Sounds from Central Oregon and beyond
Friday, November 6th, 2009, 3:18 pm by Ben Salmon
A month ago, a few Frequency frequenters and I picked apart Pitchfork’s list of the best records of the past decade, and commenter Shannon said she was looking forward to Paste magazine’s picks.
So here it is. (Update: After watching a reader click through and scroll through Paste’s five-page feature, I’ve added the list in text-only format to this post and put it after the jump. Click below to read it and my thoughts.)
Friday, November 6th, 2009, 11:17 am by Ben Salmon
Man, it’s windy outside as I write this. Fall is finally, really here. Or maybe that’s winter.
Whatever, the seasons may change, but the local music scene churns on. This weekend’s lineup is highlighted by some Canadian hip-hop, some Irish punk rock, and a benefit for the folks in our own community who need it most.
Hey … if you go out and see some music and snap a few pictures, why don’t you add them the Frequency’s Flickr pool?
-Two years after Flogging Molly packed the Midtown Ballroom, their fellow Irish-punk rockers Dropkick Murphys are visiting the same venue on Sunday. Read Al Barr’s take on the band’s success and what it has meant for their fan base.
-Swollen Members ought to consider just renting a place in Bend, perhaps. They’re back tonight, just a couple months after opening for Kottonmouth Kings at Midtown Ballroom. This time, though, the Canadian rap quartet is touring behind its brand new album, “Armed to the Teeth,” and will headline the Domino Room.
-For the fourth year in a row, a lot of local folk/bluegrass/Americana bands are gathering at Bend’s Community Center for Hoedown for Hunger, where proceeds will benefit the center’s Feed The Hungry program.
-California’s softcore ska dudes the Mad Caddies played at Mountain’s Edge bar in Bend on Sunday. I dug it.
-Elsewhere in town this week, Dana and Susan Robinson play a house concert, Shireen Amini settles into Jackson’s Corner, The Snag will do a free show at a church, and Cloaked Characters and The Bayliens will light up the Bendistillery Martini Bar.
As always, not all those stories will be available to everyone. If you run into a paywall, you’ll need to subscribe to The Bulletin’s online edition or, better yet, pick up a print copy of today’s paper.
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009, 9:22 am by Ben Salmon
From Thursday night. This is absolutely fantastic.
Thanks to Luke Menasco for passing this along.
There are two other videos from different vantage points here and here. If you can only watch one, though, make sure it’s the one above. It’s the best.
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009, 10:01 am by Ben Salmon
There are several concerts coming to the area over the next few months that I haven’t yet mentioned. Here’s a round-up:
-Port Angeles, Wash.’s The Lonely H do what I’d call modern classic rock, and they do it very well. From the long hair and denim to their throwback sound, these dudes are the real deal. They’ll return to Bend on Nov. 13 to play the Black Horse Saloon.
-Reggae legend Eek-A-Mouse will play the Domino Room on Nov. 18, and Northwest blues-rock stalwart Too Slim & The Taildraggers is set for a Nov. 20 show at The Annex.
-Local keyboard kingpin Brad Jones has set a date for his CD-release show: Nov. 21 at The Annex in Bend. Also on the bill is The Mostest, Defekt and Manic.
-The excellent, Portland-based indie-pop band Church will warm up The Annex on Dec. 4, along with locals The Sweet Harlots. I saw Church open for Finn Riggins several weeks back at Silver Moon, and they were terrific.
-The Domino Room will host alt-country combo Son Volt on Dec. 7, and then Sublime tribute act 40 Oz. to Freedom on Dec. 12.
-Local folk singer Erin Cole-Baker is planning her long-awaited CD-release show on Dec. 12. No word yet on where, exactly, so stay tuned for that detail.
-The first date for the Sisters Folk Festival’s Winter Concert Series has popped up, and it’s Alaskan roots-grass band Bearfoot on Feb. 6.
-Here’s the biggest news of this batch, I think: Rising roots-rock star Brandi Carlile — who introduced herself to Bend by opening for Sheryl Crow a year ago and then sold out the Tower Theater in June — will return to the Tower March 17-18 for a two-night engagement.
The promoter bringing Carlile to town, Bret Grier of Random Presents, said today that he has booked back-to-back concerts by one artist only once before in 11 years, and that was Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at Bend’s Best Bet in 2000. So why Carlile and why now … or rather, March?
“(Her) show (here) on June 10 … sold out extremely fast making it obvious we needed to find her a larger home or do multiple nights,” Grier wrote in an e-mail. “After the show Brandi claimed the Tower Theatre to be her new favorite place to play and suggested we do two nights on the next northwest run.”
Sweet! I missed Carlile last time she was in town, so I’m going to be sure to catch her in the spring.
Anyway, that’s most of what I know about right now. Did I miss anything? Fill me in in the comments.
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009, 9:53 am by Ben Salmon
All you jazz fans out there ought to consider checking out this band BUG tonight in Sisters. (Sorry for the short notice.)
BUG consists of five educators, and you can hear their slick (but not too slick) sound at their Web site. Or, just trust Jody Henderson, the band director at Sisters High School and Sisters Middle School, who says BUG is “the real deal.” Jody’s a jazz fan, a player and a vital cog in the region’s jazz scene, so he knows what he’s talking about.
The band will play at 7:30 tonight in the Sisters High School band room, at 1700 W. McKinney Butte Road. Cover is $5 for students and $10 for adults, and the money will help pay for more artists like this to come to Sisters, where they work with jazz students before playing a concert for the general public. It’s a cool thing that’s worth supporting.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009, 4:39 pm by Ben Salmon
Here are a few photos I took at Sunday night’s Mad Caddies show at Mountain’s Edge in Bend. I’ll put a few more on the Frequency Flickr page in the next day or so, and my review of the show will appear in Friday’s GO! Magazine.
Friday, October 30th, 2009, 12:58 pm by Ben Salmon
You may or may not remember Jared Colinger. He’s a singer-songwriter in the Tilbrook/Costello/Lowe vein who lived in Redmond a few years ago, and now calls Tennessee home. Colinger was only in Central Oregon for a short time, but it was just long enough for him to put out a doozy of an EP, “Light From a Dying Star,” which I named as one of my favorite local releases of 2007.
Today, Colinger makes music under the name The Enigmatic Foe, and he’s just made his first full-length album, “Beautiful Liar,” available for free download. The album was recorded a couple years ago but shelved for a variety of reasons, including lack of funds. Now, though, it has been remixed and remastered by Jason Martin of Starflyer 59, and given new life by Colinger. That’s a good thing; like his previous work, “Beautiful Liar” is stacked with super-hooky tunes that any fan of catchy pop-rock should enjoy and that absolutely deserve to see the light of day.
Download all nine songs, plus five bonus demos, by clicking here.
Friday, October 30th, 2009, 10:03 am by Ben Salmon
Happy Halloween, kids and grown-up kids!
I’ve got no snappy intro this week, but I do want to know this: What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Let me know in the comments. (I’m quite tempted to shave a corn maze into my hair and go around interrupting peoples’ conversations.)
I’ll tell you what Bend is dressing up as this year: A town with a ton of bands playing at clubs all over the place. Here are five shows I wrote about:
-Person People and The Staxx Brothers tonight at the Domino Room.
-Empty Space Orchestra Saturday at McMenamins Old St. Francis School.
-Warm Gadget and Goodbye Dyna Saturday at Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom.
-Necktie Killer, Tuck & Roll and Danger Death Ray Saturday at Black Horse Saloon.
-Moon Mountain Ramblers Saturday at the Domino Room.
That’s not all that’s happening. Check out The Bulletin’s events calendar to find a long list of festivities, or better yet, pick up a print copy of GO! Magazine, which contains both the calendar and the “Area 97 Clubs” page, which has even more stuff listed.
Of course, not everything that’s happening this weekend is Halloween-related. Here are a couple options where you won’t feel weird if you don’t dress in costume:
-The popular California ska band Mad Caddies are performing on Sunday at Mountain’s Edge bar, which is the new name of the old Timbers South in Bend. (Click here to read about why the Caddies are playing a place that’s quite a bit smaller than the venues they usually play.)
-On Sunday, Christian hitmakers Todd Agnew and Building 429 will put on a concert at the Christian Life Center in Bend.
So obviously, plenty of choices out there. Everyone have fun and be safe.
Thursday, October 29th, 2009, 10:08 am by Ben Salmon
I’ll have more on this in tomorrow’s GO! Magazine, but I want to highlight Sunday’s Mad Caddies show in Bend for two reasons: 1) Because I haven’t seen a ton of promotion for it, and 2) Because I’m somewhat fascinated by this booking.
Why? Because the Mad Caddies have for years played considerably larger venues than the Mountain’s Edge bar, where they’ll perform this weekend. (Mountain’s Edge is the new name of the old Timbers bar near Goodwill in south Bend.) A little over two years ago, in fact, the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based ska-pop band played Bend’s Domino Room, which holds nearly twice as many people as Mountain’s Edge.
This is, of course, why the Caddies’ show here is so intriguing. It’s always cool to see a bigger band in a smaller spot. To find out how the show came together, I got in touch with Ben Mann, who fronts local ska band Necktie Killer, which partnered with Mountain’s Edge to get the Caddies. I asked Mann a few questions, he answered, and I’ve edited them a bit. Here they are:
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009, 9:52 am by Ben Salmon
… but The Heavy went and canceled its show tonight in Bend at the last minute. So instead of giving them free promotion, let’s turn our attention to what’s happening at Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom in their place. Below is a message from Moon booker Cassie Moore, which I’ve edited just a tad:
“Okay, I know we are all a little bummed that The Heavy canceled their Silver Moon show (tonight). So we can either stay home with our tails tucked between our legs, listening to their new album, sobbing and pricing flights to the UK, or we can party it up like the rugged mountain folk that we are. It’s Halloween week. I say we put on some costumes and party it up.
Mosley Wotta and a variety of other local artists are going to put on a free show (tonight) starting at 9. Because even though it’s exciting to have internationally touring acts on our stage, our local musicians never fail to entertain us, make us forget about the (lousy) economy and shake our asses. So come shake your ass at the Moon tomorrow night and get warmed up for Halloween.
I may regret this, but I will personally buy a beer for each person who shows up in a costume. Consider it a consolation prize for The Heavy being canceled. But you do have to be wearing a costume, and you can only have one. Just tell the bartender to put it on Cassie’s tab. And no, you can’t bring a change of costumes to get more free beer. We’re on to you.
Cheers and hope to see you tomorrow night!”
That’s the spirit! Find other things to do tonight at The Bulletin’s events calendar.
Recent Comments
Paste’s top 50 albums of the decade. Discuss.
Video: Zombies do the “Thriller” dance on the streets of downtown Bend
Video: Zombies do the “Thriller” dance on the streets of downtown Bend
Video: Zombies do the “Thriller” dance on the streets of downtown Bend
New shows announced (Brandi Carlile, The Lonely H, Son Volt, Erin Cole-Baker and more)