pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

Well, this year was once again good to the Pacific Nowrthwest on the concert front… 365 days, 67 shows, 132 artists, many long nights driving home, and a lot of photos…

My favorite concerts of 2011:

1. Puscifer :: Paramount Theater :: Seattle, WA {7 Nov} [review with photos] – brilliant new album, fantastic stripped down/meets over the top tour!
2. U2 & Lenny Kravitz :: Qwest Field :: Seattle, WA {4 Jun} [review with photos] – one of the biggest tours ever doesn’t disappoint
3. My Brightest Diamond :: Mississippi Studios :: Portland, OR {6 Nov} [review with photos] – Shara’s gorgeous voice works well even in a solo setting
4. Peter Mulvey :: three shows :: Eugene/Creswell/Corvallis, OR {10-12 Nov} [3-show review with photos] – yes, I’m an addict, but I can’t pass up any chance to see Peter in my neck of the woods…
5. Godspeed You! Black Emperor :: Crystal Ballroom :: Portland, OR {18 Feb} [review, no photos] – surreal and amazing!
6. The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (Sean Lennon & Charlotte Kemp Muhl):: The Woods :: Portland, OR {28 Jan} [review with photos] – pure pop brilliance, Sean takes after his father…
7. Nels Cline Singers :: Doug Fir Lounge :: Portland, OR {30 Jan} [review with photos] – avant garde guitar experimentation…
8. Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam) & Glen Hansard (of The Swell Season) :: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall :: Portland, OR {14 Jul} [review with photos] – Glen is a great singer-songwriter, and Eddie is an amazing performer (this time, mainly on ukelele)…
9. Explosions in the Sky / MusicFest NW :: Pioneer Courthouse Square :: Portland, OR {10 Sep} [no review] – I had to scuttle from this show to a follow-up MFNW show, but this was definitely a highlight…
10. Pomplamoose :: Doug Fir Lounge :: Portland, OR {27 Oct} [review with photos] – the youtube stars make good with a real tour… A+!
11. Over the Rhine :: Aladdin Theater :: Portland, OR {17 Nov} [review with photos] – OTR will always be a favorite
12. Opeth :: Roseland Theater :: Portland, OR {16 Oct} [review with photos] – no cookie monster screams, I missed them, but Opeth still doesn’t disappoint.
13. Erik Friedlander plays John Zorn’s Masada Book Two (Book of Angels, Volume 8: Volac) :: The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts :: Eugene, OR {8 Jan} [review with photos] – an amazing cellist playing a amazing book of melodies
14. Toad the Wet Sprocket :: Downtown Bend Celebration :: Bend, OR {8 Jul} [review with photos] – anytime Toad or lead singer GLen Phillips are playing in my radar, I’m going!
15. Jeffrey Foucault :: Cozmic Pizza :: Eugene, OR {20 Oct} [review with photos] – Jeffrey is quickly becoming a favorite songwriter of mine, full of grit and charm…

Runners-Up: Reptet at Luckey’s (Jan), Elton John at Matthew Knight Arena (Feb), A Perfect Circle at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (June), The Dead Kenny G’s at Sam Bond’s Garage (July), and Jason Webley & Mood Area 52 at WOW Hall (Oct).  Even after honorable mentions, I cut some GREAT ones… 2011 was a great year.

My favorite concert photos of 2011: (in chronological order)

(all images are free to use under a creative commons designation,
simply identify Daniel Temmesfeld with a
photo credit and link to pacificlectic.com.

Past Favorite Concerts Lists:

• Favorite Concerts 2010
• Favorite Concerts 2009
• Favorite Concerts 2008
• Favorite Concerts 2007

Favorite music of 2011 will be coming soon… EPs/DVDs/etc, vocal albums, instrumental albums…

~Dan – np: Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra – MTO Plays Sly

Chali 2Na is a rapper that commands an album.  His deep baritone and unrivaled flow were a staple on Jurassic 5′s albums.  His height and booming voice also command a room.  I’ve seen Chali many times with J5, but for various reasons, I’ve always missed him when he’s brought his solo tour through town.

This show was going to fall into that same trap… until the Michael Jackson-tribute Cirque du Soleil show set for Wednesday, November 16th got canceled and moved to only being on Tuesday the 15th (my review of the Eugene MJ Cirque show here).  “Yay!  I could hit Chali’2 solo show!”  In fact, had the Cirque tickets not been so much, I would have bailed and gone to see Chali anyhow…

What makes Chali so good?  Well, check out the video for “Step Yo Game Up”…

There was a DJ I didn’t catch the name of as an opener, and then tour opener MTHDS went on late (10pm or so).  They were good and got the smallish WOW Hall crowd warmed up.  I was worried that the crowd for Chali 2Na would stay low, but I guess a lot of people were downstairs during the earlier sets as the floor got a little more packed during Chali’s show…

more photos below

Chali hit the stage around 11:15pm with his live band the House of Vibe.  They were a three-piece rock format with “Brew” on keys and vocals… there was also a drummer and bassist (didn’t get their names).  It was a fresh take to see a live band with a rapper… most times I’ve seen rap in a live setting, it’s been to DAT or a DJ.

Setlist: the first hour…

• Unknown
• “Mister DJ”
• Comin’ Thru
• Don’t Stop
• F.O.W. (Fish Outta Water)
• International
• Guns Up
• Welcome to the Fish Market
• Freedom [Jurassic 5]
• Quality Control [J5] w/ MJ “I Want You Back” & “I’ll Be There” (snippets)
• What’s Golden [J5]
• Step Yo’ Game Up
• Righteous Way
• …

I bailed around 12:20am… caught about an hour of Chali’2 set.  Great show, wish it would have started earlier – especially for a Wednesday night.  I loved that he threw in a few Jurassic 5 tunes.  Keyboardist “Brew” sang a few Michael Jackson ditties in the middle of J5′s “Quality Control”… the crowd ate it up!

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Chali 2Na’s Site
• Chali 2Na’s Social Media Links (see below)
  
• MTHDS’ Site / Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
• House of Vibe’s Site / Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
• WOW Hall’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Check out more tour dates on Chali’s site HERE.

Next show for me… Over the Rhine @ the Aladdin Theater in Portland tonight (11/17).

~Dan – np: Causing A Tiger – How We Held Our Post

CHALI 2NA PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2011 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

 FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
12/3 update: emobie photographs added

Last night, the Indigo Bellydance group and friends brought Eugene the stupendously entertaining Le Serpent Rouge: An Evening of Beguiling Dance and Strangely Familiar Music.

Le Serpent Rouge is a traveling road show that captivates.  At its core it is the Indigo: made up of Mardi Love, Rachel Brice, and Zoë Jakes (L-to-R in picture to the right).

While they have danced in various groups — including the Bellydance Superstars, Beats Antique and the Yard Dogs Road Show — The Indigo is the group that they call home. They each bring their own influences to make their own modern dance forms unique. Love’s fluidity, Brice’s sinewy strength, and Jakes’ intensity and charm make their sum greater than each one individually. They are known to be theatrical and playful, often playing characters within their performances.

While rooted in Middle Eastern styles, their dance style for this tour might be found in an old West saloon mixed with a Prohibition-era speakeasy. The burlesque and tribal fusion bellydance fits snugly with steampunk-meets-flapper blues/jazz/jug band from the Crow Quill Night Owls and Gallus Brothers. Tub bass, washboard, kazoo, banjo, guitars, percussive bones, feathers, tattoos and legs.

Local group Blair Street Mugwumps were the openers the show… fantastic performers.  I had never heard them, but I had heard of them, and well, now I’ll make a point to hear more of them.  All fantastic musicians, and while not all that dissimilar from the main group, they were a noticeable difference from “just another opening band.”  A jug band with a modern edge.  Quite entertaining.

Le Serpent Rouge started with Rachel Brice coming out dressed as an old lady… and introducing the show for us.  The show was a nice mix of saloon tunes from Crow Quill Night Owls and the Gallus Brothers with dancing (group, duo and solo) and skits mixed in.  The dramatic side of the Indigo shone through in their silly stage presence.

As far as the backing bands… the Gallus Brothers were actually part of the Crow Quill Night Owls band, but then splintered off to do silly tricks, juggling, and of course… glitter throwing.  Here’s a shot of one of their silly tricks during a song…

Of course, the ladies of the Indigo were lovely… here are a few photos, with more at the bottom.  I’ll also post some from Margaret O’Brien (emobie photography) once she gets them edited… update: added 12/3.

many more photos below

The Appropriate Linkage:

• The Indigo’s Main Site / Zoe / Rachel / Mardi
• The Indigo’s Social Media Links (see below)
• Crow Quill Night Owls‘ MySpace
• Gallus Brothers‘ MySpace
• Blair St. Mugwumps’ Site / Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
• My Other Related Reviews~
  • Beats Antique @ McDonald (Eugene Celebration – Aug 2010)
  • Beats Antique @ Faeireworlds (Mt. Pisgah – Jul 2009)
  • The Indigo @ Oregon Country Fair (Veneta – Jul 2008)
• WOW Hall’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Tonight is their last night of the tour (Dec 1st at Portland’s Mississippi Studios).  For a list of where they’ve played, check below.

~Dan – np: Puscifer – C is for…

LE SERPENT ROUGE PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld
and Margaret O’Brien (emobie photography)
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Le Serpent Rouge Fall 2010 Tour Dates

• 11/5 – Seattle, WA – Market Theater
• 11/6 – Bellingham, WA – Wild Buffalo
• 11/9 – Ashland, OR – CultureWorks
• 11/11 – Sabastopol, CA – Hopmonk Tavern
• 11/12 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
• 11/14 – Reno, NV – The Great Escape
• 11/16 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
• 11/18 – Tucson, AZ – Solar Culture
• 11/20 – Albuquerque, NM – Low Spirits
• 11/23 – Los Angeles, CA – King King
• 11/28 – Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley
• 11/30 – Eugene, OR – WOW Hall
• 12/1 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Eugene Celebration 2010 “Raise the Roof” was in full effect on Saturday.  This year’s Celebration was in a partnership with with Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity and Northwest Community Credit Union to fund the construction of two houses in the Eugene-Springfield community over the next three years.

We caught some good grub, interesting people watching, scoped out the pretty damn awesome electric vehicle (the Pulse made by Arcimoto)… and some music.  The first band I saw was Upstate Trio.  They’re from New York, but now live in the Eugene area.  Great groove rock trio.  I hope to catch them again soon.

Boy Eats Drum Machine was the next major act to take in.  I saw him open for That1Guy in May (review link with photos below), and he put on a great show.  Last night’s performance wasn’t any exception.  Sax, turntable, drums, effects pad, loops, and all around great grooves from this one-man wrecking crew.  Check out the stop-animation video for “Hoop+Wire“:

You can also download the BEDM song “Hoop+Wire” on mp3 and FLAC (or other options) for FREE over at Bandcamp.  Next up…

As mentioned a little over a week ago, Beats Antique is coming out with a new album in about two weeks.  It’s called Blind Threshold.  If it’s anything like their past two albums and an EP, it’ll be great.

They hit the stage around 11pm and played a fairly percussive set.  Zoë Jakes wasn’t able to dance last night.  She hurt her knee a while ago and is on doctor’s orders to take it easy for a while.  So, we didn’t get the gorgeous dance performance that we’re used to (photos of Zoë dancing at prior events linked below).  Despite the lack of dancing by Zoë, their infectious music got the rest of the crowd to pick up some of the slack.  It was a great show, and hopefully they’ll be back soon, with Zoë in full health.

The overwhelming bass attacked our ears for both BEDM’s and Beats Antique’s sets.  It got especially painful up in the balcony; so we stayed downstairs for most of the night.  All in all, a great hour-long set from each band.  Round 2 of Celebration for me today… I hope to catch 3 Leg Torso‘s set.

many more photos below

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Upstate Trio on MySpace
• Boy Eats Drum Machine’s Site
• BEDM on MySpace
• Beats Antique’s Site
• Beats Antique on MySpace
• Zoë Jakes’ Site
• Zoë Jakes MySpace
• Prior Reviews:
  • BEDM opening for That1Guy (WOW Hall, May 2010)
  • Zoë w/ Rachel Brice & Mardi Love (Oregon Country Fair 2008)
    
  • Beats Antique w/ Zoë dancing (Faerieworlds 2009)
    
• Eugene Celebration
• McDonald Theatre

Check out more Beats Antique tour dates below.

~Dan – np: Bar Kokhba Sextet – John Zorn 50th Birthday Celebration 11

BOY EATS DRUM MACHINE & BEATS ANTIQUE PHOTOS
pictures (cc) 2010 Daniel Temmesfeld, except for Beats Antique #21-29 (cc) 2010 Margaret O’Brien, you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Beats Antique Tour Dates

• 8/20 – Sheldon, VT – Liberate Music And Arts Festival
• 8/21 – Stephentown, NY – Bella Terra Music Festival
• 8/28 – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theatre
• 9/10 – Clarks Grove, MN – Harvestfest – Harmony Park
• 9/11 – Minot, ME – 1st Annual Dankfest
• 9/17 – Laytonville, CA – Earthdance
• 9/18 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
• 9/24 – Seattle, WA – Decibel Festival @ Motor
• 9/25 – Arcata, CA – Aracata Theatre
• 9/28 – Fargo, ND – The Aquarium
• 9/30 – Madison, WI – Majestic Live
• 10/1 – Milwaukee, WI – Miramar Theatre
• 10/2 – Chicago, IL – Abbey Pub
• 10/3 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
• 10/6 – New Orleans, LA – Republic
• 10/9 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
• 10/11 – Mobile, AL – Alabama Music Box
• 10/12 – Birmingham, AL – Zydeco
• 10/13 – Nashville, TN – Exit/In
• 10/14 – Asheville, NC – TBD
• 10/15 – Charleston, SC – The Pour House
• 10/16 – Athens, GA – New Earth Music Hall
• 10/17 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade – Hell Room
• 10/22 – Allston, MA – Harpers Ferry
• 11/11 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret
• 11/12 – Edmonton, AB – The Pawn Shop
• 11/13 – Calgary, AB – Royal Canadian Legion
• 11/14 – Winnipeg, MB – Crescent Wood United Church

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

We last saw Zoë Jakes dance with her troupe, Indigo Belly Dance Company with Rachel Brice & Mardi Love, at last year’s Oregon Country Fair.  She has a fun American tribal style fusion mixed with some hip-hop pops & locks.  Anyway, she’s fun, and a lot of her facial expressions remind me of one of our good friends in Ohio (who is now en route to South Carolina).

Anyway… my wife and I got free tickets to last night’s Faerieworlds 2009 festival.  My wife’s working the fest Sat & Sun, but Friday’s Zoë Jakes & Beats Antique show was the main thing I wanted to see.  They started right on time, 7:30pm, and played for 75 minutes.  Beats Antique is comprised of David Satori (Zoë’s squeeze) & Tommy Chappel.  David & Tommy both manned laptops with electronics beats and loops.  Tommy also played some hand drums, and David played violin, guitar, and provided horseback rides.  Zoë danced with 5 or 6 tunes, taking breaks to change and breathe. :)

The crowd was really into the band and Zoë, and were dancing all around us.  Near the end, David brought up a friend who was up front, and she got to dance on stage for a bit (while Zoë was off).  As the band was ending their set, the sun was going down.  It was really a great scene.

The band has a new digital -EP- out called Contraption Vol 1, and can be gotten via their webpage (not on iTunes, yet).  Check it out… it’s got some rad electronic, glitch-rock & dub mixed with world music.

Many pics are below (with a ZIP file with all of the pictures fit to print, but too many to actually post).

The Appropriate Linkage:

• http://www.beatsantique.com/
  
• http://www.myspace.com/beatsantique
• http://www.zoebellydance.com/
• http://www.myspace.com/zoebellydance
• http://www.theindigo.net/
• http://www.faerieworlds.com/

~Dan – np: downset. – Code Blue Coma -EP- no free download or torrent available, sorry.

ZOË JAKES &
BEATS ANTIQUE PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

Higher Resolution (13 pics)

Limited to 1200 pixels wide or tall (10 pics)

and this fuzzy one, because of its funny face…

Large ZIP file with more pictures (47.7Megs)
69 pictures, includes the 23 above

CLICK HERE FOR ZIP FILE (right click, save as)

Zoe

I first heard of Portland Cello Project via cellist Anna Fritz.  Her 2005 album Wake featured a couple of songs with singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey guesting, of whom I had been a longtime fan already.  Anyway, shortly thereafter, Anna Fritz was posting on her MySpace page about this new band that she was in, the Portland Cello Project.  They kept playing around on times that I couldn’t see them… so last night was the first official time for me to see them, though I guess I’ve been a fan for a while.

We showed up around 8:30 to a beyond packed house.  Oh crap, I underestimated the draw of the PCP on a Saturday night in Eugene.  Emily Wells was into her set, and some of the PCP was sitting in on her set.  Great stuff… enough to buy her Symphonies album.  I hope she comes around Eugene or Portland again… I loved her sound.

The Portland Cello Project came on around 9:30.  Their sound seemed very much standard “chamber music” until they hit the more energetic Pantera and Dave Brubeck pieces.  PCP pulls off the “modern / alternative chamber music” sound pretty well without getting lumped into the sometimes cheesy Apocalyptica and the almost always cheesy “String Quartet Tribute to…” compilations.  PCP had a mix of classical, jazz, rougher music, tween pop with John Brophy, and indie rock (the songs featuring Justin Power on guitar & voice)… seemed to be enjoyed by the very large, very diverse crowd…

Setlist: (per the PCP blog)

• Collaborations with Emily Wells
• The Batman Theme Song (by Danny Elfman)
• Turkish Wine (by Norfolk and Western)
• Denmark (by Gideon Freudmann)
• Mouth for War (by Pantera)
• Take 5 (by Dave Brubeck Quartet)
• A piece by Ashia
• Ashia and Justin Power playing Hungry Liars
• Two more Justin Power pieces!
• Toxic (by Britney Spears) featuring John Brophy
• What Goes Around…/…Comes Back around (by Justin Timberlake) featuring John Brophy
• Push-it (by Salt N Pepa) featuring John Brophy and Emily Wells
• 3 pieces collaborating with Run-On Sentence
• Encore: Transformation from The Dream: A Three Movement Suite for Cellos, Mallet Percussion, and Drum Set by Rachel Blumberg

We stuck around through the Justin Timberlake tune (it had been a long day).  Great stuff all around.  I was very impressed with Emily Wells set (never heard of her before), and the size of the crowd at Cozmic.  I mean, seriously, I’ve never seen that many people packed in there.  It was great to see so many people out there, but I’m wondering how they heard about it.  Here I was thinking I’d show up at 8:30 and get right in…

Next time, I’ll know to show up early for PCP in Eugene.

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Portland Cello Project Online
  
• Portland Cello Project on MySpace
• Emily Wells on MySpace
• Justin Power on MySpace
• Cozmic Pizza

~Dan – np: Flaregun – Ten Sundays

Well, let’s just say… this show was mutha’uckin’ AWESOME!!!

Before the show, there was a spot-on Murray look-a-like in the crowd.  A little bit younger looking, but definitely pretty damn close.  At around 7:45pm, the lights dimmed and what sounded like Jemaine (from FOTC) announced the opener.  Arj Barker, who plays Dave on HBO’s Flight of the Conchords show, came out and did a hilarious 30-minute stand-up routine.  Very witty humor.  He’s got a Comedy Central special coming soon, plus he’ll be doing his own solo tour later in the year.  Should be fun… I’d definitely recommend Arj, and if he comes near me again (Eugene, please?), I’ll be there.

Arj introduced Flight of the Conchords Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie immediately after his set, and they came out swinging right away in their robot costumes.  To which they immediately broke into a song from their 2nd season, “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor.”  They never got back into their robot costumes again, which was… well… unfortunate.  Great show though.  They also had a cellist, Nigel, who was “New Zealand’s symphony orchestra.”  Due to budget cuts, Nigel is the entire NZ symphony orchestra. :)  Here’s what they played…

Setlist: (YT: YouTube video from the HBO show)

• Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor (YT)
• Hurt Feelings (YT) (*a fave of the night*)
• The Ballad of Stana
• The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room) (YT) (*a fave of the night*)
• Carol Brown (Stick Around)
• Jenny
• Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (YT) (*a fave of the night*)
• I’m Not Crying (YT)
  
• Freebird (upon request, but we think it was a planted request… Bret moved over to drums)
• Mutha’uckas (YT) (Bret continuing on drums – *a fave of the night*)
• Business Time (YT) (*a fave of the night*)
• Think About It (Think, Think About It) (YT)
• Lazy Eye
• Sugalumps (YT)
• Encore: Albi the Racist Dragon (YT)
  
• Bus Driver’s Song
• Bowie (YT)

The only real disappointment was the obvious lack of “Robot Song (The Humans Are Dead)” (YT).  “Foux Da Fa Fa” (YT), “If You’re Into It” (YT), and “Ladies of the World” (YT) would have been fun, too.  They show was really great, though.  They played and talked and talked and played for an hour and 45 minutes.  Really funny, and I liked most of the new songs… I’m looking forward to the 2nd season when it comes out on DVD (as I don’t have HBO).  I wasn’t able to take any photos due to the venue’s rules.  Here is one from SPIN‘s Miami review (more further down in the links):

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Flight of the Conchords webpage
• Flight of the Conchords on MySpace
• Arj Barker webpage
• Arj Barker on MySpace
• SPIN Review from Miami
• SPIN Photos from Miami
• Arlene Schnitzer Hall in Portland, OR

~Dan – np: Wynton Marsalis – He and She

WOW! Fantastic show at the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, OR, last night… it was beautiful day, then it rained for the show… but it was a BLAST!

Openers: Lilla D’Mone Trio with My G – great musicianship in a hip-hop, funk soul rock realm. The lyrics were a little lacking in my opinion… they seemed to mean well but fall short. Alas, it’s probably why I gravitate to more instrumental bands anyway. Good pop lyricists are too few and far between. If I had to grade ‘em… a B. Blue Scholars - a DJ & MC duo from Seattle. They were good, but I spent most of their set in the long and slow coffee line. Hmph. What I heard, I enjoyed (B+). The Coup – they were a very good act. Sort of a rap funk rock thing going on. Played for an hour, very enjoyable (solid A). Too many openers for my taste, but they were pretty good (all things considered).

Michael Franti and Spearhead put on a GREAT show. I had never heard them outside of their samples on MySpace, but my wife (and her boss) wanted to go… and the vibe I heard was good; so what the heck. Anyway, amazing show… good mix of rock, reggae, and hip-hop. I didn’t know the names of the songs, but I liked ‘em… and even in the rain, it didn’t stop people from dancing in the aisles (and on the chairs). Oh, he did play a song I knew… Nirvana‘s “Come As You Are.”

I’m a fan of his music now… great stuff.

The Appropriate Linkage:

• http://spearheadvibrations.com/
• http://www.myspace.com/spearheadvibrations
• http://www.thecuthbert.com/
• http://www.myspace.com/lilladmone
• http://www.myspace.com/bluescholars
  
• http://www.myspace.com/thecoupmusic
  

~Dan – np: Bar Kokhba Sextet – Masada Book Two: Lucifer