'2024' Dates
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Dan invited me to another show. This venue is quite close to my home, and I finally made it there. The two bands had a country vibe, but more in the Flying Burrito Brothers realm. They both had pedal steel guitars. Steel Fringe was more traditional, and I really enjoyed their quick set. The first band may have played three long jams while I was there. The one in the middle was a pedal steel freak out, in that lots was going on with that instrument while the rest of the band had a groove that nearly reminded me of Tortoise. Great to get out on a Thursday night of all new bands and a new venue.
I joined Jesse, another Sabin dad, at this show. It was a nice pop rock show. Jesse joked that everyone looked like they could be a Sabin school parent. The opener were two guys on guitars, backed by a drummer for about half their set. They are from Olympia, WA. They ended their set with a Simon & Garfunkel cover I wasn't familiar with. Lunchbox are on Slumberland Records. They had a full band with a synthesizer too. It sounds like they traveled from California. I liked their set. The last band was local. They were the most rocking of the bunch. It was a fun night out. This place closes tight at 11 PM, so it is nice for dads.
I went to this show solo. I arrived as Glixen were in the midst of a song. During the whole song I'd not heard any vocals; I wasn't certain who the singer or leader of the band may be. I assumed it was the guy to the left, shredding his guitar during their big crunching drone. There were also two women with long straight hair playing guitar and bass. They kept swinging their hair around. I kept hoping for some sort of resolution with the music that didn't quite come. I didn't realize until it was over that it was their last epic song. Sasami came onto stage solo, wearing a sort of fancy dress or gown. She shredded her guitar metal style over a pre-progammed backing track and sang. She then moved onto less metal songs that gave me a dancy 80s Pat Benatar vibe. She mentioned how she usually tours with a metal band and she was trying something new. She ended her set by playing a French horn along to her tracks. It wasn't exactly my style, but she kept my attention with how different the music was and her energy. While the stage was being set for DIIV, the smoke machines started filling the room. Its fragrant smell brought me back to the late 80s and early 90s. They had a large screen behind the band. Come to think about it, screens are used so often that's sort of like saying "The band used microphones and amplifiers." However the videos had a couple interesting twists. The main theme throughout the evening was a vibe of a cult video promoting their lifestyle, and DIIV was part of that along, even partnering with Exxon Mobil. It was all fun and quirky. They hit the spot so well. It reminded me of the story in the house at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, or the Jejune Institute game in San Francisco years ago. Additionally, they had videos with the lyrics and it was all synchronized along with the band. This was something I'd not seen before, and I liked it. The band is fully playing live, but there are some parts that are clearly pre-recorded (synths etc.). There was one fun video where it was like the band was on a zoom meeting, and when the singer was singing, his screen would zoom larger than the others. Now that I've talked about all the effects, I'll talk about the music. This band is terrific. They have this shoe gaze meets mid 80s New Order meets Hum thing going on. It's so great to listen to. The sound was big and clear. I was near the front (behind the pit (when there was one)) and it sounded crystal clear. The singer is sort of back and to the side and leans over his microphone. In front is a guitarist who I think only sang one small bit. Stage left is the bassist, sometimes singing. All of this is through the smoke machine. Much like the music, it sort of gives one a vibe of not really wanting to engage. It was a great show.
Mike and I got there, got a beer and then the show pretty much started. There wasn't an opener. It appeared to be the full Freedom Band. The show absolutely rocked. They just ripped through songs without much banter at all. At times they rocked, sometimes they shredded, and very often they had terrific jam going. What a band! Afterwards we went up to the stage to tell Ty and Emmett they rocked, which they graciously listened to. Mike mentioned that Ty was off to Chicago for the Steve Albini memorial the very next day. Must be exhausting to rock so much.
Mike and I arrived early enough that we were both able to see the venue not jam packed. It's interesting how they have this steel encased service cooridor blocked off down the middle of the entire place. When it's packed, you really cannot tell. The opener Famous Mammals are from Oakland, CA. It's a four piece. I really dug the show. His voice gave a big Mark E. Smith vibe. The guitar reminded me of Television. They had a woman who played a viola (violin?) with a drone for most all of the songs. She also sang one song. The drummer was nice and steady too. I just downloaded their latest album to check it out. Osees, well they put on a classic set. They came out loud and fast. The crowd went nuts. We were standing just behind one of the mosh pits. We had wondered if it would be a synth show, since the latest album is synthesizer based. However it was the standard guitar line up on stage. The two drummers right in front amazed once again. John Dwyer handed out licorice to the crowd at one point. Once they started a song, and he went up to both the keyboard player and the drummer. He then stopped the song. He mentioned something along the lines of forgetting the words and melody to his own song, and the drummer helped him. He thought it was funny that it must mean many of his songs sound similar. At some point, he thanked the opening band. He said they said why do you want us? We don't really like your band. He said, that's cool, but I still want you to play. It was a hot night and the band ended without an encore.
Dan and I met up before the show at a nearby bar. It seemed very old school Portland with video lottery machines, the smell of cigarette smoke from outside, pool tables, darts, and grease. We grabbed seats for the first set. They had 3 guitars playing reverbed drones and a keyboardist. There was an e-bow used on occasion. It sounded good, although I could not make out the vocals well. They had a book of poetry at the merch table, so that may be a shame. We stood for Wand. The standing area filled up, and the seats were sparse. I was glad to see them here instead of Mississippi Studios again, but it wasn't a sell out. They were terrific with lots of riffs built on riffs. It was fun to watch them go. The show was old school, and they didn't have any video projection behind them. In hindsight, that was refreshing. I wound up watching the band more. I also ran into a Sabin dad and a new neighbor at the show.
We arrived at the show, which was a "living room show". Basically there was an annoucement that Matt would be touring around this route, would you be able to host about 50 people? Then the annoucement of the shows went out, and Portland's was downtown. I didn't think much else of it until the day of the show when I realized it was in an old bank. It's now the headquarters of Expensify. The host said he likes to keep the place's awesome space activated. It's a huge old bank: columns 3 to 4 stories high. We all sat on "San Francisco Venture Capital financed"-style chairs in a beautiful room updated by more VCs. My work experience gave me these vibes. Regardless, it was an awesome place for a show. When we got in we were some of the first there, and saw Matt. I said hi, and he said he recognized me, which was nice to hear. Once the show started, he played two different nylon string acoustic guitars. He had a single microphone, and brought his own vintage PA. There were two floor lamps for lighting. He also had some foot pedals that would play pre-recorded rhythm loops. He played songs from what he called his Sci Fi trilogy. He said he'd tried to submit one as an idea to a Sci Fi magazine, where they could have a flexi-disc of the song inserted, but they declined. He called himself a travelling peddler of merch. It was a great set that was very much in the vein of what I'd come to expect from him, but also different. It was nice to hear his voice, and in such a terrific room. From where we were sitting, the reverb in the room was terrific. I'd heard from others it didn't work so well in their spots. I'm glad I got to see and hear his music, and I hope more of it is available soon.
Unwound's tour this time was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of "New Plastic Ideas." It was interesting for me, since this is the one album of theirs that I don't actually have. I really enjoyed it, and I'll admit once they played other songs at the end I got even more excited. I went with my friends Dan and Chris. I'd worked with Chris at both Apple and Uber. We had a fun night out. We got there just as the first band started. The singer was quite tall and the band sounded pretty good. I'd not heard of them before, but an internet search taught me they recently reformed for the first time since the 90s, with inspiration from Unwound. I'd heard of Steel Pole Bath Tub for decades, but hadn't heard them until tonight. I like the rocking band. There was also an interesting live sampling mixed in. A good night out with lots of 90s vibes.
I went with my friend Ralf. On the drive over, we guessed the median age to be about 60. I think we were right. As we walked in, the first band was already on stage. It was quite loud, so we put in our earplugs right away. They had interesting visuals, but I was pretty much too overwhelmed by the volume to enjoy the music. I think it was also due to not knowing the music and how loud it was. It took awhile for The Jesus And Mary Chain to come on stage. They had large Orange amps and the cabinets had "JESUS" stenciled on them. They came out to lots of stage smoke. They were generally backlit. Their sound was "big" with lots of drums and reverb. My familiarity with the band is their earlier years, so I was surprised by the sound. It was really clear to me during this show how they mined the same wall of sound back catalog that The Ramones had. One interesting thing happened I don't think I've seen before. They started a song, which I recognized. After just a few bars, the singer stopped the band. I'm not sure what he said, but they moved onto a completely different song. Usually I'll see a band try it again, but not this time. I'd guess that I'd recognized about half the songs they played. The ones I knew were "Happy When It Rains", "Some Candy Talking", "In A Hole", "Nine Million Rainy Days", and "Just Like Honey". It was a fun set! The Psychedelic Furs were great. The singer sounded terrific and danced around the entire stage. All I can say is that once I saw him performing, I realized he was performing exactly as I guess I would imagine he would! He and his brother both had sunglasses on for the whole show. They had a cello and keyboard on stage. There were 6 performers all together. It was really fun and they had the crowd dancing. I realized I knew even more of their songs that I thought! The songs they played I recognized were "Ghost In You", "Love My Way", "President Gas", "Pretty In Pink", "Heartbreak Beat", and "Heaven". It was a fun night. Sometime during the show, we realized that we saw two "brother bands" tonight. The only original members of both bands were brothers.
I went with my brother Mike. It was at a church in the neighborhood. I saw Chuck beforehand and despite not having seen him in over 10 years, he graciously remembered my name. Very soon thereafter, the show started. There were about 50 people gathered in comfy seats and upholstered pews. The first performer is from Portland. He's solo and sitting on the floor. We can't really see him from where we are sitting in the rear. After the show we see he has an autoharp, pedals and a mixing board, and another small stringed instrument. The music is hypnotic and repeating, building up, and fading out. It seemed to be a single piece. It sounded great in the church. The warm lighting near the altar combined made for a calm experience. Chuck started soon thereafter. He was accompanied by a drummer with a full kit. Chuck had a pedal steel (which you couldn't see well behind a tablecloth). He'd play it and use a mixing board and iPad to repeat the sounds and add more. The drummer made all sorts of interesting sounds, including using a bow on a cymbal. Chuck also took out an electric guitar for the last song. They played about four pieces altogether. It was a nice rainy night out.