Alaska In Winter + A Leaf + The Passive Disaster - Chop Suey (Seattle; WA April 02, 2009)

I walked into Chop Suey on Thursday night expecting neither the small crowd NOR the band onstage to have their pants around their ankles. But that’s apparently what happens when you see the currently unsigned Seattle threesome that is The Passive Disaster. Though I only saw the last two songs of their set, I was pretty impressed with their poppy, happy beats and their funny, animated lyrics. I was actually kind of bummed I didn’t get to see the whole thing.

Quickly I became even more bummed when the next group came on. The folksy rock group A Leaf was forgettable, in fact I don’t really remember much of their set at all. The only highlight I could say was that the lead singer at times sounded a lot like Thom Yorke, possibly better. But other than the excessively drunk fan who kept leaping on and off the stage, nothing from A Leaf’s set was particularly stimulating.

But then Brendan Bethancourt, the lone performer of the band Alaska in Winter came onto the stage in the fur cap that he is quickly becoming known for. This would be the only original article of clothing that would stay in place as he was constantly taking off and putting on clothing during his set. Never having seen him in concert—and with this constant costume wardrobe change more than a little unnerving having already experienced the pant-less opener—I often wondered just how much he would take off.

I won’t bore you with many details of this show for there is a great review written about his recent performance at SXSW. I will include, however, a couple my own personal highlights from this particular show:

1. Bethancourt taking a sip from his beer then getting yelled at by the bartender at which time he went into the crowd and took sips from different concertgoers’ drinks. This eventually progressed to sipping well bourbon. Apparently, the fact that you can drink anywhere in Berlin is one of the reasons why he now resides there.
2. Though the crowd was disappointingly small, a tiny dance party broke out in the front of the floor which included all members of The Passive Disaster as well as some other clumsy footed fans.
3. Bethancourt carries off red lipstick very well in his portrayal of different band members.
4. If you ever thought mixing Passion Pit, Beirut, and some Balkan music together would be a good idea, well then you will LOVE Alaska in Winter.
5. Bethancourt leaving the stage to admire his “bandmate” (ie a video display of his hand) turning up the volume dial for what felt like at least 3 minutes.
6. The set started and ended his set with one of the biggest boomboxes I have ever seen blasting out electronic music, which made me and the rest of the concertgoers very happy for some reason.

All in all, Alaska in Winter is a great concoction, and I am so interested to see if the next time I see him in Seattle we will have a more packed house. I sure hope so; he deserves it.