Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Saturday, October 24th

Hello Dear Readers,

So I want to talk about this one show that I did not list because a) it happened before I posted this and b) because it was sold out. The Kennedy School had something called You Who. It featured the The Decemberists, The Phantom Hillbilly, Hooliganship/Cartoon Exprez, DJ Anjali, hosted by Eric Stern (Vagabond Opera). Basically it was a rock show for kids. It included skits and sing alongs and a Halloween parade . Apparently it will be a monthly thing. So if you have kids keep a look out for more of the You Who on the horizon. Anyway here are some shows that haven't happened yet.

Saturday, October 24th

Doug Fir is having a show with Blitzen Trapper and Wye Oak (Baltimore). So essentially Blitzen Trapper blew my socks off last night. They are a real rock band for sure. How do I know? The bassist wears a leather wrist band. There are a lot of guitar solos and even more guitarmonies. There was a acoustic set in the middle of the regular set. It was awesome. I imagine tonight it will be similar. The openers have been on tour with them for several weeks now. They are a duo and listening to their recordings which are very rich with instruments, it will be interesting to see how they pull off their music as a two piece. The show is $15 and starts at 9 PM.

White Eagle is having a show with Blue Cranes and Round Mountain (Santa Fe). I think the Blue Cranes version of Jazz for the kids who grew up on indie rock is great. Their two records are good but do not reach the greatness of seeing them live. They have very firm grip on how to utilize dynamic shifts to evoke a response in me that I find quite impressive. Round Mountain is a sibling folk group that features the brothers Rothschild. It seems pretty good. The show is $6 and starts at 9:30 PM.

The Woods is having a show with Norfolk and Western, The Golden Bears, ans The Low Lows. I last saw Norfolk and Western at PDX Pop 2008. They were a rock band. Which surprised me because I recalled them being a folk-rock band. It had seemed that they had dropped the folk for electric guitars and loud choruses. It was super fun. The Golden Bears are a band that I think I have written about several times, but have yet to make it out to one of their shows. They are a duo that have been in several bands together and seem to have developed some chemistry together. I really don't know how to describe it though. It is not rock. It is not folk. It is not country. It is not hip-hop. It is not dance. I don't know...just click on the link I provided to see what they sound like. The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

The Artistery is having a show with Neal Morgan, Why I Must Be Careful, and ASSS. This is a somewhat experimental show. Not that it is really far out there, but it is a little farther out there than most shows. Neal Morgan is a drummer. He is also a singer in this project he has combined these two abilities. He has been getting some help in the singing department by Damris Peterson. He has just released a record called Drum and Voice Record. It is pretty straight forward. But do not be mistaken both the drums and the voice are really good. Why I Must Be Careful is made up of two pretty amazing musicians, John Niekrasz and Seth Brown. They play drums and Rhodes piano respectively. And they both play very fast and with very calculated precision. It is kinda math-y and really interesting. The music progresses in very organic ways that still seem unpredictable. ASSS is an experimental band. The experiment? To try to make a band as a drum and oscillator duo. Granted that also use vocals, but this is not your normal band. It is kinda cool though. The ALL AGES show is $6 and starts at 8 PM.

Berbati's is having a show with Times New Viking (Columbus, OH), Eat Skull, and Hey Lover. Times New Viking makes very loud and noise laden pop music. Wait a minute...so does Eat Skull (although maybe not as noise laden). Hey Lover's garage pop has its louder moments. What does all this mean? I guess it means that if you need both your pop needs and your noise needs fulfilled tonight, that this is the show for you. The show is $10 and starts at 8: 30 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". I will be all like, "Hi." and we can take it from there.

-Ben


Why I Must Be Careful will play at the Artistery tonight. Cool, right?