Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for November 21st to 23rd

Hello Dear Readers,

Hey ho Portland/Vancouver! How you feeling? Perhaps like seeing some live and local music? Well ummm...I could probably help you out by pointing you in the right direction. See.

Friday, November 21st

Some really good stuff today.

• The Artistery is having live debut of Gratitillium the somewhat psychedelic project of Nick Caceres. Jared Mees and the Grown Children are playing a set as is Tune Yards (Vermont). I saw Jared Mees and Co. the day they returned from their tour. I thought it was pretty lively, but afterwards he apologized for not being energetic enough. So I am curious about what full blown Jared Mees sounds like. It should pretty crazy. Plus Tune Yards sounds good. The ALL AGES show is $6 starts at 8 PM.

• Dante's is having a Arena Rock Recording Company showcase featuring some of its Portland talent. That talent being the improv skills of Stiffwiff, the whatever-folk of Sabertooth, and the experimental ambiance of Wroom. It is also serving as a LP release show for all the previously mentioned bands. LP means vinyl. Vinyl means higher quality sound and bigger artwork. It will be awesome. The best part though is that this is a FREE show. The music starts at 9 PM.

• Tonight is also the celebration of the one year anniversary of The Modern Age the ALL AGES venue located in the heart of the PSU campus (the basement of the Smith Center). They have set up an impressive line up which includes the very danceable Copy, Panther, and Guidance Counselor. I would have listed this show if any of these groups were on the line up. The fact that they are all awesome is a testimant to how good The Modern Age is a booking. If they keep up this pace, I can't wait to see what anniversary dos will bring. The All Ages show is $3-$5 and starts at 8 PM.

• Someday Lounge is having a show that will now doubt get the kids dancing as well. Well not all the kids (21+), but at least the ones old enough to drink. The show is comprised of Starfucker, Flaspar, Iretsu, and Serendipity Musik (Seattle/Paris). Well, maybe not Serendipity Musik. But that musik is pretty damn beautiful. The show will be $5 and starts at 9 PM.

• A while back a band called Caught in Motion sent me their CD in hopes of a write up regarding the release of said CD. I guess it worked. You can pick up your your copy if you so choose at the FREE Music Millennium in-store performance today. The ALL AGES event starts at 7 PM. Or you could wait a couple hours and see them at their official CD release show at Fez. They will be playing with Dominic Castillo and the Rock Savants, and Parlour Steps (Vancouver, B.C.). It will be a night of good clean indie rock. This show is $5 and starts at 9:30 PM.

Saturday, November 22

Here are the shows for Saturday night. S A T U R D A Y....Night!

• The Artistery is having a show with The Ocean Floor, Polka Dot Dot (Olympia), and Firs of Prey. All of these bands particular quirky pop sensibilities. I have heard nothing but good things about Polka Dot Dot (if O' Jordan is with them they are Polka Dot Dot Dot) and The Ocean floor, but not have the pleasure of seeing either of them. Plus this show is also the split cassette for The Ocean Floor. The ALL AGES show is $6 and starts at 8 PM.

• There is a venue that I am not too familiar with called Airplay Cafe hosting Sam Cooper and and Providence Plantations and Audie Darling show. This is an americana show. It will be FREE as far as I can tell. It starts at 8 PM.

• Over somewhere else, the Banana Stand Media will be putting on and recording Dr. Something & the Poppin' Fresh Love Engines and Mr. Fredrick Kill Hollywood. It will be crazy and zany Pop music at its best. You have to email bananastandmedia@gmail.com in order to get the location of the show. I can tell you it is FREE and that it will start at 8 PM

• Backspace is having a show with Love is All (Gothenburg, Sweden), Vivian Girls (Brooklyn), Nodzzz (San Francisco), and Romancing. I have heard nothing but good things about Vivian girls. I can list this show because the Romancing is making a rare live appearance. Romancing being one of the many Charlie Salsa-Humara projects. In fact this project might be considered a side project to his side project of his main project Panther. The ALL AGES show is $10-$12 and starts at 6 PM.

Sunday, November 23rd

There are some really good shows going on tonight.

• The big show tonight is at Doug Fir. It is a benefit called Art & Music vs. Cancer. There will be live life drawings and comic artists and these bands: Menomena, Dorlorean, Eluvium, and Tractor Operator. That, if you don't know, is an amazing line up. This show will have a sliding scale, but the suggested price is $12. The show starts at 8 PM.

• Someday Lounge will be hosting the Super XX Man CD release show for "Volume XII: There'll Be Diamonds". This marks the first full length for local label Tender Loving Empire. The cool thing about this show is that both openers are worth seeing too. If you have not seen or heard the blues influenced Shoeshine Blue, you are missing out. Also, Team Evil which features members of Point Juncture. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.

• Valentine's is having a show with Minmae, Pony Village, and Autopilot is for Lovers. Should be pretty good as the bands that are playing are pretty good. I yet to see Pony Village despite the fact that I have been meaning to for quite some time. This show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

• The Hush (above Tube) is one of the venues that I have yet to visit despite my knowledge that it generally books really good ALL AGES shows. On Sunday they are having Evolutionary Jass Band, DWL, Naked Future, Use Valve, and Linda Hagwood all play sets. I think this will be a very jazzy time. I know that five acts seems like a lot of acts. Actually that does seem like a lot of acts. But you know what? It is basically like getting a real good deal considering the price of admission in $3-$5. The ALL AGES show starts at 9 PM.

• Holocene is having a show with El Guincho (said to be the Spanish version of Panda Bear). And guess what. The Openers are both from Portland. Atole and Breakfast Mountain are those openers. I know that Atole likes to groove. I caught their set at PDX Pop Now! 2008, I know that Breakfast Mountain knows how to make jamz, but I have yet to see them live in action. This show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

So these are the shows I am interested in this weekend. Be sure to say "Hi" if you see me at any of these shows.

-Ben


Menomena ready to kick Cancers ass on Sunday at the Doug Fir.