Bear Cove, Aaron Daniel and Blake Noble plunge in at High Dive (Photo Slideshow)

Blake Noble and Eric Miller of Cody Beebe & The Crooks @ High Dive (All Photos by Alina Shanin)

By Alina Shanin

Bear Cove, Aaron Daniel and Blake Noble @ High Dive on 11/21/12

This year’s Thanksgiving Eve show at the High Dive was another success. While the show started ahead of schedule, those who remained in the city trickled in around 9 p.m. to check out some local talent.

Bear Cove opened the stage with an energetic set of up-beat original rock tunes that kept the audience grooving throughout the set. Toward the end, Bear Cove covered Aloe Blacc’s I need a dollar getting many to sing along and invite friends to dance. Solid bass lines and clean, hard-hitting drumming kept the music interesting and polished, earning the group a couple requests for an encore.

After a set change, Aaron Daniel took the stage as the “One Man Banned” and absolutely blew everyone away. His perfect timing and extensive knowledge of looping and guitar effects allow him to build every song from scratch, layer by layer. As if multitasking with no room for mistakes wasn’t difficult enough, Daniel improvised a couple songs like he does every show.

He produced so much, it was hard to believe he did it alone. The blending of various timbres and sound effects was entertaining to witness live and is a true testament to his talent.

Daniel’s Go Like This inspired some in the crowd to seize the moment and show off a few dance moves. At this point everyone sitting down joined the floor and cheered Daniels on in anything he did, including a strictly vocal song he created on the spot.

When he performed This Will Do the audience really got into it, with some jumping to the reggae-like undertones and others slow dancing seductively.

By the end of Daniel’s set, the happy and buzzed listeners were asking about future shows and where to grab CDs. Aaron Daniel definitely has an ear for unique sounds and the gift of perfect timing.

The Blake Noble Band, featuring Australia’s Blake Noble, headlined the High Dive stage. The crowd was in high spirits and eager to keep dancing after Daniel’s energetic set.

Noble was joined by one of the top drummers in Seattle, Heather Thomas, who brought flavor and life to the instrumental songs. Her clean, hard beats kept up with Noble’s quick style and her smiles showed just how much fun she was having. Bassist Isaac Castillo also brought his A-game, switching his upright bass for an electric one by the end of the set. His contagious energy spread through the venue, further exciting the listeners.

As always, Tsunami was the crowd favorite, with plenty of intricate guitar playing (both strumming and drumming) and addicting didgeridoo parts. The audience cheered any time Noble neared the Australian instrument, with takes a lot of skill in circular breathing to play.

The band welcomed a couple guests from Cody Beebe & the Crooks toward the end of the set. Bassist Eric Miller rocked the electric guitar on Rainbow and then again during Truck, when Cody Beebe joined to close off the set on a high note. Beebe won over the audience with his rugged vocals that compliment Noble’s creation flawlessly.

SMI RADIO INTERVIEW: CODY BEEBE AND BLAKE NOBLE

After the band left the stage, Noble indulged the excited crowd with an encore. Conspiracy Theory, off his solo album, is one of his signature songs and is perfect to end the night with. Every time he performs it, Noble invites the audience to clap along at tempo as it increases to unbelievable speeds. This drummer-turned-guitarist was effortless in his performance even while he was standing behind the drum set, guiding participants with the kick drum in his closing solo.

Once he finished showing off his skills, the crowd erupted in applause and cheers for another encore accompanied Noble off stage.

The Thanksgiving Eve show was the perfect way to spend the night for those staying in town. The audience had plenty to gobble up with all the talent and innovation flowing off stage. (See Photo Slideshow Below)

For future shows and pre-sale tickets, check out aarondanielmusic.com and blakenoblemusic.com.

Aaron Daniel will be performing with Kevin Sawka Jan. 12 at the Crocodile.

Blake Noble’s next Seattle show is scheduled for New Year’s Eve at The Old Rainier Brewery.

Cody Beebe and The Crooks will be playing The Seattle Living Room and Melodic Caring Project show December 8. To get on the list go here.

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