-$55 at Ticketmaster. KeyArena, Seattle.

Ted Nugent

If you spend a lot of time in your garage, where there’s still a Playboy Playmates of the Year calendar from 1978 hanging on the wall next to the spare hose, you’re probably thrilled to hear that The Nuuuuuuuuge will play the Emerald Queen Casino Saturday, July 26. Bring your wife, bring your childhood friend, bring your daughter, and bring your daughter’s motorcycle-riding date. Just don’t bring a six-point buck — never know if Nugent remembered to pack that crossbow or not. Saturday, July 26, 8:30 p.m., $35-$65 at Ticketmaster, Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma.

Radiohead

While I’m tempted to write Radiohead is more than a band, they’re really not. They’re just a really fucking good band, which makes them seem almost like tea-drinking English superheroes. In fact, if I ever find myself tied up on train tracks, there’s no one I’d rather see than Thom Yorke. The likelihood of Radiohead disappointing fans at the White River Amphitheater in August seems nonexistent. If you have any sense at all, you’ll check out this show. Wednesday, Aug. 20, $35-$55 at Ticketmaster, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn.

The Waifs

Has anyone else noticed that the Australians are an absurdly attractive people? The country has produced Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue, Hugh Jackman, and Olivia Newton-John. The hottie meter is practically off the charts down there. Naturally we did a bit of research and figured out the reason for all of this exceptional hotness is that the country was initially populated by ex-cons, and if there’s one thing the Weekly Volcano has learned from watching Oz, it’s that convicts can be very hot. But before this item grows any creepier and before we’re flooded with letters from the local penitentiary, let’s get to the event, shall we? It’s an Australian band called the Waifs. And aside from making very catchy folk-pop records, the trio is pretty darn smoldering. But we know that if you’re a Weekly Volcano reader, you’re above going to concerts and simply gawking at bands. Yeah, right. Saturday, Aug. 23, $25 at Ticketswest, Neumos, Seattle.

Bumbershoot

Like a huge pot of musical gold at the end of a summertime rainbow’s worth of awesome concerts, Bumbershoot sits waiting to be discovered. And trust me, it will be discovered — by the thousands who converge on Seattle Center for the nationally known Labor Day weekend festival. Beck, the reformed Stone Temple Pilots, Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, Ludacris, Mike Doughty, the Walkmen, Del the Funky Homosapien, and many, many more will make Bumbershoot what it always is — one of the best festivals anywhere. Thankfully for us, it’s in Seattle. Saturday, Aug. 30, through Monday, Sept. 1, $35-40/day or $80-$395 for a three-day pass, Seattle Center, Seattle.