Fpurl

"King Cobra's hiphop hymen has been broken!" declared Gatsby of Cancer Rising last night. It's true: The Physics were the first hiphop group ever to grace the newish stage in the rock-n'-roll-ified nightclub, and Cancer Rising made it extra official in a mixed line-up featuring the metal-rock, electric guitar-wielding Emeralds as well as Portland's indie rockers Caves. The night was "magical," as Caves singer Jacob Carey deemed it. Welcome, King Cobra, to Seattlest's short list of favorite venues, you with your yellow under-lit tables and your flickering neon bar shelves! Someone told us your food is tasty and your bar stools are even comfortable, and for all of those reasons you have earned our sincere affection.

The Physics' open, easy-going hooks meshed well with Caves' clean, confiding, 80's pop sensibilities, which in turn matched the spirit of Cancer Rising's hard rockin, big-hearted beats and triumphant raps. We've seen both The Physics and Cancer Rising innumerable times; how can it be that we're still so exhilarated by their performances? And of course, everything melted finally into sheer animal pleasure when Emeralds arrived on stage. We hadn't truly head-banged since the Black Mountain show at Neumos, but Emeralds' insane drums and metal-crazy progressions made it impossible for us not to indulge whole-heartedly and without hesitation. And lest you think you can't afford such a potent day-job antidote of an evening, this show had a lilliputian $5 cover.

Without further ado, Emeralds performing "Crawl" at the Jewelbox Theater in January. (If you get motion sickness easily, you may want to click "play" and then shut your eyes):