100 Monkeys

Jodi and I had a totally amazing adventure on Monday night... we got to go to Seattle and see 100 Monkeys perform live. Now let me back up and explain who these guys are...

Of course it's well known that we are self-proclaimed Twihards (i.e., we are obsessed with author Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book series). In the movies, the character of Jasper Hale is played by actor/musician Jackson Rathbone. Aside from acting, Jackson plays in a band called 100 Monkeys. They have mainly stuck to the eastern side of the country but due to fan demand, they are branching out in 2010 and touring all over the country. Lucky Seattle got to have them right at the beginning of their tour.

I had asked Jodi if she wanted to go and we both were kind of nonchalant about it. We kind of figured, "Eh. If we go, we go. If we don't, we don't." But we ended up deciding to go and WOW are we glad we did! We took off Monday evening and got lucky enough to find parking right across the street from the venue. Then we went in search of food... not an easy task at night in the SODO district as it's very industrial. However, we got lucky. Less than two blocks north, directly across the street from Safeco Field is the Pyramid Alehouse. While the Alehouse is obviously known for their large selection of beer and lager, we of course went for the food, which was VERY good and quite reasonably priced. We were actually surprised at how cheaply we got out of there. Because it was happy hour, all the appetizers were 30% off. I got a plate of pork sliders and a side of sweet potato fries (a seriously huge side, I might add) and some water and got out of there for less than $10! That is a STEAL for really good quality food in downtown Seattle!

After filling up on good food, we walked back to the Showbox and got in line for the show. Despite being near the end of the line, it wasn't that crowded at all. Luckily, we don't drink alcohol, because half the crowd headed into the bar. That meant the rest of us could secure a pretty good place to see the band. We weren't far from the stage at all. We did have to wait through two opening acts before 100 Monkeys took the stage. The first guy, Jacob James, was pretty good but I thought all his songs sort of sounded the same. He was definitely humorous and kept us smiling, especially when he was so rudely cut off in the middle of his first number by a fire alarm going off! (Thankfully, just a little smoke from the kitchen... nothing serious.) After he performed, we listened to a group called Exohxo perform for awhile. They were very lively and talented and kept the audience entertained. My only complaint is that the music was SEVERELY too loud... so much so that we could't really hear the singers singing. But they were good.

And then of course, the Monkeys took the stage and I can't believe how fast the time just FLEW after that. These guys are TRUE entertainers and kept the audience VERY happy for the time they were on stage. I am still amazed at just how talented these guys are. Not only can they sing, but they ALL play EVERY instrument! After each song, they would move around and trade instruments. They'd travel back and forth between drums, keyboard, guitar, bass guitar, and congas. Every now and then they'd throw a flute and trumpet in the mix as well! They took turns on lead vocals too. I haven't had so much fun in a long time. It was a BLAST and I was not ready for them to leave the stage!

As we headed out the door after the show, we got to shake hands with one of the band members, Jerad. I would be lying if I said we weren't a little giddy about that! We walked around the corner to cross the street to the car and realized that two other band members, Jackson Rathbone and Ben G. were hanging out of a window upstairs, waving to fans walking by. So we waved too and said, "Thank you" and got in the car. Then, just like a couple of school girls, we sat there and continued to watch them. After awhile, they threw a bunch of Scrabble tiles out the window to a handful of fans below. So we jumped out of the car and grabbed a few.

Then we just stayed there for probably a good hour as they interacted with fans. People were throwing t-shirts up to them and they were signing them. One girl even threw her bra up to have it signed. Can't say we we'd be willing to do THAT! Finally, they closed the window and we left. It was a fabulous night. They were playing in Portland the next night and I have to say, if I wasn't working, we would have headed down there to see them perform again! That's how much we loved them. What a fabulous time we had!! I will forever have fond memories of that night!