Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for February 27th to March 1st

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I went to the Laurelthirst for the first time. I saw an awesome set by Audie Darling, Tchotchkes and Sam Cooper. It was awesome. I mean there were some PA issues, but once that was solved the music was great. Though, Audie had to cut her set short due to the technical difficulties. Sam busted out a couple of covers including by the Shins, and one by Wilco. Cool stuff. Here's what the week has in store show wise.

Friday, February 27th

This is what I'm talking about.

• Slabtown is having a pretty sweet show with Ferocious Eagle, Root Beer & French Fry and The Morals. Ferocious Eagle play rock that definately might be considered ferocious to some. I mean it isn't hard core, but it surely isn't pop. Root Beer is a band that I will now officially vow to see before the year is over. I love the music that I have heard , but for some stupid reason I haven't seen them live yet. And it has been forever since I have seen The Morals play. Are they passionate? Yes. Sloppy? Maybe. Great? No doubt. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

• East End is having a show with Oh Captain My Captain, Army Navy, Blue Skies for Black Hearts and Si Claro (San Francisco). Oh Captain My Captain is, if you are unaware, the bomb. Yes, the lead singer sounds a lot like David Bazan of Pedro the Lion, but is that a bad thing? Also, I think the music might be better than Pedro the Lion. Blue Skies for Black Hearts is awesome in their retro-jangle numbers. I think that Army Navy is a good fit for them as they also make jangley music , thought theirs sounds more like it was made in the 90's (I guess that's retro). The show is $8 is 9 PM.

• Camp Rainbow is having Cool Jesus ( a band too cool for a myspace page), Breakfast Mountain, Jizz Wisard, May Ling, Air Jordan ft. bone arrow. It is a house show. But it is a dance house show. So I anticipate dancing sweaty kids having a good time. All of the music is pretty good. I would totally dance to this. I mean I am not the best dancer in the world, but I got some moves. Check out the post about Breakfast Mountain This show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.
  

• Good Neighbor Pizza is having a show with Hello Loneliness, Curious Hands, and Holy Smokes!. Hello Lonliness is kinda a super group as it features main song writer Justin Fowler who was the main songwriter of Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Travis Wiggins and Dan Galucki of Please Step Out of the Vehicle, and Tyler Riggs of Curious Hands (I guess he'll be doing double duties). This is the last show with Travis for a while though. He's heading to Texas for a month. I have not seen any of these bands despite me having written about all of them. The show is ALL AGES, FREE, and starts at 8 PM.

Saturday, February 28th

There are some crazy shows.

• The Hush is having Explode into Colors, Panther, Meth Teeth and Tunnels. I must confess I list this show mainly because of all the good things I have heard about Explode into Colors. The show is $7 and starts at 8 PM.

• Backspace is having a show with Jared Mees & The Grown Children, Blue Horns, Altspeak(Seattle) and Little Penguins (Seattle). Jared Mees and company pretty much rule it as far as playing a show with energy and getting the crowd, or at least me, into it. And the Blue Horns are pretty great live too. I am not to familiar with the out of towners. This show is ALL AGES and starts at 9 PM.

• The Coop is having a show with Quixotic, AristeiA, and Elitist. This is a wildly diverse show. Quixotic is a hip hop group. AristeiA is the really sweet instrumental post-rock group that I play bass in. We have some new songs to share. Elitist is a grindcore? band. When it comes to heavier music, I am not too good with all the different "core's". The show will be ALL AGES and only $2. It starts at 8 PM.

• Tiger Bar is having a show with Team Evil, Patterns, Deer or the Doe. I have been to Tiger Bar once and I didn't see where a band could even play. I am curious. But really I want to see Team Evil. I missed them at Rontoms last Sunday, and know I am going to miss them again. Sigh. The other two bands are supposed to be good and kinda poppy. I could not find a cover charge listed. The show starts at 10 PM.

Sunday, March 1st

These shows are looking good.

• Bossanova (722 E. Burnside St ) is having an ALL AGES show with March Fourth Marching Band. I think that March Fourth is a super fun band to see live. And if you want so see a spectacle pretty early in the day. This is the show for you. The show is $10 and starts at 1 PM.

• Rontom's is having a show with Dirty Mittens and Church. Church is one of the best bands in Portland. Hands down. Dirty Mittens is good too, but Church is just awesome. I have not seen them since they became a four piece, but I am sure it is great. Their sound is pretty epic and full of textures and cool tones. The show is FREE and starts at 9:30 PM.

• Valentine's is having a show with This Frontier Needs Heroes (Brooklyn) and The Incredible Lou Thomas and Leonard Mynx. Leonard Mynx is good. Very good. And very depressing. It will also serve as a celebration for Lou. It should be pretty dope. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

• The Coop is having a show with The Taxpayers, Gruk (Chico, CA), Trends (Southern, CA) and One More. I am not sure who the other band is. I have not seen The Taxpayers. But I heard that they are awesome live. The show is $4-5and ALL AGES and 8 PM.

• Holocene is having a show with Shelly Short, Alexis Gideon, and Roy Tinsel. Shelly Short is great. Her voice is great. Her songs are great. She is one of those Hush type people. Alexis Gideon often plays guitar with her. His stuff however is totally different, but totally awesome. He does some mc'ing. That's right Alexis has a mad flow. Plus he made some animations to go with his live performance, so Holocene is perfect for him. I don't know much about Roy Tinsel. I clicked on his myspace and listened to the first song on the player and thought to myself, "This sounds like the dude from Television, if he were in a country band." I am not sure if that is some weird first reaction thing and I am way off, but that was my first thought. The show is $7 with doors at 8:30 PM.
  

If I see you at any of these I will have no idea. Therefore I suggest you come and say "Hi" to me. I the dude with the beard.

-Ben


Explode into Colors Play Saturday at The Hush.