The Capitol Hill Block Party is Finally Here!

Here at The Vera Project, the Capitol Hill Block Party is one of our biggest events of the year. Our stage has grown along with the Block Party itself and this year it's bigger than it has ever been!



We've got an exciting, eclectic mix of artists playing throughout each day ranging from the Island punk of Abe Vigoda, to the heavy thunder of Akimbo. With hip-hop, electronic, and singer/songwriter all smashed in-between.



Friday July 25
Talbot Tagora: 4:00 - 4:45
Abe Vigoda: 5:15 - 6:00
Mika Miko: 6:30 - 7:15
PWRFL Power: 7:45 - 8:30
Say Hi: 9:00 - 9:45
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head: 10:15 - 11:15



Saturday July 26
Little Party and the Bad Business: 2:00 - 2:30
The Physics: 3:00 - 3:45
Scribes: 4:15 - 4:45
Man Plus: 5:15 - 6:00
Black Elk: 6:30 - 7:15
Akimbo: 7:45 - 8:30
Grand Ole Party 9:00 - 9:45
Schoolyard Heroes: 10:15 - 11:15

How about some hype from the proverbial hype machine?
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head in the Seattle Times

Abe Vigoda on Pitchfork

Grand Ole Party in The Stranger

Sorry to Casey and Dale about the shit time slot.

The Vera Project needs your help this spring!

The Vera Project is having a spring fund raiser! We need to reach $33,000 by June 30^th! This money will be doubled by a Murdock Matching Grant. The money will help us pay off our new venue and continue our brilliant programming!

Spread the word or Donate here: http://firstgiving.com/theveraproject

As The Vera Project is settling into our beautiful new space which has hosted tons of great bands and classes we find ourselves in a certain money crunch. We need to raise $33,000 by the end of June to finish paying for our new space and fuel more awesome music and arts programming. We need to raise this money by the end of June because each dollar we raise up to this goal will be doubled by a generous matching grant from the Murdock Charitable trust.

Every donation, no matter how large or small, will make a difference in the lives of thousands of young people and artists. Small amounts can make a huge difference! Here on Myspace alone, we have over 10,000 friends – if everyone donates just three bucks we’ll almost reach our goal!

It’s a great time to donate to Vera! Vera is continuing to have excellent programming on almost every day. We’ve seen more faces in the last year than any year of Vera’s existence. For those who are supporters of all-ages music, youth empowerment and equality this is a small price to pay to support Seattle’s premier all-ages arts and music venue!

Here’s how YOU can help:

• Donate! You can donate online here: http://firstgiving.com/theveraproject or you can drop a check in the mail.
• Tell your friends, family, co-workers and anyone else you can think of. Send a Myspace bulletin out! Make a Facebook group, add a widget to your page! and check out our fundraising page: http://firstgiving.com/theveraproject for more ways to let folks know we need their support.
• Employer donation matching? Hook it up!
• There are tons of other ways to help! Get in touch to find out how. Thinking of doing a benefit show? Wondering how to put together a secret cafe? Just e-mail fundraising@theveraproject.org or call Vera at (206) 956-8372 to get more info.

Wanna donate by Check?

Vera’s mailing address is:

305 Harrison Street,

Seattle, WA 98109

Make sure you write “Vera 2008 Spring Fund Drive” on the check and include a current mailing address so we can send you a receipt.

Vera's 7th Birthday Party!

It was a blast! There was one major mistake though: the camera wasn't fully charged! We only got a few moments of Bow+ Arrow and that was it. Major apologies to everyone. Then again, if you weren't there, you'd be pretty jealous of how much fun it was. And you'd be drooling over the photos with our cakes. If I remember correctly, there was a banana sour cream cake, a cheesecake with blackberry topping and pink frosted orange vegan cake! So delicious. But oh yes, music, bands and art is why you are here:
Bow+Arrow played in the gallery and it was their first show as being a 3 piece again and my goodness, it was powerful. Definitely one of the most energetic bands in seattle that never fails to put a smile on your face. The drummer also put in a few quotes of wisdom about having true and sincere friends that are always with you. So fitting.
Next up was Choklate in the showroom. Unfortunately, she couldn't play with her full band but her voice (with recorded instruments) was BEAUTIFUL. Her set was something that Vera doesn't get to experience on a regular basis, but the audience loved her.
Just as she finished, the pinata was started. the area for the hitter grew with every swing. Some people are just nuts with the broom stick! aside from the rope breaking numerous times, the pinata finally broke and all hell broke loose for candy. What a second, all hell broke loose for pleasureboaters! oh! so awesome. most everyone on the floor was dancing!
Next up was Team Gina! Let me tell you, if you had one girl duo to see before you were never allowed to see a musical act again in your life, this would be it. they performed on the cat walk and mesmerized the audience with their stories/music.
Then came the cake eating! and candles were blown out! somewhere in there people won scavenger hunts and won super awesome prizes like getting free passes to any vera show and getting a pass to drink milkshakes with any staff member of choice! Originally, the winners were to be announced on stage, but we forgot to tell the winners that and they seemed to have wandered. So here is a list (please comment to be added!):
Emily
Kari


I forgot to mention one of the greatest parts! Dj Eli spinned! and he even beatboxed for Choklate. I was in the other room when i heard it and just brushed it off as an audio recording but then realized it wasn't. This kid is amazing. I think he should be picked up by someone and do major beats for all dem kids. youknowwhattaimean.


if anything was forgotten, sorry, it was just too awesome of a night to remember all the details. If someone took photos, please add them to the Vera flickr pool. Polaroids of the seacreature cut out count too!

Mahjongg Poster! Leap Day!

This is a new poster for Vera's show on leap day: February 29. The show goes something like this:
February 29 | 7:30 PM
Mahjongg (K Recs)
Calvin Johnson (also, K Recs)
So Many Dynamos (indie rock from St. Louis! Also, their name is a palindrome!)
$8/$7 w.club card

The greatness of this show is only rivaled by the awesomeness of this poster by first time Vera poster designer Clara Sims. You should definitely take a closer look at this one and note all of the cool things on it.

Hey! How about a game?! This will be like on the back of a cereal box. Can you find:
1. A Moose?
2. a Cloudy Question Mark?
3. Boots!?
4. An Exploding Bouquet of Flowers?
5. Something that looks kind of like an Eyebrow?

Tell us where all five are in the comments!

Massive Monkees on Ch. 11!

Big News, People! Our beloved Massive Monkees are having their monthly show this Saturday, the 19th. However, this show is going to be particularly awesome, because Channel 11 is doing a special profile on the show! It's true, they will be video taping this show for television. On top of the usual breakdance battling, our own breakdance instructors Jeromeskee and Anna Banana will be doing their very own rad routines. So If you want to see your lovely mugs on TV then come on by The Vera Project this Saturday!

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone! Friday

I know there is another great all-ages show going on this Friday over at the Fusion Cafe with some Vera favorites This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb, but we also have a great one that night.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is definitely a friend to all-ages music, as he frequently plays at like-minded venues including the Department of Safety in Anacortes tomorrow night.

Owen Ashworth, who is the one-man Casiotone comes to Seattle in support of a few excellent splits released in 2007 one with Foot Foot, and another with The Donkeys.

His theatrical electronic pop can be compared to groups like The Postal Service and Russian Futurists, as well as a number of groups from Portland who have followed in his footsteps. While, he doesn't exactly get the dance floor shaking quite like some other Portland artists would, he certainly puts on an interesting and enthralling performance. Tickets are moving quickly for this one, so be here, and be here early!

Found in the office of a volunteer-run nonprofit...