Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Wednesday, June 9th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I had a few things going against me and I did not make it out. I ended up working ten hours yesterday, and did not drink enough water and ended up exhausting myself. On the one hand I am really bummed that I didn't see any of the music, but on the other hand well rested and feeling healthy. I know I know. I should not worry about such things but I have found my quality of life is better when I treat my body better. Anyway I don't have to work tomorrow. So in case I don't get to see Tortoise tonight, these are the local shows that look good to me:

The Woods is having a show with Jen Moon, Mbilly, and Wax Fingers. Jen Moon is a pretty sweet rock band. It features half of Oh Captain My Captain and a few o my friends. I think you will be impressed with how they soumd. I don't think I can describe how they sound. Mbilly is a guy who goes between folk rock and folk very nicely. Wa Fingers push pop music beyond its natural boundaries, you would a fool not to at least check out the link I provided. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.

White Eagle is having a show with Rollerball and Class M Planets. RollerBall is a really good art rock band. They are really good. Too good to be on an american label. I think they are on an Italian label. Listen to the link. Class M Planets is another outlet for Adam of thebrotheregg. I suspect they also might be huge nerds because I found out that Class M planets is a reference to Star Trek. See. Luckily most nerds make really awesome music. The show is FREE and starts at 8:30 PM.

Rotture is having a show with Alan Singley, Paper/Upper/Cuts, and The Caps. I really like Alan Singley's first two albums. I confess that I do not have his third, "Feeling Citrus". Tonight he is playing as a two piece. That is how he played when I first saw him years ago when I first moved here. My guess is that the other person will play drums while Alan switches between guitar and somesort of instrument with keys. I hope he plays some oldies but goodies. His songs are usually cute and very sentimental. I think that there is a chance that Alan might be a sentimental type of guy. Paper/Upper?Cuts is the project of David "Pappi" Fimbres. He does it all. He drums, he plays keys, he loops (I think) he lets loose. You kinda just have to see it. The Caps are a indie pop band from Portland that I have neot seen yet. That guys is a great talent. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Mama Sunshine, Hello Electric, and Gabe Hascall. Have you ever heard of The Impossibles? How about SlowReader? Gabe Hascall played in both of those bands with his former musical companion Rory Phillips in Austin, TX. Both groups sound very different. The Impossibles started off as a Ska Punk pop band and eventually turned into a early Weezer-esque band. Slowreader was a soft indie rock band. Both revolved around Rory and Gabe's vocal harmonies. Then Gabe moved up here to Portland. I have only heard some recordings, but it sounds really good. On the recordings he harmonizes with himself and it is mostly an acoustic affair leaning towards the Slowreader side of things. I could see him playing solo tonight but you never know. Mama Sunshine is a bad led by Eliott King. I have not seen him since he has put the band together. I remember him being a very ambitious guy though, so I am guessing the group will sound good. Hello Electric is a band that features members of the not so big in Portland but really big elsewhere band Portugal, The Man. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows tonight please say, "Hi". Or "wasup?".

-Ben


Check out the kinda bizzare video featuring the music of Gabe Hascall. Gabe is playing tonight at Ella Street Social Club tonight.