LIVE: Passafire & Ballyhoo! (1-30-16)

LIVE: Passafire & Ballyhoo! (1-30-16)




Date: Saturday, January 30th, 2016 @ 9:00pm
Line Up: Passafire, Ballyhoo!, and Perfect By Tomorrow
Venue: The Crocodile. Belltown, Seattle, Washington

LIVE: Passafire & Ballyhoo! Winter @ The Crocodile. 1-30-16



The Southern fellas from Savannah, Georgia, Passafire, just completed their Winter Takeover Tour 2016 and The Pier was lucky enough to be in attendance. Passafire made their now annual trek up to the Pacific Northwest to closeout their latest tour in Seattle. The tour encore took place at The Crocodile (the 3rd year in a row Passafire has played this venue) alongside Ballyhoo! and locals Perfect By Tomorrow.

Ted Bowne (Guitar/Lead Vocals), Will Kubley (Bass/Vocals), Mike DeGuzman (Keys) and Nick Kubley (Drums) have been on a quick 9-show run for the Winter Takeover Tour. The Pier was in attendance for the encore show at The Crocodile in Seattle where the band jammed an exceptional set with songs from all six album releases spanning the bands 10-year career. The set opened up with “All In Our Minds” from the 2013 album, Vines, in addition to “Earthquake”, “Souvenir”, and “Right Thing”. Also on the set-list was “Wheels of Steel” and “Bobber” from their 2015 Interval EP; fan favorites “Kilo”, “Submersible” and “Reverie” from the 2007 freshman album, Submersible; and from the 2011 album Start From Scratch “Dimming Sky” along with “Start From Scratch” and “Lorelie” to close up the set.

Prior to their set, Ted took some time to sit down with The Pier to discuss a number of topics over a beer. While enjoying local brew “Hoppy Bitch IPA” from Northwest Brewing Company, Ted discussed upcoming plans for their next album.

“Now that the tour is over, we are headed straight down to NorCal for a writing session on the album. This is the first time we will be writing away from home…we usually write at my place in Savannah but we are going to try something new this time.”
– Ted Bowne, Passafire (Guitar/Lead Vocals)

The brief conversation continued and touched on a variety of topics that The Pier will be following up for an exclusive interview with the band. Ted also candidly discussed their writing plans in NorCal for the next album, their recent Germany tour, songs he likes to cover, and much more. We are probably just as excited as you to continue this conversation with an official interview and dig deeper on these topics.

After seeing Passafire at The Crocodile annually for the last three years, The Pier has come to expect a big encore to the show with a surprise cover. Previous years, we have seen the guys cover “Give It Away” by Red Hot Chili Peppers and “All That She Wants” by Ace of Base. This year definitely did not disappoint! The guys brought up their friends from Ballyhoo! to close the show with a bang by covering “Going The Distance” by Cake. To start the song, the guys had plenty to say about the cover to the crowd:

“We traveled back to the ’90s to grab this song…”
– Ted Bowne, Passafire (Guitar/Lead Vocals)

“…yeah, all the way back. I’m really f**king hammered right now. But I’m not sorry!”
– Howi Spangler, Ballyhoo! (Guitar/Lead Vocals)

Ballyhoo! joined the Passafire crew to close-out the show and tour with an awesome Cake cover, as well as co-headline most of the other shows on the Winter Takeover Tour 2016 during their own tour.

Ballyhoo! is partway through their 2016 Winter Mixtape Tour that started on January 15th in Ohio and ends February 28th in Florida. Howi Spangler (guitar/lead vocals), Donald Spangler (drums), Nick Lucera (bass) and Scott Vandrey (Keys/Turntables) will be hitting a total of 19 states during their tour.

Ballyhoo!’s set was a mix-tape of their long-standing career including “Evil Penguin” from the 2011 album Daydreams, “Close To Me” from the 2009 album Cheers!, and “Walk Away” from the 2014 The Cool Down EP. The guys played fan favorites “Cali Girl” and “Cervesa” to close out the set from the 2006 album Do It For The Money. And all of us lucky attendees were treated to a special cover of “Timebomb” from Rancid thrown into the mix during the set.

All this great music took place at The Crocodile in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle. The Crocodile, previously known as Crocodile Cafe, is a historic venue that opened in the hay day of the ’90s grunge scene. The venue has played host to various big-name bands from Seattle including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice In Chains. When known as Crocodile Cafe, the venue was a staple in the Seattle music scene. After a 16-year run, Crocodile Cafe closed temporarily for 2 years and reopened under new ownership after being renovated. The Crocodile has been restored and is again a staple in the Seattle scene, and a very fun place to see a show. When not hosting a big show in the Ballroom, The Back Bar remains open serving fresh made pizza and cold drinks, along with the occasional local band, burlesque show, happy hour bingo, and karaoke.


Passafire Set-List:
A.I.O.M
Dimming
Sight
Earthquake
Feel It
Drifter
Bobber
Rev
Right
Souvenir
Kilo
Mow
Wheels
Sub
Scratch
Lorelie

Ballyhoo! Set-List:
Jameson
Mixtape
Destroy
++++
Rasta
Struggle
Anti
Cali
Boner
Close
Penguin
Fool
Timebomb
Walk
Morning
Cervesa


Related Links:
Passafire Website
Passafire Facebook
Ballyhoo! Website
Ballyhoo! Facebook
Perfect By Tomorrow Website
Perfect By Tomorrow Facebook


Article, Photos and Videos By: Eric Schoep


Watch: Passafire with Ballyhoo! – “The Distance” (Cake Cover Live) 2016

Watch: Passafire with Stranger – “All That She Wants” (Ace of Base Cover Live) 2015

Watch: Passafire – “Give It Away” (Red Hot Chili Peppers Cover Live) 2014