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

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night when I played with Y La Bamba at the Doug Fir, I had such a good time. St. Frankie Lee were good, with Chelsea making the jumop from her usual acoustic gutiar to an electric. While it might not have been as big as when Dylan went electric, I still noticed and appreciated the switch. Autopilot totally brought it with big string parts and up to seven people all singing in harmony. Plus all the people in all the bands were super nice.

Monday, June 1st

Backspace is having Bodies of Water (LA), Ah Holly Fam'ly, and White Hinterland play a show. Now I have heard the name Bodies of Water around not necessarily bad or good, I have just heard it. The reason I am listing this show is because of Ah Holly Fam'ly. I have yet to see them and I have heard very good things about them. Plus all the videos I have seen of them have been pretty great well arranged folish/Americana type stuff. White Hinterland has been hit or miss with me. Never really terrible, but whatevs (except for some time when it is very good). The ALL AGES show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

Valentine's is having a show with Black Heart Moon and We You (LA). Black Heart Moon are pretty good. They are one of the most promising bands I know. When they are on they are soooo on. When they are off they are still pretty good. The band also contains its secret weapon David Dyas who plays mostly gorgeous sounding slide guitar. This will be FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Plan B is having a show with Yeah Great Fine, Skip Proxy and Project Eldrige. I saw Yeah Great Fine once. And was really impressed. I want to see them again. They are kinda like the Joggers in the way that they write straight up pop songs that have subtle weird and somewhat mathy elements. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Tuesday, June 2nd

Backspace is having a show with Clues, Wampire, and Leather Tom and The Dirty Dudes. Clues is a band that has members of Arcade Fire and The Unicorns. That means they are Canadian. Unlike a lot of Canadian bands I have heard recently, I don;t think they are all that. I am writing about this show because of local openers Wampire. I remember playing a show with them about a year ago and thinking that they showed a lot of promise. It turns out I was right. I feel like they are starting up a bit of a buzz. They are getting all kinds of sweet shows. I think you should check them out. This ALL AGES show is $8 in advance and $10 at the door. The show starts at 8 PM.

The Wail is having a show with Shelby Sifers and Nap Club International, Hello Shark (New England), and Big Spirit (Boise, ID). Shelby Sifers is probably one of the more underrated songwriters in Portland. I bought her album at Tender Loving Empire last summer and loved it. I don't know anyththing about the other bands. This ALL AGES show is $6 and starts at 7 PM.


So if you see me at any of these, I beg of you to say "Hi".

-Ben


I think her songs are so damn adorable. Shelby Sifers plays the Wail on Tuesday night.