Ben Meyercord's Live Music picks for Saturday August 14th

Hello Dear Readers,

I totally jacked my roommate's laptop and going to get you my picks today, again. Hooray for him not being home! Anyway Here are the shows that look good to me today :

Laughing Planet on Woodstock is having a something called Chimp Fest a benefit for IDA Africa's Sanaga-Young Chimpanzee Rescue Center. The show has a lot of stuff that looks fun. Plus there are musical performances by Jared Mees & the Grown Children, Monarques, Sean Flinn & The Royal We, Alan Singley & Pants Machine, Nervous & The Kid, and Trash Can Joe. These are some darn good bands. Jared Mees and company put on one of the most fun shows in town. Monarques are a great retro-pop band. Sean Flinn is a great pop band (that I sometimes sing back ups in). His songs are all very well crafted and arranged. Alan Singley & Pants Machine are are a great orchestrated pop ensemble led by another really fun performer, um...Alan Singley. I am not familiar with Nervous & The Kid and Trash Can Joe. The ALL AGES show is $5 per family or person and starts at about noon.

Doug Fir is having a show with The Angry Orts, The Ascetic Junkies, and Nucular Aminals. Every so often Doug Fir puts together a local bill for cheap. Tonight The Angry Orts are putting out a new CD Staires! They put on a lively show and all will generally agree that good times aare to be had at their shows. The Ascetic Junkies are a pop update of folk sounds. I have not seen them before. Nucular Aminals are pop band that I have not seen, but they have a couple songs that sound pretty good. The show is $5 and and starts 9 PM.

Backspace is having a show with Your Rival, Wizard Rifle, and We Play Quiet. Your Rival only has one track on myspace and it sounds like a song that would be at the beginning of a Wes Anderson film. Wizard Rifle sound like a rock band that has a thing for metal riffs. We Play Quiet is the Vancouver band that plays pop music with a slight punk edge. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". That would be nice,

Ben


Jared Mees & The Grown Children will be playing Chimp Fest this evening at The Woodstock Laughing Planet.