Saturday, August 15, 2009

Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for August 15th

Hello Dear Readers,

I stayed up waaaaaaay to late last night. I played on KBOO on a show that lasted from midnight to 3 am. I was nervous about getting sleepy so I downed a Red Bull Cola at about 11 pm. I think that may have been a mistake as I didn't end up going to sleep until about 7 am. Before I knew it I was 3 in the afternoon. Crazy. Anyways, this might be the reason for the sparse commentary on today's shows. Also I am leaving for a week tomorrow morning and will not have access to post. I know that there are a lot of good shows happening. I think Sallie Ford is having her tour kick off with Grey Anne tomorrow at Worksound. I also know that Duck, Little Brother Duck and Sarcastic Dharma Society have shows next week. You should totally look into those bands. I highly recommend PC-PDX.com for a solid show listing.

Saturday, August 15th

The Woods is having a show with A Weather, Shoeshine Blue and Polka Dot Dot Dot (Olympia). I love A Weather. That being said I have not seen them play in forever. They have finished a new album and I am sure that they will be playing a lot of those songs. I have seen Shoeshine Blue a couple of times and always been really impressed with what he does. I saw him last week with a stand up bass player and two female backup singers (one with a flute). It was really good. Plus I have heard nothing but amazing things about Polka Dot Dot Dot (supposedly a lot of three part harmonies and such). The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

Worksound is having a show with Cafeteria Dance Fever, Inside Voices, Pony Village and The Prids. All I know is that Inside Voices are bomb. I predict that will "blow up" by the end of the year. Jeff is hands down the most mesmerizing drummer in Portland. Plus I have been meaning to catch Pony Village for quite some time. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with Experimental Dental School, Wax Fingers, Swim Swam Swum and Mighty Tiger (Seattle). Experimental Dental School are awesome they are kinda like a Deerhoof of Portland. Except that it is a two piece. And the dude does most of the singing. And it is less cute. Well...they still kinda have the same feel. I also really like the nasally indie rock of Swim Swam Swum. And a note you can download Wax Fingers album via their myspace. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.

Mile Post 5 is having Atole, Jeffrey Jerusalem, Church, Quiet Countries, Rollerball and Holiday Junction play as the music part of today's Manor of Art. I think this looks like the best music day of the event. But I say that because I really like Jeffrey Jerusalem (who plays later or earlier in Inside Voices) and Church are one of my favorite Portland Bands. The event is ALL AGES and FREE and starts at 3 PM.

Mississippi Studios is having a show with Or the Whale (San Francisco), Y la Bamba and mystery guest. Or The Whale is a seven piece group from the bay. They make country indie rock. Five of them sing, four of them are credited with lead vocals. This leads me to believe that there are multiple song writers. This will be a CD pre-release show. Y La Bamba is a band that I play bass and sing in. Though we only have three singers and five members, I think we do a pretty good job doing what we do (playing eclectic songs of personal spirituality, sickness and memories). The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

Alberta Street Pub is having a show with John Heart Jackie and Joel Smith (Spokane, WA). It seems there are two sides of the folk coin these days. On the one side you have the sleepy pretty side, ala John Heart Jackie. The other side is energetic and heavily arranged ala Joel Smith. Joel Smith was kind enough to send me his new album The Filibuster. It is a good record. Really it is, which is a pleasant surprise. His songs are all really well arranged he seems equally comfortable with a banjo, guitar (acoustic or otherwise). There are tasteful additions of organs and almost gospel vocals throughout the disc. He comes from the land of Spokane , which has given us the likes of relatively similar Karli Fairbanks and Kaylee Cole. I have read that he usually has a four piece band in tow. Also I should mention that this is the EP release show for John Heart Jackie. This should be a good show. I have not seen a cover listed anywhere but the show starts at 9 PM.

So if you see me at Mississippi Studios tonight. Say "Hi". Or you can just heckle me from afar.

-Ben


Church play Mile Post 5 today for FREE.

3 comments:

Goldie Davich said...

Your picks just got a recommend by Weiden + Kennedy Entertainment on twitter.

dharmabeatdown said...

Good job, Ben.

Adam Steinfink said...

by the way - Ben are you in in Oregon right now?