This week features a ridiculous number of opportunities to catch quality live music in Central Oregon, so I’m highlighting some of the best options for each night. But remember, you can always find lots more at The Bulletin’s online event calendar.
Tonight brings the biggest country act of the summer, Dierks Bentley, to Les Schwab Amphitheater. Showtime’s at 6:30 p.m., and there are still tickets available at the box office outside the gate. Read my interview with Bentley by clicking here.
If a Dierks ticket is too rich for your blood, go check out the fine songwriter John Shipe and his trio at McMenamins. That one’s at 7 p.m. and it’s free.
This week features a ridiculous number of opportunities to catch quality live music in Central Oregon, so I’m highlighting some of the best options for each night. But remember, you can always find lots more at The Bulletin’s online event calendar.
Your best bet for this fine Tuesday evening is to see indie rock giants The Shins at the Domino Room. Why? Because it’s a rare opportunity to see a band that can draw thousands of people to an amphitheater performing in a relatively tiny club. And because main man James Mercer has dozens of awesome, toe-tapping pop-rock songs in his quiver, and hopefully he’ll play a few of ‘em. But the pre-show word is that the band will be using this mini-tour of small venues to work out songs from the upcoming, long-awaited fourth Shins album, so I guess we’ll see what happens.
Oh, and here’s some actual news we hadn’t reported before: The excellent, Portland-based indie pop band Hosannas will open tonight.
Oh, and if you don’t already have your ticket, you’re out of luck. The show has sold out. If you’d like, read my story on the band here.
This week features a ridiculous number of opportunities to catch quality live music in Central Oregon. Over the next four days, I’ll highlight some of the best options for that night, but you can always find lots more at The Bulletin’s online event calendar.
Here are your best bets for this fine Monday evening:
The thing I love about The Horned Hand — the new art/retail/music space on Colorado Avenue in Bend (catch up here and here) — is that it’s … well, it’s weird.
It’s weird in a cool way, with hanging taxidermy watching your every move, funky furniture strewn about, unsettling films projected on the wall. It feels like a cozy dive in Twin Peaks, Wash., or as operator Wesley Ladd once told me, a Satanic T.G.I. Friday’s. (Is there any other kind?)
In its first few weeks, The Horned Hand has hosted a number of solid bands, but tonight brings the first show that, in my opinion, really matches the place’s off-center vibe. Tonight, Austin, Texas “trash poet,” garage rocker John Wesley Coleman III stops in, along with opening act Rayon Beach.
Coleman’s music is a warped and woozy take on psychedelic garage-stomp, where sneakily catchy pop songs are fuzzed up and scuzzed up and veiled in an unscrubbable haze of lo-fi grit. It’s like the Nuggets box set doused itself in skunky old sweet tea and then rolled around in a gutter for days.
And I think it’s good stuff. Certainly, if it’s good enough for Goner Records, it’s good enough for you. Here are a few videos, followed by a bit about Rayon Beach.
GO! Magazine was so packed with music this week, we couldn’t fit everything. So, don’t forget that the fourth annual CrawFest is going down tonight and tomorrow at Jake Crawford’s place between Bend and Powell Butte. (The address on the flyer below shows up here on Google Maps.)
Crawford has, as you can see, booked a bunch of fun local and Portland-based bands for his shindig. He’s also providing free camping, food and drinks. Cost and other details below. If you’re looking for some off-the-beaten-path festivities this weekend, CrawFest may be for you!
If you’re like me — and everyone else on the planet older than 30 — the first thing you think of when you hear Night Ranger‘s name is the ’80s band one major hit, “Sister Christian.”
“Sister Christian” has endured over the past 30 years, probably for three reasons: 1) A hilariously cheesy video. 2) That “motorin’!” refrain at the beginning of the chorus, which has a tendency to lodge itself in your brain, not unlike the key parts of “Sweet Caroline” or “Don’t Stop Believin’.” And 3) Well, it’s just a solid song. So kudos, Night Ranger. Kudos.
But after doing a bit of Night Ranger-related research (did I just type that?) last week, I discovered something: The single the band released immediately following the success of “Sister Christian” is actually a much better song. It’s called “When You Close Your Eyes,” and it has an equally cheesy video to go with it. And now you will watch it:
A few observations:
1) The acting in the “break up” scene at the beginning of the video is pure gold.
2) The pre-chorus (one at :53, 1:55 and 3:05) is super catchy. No irony. It just is.
3) The drummer in this video — he’s also the guy that sings in front of the car and the giant paper moon — is like a fully formed Will Ferrell character. Every second he’s on screen is a joy, especially 2:24 to 2:30. My wife saw that and said, “He must not know which camera to look at.” I LOL’d.
4) 2:04: Mouthful of hair. Blech.
5) The guy at 2:50 really wants you to know he has a “flying v” guitar.
6) The parts of the video where the band is actually performing just scream “rock ‘n’ roll” don’t they? But what’s up the normal-looking, short-haired guy all the way to the left on the keys? Do you think he feels left out when he sees all his buds swinging their manes around like that? Poor dude.
7) Leather Vest’s harmony on the “dream about me” part of the chorus is totally awesome. That is the part I will be singing along to at tonight’s show (if I am there).
Bottom line is this: “Sister Christian” gets lots of love, and deservedly so. But based on “When You Close Your Eyes,” I believe that Night Ranger deserves to be remembered as more than just a One Hit Wonder. I believe the time has come for the world to know that Night Ranger did not peak with “Sister Christian.” The world should know about “When You Close Your Eyes” and the time for this revolution is now.
Maybe I should set up a booth at the show or something to try to sign people up for the cause. Will you join me?
Night Ranger plays at 8:30 tonight at Troy Field, next to McMenamins Old St. Francis School in downtown Bend. Sagebrush Rock opens at 5 p.m., followed by The Show at 7 p.m. The concert is free, but you need a ticket to get in. To find out how to get a ticket, listen to 98.3 FM The Twins radio station.
Bend-based pop-punk kingpins Tuck and Roll have a new EP out called “Broken Radios,” and they’re celebrating it with a free show tonight at Madhappy Lounge (850 N.W. Brooks St., Bend). The music starts at 6 p.m. outside the bar with Harley Bourbon and Confederacy of Dunces, and then Necktie Killer and Tuck and Roll will wrap things up inside. There’s also going to be barbecue! Here’s the first track on the EP:
Clocking in at 15 minutes long, the EP is pop-punk done right, where Sean Garvin’s urgent drumming and Ben Jones’ sturdy bass lines provide the power and guitarists Sam Fisher and Chris Murra chip in buzzy power chords arranged to ensure maximum toe-tapping.
Atop it all, Fisher’s melodies shine. The chorus of “Bum Shot” is a bounce-along beauty, framed by classic “whoa-oh, whoa-oh” background vocals. “Joke’s On Us” puts the pedal on the floor, paying homage to old-school Bay Area punk. “Grey Skies,” in turn, hits the brakes a tad, showcasing Tuck and Roll’s sensitive, nostalgic side.
That’s only 60 percent of “Broken Radios,” and the final two songs are terrific too. But I’ll leave that for you to discover. It suffices to say they hold up Tuck and Roll’s tradition of packing their releases with taut, catchy songs that reflect an understanding of the importance of efficiency when making records.
Tonight’s details again (click to make it bigger and more readable):
McMenamins Old St. Francis School hosts a whammy of a double-bill tonight in Father Luke’s Room as two rising nu-folk artists — Vandaveer and Cheyenne Marie Mize — perform both separately and together.
I’m hearing some buzz around Vandaveer’s appearance in Bend, and with good reason; the band’s newest album, “Dig Down Deep,” is a wonderful listen, full of modern, melodic Americana from the pen of Mark Charles Heidinger, who calls Washington D.C. home, but grew up in the great state of Kentucky.
There is no question that Heidinger knows his way around a song, and “Dig Down Deep” is a strong effort that’s well worth your time. But I’d argue that an even brighter — if slightly less developed — talent will open tonight’s show. Mize’s 2010 album “Before Lately” is a stunning collection of beguiling folk songs that tend to take the path less traveled to your ear. Her songwriting is slyly unconventional; she often zigs when you expect a zag, and she’s not afraid to challenge listeners with the occasional aural curveball, not unlike her stylistic ancestor Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) or one of her contemporaries, Sharon Van Etten. The result is an album that sounds like a warm summer night spent laying in the grass staring up at the celestial expanse above. Mize was born to be your tour guide through the constellations.
Here she is doing the “Before Lately” track “Waiting” last year in Portland for the Into The Woods folks:
All of that is the long way of saying that tonight, rather than saunter from dinner over to McMenamins at around 7:30 or 8, you should make a point to be there at 7 p.m. to catch Mize’s opening set. Then, as a special bonus treat, you’ll get to see her play with Vandaveer. (Mize is also from Kentucky, and has been touring and playing with Vandaveer for a while now.)
And, as usual, this show is free. Which … which is just crazy.
Hey, as long as you’re here, check out Vandaveer (with Mize) playing “The Nature of Our Kind” from “Dig Down Deep” in an abandoned pool, filmed by the La Blogotheque squad:
Cinco de Mayo + this awesome and long-awaited weather x one of the most robust weeknights of live music I can remember around here = downtown Bend is gonna be bananas tonight.
Here’s a quick roundup of what’s happening:
–The biggest party appears to be Amalia’s Cinco de Mayo celebration, which will shut down part of Wall Street and feature music by the kaleidoscopic pop band Rubblebucket (4:30 p.m.), Bend’s own Todd Haaby & Sola Via (6:30 p.m.) and Latin/hip-hop/rock giants Ozomatli (8:30 p.m.). There’ll also be Mexican food, dancing, a low-rider demo and other fun stuff, all for free. Here’s my story on Ozomatli plus all the details on the event. Listen:
Ozomatli
Rubblebucket
–While the party swirls outside, Seattle-based singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile will be wowing a packed house inside the Tower Theatre. Carlile is a terrific performer, which is why this show (like her previous three appearances in Bend) is sold out. If you’ve already got your ticket, enjoy!
Brandi Carlile
–Just down the breezeway and a little later into the night, MadHappy Lounge will celebrate Cinco de Mayo electronically with NorCal techno kingpin DJ G.A.M.M.A., plus DJs Rada and Huff. That one will get going around 9 p.m. and is free.
DJ G.A.M.M.A.
–Meanwhile, up on Greenwood Avenue, the astoundingly authentic Johnny Cash tribute band Cash’d Out will transform the Domino Room into a big ol’ time machine to the 1950s and ’60s. The San Diego quartet has the look and sound of early Cash (and his band, the Tennessee Three) down pat. More info is here, and for this one, you need visuals.
–Finally, if you’d prefer your Cinco de Mayo tunes to have a little more local flavor, considering hitting The Summit Saloon & Stage around 9 p.m. for one of Bend’s most popular party bands, the Moon Mountain Ramblers. Or shimmy up to McMenamins Old St. Francis School at 7 p.m. for Brothers in Achord, a new bluesy/folksy collaboration between local singer-songwriters Josh Hart and Leif James.
…on this poster for their show tonight at MadHappy Lounge, spied recently on Parrilla Grill’s bulletin board.
Truer words, etc., etc.
If you’re interested, here’s what I wrote about the show in last Friday’s GO! Magazine:
Good news for fans of atmospheric psych-rock: We have a Concave Perception Chamber sighting. The long-standing (but sometimes hard to find) Bend combo will play Monday at MadHappy Lounge (850 N.W. Brooks St., Bend), draping the cozy bar with gentle waves of lush, chiming guitars and experimental pop know-how. 9 p.m. Free.
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