Happy Friday, Frequency readers! My Friday has begun later than usual, which means this post is happening later than usual, which means I’m going to get out of the way and get to the links.
-Portland’s Danger Death Ray will bring their DIY attitude and pop-punk sound to Bend for two shows this weekend.
-Guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke returns to the Tower Theatre, ready to entrance local music fans.
-Bay Area hyphy group The Federation will headline a big hip-hop show at the Domino Room tonight.
-There is no shortage of heavy rock happening in Bend’s clubs over the next two nights: Thorns of Creation leads a metal bill at Players; Necktie Killer and No Cash Value will punk around at The Underground; The Dry County Crooks are going to rock the working class at Black Horse Saloon; and KleverKill will play its thunderous rock at The Underground.
-Also, Oregon homeboy The Kid Espi and some buddies will be at the Bendistillery Martini Bar tonight, and local blues-rocker Eric Tollefson is at Silver Moon Brewing on Saturday.
In other words, this weekend is jam-packed! Enjoy it!
So it looks like I’m going to be attending Saturday’s Scion Garage Fest in Portland, which features — in addition to what surely will be enough Scion logos to fill a house of mirrors — a bunch of the best garage/lo-fi/power/punk/pop bands going, spread across four venues within a few blocks of each other. The big names include Roky Erickson, The Dirtbombs, The Deadly Snakes and Black Lips. It is going to be sweet. (It will not, however, make commenter “John Thomas” happy.)
It is also going to be very difficult deciding what to see and what to miss. And there are a bunch of names here that I am not familiar with. So if you see something I ought to be sure to see (or something you think I ought to skip), will you let me know in the comments? I appreciate any and all guidance.
Sorry about the quiet on the blog over the past few days. I got sick. Really sick. But I’m back! Mostly.
Anyway, I wanted to post this a week ago to give you time to prep for the Afro Classics show tonight at Bendistillery Martini Bar. Alas, I am just now getting around to doing so, but that’s OK; you’ve still got all day to study up. And you should. You don’t want to sleep on this show or be fooled by the small venue. This is one of the best hip-hop acts to come through Bend this year.
Here are your study materials:
-Read my article about Afro Classics, an L.A.-based hip-hop duo comprising MCs Very (of Us Pros) and Scarub (of Living Legends).
-Download the group’s two “Workaholics” mixtapes for free. Click here to grab ‘em both. (If you must choose one, go with “Workaholics 2.”)
-Watch the good-lookin’ video for “Rap Fanatic” right here:
If you like what you hear, you should consider picking up the new album, “Classic Rock,” here. And you should check out the show. Again: Afro Classics, plus Mosley Wotta and Kruse at 9 tonight at Bendistillery Martini Bar in Bend. Cover is $3.
If you were going to check out Canadian hip-hop group Sweatshop Union tonight at the Domino Room, bad news: The show has been canceled, per the promoter’s Web site and the band’s Twitter feed.
I asked both for a reason but haven’t heard back.
Ticket refunds are available at the point of purchase.
I didn’t know about this in time to get much into GO! Magazine, but it sounds like great music for a great cause, so here’s a good-and-good-for-you option for your Saturday entertainment.
“Groovin for Gavin” is a fundraiser for Gavin Straw, a 5-month-old local kid who’s about to undergo major surgery. “Gavin has a disease where he was born with a fused skull (called) craniosynostosis,” says organizer Elyse Huntamer.
To help his family with expenses, Parrilla Grill (635 N.W. 14th St., Bend) will host the benefit from 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
A silent auction will run from 3 to 8 p.m., with a bunch of great stuff up for grabs, and the music lineup goes like this: Ben and Steve from Necktie Killer from 6 to 7 p.m., the Dela Project from 7 to 8 p.m., and Larry and His Flask from 8 to 9 p.m. (The Flask is just back from a three-month tour across the country, so go say hi. It’s polite.)
The suggested donation for “Groovin’ for Gavin” is from $5 to $20, depending on what you can give. E-mail elyse@nashelle.com for more info. In the meantime, check out how cute this kid is!
Gavin
Super cute, right? You should go to this and help him out, OK? OK.
And here’s the event’s Facebook page in case you want to spread the word to all your virtual friends.
Ladies and gents, I have family in town this weekend and am going to try to steer clear of the blog for a few days. Devastating, I know.
Before I disappear, though, I want to let you know what’s happening in Bend, musically, over the next seven days. Be sure to grab a GO! Magazine or visit the calendar on the GO! Web site for lots more options beyond these:
-When L.A. MCs Scarub and Very collaborate, they call themselves Afro Classics. And they’re dope. They have a new album out this week and they’re playing in Bend next week.
-You thought the days of Queen-style pomp-rock were over, didn’t you? Well, meet The Janks.
-Sweatshop Union is a hip-hop collective out of British Columbia, Canada. They are not associated with any sweatshops as far as I know. Now get back to work!
-Local industrial band Warm Gadget and one-man speed-metal wonder Bald Eagle Shirt are gonna get strange at Players Bar & Grill.
-Silver Moon Brewing continues to expand its music offerings, hosting cosmopolitan electro-funk-jazz duo Planet Loop and Bend’s own glitch-hop crew, the Thumbprint Collective. (Download 48 minutes of Thumbprint’s chilled out electronica by clicking right here.)
-Guitar mega-talent Tony Furtado in concert at a beautiful old church in the ghost town of Richmond? Sounds like a highly listenable experience. Just remember to take a sweater.
-Don’t forget there are a few music-related movies happening at BendFilm this weekend.
And hey! Look for another blog post in the next little bit about a fundraiser happening Saturday at Parrilla Grill that you should consider checking out.
This is a few hours old — an eternity on the Internet — but here’s the first release from Vampire Weekend’s new album “Contra,” due out in January.
I like it. But then, I’ve always liked — not loved, but liked — what Vampire Weekend does. Here’s what I wrote after seeing them about a year ago:
“It is fashionable right now to hate on these guys. Quick and seemingly easy success stokes jealousy and dismissive barbs by folks who think they know better. But that doesn’t change the fact that the songs on VW’s debut album … are really, really catchy pop songs. They are nearly impossible to resist, as far as I can see. Will Vampire Weekend change the world? Of course not. But what they’ve done so far is good enough for me.”
This “Horchata” song does nothing to change that. It’s breezy, it’s fun. I like it.
Bend’s annual film festival — the appropriately named BendFilm — runs from Thursday through Sunday, and the official guide came out yesterday in The Bulletin.
Last night, I flipped through the film summaries and saw a couple that might appeal to those of you whose obsession with music permeates everything you do. You read books about music. You see movies about music. Because you’re sick. Like me.
Anyway, “Drawing With Chalk” is showing at 3 p.m. Friday at McMenamins Old St. Francis School. Here’s a synopsis:
Drawing With Chalk tells the story of two factory workers, Jay and Matt who grew up together and had played in a rock band years prior but missed their shot at ‘the big prize.’ As they hit 40 they decide to give it one more try. Jay struggles between his artistic dreams and his responsibilities to his wife Jasmin and son Bryan. Matt has his own demons to contend with as he battles depression and a universal fear of simply being too old to make it in an industry that thrives on youth. Eventually, Jay’s fierce commitment to his music begins to take a toll on his family. He is ultimately faced with having to make a decision whether or not to say goodbye to one part of his life and begin a new journey with the other.
That one doesn’t look bad. I smiled when he said “I am doing something else.” But I suspect that was the goal of that part. Filmmakers! They toy with our emotions!
But I’m actually more interested in “D tour,” a documentary about a musician named Pat Spurgeon who’s dealing with health issues. And I don’t think that’s because I am a fan of his band, Rogue Wave.
Pat Spurgeon is a talented and professional musician who worked hard to be where he is today. As a multi-instrumentalist, Pat is an integral part of the indie pop band Rogue Wave. They have performed all over the world increasing their fan base with every tour. Pat has every reason to be excited about his band’s accomplishments, as well as their exciting future. In addition to giving the band everything he’s got, Pat has had to deal with kidney failure and the parameters that have been set for him by his situation. D tour chronicles Pat’s search for a living organ donor and the challenges associated with finding a viable match and also addresses issues with the U.S. health care system, the lack of affordable insurance, the importance of organ donation, and much more.
Whoever the musician and whatever the band, I think the topic of how self-employed musicians deal with the challenges and costs of getting health insurance is incredibly interesting.
“D tour” is playing at 3:30 p.m. on Friday at McMenamins Old St. Francis School, and twice on Saturday, at 12:30 p.m. at Sisters Movie House and at 8:30 p.m. at Regal Old Mill Cinema. I’m going to try my best to check one of those screenings out. You should too.
(Each of the last three years, I’ve traveled over to Portland for MusicfestNW, a multi-day, multi-venue music festival that features some of the best bands from around the world. With a roster nearly 200 acts deep, MFNW 2009′s schedule included rock, punk, metal, hip-hop, jazz, Americana, electronica, and who knows what else. One thing’s for sure: You can’t get to every show. But I saw my share of them, and here’s my report on my third and final night, Saturday. My Thursday report is here, my Friday reports are here and here.)
The preamble: MusicfestNW wrapped up more than two weeks ago. At this point, I should forget about writing up my Day 3 experience, because (1) no one cares anymore, and (2) I can barely remember Day 3, and I sure didn’t take great notes. However! I am going to push forward, because (1) I committed to covering the festival top to bottom and and want to keep that commitment, and (2) I think my Saturday night at MFNW provides a valuable lesson for all you festival-goers out there. Also, I love doing these little things: (1) and (2). I like making lists. Makes me feel important.
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