Nerd Patrol

So we have this place in Downtown Seattle, I’m sure they have them in other cities too, called GameWorks. It’s basically a video arcade, with a couple of distinguishing features. First of all, all the game machines are rigged to take a refillable swipe card instead of quarters. Instead of dragging pockets full of change, or tokens, from machine to machine, you just keep your card with you and swipe it to play. Which, of course, makes it really convenient to spend a lot on gaming, since you’re not spending the money directly. Works sort of like casino chips do in that sense, and I’m sure it ends up costing more in the long run. I haven’t had the courage to do the math yet…

Anyhow, the second distinguishing feature is the upstairs bar. I don’t think much elaboration is required there. Drinking and video gaming, two activities that go great together and were previously limited to being a home-based entertainment. Need I say more?

So Serene and I are heading down there on Saturday night, to kill a little time (I know, how romantic, right?), and walking past the bus stop on Olive, we see a girl with cat ears. And suddenly it hits me…this weekend is Sakuracon. The giant anime convention. At the Washington Convention Center. 4 blocks from my house and almost directly across from Gameworks.

With a sense of impending doom, we press onwards. It’s pretty obvious at this point that Gameworks will be crawling with anime nerds, but we want to check it out, for confirmation, and for the sheer spectacle of it all. As we round the corner on Sixth and head South to Pike Street, a gaggle of costumed otaku, giddy and smelling of alcohol, stumble onto the sidewalk in front of us and rush off to the convention. The two blocks surrounding the convention center are a mixture of confused locals and oblivious cosplayers (my particular favorite being the topless guy with two six-foot long plastic axes and a huge red collar obscuring the lower half of his face). We catch a glimpse of neon-haired princesses and warriors hanging out in a classy hotel lounge.

When we make it to Gameworks, there’s a line out the door, and we can see through the windows that even the lamest games are in use. I guess I’m not getting my Mr. Driller and Tekken 4 fixes tonight. But at least it was an entertaining walk.

Low @ Neumo’s

The show was advertised as “Doors at 8:00,” but the first band wasn’t scheduled to go on until 10:00. Poor planning, or just a scheme to get bored hipsters to spend more money at the bar before the bands start? I kid, of course.

Lavender Diamond, Low’s supporting act, took the stage shortly after 10. Fronted by an awkward young woman with a high, clear, and sometimes powerful singing voice, they ran through a set of songs on sparse, simple piano/guitar arrangements, backed by a drummer with only a snare and a floor tom. Oh, and a tambourine. (Needless to say, this was not a night for drummers looking to watch their peers shine). Maybe a little too repetitive at times, but enjoyable folk. The real fun was had whenever the frontwoman (didn’t catch her name) attempted to talk to the crowd between songs, usually prompting a wave of giggles and bewilderment. She was sort of the giddy hippie type, telling us that Seattle reminded her of England. Oh, but she’d never been to England. And hey, they’d seen the most beautiful rainbow on the way up from Portland! And there was a bug in front of her at that show, and it flew so close to her face that she thought she was going to have to look inside her eyes! And they’d traveled through time and space to get to this show, by virtue of their feet! I don’t even remember what it was she said that prompted Serene to wonder out loud “Is she high???,” during a sudden and unfortunate lull in the crowd noise.

Low took the stage with a storm of distortion and pulsing bass that nobody would have expected before The Great Destroyer, but their set eschewed that heavy-handedness in favor of a wide range of dynamic levels. Everything from the paper-delicate material they’re known for, laden with harmony vocals and fragments of chords passing for accompaniment, all the way up to explosive, shake-your-pants-leg-loud songs. We were even treated to a couple of fragmentary songs, that built up a head of steam before tapering off with apologies along the lines of “We don’t really know how to end that one yet…”

I’m glad they kept their old material relatively faithful to their original, quiet incarnations, rather than amping everything up to fit with the new songs (although we got to hear part of “Sunflower” played shoegazer-style, due to an accidental fuzz pedal activation). They were just as mesmerizing and transcendent as I’d always imagined them to be, whether they were demolishing speakers with cascades of fuzz, or sighing along to tappity-tap drums and fingerpicking.