Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for June 16th to June 19th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last week I hardly saw anyshows. At the time that I am writing this I have yet to see the TJO, Whip and Saw Whet show, but I anticipate it will be the best I saw last week. Zillas was exceptional last Tuesday too. There where appearance by Y La Bamba, Per Se, The Sarcastic Dharma Society, and Shelby Sifers. They were all fantastic. It was a real treat to have them all play on the same night. Anyway there are some really good shows this week. I hope to see you at them.


Monday, June 16th

There is a lot going on for a Monday. I suggest you catch some of this music (most of it is FREE).

• If you are not working on Monday, there is an AM show at The Waypost that you could attend. I got this form their website, "DEPAVE DAY BLOCK PARTY & Opening Ceremony for America's First "TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES" Conference featuring: Al Polito(12:00 - 12:30) Tony Green Orchestra(12:45 - 1:15) Eliza Jayne(1:30 - 2:00) Andy Combs and the Moth(2:15 - 2:45) Renegade Minstrels(3:00 - 3:30) DJ Ghost Dad(3:45 - 5:00)plus speakers, crazy bicycle creations, food, and more." This sounds really interesting and fun. The event starts at noon. It is ALL AGES and absolutely FREE.

• If you like what you heard of Andy Combs and the Moth earlier at The Waypost (or if you missed them there but would like to see them play) , then you should stop by The ArtisteryFrench Quater, James Fella, and Hell Kite. This show is $6. It is ALL AGES and starts promptly at 8 PM.

where they will play again. This time with three bands from Arizona:

• Valentine's is having a great show. David Kyle and the Invisibles, Love Menu, and Meyercord are playing. David Kyle plays looped based music that incorperates guitars, keyboards, and other various Eastern instruments with his preprgrammed beats. Love Menu is based around Emily Katz voice and autoharp. She has Bobby Smith (guitar/glockenspiel), Stephen Kierniesky (banjo/guitar), Emily Baker (drums) and Jeevan Singh (backing vocals)backing her to really fill out those songs really well. Okay I will level with you, I am playing this show (you may reckognize the name Meyercord as my last one) and I would love for you to see me play. There FREE show starts at 9 PM.

• 17-K aka The Crib (5410 Ne 17Th, Portland, OR) is having a house show with the Dirty Mittens, Southern Belle, and Princeton (LA). Despite the fact that Southern Belle plays like a million shows a month ( i just checked and it looks like they've slowed down considerably), I have yet to see them. I hear good things. I have seen Dirty Mittens before and enjoyed it. Like most hose shows it is gonna be ALL AGES and cheap. The show starts at 8 PM.

• Or if you don't feel like leaving the house, you can listen to a local band play via the radio (or internet radio). Newspapers are playing live on KPSU's Sound Judgement at 10 PM.

Tuesday, June 17th

There is some good stuff going on tonight. See:

• Indiecon Booking and KPSU are presenting a show at Backspace featuring Y La Bamba, Kele Goodwin, and Brittain Ashford (Brooklyn). All of these artists have a unique take on the genre of folk. Y La Bamba mixes her music with all other kinds of music and is a beautiful mess of waltzes, three part harmonies. Britain's music is centered around her autoharp and often is accomaned by sparse bass and or glockenspiel. Kele mostly goes it alone with his Nick Drack-sh compositions. It will be a night of gorgeous music. Again I will admit that I play in one of the bands (Y La Bamba). The show is $5. It is ALL AGES and starts at 8 PM.

• Right next door there is a show going at Someday Lounge featuring Graves, Sean Brooks (of Minmae), and Polly High. This should be a pretty relaxed affair. If you have ever seen Graves, you know that I don't mean that they are sloppy or anything. I just mean that when they play it is very soothing (even when they are rocking out). This show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

• Or you can see some the spectacle that is Rush-N-Disco at Valentine's. Its kinda hard to explain what they do, so I suggest you check out their videos on their myspace page. This event is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Wednesday, June 18th

I will be out of town on Wednesday so, I won't be at any of these shows, but...

• Exit Only is having a show benefitting PDX Pop Now! 2008. I am super excited about PDX Pop now as per usual. Starfucker, Guidance Counselor, 40 Hunderd Thousand Locked Up Guns, and Megachurch. Starfucker knows how to put on a show (they played last week to benefit PDX Pop now via the CD release show) that entertains. I have heard good things about Guidance Counselor. I saw 40 Hendred Locked Up Guns a couple weeks ago and I liked what I heard. The ALL AGES show is $5-$10 and starts at 8 PM.

• Satyricon is also having a show with some PDX talent. Newspapers, The Sunbirds, Patterns, and World's Greatest Ghosts are playing a show there. I have have not seen Patterns, ut really like what I have heard of their music. This show is an ALL AGES show that starts at 8 PM.

• Towne Lounge is having a good show too. Grand Hallway (Seattle), Carcrashlander, and Drew Victor are playing. Grand Hallway are a nine piece band that play around the songs of Tomo Nakayama. It really is something. Apparently they are old friends of Drew Victor, because they are heading on a tour togeter. Carcrashlander is a band based around the Songs of Cory Gray. His songs are normally sparce and somber, but as a band they tend to rock a bit more. This show is $5 at the door. The music starts at 9:30 PM.

Thursday, June 19th

There are a few solid shows tonight.

• The Doug Fir is having an all local all female fronted night. Rachel Taylor Brown, Sophe LuxPer Se will all be performing sets Thursday night. I don't want to play favorites, but I have seen Per Se fairly recently and was really impressed with the way she crafts her songs and arranges them to work around repeated musical phrases. I am going to do my best to see this show. It is going to be $8. The show starts at 9 PM.

and

• Aftermath (14 NW 3rd, Portland, OR), the club directly above The Tube is having a perfomance by St. Frankie Lee on Thursday night. St. Frankie Lee are a band steeped in the tradition of male female country music (in this case the male and female are Derrick and Chelsea). Their lively live show often includes a band that includes a guitar, banjo, standup bass, cello, accordian, and sometimes mandolin. They listed the price of the show as "love". If you can handle that then I suggest you head to Aftermath at 9 PM when the show begins.

• Or if you are more a fan of electronic or dance based music, then you might check out Fun World, an event that is being held at Ground Kontrol. As far as I can tell Fun World is just a show that includes Flaspar, Dance Terror, and Cathexes (SLC). If you have never been to a show at Ground Kontrol, I would advise you to rectify that. It is awesome. Live music + vintage videogames = Awesome. There is a $5 cover charge. The show starts at 9 PM.

I ran out of time again. I will have the "Weekend Edition" of my live picks before the weekend. Have a great week,

Ben




Per Se will share her music with us on Thursday at Doug Fir.