....just listen.
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Sumerland, Tri State Killing Spree, Written in Ashes and  Licorice 
Thursday, May 27th 
Tonic Lounge 
Portland, Oregon 
Pre-C6 Show 
~review by Blu mailto:blu@starvox.net

The Pacific Northwest has long been a haven for creativity – and not just the flash-in-the-pan grunge kind either. Between Portland and Seattle, there’s a bevy of talented local bands. On this particular Thursday – the day before official convergence events got under way in Seattle, four such bands came together in Portland to rouse the spectators – Licorice, Written in Ashes, Tri-State Killing Spree and Sumerland. 

Licorice was up first and due to other band members having pre-existing engagements, we were treated to Julian Tulip – solo. Julian, armed only with a keyboard and some programmed samples, set out on his musical vision with confidence and quickly over took the crowds attention. The first song was a spoken word/industrial-dance collage of sorts filled with deeply personal dialogue emitting a range of powerful emotions. Composed almost scholar-like on a stool in front of the keyboard – he launched into a song that I think was called “Lip Gloss” which was a terror-ride on a carnival nightmare waltz, then changed paces completely and went into a mournful, melodic ballad. His quick-witted sarcasm at times reminded me of David E. Williams as he complained about people who were “young and inspired with nothing to do.” “Juliet Loves Me” seemed to be a favorite amongst the locals the faded and transformed back into the industrial landscape he opened with – neatly tied like a perfect package. Overall – Julian Tulip of Licorice was amazing live – with careful attention to annunciation and an out of the ordinary emphasis on certain syllables, he was a poet in a cyber whirlwind of dark emotions created on his keyboards. 
 

Written in Ashes - http://www.writteninashes.com/ 
Sumerland - http://www.sumerland.com/ 
Tri-state killing Spree - http://www.3sks.com/ 
Licorice - http://www.jps.com/licorice 
  
Licorice Portland Show review by Blu Ashton - Starvox.net
http://www.starvox.net/crypt/august2.htm
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"Nicely creepy electro-pop. 
The lyrics are heavy with sarcasm and irony and the melodies are almost delicately deadly. 
Tulip certainly knows what he wants to get out of his sound, and he arrives there with apparent ease,
The stuff is wrenching,. 
The sort of music that kids at college radio still love. I, myself, am still a sucker for overwrought angs
t and snippy one-liners.
Sharp enough to put a Ginsu to shame."
- Aiding & Abetting


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