I traveled into the heart of Capitol Hill last Friday night to cover the Haiku Poetics debut performance. Before Friday, I’d never heard of Haiku Poetics, Torbjorn or Northern Shakedown, now I’m excited to track down their music and add it to my iPod. Throw in the slice from Ian’s Pizza On The Hill that I enjoyed on the walk to Barboza, and the Bok a Bok fried chicken sandwiches I took home, it was a dope-ass Friday, to say the least.
Torbjorn
Torbjorn opened the night. I don’t know a lot about DJing, but I could see this guy had skills. Early in the set he transitioned seemlessly from Run The Jewels to a deep bassy electronic song. I’m always impressed when DJ’s blend drastically different genres together. The best part of Torbjorn’s set had to be when he was scratching his decks or riffing on the drum machine.
Torbjorn’s Social Media
Northern Shakedown
Northern Shakedown brought some rock and roll soul into the room as the middle act. They got their start in the Chitlin Circuit, a famed collection of concert venues that were safe for African Americans artists when the country was still heavily racially segregated.
During their set I heard Santana, Blues, and Southern American influences. One of the highlights of their set was a rock iteration of “So Fresh So Clean” by Outkast.
The band members are Solomon Stewart on the bass, Ben Weber on the drums, Tyler Weber on vocals and guitar, and Jabreel Stewart on the keyboard and vocals as well.
Northern Shakedown’s Social Media
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Haiku Poetics
Haiku Poetics has only been making music together for about four months. Whatever they did in that short time, worked. Their debut performance was electric! Haiku is the lead vocalist, and the Poetics is the band: Jordan on guitar, Marissa on trumpet, Byron on bass, and Ben on the drums.
I would describe their music as live instrumental hip-hop with heavy jazz and alternative rock influences. The set was mostly funky and energetic, with some slower emotional jams to level out the room. Haiku attributed his early influences to Waylon Jennings, outlaw country, A Tribe Called Quest, and Brotha Lynch.
If they can build off this strong debut, Haiku Poetics can only go up. I’m excited to watch this band grow and I think they have a bright future in the Seattle music scene.
Haiku Poetics’ Social Media
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