The Triple Crown: 01/07 - 01/20

We stretched our musical boundaries in this Triple Crown to cover a little bit of it all.  From locally grown rock and Hip hop to the comforting sound of a touring folk band. Take a gander and I'm sure you'll find a show that tickles your fancy. It's a new year and if you haven't made a resolution or goal yet, can I suggest supporting more music by catching more live shows. Just a thought.

Friday, January 11th
Crown Point (Album Release)
Western Aerial / Threebit Bourbon
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside
Doors: 8PM /Show: 9PM
Adv.: $8 /Day Of: $8
21 & Over

You know you've been part of the music industry for a while when you get as excited about the opening bands as you do the headliners. In this case the dynamic bar rock extravaganza of Wetern Aeiral and the blues drenched thickness of Threebit Bourbon. Both bands will be opening for the artsy radio rock of Portland's Crown Point. Celebrating the release of their Curtains EP, Crown Point will be showcasing their new material with their signature high energy live performance. With new wave elements mixed with the energy of arena rock, this band has been able to distill and down size some awesome elements into a wonderfully enjoyable sound and live show. Teamed with a great opening lineup this should be a great show, and a wonderful way to start a new year by supporting live and local music.    

Wednesday, January 16th
Birds of Chicago
Jenn Rawling & Basho Parks / HuckNotari
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi
Doors: 7PM / Show: 8PM
Adv.: $10 / Day Of: $12
21 & Over

This line up of richly organic folk should make for such an amazing show,  that they'll talking about about it for weeks. Topping the bill is the freshly formed Birds of Chicago that pairs Allison Russell and JT Nero. Separately amazing artist of their own, their songs play like modern day echoes of Jim Croce's Pennsylvania farmhouse jam sessions. The ways that Russell's bluesy and emotionally rich vocals mixes with Nero's own earthy tones makes for warm comforting songs. The end results is a fulfilling musical tapestry ripe for discovery by the masses.
Sharing the stage for the evening  are two more equally fantastic acts. The artisan folk of Jenn Rawling and Basho Parks is a fluid creature that seems to drift through a forest from a different time.  While, Huck Notari plays a back-to-basics guitar folk in the vein of Dylan and Guthrie. No matter who you come to see you won't be disappointed.

Friday, January 18th
Bad Habitat
Two Planets / New Pioneers / Cray
Mt. Tabor Theater Lounge
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Show: 9PM
Cover: $5
21 & Over

This showcase is filled with some of the best grassroots hip hop acts this town has to offer and the music they're playing is the truest, purest of it's kind heard in the clubs today. Topping the bill is the powerhouse of Bad Habitats. With tight beats and rhymes that are pieces together with a brilliant architecture, this band is creating powerful and positive Hip hop. Harking back to the days when this music was a celebration of life instead of a weapon, this band is setting themselves apart from the hordes of gangster rap. Another brilliant element of this band is their unique use of some interesting 80's songs for sampleing, making for a totally original sound. Also playing, is a who's who list of Portland's thriving hip hop scene making for an unforgettable lineup. So if you've yearned for the days of Biz Markie, Doug E. Fresh and Big Daddy Kane this is the show for you.      

The Triple Crown: 08/02 - 08/15

This Triple Crown highlights some of the lesser know music clubs in town and is quite easy on the wallet. Ringing in at $16 for all three show, there is surely enough left over for a few drinks, a nice tip for your server/bartender and something from the merch-booth. So grab your stuff, because there's two show right off the bat.


Friday, August 5th
Western Aerial
Cellar Door
The Whiskey Bar
31 NW 1st Ave
Show: 9PM
Cover:$5
21 & Over

Portland's premier rock band Western Aerial will be tearing at the walls of the Whiskey Bar this coming Friday. Geoff and the boys are sure to be at the top of their game, dishing out their hard hitting rock'n'roll with vicious guitar licks, ground shaking drums and a bass groove that makes all the ladies crazy. Fresh from the studio with a few new songs from their forthcoming album and a few new covers for summer this show should be a hell of a good time. If you don't know Western Aerial from their awesome live show or their addition to Blazer games than you need to put down the remote and make it out to catch one of the hardest rock 'n' roll bands this side of the Rockies.
Joining them on stage is the divers rock of Portland's own Cellar Door. Ripe with a stew of musical elements from grunge cadence, metal accents and a bass swagger that flirts with full fledged funk this band has a sound that has something for everyone. So order a round of bourbon and let the rock 'n' roll take control. Just in case, make sure you have your passport, a pair of clean underwear, and three felt tip pens, because you never know what might happen.


Saturday, August 6th
Sunbeam
On the Stairs/Pine Language
Laurel Thirst Public House
2958 NE Glisan
Show:9:30PM
Cover: $6
21 & Over

A warm night kissed by the slightest of breezes is the perfect setting to hear the sweet sound of Portland's Sunbeam. Richly beautiful, this is the soundtrack of late summer romances and painfully honest confessions. Built with wonderfully calculated instrumentation and populated with lyrics that are both tinder and raw this band has developed songs that are truly lovely things. Come this Saturday night, what few already knew will now be shared with the world as they celebrate the release of their debut album Sunbeam and the Lonely Ghost. The intimate settings of the Laural Thirst Public House is a perfect location for such an occasion; the raw timbered walls providing a wonderful conduit for the organic resonance of their folk pop.
Joining the celebration is the dreamy spoken word melodies of On the Stairs and the bold atmospheric alt-rock of Pine Language making for an awesome night of music. So take this chance to sit back, order a few pints of beer and enjoy this night of terrific music. At $6 you'd be hard press to find anything as cheap and entertaining on a Saturday evening.



Monday, August 15th
The Dex Romweber Duo
Thee Headliners
The World Famous Kenton Club
2025 N Kilpatrick St
Show: 9PM
Cover: $5
21 & Over

Like a Jack Kerovac novel, the music of the Dex Ronweber Duo uniquely mixes the swinging vibe of a cocktail lounge and the feel of headlights cutting through the night on a long stretch of Route 66. A time machine of sorts, these tunes have the feel of a now gone era. Even so, they are alive with a vibrant energy that pulses from their own originality rather than merely existing like dusted off covers of by gone classics. Dex channels the likes of Johny Cash, Hank Sr. and Charlie Pride all while translating it through the filter of his own personality and beat up guitar. Meanwhile his sister Sara bangs away on the drums and belts out lyrics like a Patsy Cline/Dusty Springfield cat-fight. Praised by the likes of indi-rock ideal Jack White, this band is a must see and what an opportunity we have. Tucked away in the intimate atmosphere of the World famous Kenton Club, with only a $5 cover at the door, it should be illegal to miss this show.
Opening the night is Portland's own Thee Headliners with their boldly brash style of garage rock madness. Blurring the lines between power and grace this three piece is true force to be respected. So stuff a Lincoln in your billfold and hope that the next day at work isn't too harsh.

The Triple Crown 6/14 - 6/28

This installment of The Triple Crown serves up the CD release parties of 3 of Portland's greatest bands. In the mix is a little junkyard blues, some hard hitting radio rock and the return of the best band ever. Make sure you hit them all, because what's the point unless you can walk away with the crown.

Friday, June 18th
Hillstomp (CD Release Show)
Yogoman Burning Band/Sassparillia/DJ HWY 7
Wonder Ballroom
128 NE Russell Street
Door 8PM / Show 9PM
$10
All Ages

Kicking with the power of copper coil moonshine the junkyard blues of this Portland duo will have the Wonder Ballroom shaking with the stomp of a hill country gig in no time flat. Built with the rawest of bare bone elements, mastered to the brink of perfection and charged with wild youthful energy, the music of Hillstomp is as rich as the Willamette Delta and sung from a soul as old as the river itself. Celebrating the release of their latest studio album "Darker the Night" the boys have planned a party that's sure to be the talk of the town. Joining them on stage by way of Bellingham, Washington is the Jamaican-style soul of the Yogoman Burning Band with danceable cuban beats and reggae like vocals to groove away any residual stress of the week. While the lively jug blues madness of Portland based Sassparillia rounds out the lineup and will get the crowd all limbered up and ready to go. Don't miss it and before the show swing into Russell Street BBQ for some to the best pulled pork in town.


Saturday, June 19th
I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In the House
(CD Release Show)
Drag The River / Dry County Crooks
Dante's
1 SW 3rd Ave
Door 8PM / Show 9PM
$11 Adv./ $12 Day of
21+

Like a child of divorce, I've been waiting a long time for this reunion and finally it's here. After 5 years the boys of SOB are doing what God intended and making some of the best damn rock and roll music in the world. As for those of us familiar with the band, we can attest that every I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House show has the power of a sonic Mack truck capable of altering the earth's rotation and draining the whiskey reserves of Lynchburg, Tennessee. Saturday night should be no different and marks the release of "The Sounds of Dying" an album some of us feared we would never see. Joining them will be their long time friends and new label mates, Drag the River whose world renowned country-rock is the music of beer drenched dive bars and the aching loneliness of the open road. Filling out the bill is Portland's own Dry County Crooks whose roadhouse cow-punk has more Johnny Cash to it than Clash and will start the night off on the right foot. Sure to be filled with a few surprises this show cannot be missed. After the show make sure you swing by Voodoo Doughnut, because it's not a night at Dante's without a bacon maple bar.

Saturday, June 26th
Western Aerial (CD Release Show)
Marv Ellis / Merrill / DJ Sexarkana
Dante's
1 SW 3rd Ave
Door 8PM /Show 9PM
$10
21+

If there's one thing these boys know how to do, it's put on one hell of a rock show. Whether in a packed venue or in a prison yard they 'll make it fun and they'll make it loud. Portland's favored sons of hard driving radio rock, Western Aerial is making the down and dirty guitar screaming rock that drives the ladies crazy and makes all us men wish we were rock stars. They might be pretty, but don't be mistaken this is one of the hardest working bands in town, having honed their music into lean muscular things that run clean and punch hard. Saturday night the 26th their going to be lighting up the stage and tearing down the walls at Dante's in honor of their latest CD "Try to Keep Up." Make sure you get your tickets early, but the night has a very odd line up with the NW hip-hop of Marv Ellis and the self-described "Happy Hardcore" of Merrill; so if you just want a dose of rock'n'roll goodness you might want swing in a little later .