ARZ/Echo Helstrom: Columbia City Theatre, Seattle, WA 6/26/09

I love finding new venues. While I’ve been to the Columbia City Theatre before for events, I’d never seen it act as a venue for shows – and in particular, for rock shows. On a recent Friday night, it was apparent that it works quite well in that capacity. 

The opener was a band of which this reviewer had never heard, ARZ. When they first walked on stage, my friends and I wondered whether we’d perhaps stepped back in time; the lead singer/guitarist, Steve Adams, would not have been out of place in mid-80’s Megadeth, nor late 80’s/early 90’s Soundgarden. By contrast, his adept drummer, Merill Hale, was shaved bald, and wouldn’t have looked out of place hanging out with his kids at a school picnic. They were accompanied by a great laser show (I don’t believe I’ve put “great” and “laser show” in the same sentence since 1993), and really rocked – in that old school kinda way that leaves one both reminiscing the days of Rush and Queensryche and Nirvana, while leaving one simultaneously embarrassed.

Standing in complete contrast was Echo Helstrom, a great young band from Portland, OR. Named after Bob Dylan’s one-time girlfriend, the band has impressive vivacity, as well as polish. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a band referencing a youthful Dylan’s girlfriend, Echo Helstrom is both musically notable (all five in the band are classically-trained musicians) and poetic, writing lyrics that capture one’s imagination. Though they weren’t quite as well suited to lasers (has a band sporting upright bass and violin been accompanied by lasers without being named Pink Floyd?), they did a great job of engaging the audience and creating solid, contemporary-feeling rock.

Unfortunately, due to mitigating circumstances, this reviewer missed headliner Obscured by Clouds – but can only imagine it was a great show, given the ambience of the venue.