Day 10: Seattle, Pt 2
Welcome
Yesterday we played our second show at the Climate Pledge Arena.
I began my morning with a run, starting along a path that wrapped around the nearby Lake Union and making it about a third of the way around before realising that I didn’t have the time or the legs to make a full circumference. It was another stunner of a day in Seattle though and as I jogged past the picturesque lakeside houses I watched a floatplane circle overhead and boats full of Saturday sailors out enjoying the water.
The marina at the south end of Lake Union.
Houses on the western side of Lake Union.
Tess and I spent a good part of the day exploring Capitol Hill, the iconic Seattle neighbourhood which should have been a few minutes’ walk from our hotel but has been brutally severed from west Seattle by the I5 Freeway which carves its way northbound through the centre of the city. Our indirect route took us over the freeway on a tall concrete flyover and then we walked up Belmont Ave, arriving to a bustling main street that was awash with seekers of breakfast, coffee, and clothing. After a quick walking reconnaissance, we ended up breakfasting at Carmelo’s Tacos where I had an Al Pastor, Campechano, and a Veggie Nopal, all topped with Salsa Verde, and with a side of pickled vegetables. We followed this with a hot beverage from Analog Coffee and then spent the next while walking the strip and poking our heads into some of the more enticing shops.
Our plan for the afternoon was to go up to the viewing platform of the Sky Needle and enjoy stunning panoramic views of the city and the surrounding landscapes. If we had booked tickets a day earlier, I would have an awesome collection of photos to show you, the megapixels of my Iphone SE tastefully capturing the tangled inlets of the Puget Sound, the toothed spine of the Cascades and the might of Mount Rainier. The obvious alternative would have been the Sky View Observatory on the 73rd Floor of the Columbia Centre but because of its historical value and its immediate proximity to our location we decided instead to visit Seattle’s third-greatest vista, located on the observation deck of the Volunteer Park Water Tower.
The Volunteer Park Water Tower with the author for scale.
Entry to the water tower was free and we had saved $80 on Sky Needle tickets so we were feeling pretty stoked as we climbed the 107 steps up to the viewing deck, emerging to find several viewing windows, each favouring a different point on the compass. The trees in the surrounding park did block out most of the city skyline but we caught a great glimpse of the Sky Needle towering over Shilshole Bay, and we could just make out Mount Rainier in the distance.
While Tess and I were enjoying this hidden gem Jon and Liz had made the journey to the western reaches of the city to witness one of the great wonders of nature. The fish ladder at Ballard Locks allows Salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to bypass the locks and return to their freshwater spawning grounds upstream. There are viewing windows to watch this marvel and had any salmon bothered to swim through yesterday I’m sure it would have been an incredible experience.
It was another exceptional show yesterday evening. The arena felt like it was already full when we walked out at 7:30pm and as Tristan counted us in and we played our first few notes the gracious Seattle crowd delivered a warm welcome to this little New Zealand indie band. As usual the thirty minutes flashed by, and we were rushing off stage and packing down rapidly so we could get back out and watch the show. Again, we were nearly deafened by the welcome that Deathcab for Cutie received when they presented their iconic album Transatlanticism on its twentieth birthday. The arena was damp with emotion, the audience overjoyed to see this triumph from their hometown heroes and the band overwhelmed by this showing of support from their fans and families. The Postal Service played second, delivering an impeccable rendition of the album Give Up in its entirety. Just like that, thousands of fans who had waited a decade to see this musical rarity were rewarded.
Today, a new segment –
Behind the scenes: Heroes in the background go unrecognised; and unrewarded?
If you thought that the stages of any of these venues came pre-carpeted you would be wrong. Deathcab for Cutie carry their own carpet, rolling it out each morning, and rolling it back up at the end of each show. If you thought that Deathcab played each night on a dirty carpet you would also be wrong and that’s why I wanted to draw attention to the Deathcab for Vacuum Cleaner. After every soundcheck we get to see the DVC in action, a quick pass across the stage and everything is spotless, ready for the show.
I’ll leave you with Tristan’s Seattle roundup.