Alive in Seattle

After writing about shows for a little while, I upgraded to a video format because...

well, largely because I can't play the Ghostbusters clip of Egon saying "print is dead" in text. Including footage of the bands and cutting together an AV Club presentation of the music has proven a bit more effective than most of the writing I've done. (I have the web analytics to prove it.)

My mission statement hasn't changed: the mainstream coverage of the Seattle music scene is pretty lopsided. I've never really agreed with the hipsterati (yes, I just typed that, and no, I'm not sorry) on which bands are noteworthy and which shows ought to be trumpeted. Disparate opinions can really only serve to help the live music culture on the whole; I'm not here to tear anyone down, only to call attention to the music I'd like to see celebrated.

The positivity over negativity philosophy is one of the main themes of this show. There's no shortage of critics sniping at one over-hyped piece of crap or another-- I've done my fair share of that, too-- but Alive in Seattle is built around pointing out the pieces of the local music culture that is worth seeking out, the outstanding Seattle bands that I think ought to be heralded more than they are, the shows that ought to be seen.

And if that's just my opinion, and you disagree with me on one band or another, I completely respect that... but you'll have better luck with that opinion if you fire up your own soapbox and championing that opinion to the world at large. Personally, I'd be thrilled if more people who went to support local music started talking loudly about all the great shows that shouldn't be missed.

Even if we disagree on which shows those are.