Ben Meyercord's Live Music picks for March 10-16

So my bi-weekly version was met with only one response, so I will give the reader what she wants. One full week of local shows coming right up:

Monday, March 10th

There are a couple of freebies that are going down tonight. Why don't you check them out?

• Valentine's is having Graves playing with Lake (Olympia), and Swimming. Graves is good easy listening/indie-pop. So come by and get your breezy groove on. I have seen Lake play with the Graves before and they were better than good. The show is FREE. The show is set to begin at 9 PM.
• The Hippodrome Circus Arts Center (yeah, you heard me) is having a show featuring the music of Glass Candy, DJ Beyonda, Caves, E*Rock, and Reggie Watts. I am very curious about this venue. I am unsure if any circus stuff will be going down. The show is to benefit the Tap Project, the UN sponsored effort for world wide clean drinking water. You can read what PDX Food Press wrote about the event here. It is FREE (not sure how it benefits at this price but oh, well). It starts at starts at 9 PM.

Tuesday, March 11th

Looks like you got some options for Tuesday. Look:

• You always have the option of checking out the open mic at Zilla Sake. It happens every Tuesday and is usually hosted by Y La Bamba, but...
• It is Y La Bamba's Birthday! She is having a little get together at her place. Music perhaps? Contact her via myspace for more details.
• The Tonic Lounge is having a show featuring The Days, Pacific Ocean Fire (UK), and The Morals. I know nothing of the two bands that are not The Morals. But I do know I like me some The Morals. The show will probably cost something (my guess would be money). The show probably starts at 9 PM.
• At the Chaos Cafe there are some names that I know I have blogged about before including Ali Wesley, Jack Elder, Leonard Mynx, Audie Darling (no relation to CMITB contributor Gabriel Darling), and Shoeshine Blue. All of the musicians are top friends with each other. This a) made it easier to do all of the links and b) means that this will be a fun show because shows where friends share the bill are the most fun to attend. I think this is all acoustic music related to Folk,Country and Blues. There is a lot of music and it looks to be FREE. The Music starts at 8 PM.
• Rotture is having its reoccurring event that is Joe Preston's Mancampus. Today National Sunday Law(LA) will be playing it along with Nanda Devi. Should be awesome. If you're into this sort of thing. The show costs $6. Music starts at 9 PM.

Wednesday, March 12th

I only got a few to list here:

• If you want to hear good songs and good voices, you should check out the Rotture. Y La Bamba has gathered some friends in Andy Combs and the Moth and Meyercord (Me!). It should be a good night. The price weighs in at $5. The show will get under way at 9 PM.
• Or you could go to Holocene where a bunch of local bands that I have never heard of are playing. These bands are Ley Lines, Air War, and Crook & Nanny. The reason I list this show is because Air War looks like they might be good. The show will be $5. Things will start happening at 9 PM.

Thursday, March 13th

There are quite a few shows to choose from on Thursday.

• At The Tonic Lounge you will a line up very similar to the line up that played Rotture on Tuesday. Face Pilot will be playing with National Sunday Law (LA) and Nanda Devi. This show does not have a listed cover. The show will start at 9:30 PM.
• Doug Fir has one of my favorite Orchestral indie-pop bands The Online Romance playing in between Kieskagato and Newspapers. The Online Romance , highly recommended. The show costs $6. The music starts promptly at 9 PM.
• Or you could go to The Mississippi Studios to catch Run On Sentence play with Death Songs (Shaky Hands side project alert!). I haven't seen either bands but I like what I see from their respective myspace pages. The show will cost $7-$8. The music will start around 8 PM.
• Or if funny and free is your cup of tea. Then check out the Drats!!! playing with Rollerball and Lickity at Holocene. The show is FREE. It begins at 9 PM.
• Or if you want to play Street Fighter II while digging the tunes of some of Portland's finest go check out Ground Kontrol. Pegasus will be playing with The Friendly Skies and Loch Berlin. It only costs $3. The music will start at 9 PM.

Friday, March 14th

There are shows on Friday. Here they are:

• The Know will be hosting Jakob Adler, and Paperbacks. The only reason I am listing this show is because Jakob listed some pretty good influences on his Portland Mercury ad. The show, like most shows at The Know, is FREE. Things start at 8 PM.
• The Tonic Lounge has a show featuring Kleveland, Thee Loyal Bastards, and The Decliners. Basically I like the Country Rawk that is Thee Loyal Bastards (ex- I can lick any Sonofabitch in the House). This will cost an unlisted amount of money (probably cheap). The show begins at 9:30 PM.
• Or you can go to Rererato at 42nd between Sumner and Alberta. Cause they are a great all ages/art/music venue space. On Friday they are having +Cnctd, Moderstate, and The Paper Ballet. There is a suggested donation of $4. The show will start at 8 PM and is ALL AGES.
• Also, remember that Coffee House in Downtown Vancouver that was Blogged about a while back. Yes, The Grind. A friend of mine, Jon Hecox, wrote me to say that he was playing there on Friday. He found out about the venue via this very Blog. Yay! The show is free and starts at 7 PM.
  

Saturday, March 15th

A Couple of shows for a couple if dollars (realistically $5):

• Kelly's Olympian is having The Friendly Skies play on Saturday with The Wagon(San Diego), Boldbird(Tuscon), The Angry Orts, and Post Harbor(Seattle). So, if you missed the Skies on Thursday here is your chance. The show will probably cost $5. With five bands and starting at 10PM, this will be a long night if you choose this route.
• The alternative is to get all dance-like at Someday Lounge where Starfucker is playing with Copy, and DJ Linoleum, and DJ BJ. This also costs $5 and starts at 10 PM.

Sunday, March 16th

There are a grip of show on Sunday:

• Two of the shows are BRO benefit shows. One is at Someday Lounge and has Alan Singley and Pants Machine, Oh Captain My Captain, Swim Swam Swum, The Vonneguts, Palo Verde, and Gregory Miles Harris. The admission price is $7 to $12 depending on how much you love Basic Rights. The Show starts at 7 PM.
  
• The other benefit is at Backspace and features Here Comes a Big Black Cloud, Hey Lover, World's Greatest Ghosts, Sleepyhead, Dirty Mittens, and Almost Nearly. Again, the admission price is $7 to $12 depending on how much you love Basic Rights. The show starts at 7 PM and is ALL AGES.
  
• Valentine's has a show consisting of Ohioan, Sonny Fields and Inside Voices. I usually trust the music that Valentine's books. The show is FREE. Things get started sometime after 9 PM.
• Or Holocene has a ridiculously good show involving Tara Jane O' Neal, Dragging an Ox Through Water, and Dirty Mittens (not sure if they are doing both the BRO benefit and this show).
  

So there you have it. Another long post. Enjoy your shows. And say hi if you see me at one of these.

-Ben


Here Comes a Big Black Cloud plays Backspace on Sunday. ALL AGES to support Basic Rights Oregon.
Photo by At Dusk Greg