Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Saturday, November 28th

Hello Dear Readers,

What happened? I was doing so good. But then last night winter laziness struck. Hard. Which is to say I stayed at home and watched a Netflix. Have you seen Tim Burton's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory? It is weird. Anyway here are some shows that are happening tonight that look good:

Saturday, November 28th

Doug Fir is having a show with Explode into Colors, May Ling, Breakfast Mountain, and DJ Hanukkah Miracle. If you are into making your caboose get loose, then this is the show you should choose. Explode Into Colors is Portland's favorite band. They are a totally rhythm centric band that have a loads of reverb on the vocals and use of guitar and melodic that flirt with dub sounds with their proto-rock energy. May Ling is the Reporter off shoot that allows them to drop the rock from that bands electro-rock and just be electro. Or maybe they are just trading rock for pop to become electro-pop. Whatever it is, it is fun. It is also good. The beats are consistently fresh. It is my opinion that fragile voices sounds most at home atop a sweet beat. Speaking of beats Breakfast Mountain has them as well, though I think his are a bit dirtier. His music touches on the Crunk genre of music with a lo-fi bump. They actually did not bill this as a show, but as a party. Just saying. The show/party is $10 and starts at 9 PM.

Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Massive Moth (Salem), Yeah Great Fine, and Pep Assembly. Massive Moth is a peppy pop band that lives up to the sound of a band that would name its album "The Heavy Hand of Whimsy". Yeah Great Fine is a bubbly math-pop band. They are awesome they incorporate crazy guitars, crazy keys, crazy drumming and catchy melodies and sugar sweet vocals. And they do it well. Pep Assembly is a post-punk pop band. I have been meaning to see them for quite a while. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

The Woods is having a show with Prairie, Rauelsson, and John Vecchiarelli. Prairie are relatively new to the scene, but I assure you they are good. They are an indie-rock band with a tinge of twang. Imagine Arcade Fire with pedal steel. Or something like that. I am not saying that they sound like that exactly, but it has a similar feel to what that sounds like in my head. Rauelesson is a Spaniard that spends his time here in Portland writing pretty folk songs in a language I don't understand. He has aligned himself with the Hush Records family and therefore has access to many great musicians which he has used to beautifully flesh out his songs. John Vecchiarelli plays drums in like a million bands. I personally have only seen him play with Run On Sentence. He rarely plays his music which is a shame because it is very good. It looks like he is starting to do it more though. He clearly falls in the Indie-folk genre. He kinda makes me feel the way I feel when I listen to The Red House Painters. The show is $5 with 9 PM.

Crystal Ballroom is having a show with The Helio Sequence, Panther, and Ramona Falls. I was never really that into to Helio Sequence, I think they are good, but do not understand why they are huge. They are huge, right? I do like Panther though. I like the hyperactive energy and the showman ship of Charlie Salas wins me over every time. And Ramona Falls just kills me. I love 'em. It sounds similar to Memomena, which of course it should, but is different at the same time. I can't put my finger on how, though. Brent Knopf can write the crap out of an arrangement and writes good songs to boot, Lord bless him. The show is $16 and starts at 8 PM.

Plan B is having a show with Lethe (Seattle), Diesto, Tenspeed Warlock, and Nanda Devi. Heavy Show! I am not familiar with these bands save my buddies in Nanda Devi who just rule it. They mix Doom and Black Metal and maybe some other heavy genres to create a unique sound that is just epic. The show is at 8 PM.

The Waypost is having a show with That Instrument, +CNCTD, and Dash!. That Instrument is very impressive. It is instrumental music made by one person on one instrument with out effects or loops. And it's not even a guitar. That Instrument is a bass. The music reminds me a bit of a more chill Pele. +CNCTD is also pretty unconventional and also a one man band. It is psychedelic indie rock that uses a series of vocal ooo's aah's and la's as another instrument as opposed to conveying words. Dash! makes is a one man band that does make use of looping and effects. A lot of them. Though I am pretty sure he only uses one instrument, the violin. He creates very beautiful music that might be described as ambient, but I find far to appealing to suggest an ambience. The show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". Because a good bye would make no sense.

-Ben


John Vecchiarelli will play tonight at The Woods. Check it.