Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for January 29th and 30th

Hello Dear Readers,

I have not seen a show all week. I think I have been gearing up for this weekend when I am playing in various forms from Friday to Sunday (if you are curious as to what shows, please continue to read as I am not above listing my own shows in this blog). But anyways enough about me. What about you? Oh really? That's fascinating.

Here are the shows for Today and tomorrow.

Thursday, January 28th

I am bummed. I will not be able to see any shows tonight. Late practice mixed with enven later band meeting.

• Doug Fir is having a show with Alan Singley & Pants Machine, Team Evil, and Gavin Castleton. Alan is a super nice guy and makes super nice music. You should hear the wonderful pop that he and his cohorts are playing these days. Team Evil is the brainchild of Skyler Norwood (Point Juncture, WA) and to me sounds like the slightly mathy, slightly emo-ish stuff that came out of the midwest during the mid to late 90's that I love so much. I had never heard of Gaven Castleton, but judging from what I heard from his myspace page, he is really good. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.

• Rotture is having a K Records showcase that features some of our local talent: Lake (Olympia but I wanna say at least one member lives here), Wallpaper, Hornet Leg and The Vibrarians. Lake and Wallpaper play indie-pop (Lake do an exceptional job though), the other bands play NW house-show punk type music. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.

• Satyricon is having a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Benefit. You may recall there was a benefit just last week. As it turns out, Leukemia and Lymphoma need even more money to continue their research. Luckily the following bands: Dusk's Embrace, Myndissent, Secnd Best, My Life in Black & White and Squalora, know that and decided to help out by doing what they do best (play their music). This ALL AGES show is $12 and starts at 7 PM.

• Crystal Ballroom is having the Portland Music Awards (put on by ). From what I recall this awards show is kinda B.S. That being said they do have some legit bands playing it. Hopefully they are being paid well. These are the bands playing: March Fourth Marching Band, Mel Brown, Portland Cello Project, Acoustic Minds, Tea for Julie, Debra Arlyn, Aaron Meyer, Echo Helstrom and Bobby Torres Ensemble. Basically I think March Forth are always fun to see. Its a spectacle! Portland Cello Project is also always fun to see. They usually have collaborators, so I am curious if they will have any tonight. But not $25 curious. This show is ALL AGES and starts at 7 PM.

Friday, January 30

First off, I just want to say the Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings are playing Crystal Ballroom and I hear that her live show is to be missed. But Whatevs. Second off, I want to say that I will be out of town and therefore be unable to see any of these shows :(

• Then again Dekum Manor is having a great show with Grey Anne and Autopilot. House Shows = ALL AGES!. No cover listed = Cheap! The show starts at 8 PM.

• Satyricon is having a an acoustic type show with some really good His Name Shall Breathe, Kelli Schaefer, and Attica! Attica! . Let me break them down one by one. His Name Shall Breathe = Ballady singer-songwriter (but good). kelli Schaefer = really good songs sang by a girl with really good vocals. Attica! Attica! = acoustic folk punk. This ALL AGES thang is $10 and starts at 8 PM.

• Backspace is having a show with some Brooklynites who call themselves Matt & Kim. Seattlites Champagne Champagne who make pop infused rap (indie-pop-hop?) will also make an appearance. And Portland will offer one of our crappy bands who some may love Magic Johnson. I mean they sound like they would be fun live, but when compared to the other bands playing it kinda sounds like poo-poo. This ALL AGES show is $10 and starts at 8:30 PM.

• Someday Lounge is having Thrones (Salem), Sedan (Olympia) and Hot Victory play a show. Basically if you know who Joe Preston is, then you will want to come to this show. If you don't know who he is and like post-metal experimental rock, then this is the show for you. Though it is by no means the heaviest show ever, Sedan make piano music for crying out loud, it is probably the coolest. The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

So I hope I see you at one of these shows. Though if you see me instead, please say "Hi".

-Ben


Autopilot is for Lovers is playing for all you lovers Friday Night at Dekum Manor (not exclusively for lovers)