Harvey Danger
The Crocodile
Saturday, August 29, 2009
1. Meetings with Remarkable Men (Show Me the Hero)
2. Old Hat
3. Woolly Muffler
4. Carlotta Valdez
5. Little Round Mirrors
6. Wine, Women, and Song
7. Moral Centralia
8. Jack the Lion
9. Humility on Parade
10. Loyalty Bldg.
11. Private Helicopter
12. Authenticity
13. Flagpole Sitta
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14. Pike St./Park Slope
15. Oh! You Pretty Things
16. Cream and Bastards Rise
17. (Theme from) Carjack Fever
18. Sad Sweetheart of the Rodeo
19. Terminal Annex
20. Picture, Picture
21. Underground
22. Happiness Writes White
23. Save It for Later/Better Man/New Girl
24. Radio Silence
25. Cold Snap
26. Problems and Bigger Ones
27. Defrocked
28. The Same as Being in Love/The Designated Mourner
29. The Show Must Not Go On
Everyone’s favorite 1990’s Seattle hit machine capped a 17-year career with three concerts in one weekend: a 28-song all-ages show, a 20-song matinée, and a 29-song finale that was sold out by July 17. Crocodile Cafe was the mainstay of Belltown’s music scene from 1991 to 2007, and Harvey Danger was its house band beginning in 1996. The Crocodile reopened this year and hosted Harvey Danger’s last two concerts.
Harvey Danger formed as a trio, but its final incarnation consisted of vocalist Sean Nelson, guitarist Jeff Lin, bassist Aaron Huffman, percussionist Michael Welke, and keyboardist Rob Knop, with additional vocalists Evan Moser of “Awesome” and Meghan Kessinger of Racetrack; additional guitarist John Roderick of The Long Winters; additional percussionist Evan Sult of Bound Stems and Sleepy Kitty; and French horn player Jacob Hoffman of The Lashes and Ships. Other guest stars in attendance included Steve Fisk of Pigeonhed, Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies, and filmmaker Lynn Shelton. The front row of the audience represented at least seven other states and one province.
The finale was fairly standard until Roderick and Sult ran onstage for radio singles “Authenticity” and “Flagpole Sitta.” After “Flagpole Sitta,” available on Now That’s What I Call Music, Harvey Danger stopped and toasted never having to play it again. One solo acoustic number later, audience members were able to request songs for what Harvey Danger deemed worthy questions. “(Theme from) Carjack Fever” stretched to 15 minutes as Nelson introduced his band and handed out awards, while Welke played drums the whole time. Fisk requested “Save It for Later” by The English Beat, initially denied, then tagged with “Better Man” by Pearl Jam and “New Girl” by The Long Winters. (Mike McCready of Pearl Jam played guitar on Harvey Danger’s cover of “Save It for Later” one decade ago). The final request, b-side “Defrocked,” went to an intrepid fan who drove from Oregon and did an interpretive dance in lieu of a question.
The last two songs made the concert Harvey Danger’s longest and most emotional ever. Rather than first album closer “Radio Silence,” second album closer “The Same as Being in Love” sufficed, with supplementary spoken word from Wallace Shawn’s play The Designated Mourner at the end. The swan song was the only new song, “The Show Must Not Go On,” due for release as a free download later this month. The room remained crowded until The Crocodile closed.
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