Be an El Corazon VIP! Unlimited shows & no lines for $500 or 12 shows for $150. Swag and “Membership Laminate” too! http://bit.ly/5BcGXs

Showbox VIP Club just announced: “Express Entry. Guaranteed Seating.
Hassle-Free Ticketing. All Year Long.” $799! Or $499 .. that’s better.

Before January officially comes to a close, we better head to Google Analytics and check out the buzz for the tail end of 2008. There’s a much more democratic picture this quarter, as the most popular search has less than 2% of traffic..

1) Freak Night XII: Paul Van Dyk / Moby / The Crystal Method / Morgan Page (1.88% of searches)
2) Weezer
3) Queensryche
4) New Kids On The Block
5) Kings of Leon
6) Indigo Girls
7) Cut Copy
8) 107.7 The End’s The Great Pumpkin: Hawthorn Heights
9) Sigur Ros
10) Panic At The Disco
11) AC/DC
12) Katy Perry
13) Britney Spears

A few random thoughts:

**Paul Van Dyk is not rock ‘n roll? Oh well. This list really is all over the place.

**I got tired of listing Radiohead; it would actually come in at #3 here, even though the concert is now a distant memory.

**Music fans are fascinated by failure. You can’t get enough of poor ticket sales from the likes of NKOTB, Panic At The Disco, and Augustana. And everyone is waiting to see what will happen with Britney Spears at the Tacoma Dome..

The third quarter of 2008 has just come to an end, and you know what that means: fun with Google Analytics. These are the most popular Google search terms that brought you to this site over the last three months, and Radiohead leads the list yet again (though at this point most Radiohead traffic is coming from elsewhere in the world via terms such as “Radiohead setlist.”

1) Radiohead (16.3% of searches)
2) 107.7 “The End” Endfest (8.5% of searches)
3) The Beach Boys (7.8% of searches)
4) Bumbershoot: Death Cab For Cutie / Beck / Stone Temple Pilots
5) Counting Crows / Maroon 5
6) Weezer
7) Black Rebel Motorcycle club
8) Metallica
9) The Raconteurs
10) Vans Warped Tour
11) Neil Young
12) Nick Cave
13) Goldfrapp
14) Journey / Heart / Cheap Trick
15) Puyallup Fair: Black Crowes
16) Sub Pop 20: Flight of The Conchords
17) Matt Hales
18) Fremont Oktoberfest
19) Laibach
20) My Morning Jacket
21) Rancid / Less Than Jake
22) Steely Dan
23) Stereophonics

A few random thoughts:

**Radiohead is the most popular band in Seattle. We said this last time.

**The crashing and the burning and the downsizing of Endfest is a big surprise, considering how well known the brand name is. Let’s hope the promoters get it in gear for a big return next summer.

**There was a lot of initial interest in the Sigur Ros concert, but it faded fast.

**And interest in AC/DC is virtually nonexistent compared to national trends.

As requested, we now have a working map of Seattle-area live music venues.

View Larger Map
Red = Large Venues
Green = Performance Spaces
Blue = Rock Clubs

Click the link on the bottom to go to a full list. Enjoy!
**JUMP TO COMPLETE SEATTLE VENUE MAP**

Since this is a slow week, presale-wise, let’s take a look over at Google Analytics and see what they have to say about how you ended up here in the second quarter of 2008:

1) Radiohead (11% of searches)
2) Weezer (4% of searches)
3) Sasquatch: R.E.M. / The Cure
4) Judas Priest
5) Stevie Wonder
6) Duran Duran
7) Tom Petty / Steve Winwood
8) Summer Camp: Flogging Molly / Nada Surf / MGMT / Armor For Sleep
9) Motley Crue
10) Jack Johnson
11) The Dandy Warhols
12) Willie Nelson
13) New Kids On The Block
14) Mayhem Festival: Slipknot / Disturbed
15) Endfest
16) My Morning Jacket
17) Boston / Styx
18) Sigur Ros
19) Journey / Heart / Cheap Trick
20) The Police / Elvis Costello
21) Neil Diamond

A few random thoughts:

**Radiohead is the most popular band in Seattle.

**When Weezer actually schedules a concert here, it’s gonna be big.

**The surprise hit so far this year was definitely Duran Duran, and a number of classic touring workhorses still perform well in indie Seattle.

**Further down the list than expected, and I wouldn’t want to be the promoters right now for: The Beach Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, Dave Matthews, and George Michael.

**Virtually all of the traffic looking for Sub Pop 20 is coming this way via “Flight of the Conchords.” If that’s who you’re planning to see on sold-out Saturday (and you are), plan ahead. Good luck!

Capitol Hill rock venue Neumo’s has seen an unexpected (if not unforeseen) crackdown on its capacity practices.

Neumo’s has been “fooling” the City of Seattle by counting “capacity” as everyone who could safely fit in:
1) the main show floor
2) the upper balcony (“mezzanine”) surrounding the show floor
3) the completely separate Moe Bar

Anyone who’s bought a ticket isn’t going to stay on the Moe side, and that’s why we’re all so accustomed to shows being “oversold” at Neumo’s. Everyone wants to crowd onto the show floor or the balcony as the lights go down, and then it’s sardine-time.

The new, temporary policy allows for a very-slow-motion flow between these areas (keep in mind that the restrooms are NOT on the main show floor).

Anyone with an understanding of the tragedy in Rhode Island in 2003 (as well as Seattle’s progressive mindframe and unwillingness to take a backseat attitude in West Coast politics) knows how surprising it is that the crackdown has taken this long. It won’t be the first (cough-rebar-cough-chopsuey-cough).

Currently there’s a lot of discussion on both sides of this issue. Many folks seem to have the issue confused with the condo-fication of Pike/Pine. Many others think that Neumo’s shows are always too crowded and now they’ll have a better view of the stage and be able to move more freely, with only 223 people on the main show floor.

Can’t be good news for continuing to attract top acts (and by attract I mean paying them). Those shows by high-profile acts like Moby and M83 will still have to be paid their guarantees, and that’s a big problem for the viability of Neumo’s as we know it..

Q: When does the Calendar get updated?
A: Constantly. But the previous week and all the  **NEW** tags are removed on Monday.

Q: How do I find tickets for all these great concerts?
A: You can usually find tickets in-person at the venues themselves.

Alternately, I’ve created a Google Custom Search Engine (drawing from such major ticketing sites as TicketMaster, TicketsWest, and Craigslist):

Of course you know that ticket scalping outside venues is now legal in Washington state. Technically they’re supposed to have some sort of street vendor’s license, but often don’t. Just make sure what you’re buying is authentic! Good luck! — Your Editor Dean