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Last weekend’s double-header at SPACE with the Dead Of Winter show and then Mission Of Burma left me (and probably a lot of people, given how crowded both shows were) pretty wiped out. It’s Friday though, and again the options are plentiful. HillyTown.com has teamed up with Neon Garden (whose parties at the White Heart regularly make you shake it) to bring you a free show tonight at Slainte with Lady Magma, Pass Kontrol, and a local opener who may or may not be called Data Entry (no, seriously, that may not be who they are, we’ll find out tonight…). Check out the show details here. Come out and say hi! And now for your weekly roundup! It’s a quickie this time. Portland-related music (and more) news:
Not Portland-related, but definitely worth knowing about: The Dark Was The Night charity compilation coming out on February 17th is amazing. I highly recommend checking out the preview tracks and picking it up when it’s available.
Thursday, January 22, 2009 ended up being the first public event at the newly opened Port City Music Hall. It was a SonicBids showcase featuring Putnam Smith, The Firewater Band, Jordan Valentine & The Sunday Saints, and Lovewhip. Read on… Sure, there was that whole inauguration thing that got people all giddy this week, but let’s not forget that while the country was getting a new leader and Clear Channel was not-so-quietly slashing jobs, other stuff was happening in the music world! Check it out… Portland-related music news:
Other select music news this week:
I’m planning to try and make this weekly roundup a somewhat regular thing here. Feel free to send me you music news and tips, as well as concert dates, at hello [at] hillytown.com! By the way, I added an archive page for blog posts, since apparently I’m blogging now (or something like it). When I first heard about Mission Of Burma coming to Portland I had to respond with “THE Mission Of Burma?!” Luckily it wasn’t just a cleverly named event at SPACE, but one of my all-time favorite bands had actually just booked a show. Word is that the opening bands, Huak (who I’ve told in the past they they reminded me of a mix of Mission Of Burma and Fugazi – you hear that, Mackaye?) and The Rattlesnakes, were instrumental in making it happen, so kudos to them! The Burmal funtimes start tonight on the USM campus, with WMPG showing the band’s documentary film Not A Photograph at 7pm. Details on the Facebook event page. If you look closely, you can see me dancing in the crowd in front of Roger Miller from the 2002 Irving Plaza show. In other photograph and rock music news, today begins the Portland Museum Of Art’s new exhibit Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll Photography (through March 22), which focuses on the offstage side of the rock ‘n roll life. As part of the celebration, music writer Greil Marcus will be in town for a lecture at the Holiday Inn By the Bay on Monday (1/26) – check out Chris Gray’s interview with Greil Marcus. Other events tied in to this exhibit include a program to teach kids to be music photographers, a big ol’ jam session at the museum, a concert at SPACE, lectures, and more. Ian Paige has a review of the exhibit at The Phoenix. At the same time, an exhibit of Maine photographer John Fahnley’s live music photos will be up at Addison Wooley Gallery at 87 Market St., entitled “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It!).” Fahnley is a contributor to Joe Harrington’s Portland zine, Kapital Ink, as well as his book Sonic Cool: The Life & Death of Rock ‘n’ Roll (if you ask nicely and promise to be careful, maybe you can borrow my well-worn copy). As far as I know, neither of these music photo exhibits will feature Mission Of Burma. Looks like something must not have worked out at the last minute. The soft opening of the new venue in town, Port City Music Hall – which we got a preview of this week, was scheduled to happen tomorrow, Saturday, January 17. It has been pushed back one week to Saturday, January 24th. Here’s the official word: “The Fear Nuttin Band with Sidecar Radio show at Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress Street, Portland, has been rescheduled to Saturday, January 24 at 9 pm. [The show was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 17.) All tickets will be honored at the door.” We know they’ve got equipment in there now so maybe it was a license issue? The new date put this show up against the Hometown Heroes: Dead Of Winter show at SPACE, as well as great lineups at Meg Perry and Slainte. If this just freed up your Saturday night this week, might I suggest checking out Larkin Grimm or The Low Anthem? The first event at PCMH will now be the SonicBids showcase on Thursday, January 22nd. Another NY import! Picking up right where I left off with my last late-night-snacking-option review, I headed down to see what kind of progress was being made at the future home of Papaya King at 5 Dana Street (map) in the Old Port (formerly Big Mama’s Diner).
The Port City Music Hall at 504 Congress Street is gearing up for their first event this weekend. As I’ve mentiond before, there’s been a lot of speculation about exactly what this new venue will bring to the Portland music scene. The initial schedule hints at a diverse range of music, including reggae, indie rock, jams bands, and everything in between. The venue’s publicist was kind enough to show me around earlier this week, so I could get a behind-the-scenes look at the space before the doors open to the public.
Let’s start at the beginning. Full tour with photos after the jump! Read on… Good news for fans of Slàinte Wine Bar! The Bollard reports that the recent debacle involving police sting operations, city council meetings, and rumors of a denied liquor license is all a thing of the past, and in fact turned out to be one big misunderstanding on the city’s part. Whoopsies! Anyway, we say celebrate! Stop by Slàinte this week and give Ian Farnsworth a high five and your business. It’s one of our favorite (and far underestimated) spots around town. How much do we love Slàinte Wine Bar? So much that the next HillyTown.com event is happening there!
Make sure to check out all of Slàinte’s event, as listed on their Myspace page! I love pizza. I really love pizza after a night out seeing live music. The only things that could be better to complement a slight ringing in the ears than a hot greasy slice at 1am would be good tacos (not likely), delicious falafel (not a chance), or hot dogs (Papaya King, where you at? – gotta follow up on that one!).
More photos for this post can be found in the gallery here. Full review after the jump. |
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On Friday, January 30th, we are teaming up with 