Friday, March 18, 2011

Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Friday, March 18th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last Night was St. Patty's day. I played a show as part of Y La Bamba at Doug Fir. I honestly was kinda dreading it because I thought that surely by the time we played at 11:15 that the room would be full of super loud, super rude people. I was surprised. While there were a few that did some minor heckles. Really, someone called out for "Freebird". Luzelena heckled right back and I guess quelled other people's urges to do so. I finally saw Prairie Empire play as they opened up the show. I like where that band is headed. Currently they have Brittain Ashford singing Britain Ashford songs backed by cello, violin, and drums and some male backing vocals. On the last song, however, they had an addition of trumpet. I would love to see more horns or any brass for that matter. Denver killed it. I think that hipsters love country. I told Denver that they should make t shirts that say so. Anyways, here are the shows that look good to me tonight:

The Woods is having a show with Great Wilderness, Come Gather'Rounds Us, and Harlowe & The Great North Woods. Have you ever heard of Great Wilderness? Up until very recenetly they were not on my radar. But they sent me a nice email with a link to their new "Rest EP" and Bam! They are on my radar. The EP was recorded by Victor Nash of Point Juncture WA and it sounds great. Figures. Looks like Skyler Norwood, also of Point Juncture WA and producer of many bands, better watch his back. And if you like slower gentle indie pop led by soft female vocals, then you better get Great Wilderness on your radar too. This is a very promising debut. I have heard good things about Come Gather'Round Us. It is led by married couple Catherine Freeny and Sebastian Rogers. They have fine tuned their minimal folk pop by touring mostly houses across North America and Europe. Harlowe & The Great North Woods seem like a really good fit for this show. They are a collective of folky pop musicians who trade off instruments and some of who played last night as Prairie Empire. This is well arranged folk pop at it's finest. The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with The Mother Hips and The Parson Red Heads. I have a The Mother Hips 7" that I got for free a few years back at a Music Millennium Customer Appreciation BBQ for FREE. I remember thinking that it was alright. Then didn't think about them for years. Then the other day I was talking to my friend who spent some time in Chico, CA about Chico music and he mentioned The Mother Hips. I had no idea. Then yesterday I saw their name on the Doug Fir marquee. Then today I saw they are playing with Parson Red Heads. It seems like my destiny to write about this show. I think that the Parson Red Heads are pretty good. They take some of the elements of classic country and mix that with some psychedelia like it was 1964. From what I understand The Mother Hips rock like it was 1994. The show is $15 and starts at 9 PM.

Red & Black Cafe is having a show with The Taxpayers. Red & Black Cafe is run by some pretty cool people it would seem. They do not hide their politics. They are and have been members of the communist party. Some of them are also anarchist. They recently bought the building that they are in. They are beating the system. It makes me happy to see places like this doing well because well...they do it for the people. The Taxpayers are also doing it for the people. In fact I believe they have made all of their music available for free at various places over the Internet. Their lastest album, To Risk So Much For One Damn Meal is also available on tape and vinyl. Musically they seem to come out a punk foundation with a lot of pop influences. The ALL AGES show is at 7 PM.

Foggy Notion is having a show with Old North, Westfold, and Abajo. Old North have some silly quotes: a revolutionary approach to the medium of sound let alone rock" - San Francisco Quilters Monthly . "a sort of aural therapy that cannot be dismissed or easily forgotten" - Juniper Elementary School Bugle. "a shimmering vessel of hope afloat a sea of sound" - Pet Lovers Magazine. "Pretty good" - Jeff. Would Jeff lie to you? They have a live track of a rock band that I assume is them on the website I linked to. The reason I list the show is because of Westfold. They are one of the original rock bands that Crappy Indie Music covered when it was just Goldie. The other bands being AristeiA and We're From Japan!. They have gone through many changes and I would expect are still changing. The show is $3 and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows, it will be surprising because I just found out I am working until 10 PM. I will be a tired old man by then.

Ben


Harlowe & The Great North Woods play ummmm...The Woods tonight.

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