Seattle grunge supergroup Temple of the Dog is back

Published 1:30 am Friday, November 18, 2016

For the first time ever — a full 25 years after the release of its one and only album — Temple of the Dog is touring.

The legendary Seattle supergroup formed just as the grunge boom was beginning, led by Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and featuring key players from Pearl Jam, including Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament.

The band’s music was meant as a tribute to Andrew Wood, the front man for Mother Love Bone who died before his band could break into the mainstream. Temple of the Dog’s songs, including “Say Hello 2 Heaven” and “Reach Down,” helped its members process their grief after Wood overdosed.

The band wasn’t meant to be a big thing, but it became exactly that, in part thanks to the hit single “Hunger Strike,” a duet featuring Cornell and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.

Still, outside a couple of one-off shows, the band never toured. It’s changing that now to mark the anniversary of its sole album, which was re-released this year. The band will play Seattle’s Paramount Theatre at 8 p.m. Nov. 20 and 21.

Tickets are $94.25 at stgpresents.org or 877-784- 4849.

The Paramount is in a busy stretch, hosting three other shows in the days ahead, starting with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, which plays the venue at 8 tonight, Nov. 18.

The act has become a beloved success with its gimmicky spin on modern hits. Its members play songs like the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights,” Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” and Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” in a retro-style that leans heavily on 1920s and 1930s swing and jazz.

The group’s most popular covers were collected this year on “The Essentials,” featuring all those aforementioned songs, along with the band’s take on the White Stripes, Radiohead, Outkast and more.

Tickets are $35.75 to $101.25 at stgpresents.org or 877-784- 4849.

Then Amos Lee will visit the Paramount for a show at 8 p.m. Nov. 19.

The lauded singer-songwriter, who belongs to the same school of music as folks like Jack Johnson and Ben Harper, has won an audience with his breezy acoustic pop rock.

Lee started gaining wide acclaim in 2005, when his debut album saw release on famed jazz label Blue Note. He built on that success with subsequent releases that found him drawing on rootsy rock and classic R&B.

He’s touring now behind “Vaporize,” a self-produced album that showcased his knack for a pop hook.

Tickets are $35 to $45 at stgpresents.org or 877-784- 4849.

Then, acclaimed Michigan producer GRiZ will hit the Paramount Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23.

The talented musician got his start playing alto saxophone and piano as a boy, but found a following with his adept take on electronic music. Melding live instruments with club-ready bass drops, he gained a huge live following among the EDM-loving kids.

His sound has become increasingly funky in recent years, using more live instruments and helping him stand out from his more peers. He’s touring now behind his September album, “Good Will Prevail.”

Tickets are $26.24 at stgpresents.org or 877-784- 4849.

A string of shows at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle will also keep that club active through the weekend.

First up is a rare visit from Zemfira, the Russian rock star who has sold millions of albums overseas.

Referred to in her homeland as “Kurt Cobain in a dress,” the singer’s button-pushing style and confident take on rock turned her into an icon in Russia. She released her first album in 1999, and has enjoyed steady success since then.

Tickets are $87.75 to $152.75 at axs.com.

Then, the gleefully profane hard rock act Steel Panther will play the Showbox SoDo at 8 p.m. Nov. 19.

The act, which serves as both a tribute to and send-up of hair metal bands like Motley Crue, released its debut album, “Feel the Steel,” in 2009.

The group’s bludgeoning, juvenile songs are almost invariably explicit. A couple with printable names include “The Burden of Being Wonderful” and “Party Like Tomorrow is the End of the World.”

Tickets are $25 at axs.com.

Then rapper YG will play the Showbox SoDo at 8 p.m. Nov. 20.

Easily the biggest name playing the venue this weekend, YG has enjoyed broad success since the release of his studio debut in 2014, “My Krazy Life,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

The rapper returned this year with the single “Ride Out,” featured in the hit movie “Furious 7,” and another solo album, the politically fueled “Still Brazy,” which featured the anti-Trump single “FDT,” an acronym for an unprintable phrase.

Tickets are $25 at axs.com.