blog.circusgeek

a personal blog with nerdy bits thrown in

Category: Music

  • Back Stage Bar and Talkdemonic show

    Tonight Kelly and I met up with our good friend Miranda after work at a new-ish McMenamins pub called Back Stage Bar (named for it's location, behind the Bagdad Theater on SE 37th). The pub hasn't been open for quite a year yet, and was once literally the Bagdad's back stage when it opened in 1927. In the 70's it was converted to a more art house theater, but since McMenamins bought the Bagdad the back stage building has been more or less vacant until last year. When you walk in, you can't help but be awed by the height of the room. Essentially, it's the concrete shell of what looks like a 4 story building, though I could only pick out one missing floor, about 15 feet from the ground, I'm guessing that's the height of the Bagdad stage. It's really very impressive. You can also climb some stairs to two smaller rooms along the street-facing side of the building. There are 5 pool tables and one snooker table, a large bar along one wall, and a dozen or so booths. Aside from the building, the food and drink is what you'd expect from a McMenamins.

    After dinner we drove over to the Doug Fir to see Talkdemonic play. This was the first time they'd played in a while, what with Lisa Molinaro having joined the Decemberists on tour. Lisa and Miranda are friends so at one point we got to meet her, and had a chat about the Decemberists tour, the future of her with them, etc. It seems that she'll be joining them on another tour sometime soon.

    The second opening act was Leti Angel. Fairly good rock trio, though the vocals were pretty rough at times. That said, the male singer (there's a female vocalist and bass player in the band too) would use a sampler effect pedal and add harmonies loop vocal bites (yells, etc), which created some interesting sounds, some of which were really really cool. All in all, worth checking out their MySpace page.

    Talkdemonic were, as always, great. I've talked about them before, so I won't go into great detail about them except to say that each time I see them the crowd gets bigger and bigger. They performed a lot of my favorite tracks from their albums, some of which were slightly re-worked, or Lisa would play her parts different, which was nice to hear it sound fresh… and they also performed a lot of new material, which was fantastic. More pics here and here.

  • The Shins

    The Shins on stage at the Crystal BallroomTonight Kelly and I (along with our friends Miranda and Brian) saw The Shins perform at the Crystal Ballroom. We all met up at McMenamins Ringlers Pub for dinner and drinks before the show. When Kelly and I first arrived, our server listed off some new beers they were serving (brewed at Ringlers, not sure if any of the other McMenamins carry them or not), one of which cought my attention, a Scotch-style ale on nitro. I had one and it was fantastic. Dinner was also very good. The show started at 9pm, so shortly before we went on upstairs to a packed Crystal Ballroom. I'd forgotten until that moment that the show was a sponsor-filled event put on by the local radio station 94.7 FM. It was full, very very full.

    The opening act was a great local band Viva Voce, who I'd been wanting to see for a while. Miranda, Brian and myself had seen The Shins once before, about a year ago (Kelly missed out due to a work event, if I remember correctly), and again, they were fantastic. They played a lot of new material from their upcoming album (released on January 23rd), Wincing The Night Away. The stage was decorated with Christmas lights, and their 'entry' song was the Vince Geuralid song "Christmas Time is Here", from the cartoon A Charlie Brown Christmas. Kelly was smiling a very big smile, as Christmas time and that film (and song) are closely intertwined and always put a smile on her face. The whole show was great fun.

  • Dinner and… OK Go

    A few months back, Ghost Dog had mentioned this band, OK Go, and sent me this link to a video of theirs (which is super lo-tech, but brilliant). A couple weeks back he mentioned that they were coming to town and wanted to go. Tonight we went to the show!

    The show was at a venue I'd never been to before, The Hawthorne Theater, so Kelly & I, and Mr & Mrs GD drove over to the Hawthorne district and had dinner at the Bridgeport Ale House just down the street from the theater. I got to try a Bridgeport beer I hadn't had before, the Black Strap Stout, which was really delicious (slightly chocolaty and creamy). The meal was good, though nothing to go into too much detail over (kinda hard to screw up my meal, a chicken sandwich) :).

    After dinner we walked up to the venue, got in just in time to check out the first of two opening acts, The Mediam, who were… uh… loud angry youths (you know, loud distorted guitars and a screaming singer). Between the deafening noise and the sweat (it was like a furnace in the place), we didn't last long before we moved over to the bar area, where we could cool off and relax a bit more before OK Go took the stage. The bar was serving beers from Off The Rail Brewery (based in Forest Grove, Oregon) which I'd never had before. I tried the stout, which was very good, though less of a stout and more of a strong dark ale in flavor. We ended up hanging out there through the second opening act, Quit Your Day Job, so I don't know if they were good or not.

    OK Go put on a really fun show. Spiffy hi-tech stuff aside, such as entertaining video clips projected behind the band during songs (including those of live cameras that were stealthily placed around the stage, including a very small one attached to the singer's microphone, pointing at his face), and the smoke machines, and the confetti machines, etc., the band puts on a very good show and are excellent live. At one point, right in front of where we were standing (towards the back) some crew rolled out and assembled this small round platform, and then three of the band members walked through the crowd to the platform and performed two acoustic songs, right in front of us, before making their way back to the stage to continue the show. Overall it was a great show, though the venue isn't my favorite of the smaller concert spots in town. Hopefully next time they'll play elsewhere.

    Note: I hope to have photos from Kelly's phone, which I emailed myself, though only two have arrived and of those, they were two of worthless ones. Providing they ever arrive in my inbox I'll add them to this post. 

  • HalloBirthdayWeen 2006

    Had a great birthday / Halloween party this Saturday. My lovely wife Kelly invited my friends over, and secretly invited them to dress up for Halloween without my knowledge. I had known about the party, but only learned of the costume part on my birthday when Kelly gave me a Black Knight costume (from Monty Python and the Holy Grail). The party was loads of fun, and pretty much everybody dressed up. Special costume mentions go to Ghost Dog for his Space Ghost costume, Snooks (and his gf) for the zombie ickiness, and Ean for his pimp outfit. See the photo site for more pics. Thanks everybody! (NOTE: Posted late, because well, I was none too well on Sunday, and have been busy with work since.)

  • Decemberists (with a demon)

    Tonight my good friend Miranda and I went to McMenamins Crystal Ballroom to see The Demberists perform, on the first night of their tour supporting their latest album The Crane Wife. It was a really good show. I have no photos because I was cautious and didn't bring my camera (figuring it wouldn't be allowed) and, of course, I could have. Sheesh!

    The opening band, Lavender Diamond, was quite odd. The female singer was very cute, though quite quirky and Miranda and I suspected she was either drunk, high, or little insane. But cute. Musically it wasn't anything I'd write home about (well, I guess I am blogging about it), it might be nice background music. Between songs the singer would congratulate the audience for world peace, talk about holograms, and romance. "Romance, peace, and particles! Yay!" (uhh)

    Decemberists played an excellent show, naturally weighted strongly towards the songs from their latest album, though they did play a lot of tracks from their earlier albums. Most notably was an excellent performance of Military Wives. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't play a few songs though (such as The Mariner's Revenge Song, and Eli, The Barrow Boy) but, it was a great show.

    Regarding my subject line (related to an earlier post) Lisa Molinaro was fantastic, and it was a joy to see her perform with Decemberists. Most notable was her versatility. Unlike her work with Talkdemonic where she plays violin almost exclusively, tonight she also played guitar, banjo, keyboards, xylophone, accordion, and sang (all of the backup and harmony vocals). She was fantastic, and it was great to see her shine. Colin Meloy (lead singer of The Decemberists) was very gracious and introduced her and congratulated her several times. Fantastic! Go Lisa! And have a great tour! 🙂  

  • A demon to join Decemberists tour

    Looking at Willamette Week's online site just now, I saw an article about how the violinist Lisa Molinaro of Talkdemonic (great local band, whom I saw again this past April) will be joining The Decemberists on tour for their upcoming album The Crane Wife. Pretty cool, and go Lisa!

  • Live Irish folk at the White Eagle

    Last night Kelly and I ventured to McMenamins White Eagle Saloon. It's a nice spot, very much a McMenamins, but more relaxed and pleasant than say, Kennedy School, and certainly more enjoyable than Ringlers or the like. One key difference between this and other McMenamins establishments is that The White Eagle has live music (looking at their schedule, it seems every night of the week) and what brought us there last night was some live Irish folk music.

    We arrived at about 7:30, walked in through the long building towards the stage and then out to the patio since the weather was so nice. We took a table just next to the door, so we could see and hear the music, and was promptly served by a very friendly and attentive server. We were happy to discover they served Nebraska Bitter, the best McMenamins beer in my opinion, even though it wasn't on their menu. Hooray! We had a very nice dinner (I had one of the specials, the 'Sgt. Pepper Salad'; sliced breaded chicken, pepperjack cheese, peppercorn ranch, and totally delicious), and reminisced about our honeymoon in Ireland while the music started.

    The music, by Hanz Araki and band (sometimes known as "An Tua") was fantastic. It was lead by Hanz Araki (flutes, pennywhistles, low-whistles, shakuhachi, and vocals) who was joined by four other musicians; a guitarist, violinist, pianist, and percussionist. ist. ist. 🙂 There were songs I recognized from other traditional Irish folk albums Kelly and I own (bought while on our honeymoon) and it was a treat to hear while we chatted about where we were two years ago. Between sets Kelly purchased the An Tua album 6 of One, Five of the Other, which is also great.  Very fun night out. Very groggy today. 🙂

  • The Plan

    So I have a plan. It's not a very good plan, but a plan nonetheless. I plan to write about the various beers I've sampled over the past few weeks. This is above and beyond my minimal reports of previous beerfests, but to go into some level of detail of the beers I've sampled over the past few weeks… things Ive purchased from John's Marketplace, etc. I've been keeping notes. I swear. Side note: writing this to The Smiths song 'Well I Wonder'. What a great tune.

  • Grant-Lee Phillips, and much more

    Last night was a crazy evening. It started at the end of the work day…

    Thirsty Lion OSCON eventThe company I work for was throwing a party last night the Thirsty Lion for attendees of OSCON, an open source software convention being held in Portland over the next couple days. I was destined for Berbati's Pan (right around the corner from the Thirsty Lion) to see Grant-Lee Phillips with Kelly and our good friend Miranda, and told my manager that I wasn't sure if I was going to the party because of the show. My manager said "Oh? I think the boss's sister is playing there." Come to find out that my boss is a brother of Kristin Hersh, of Throwing Muses fame, who was opening for Grant-Lee.

    I met Kelly and Miranda at the Shanghai Tunnel and then at around 7:30 I decided to do some recon of the scene at the Thirsty Lion. It was a fairly packed event, and there were free drink tickets and free food, so I decided to report back to Kelly and Miranda. We decided to go (since I had brought some entry cards with me from the office) and we had a good time. While there I get a call from my brother Travis. Last night was also Katie's 21st birthday (brother Chad's girlfriend) and they were all headed downtown. They found us at the Thirsty Lion, Travis got a list of places nearby from me, and then they all headed down to the Shanghai Tunnel, with a promise to meet up later on after Kelly, Miranda and I get out of the Grant-Lee show. Whew.

    We went to the show, which was very good and very mellow. Kristen Hersh is a really good performer, with a fantastic voice. It was just her with an acoustic guitar on a stool. At one point towards the end of her set she invited Grant-Lee on stage and they performed together, but aside from that it was all her.

    Grant-Lee came on around 10:45pm and was similarly stripped-down (just him with his acoustic guitar and harmonica, and the drummer). It was a great show, though I have to admit that after the last time we saw him, with a full band, it was a bit disappointing. While Grant-Lee is a fantastic performer, full of wit and charm, I found myself missing the fullness of sound from the previous show. Still, it was definitely worth going. Kristen Hersh joined him on stage for a couple songs (as did another fellow he invited up who's name I forget), and he played most of the songs on his latest album and a few from the Grant Lee Buffalo days including Mockingbird, which made Kelly and I very happy. His cover of the New Order song 'Age of Consent' both live and on the album are excellent, giving me chills and warm-fuzzies at the same time.

    After the show at about 12:45am, Kelly, Miranda and I met up with the rest of the gang at the outdoor seating of the bar part of Berbati's for another drink for Katie's birthday before Kelly and I came home. Whew, what a night. Happy birthday Katie, hope you had a great birthday!

  • The Weather, This Weekend, Next Wednesday

    Been hot again the past couple days (highs over 100° F), with humidity well above 50%, so it's not only hot, but sticky. And seems we're in for a repeat through the weekend. Ugh.

    Last night Kelly and I went to our friends Ty and Aymie's for a BBQ (because not even the hot weather will stop the grilling of meats) and had a wonderful time relaxing in their yard. We got home around 12:30, watched some TV (got to see a late-night re-run of the show Psych, pretty funny show) and passed out on the couch.

    Today we hope to get some furniture ordered for our guest bedroom… a mattress for the boxspring my brother gave me, and a desk and chair for Kelly since she's starting school again in a few weeks.

    This upcoming Wednesday Kelly and I are going to go see Grant-Lee Phillips in concert again. We had seen him about 3 years ago (at the same venue, Berbati's Pan) and it was a fantastic show. He recently released new album titled nineteeneighties, containing covers of songs by artists such as New Order, Pixies, The Cure, The Smiths, etc. The new album is really quite good, though I think I'd have preferred an album of new material, but we're still very excited to see him again. More on that later (hopefully late Wednesday evening).