Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for August 1st and August 2nd

Hello Dear Readers,

There are some good shows, great shows even this weekend. I intend to at least make it to some of them.

Friday, August 1st

Today there are many shows. This is what I think looks good though.

• I am playing a show in AristeiA at Flowform with X-Ray Press (Seattle) and Jezebel Spirit, and witheyesabstract. This show is $5 and ALL AGES. The show starts at 9 PM.

• The Modern Age, KPSU's ALL AGES Venue, is having a good show with Tea for Julie, Blind Pilot, Boy Eats Drum Machine, and DoublePlusGood. I guarantee you that if I were not playing a show, this is the show I would be attending. Tea for Julie is one of those bands that just begs to be playing in a huge arena stage (their song "hello sounds a bit like U2). Blind Pilot was one of PDX Pop's highlight performances a) because they are great and b) they have assembled an amazing backing band of fiddle, pedal steel, drums and bass (with some gorgeous female harmonies thrown in for good measure). They have been getting a lot of press and I feel it is one of those rare instances where I am happy for it. I hope they make it. Boy Eats Drum Machine is awesome live.. Of course his music is very fun to around to (some call it dancing), but it os also very entertaining as he builds up his songs out of his looped layers. I saw DoublePlusGood a while back and was impressed by what I saw. The dude has a great voice and a strong hold on melody that translates into great performances. The show is $5. The ALL AGES show starts at 8 PM.

• Or at the The Liberty Glass Saw Whet is playing a show with The Areyoumadatme?s. Becky of Saw Whet has an amazing voice and uses it to her advantage in these songs They are kind of dark folk songs. You might reckognize her from the other band she plays in Ah Holy Fam'ly. This FREE show starts at 8 PM.

• Holocene is having a show with Alexis Gideon, Future Islands (Baltimore), Atole, Flaspar, Eat Pwr (Asheville, NC), and DJ Linoleum. Alexis has a cool hip hop flow that he has synched up with animations that he projects onto himself during his shows. It is really awesome and sometimes hilarious. All the other bands appear to be dance related in various genres or styles. The show is $6. The music starts sometime after 9 PM.

• Over at the Twilight Cafe & Bar (1420 S.E. Powell Blvd. Portland, OR 97202) Curious Hands, Blue Horns, and Honus Huffines are playing a show. I feel like I have heard of Curious Hands, but I'm not sure. They play "urgent" rock music. I have never heard of Honus Huffines, But I like Blue Horns. They put on an energetic set and play rock and roll that is easy to dance to. This show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Saturday, August 2nd

There are some pretty good ones here. Anyone of them could treat you well.

• Kelly's is having a really good show with We're From Japan, Sea Caves, and Carcrashlander. I know that We're From Japan is one of the best bands in Portland. If you are not familiar with, the you must go to this show. Man, I just listened to Sea Caves on their myspace page. It is awesome. It has kinda dreamy mathy guitars and a very pleasant lead singer, but man do I like what they are doing with their guitars. Carcrashlander is Cory Gray's baby. You may recognize him as the guy who plays piano or trumpet on just about every album in Portland that has piano and or trumpet. The show is $5 and starts at 10 PM.

• Shelby Sifers is back from her tour across the nation. You can welcome her back by going to a show she is having at the Castle Greyskull house (11 SE 19th, Portland, OR). Her songs are usually simple but very effecting. There will probably be others playing but I am not sure who they are. There might be cover. I would just go to the house around 8 PM and see what's going down.

• Mississippi Pizza Pub is having a dual CD release show for Gatos and Eliot Rose. I have been meaning to checkout both of these bands. Gatos features the songs of Stephen Kierniesky and other members of Love Menu. Like them, Gatos plays well arranged folk pop. Except it is a little more upbeat and sometimes breaks out in Spanish. Eliot Rose makes cool pop music based around his ability to rock a thumb piano. It sounds cool. There is no cover listed, but I would bring some cash for those CDs if I were you. The show starts at 9 PM.

• Backspace is having a tour Kick of show for Monster Sized Monsters and The Hand That Bleeds. The Old Murrays, The Royal Tees, Bridgetown Sydicate and The Closet Monsters are also set to play. This show will be full of rock and punk rock and even some ska (remember that stuff?). Should be fun and at $5, its under one dollar per band. he ALL AGES show starts at 8 PM.

So this is Friday and Saturdays schedule. I hope to be at some of these shows. If you see me, please come up and say "Hi".

-Ben


Eliot Rose does his thing at Mississippi on Saturday. It looks crazy.