The March First Friday is here, and though I’ll probably miss most of the fun due to other obligations, there’s enough good stuff happening in Portland that I just have to share.

For the first time, Eternal Otter Records will be opening their Headquarters at the Building Of Song location (142 High St, Suite 513) and will be open every friday from 11am-4pm. This week they will be followed by a Building Of Song concert featuring Dominic Lavoie (of The Lucid – they’ve shortened their name from Dominic & The Lucid), Meghan Yates & the Reverie Machine, and Matt Lajoie (of Cursillistas).

At SPACE Gallery, Greg Davis‘ Ocean Mind exhibit/sound installation kicks off, followed by a performance/concert at 9pm.

The Dooryard debuts an exciting group show, Monsters And Robots “No Humans, No Masters” that – from the looks of what I saw the other day while the artists were putting it up – is not to be missed.

Geno’s turns art gallery again, this time with Michael Batchelder’s music photos (15% of sales go to the musicians in the photos). The exhibit is followed by a concert with Aok Suicide Forest, Bora, and Roadshow (from Boston).

As if I need to mention it, the 48 Hour Music Fest is Saturday. It’ll probably be huge again, rightfully so (though somehow there are 3 other simultaneous attractive shows that night). Check out the PHX article if you haven’t seen it yet and get tickets/show up early if you want to witness the randomness.

Last Friday (February 26) at the Hogfarm Annex in Biddeford, Dilly Dilly and Sontiago played their last show as a duo in Maine before Dilly Dilly left on her great trip west. She’s moving to LA via an epic drive with pal Becca Redman, and you can follow their adventures (and those of their not-always-trusty-steed, No Sexy) right here. At the moment they’re apparently camping in Abilene State Park, TX. We hope their journey goes well and that Erin (Dilly) finds great success out on the west coast.

Read on for photos from the show, which also included Lady Lamb The Beekeeper (and thus a surprise return of Hairy Brass Knuckles, a year later!) and the excellent Pearl And The Beard from Brooklyn, NY. Fun fact: Jocelyn from Pearl And The Beard actually used a pair of the Ferdinand-created (for DraculaZombieUSA’s Maine debut) hairy brass knuckles, as you’ll see below. Photos by Bryan Bruchman.
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I was away for the weekend and am still catching up.

Jon Donnell was at the HillyTown Presents show last Thursday at the Apohadion and took these photos:

Jon was ALSO at the Mayo Street Arts event on Saturday, a concert that included Asian Mae, Thunderbow/Brushes With Death, and Hobgoblin. Check out his photos:

The new venue has announced another show, this time taking it in a more electronic direction, with Computer At Sea and id m theftable. That should definitely be interesting in that space! Also, there is currently an art studio/small office space available in the building, so if you’re interested take a look here!

On Wednesday, January 20th, Toronto dance/drum & bass band The New Deal played Port City Music Hall with openers Big Gigantic. Photos below by Bryan Bruchman.

Kino Proby’s annual Portland concert happened at Port City Music Hall on Friday, January 8, 2010. Photos by Bryan Bruchman. Review at The Phoenix.

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In what has become a regular event (in terms of solstice and equinox), Planets Around The Sun organized a Winter Solstice celebration on November 20th at the Hogfarm Studios Annex in Biddeford, Maine with performances by Tin Ceilings and others, with food served in between acts. The Pine Haven and DoorYard folks helped set the vibe with an installation, and Galen Richmond (Computer At Sea), Tempera, and friends (including all in attendance) concluded the night with a massive Casio keyboard drone. Read on for photos from the whole lovely event. (more…)

Due to some apparent miscommunication, it turned out that Annuals weren’t actually scheduled to open for Company Of Thieves at Port City Music Hall on Monday, December 14th. Any disappointment was quickly washed away by the headliner’s energetic performance, as they might as well have been performing to a crowd of thousands, despite a small turnout and lack of an opener (though their keyboardist helped to fill the time by playing a solo opening set). Having only briefly heard a couple of songs from this band before the show, I was quickly and thoroughly impressed by their songs and performance. To get caught up, check out this video from the band’s TV debut. Read on for (lots of) photos!

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I’m not sure what it is about Tuesday, but it has suddenly become a hot night in Portland on a weekly basis. Sure, there’s the Clash Of The Titans at Empire, but not everybody wants to watch cover bands. Of course, there are usually plenty of fun shows happening on Tuesdays (always check the showlist!) but now there’s another regular event that should satisfy those of us looking for something a little different. Atomic Tuesdays are a free weekly party at Styxx featuring theme nights, contests, costumes, dancers, mystery bands, guest dj’s, free candy, super cheap drink specials… do I need to go on? It’s fun, it’s free, and it’s a great way to warm up the middle of your week. I checked out the John Waters-themed party last night with guest DJ Sandman (aka Shawn Lawrence), who we met recently.

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On Saturday night, South China (pictured above, after their set, in the first snow storm of the season) played their last show in New England for the winter. Today they headed south (to play at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn with Greg Jamie, who they first shared the stage with in their until-today-hometown of Biddeford with his band Blood Warrior). Vince Nez (and The Last Sip) opened the show at the Apohadion on December 5th.

Read on for photos from South China’s set, which included help from a number of friends as they performed their excellent new album, Washingtons (Peapod Recordings), in its entirety. (more…)

Last Wednesday, Port City Music Hall filled up with another huge crowd for a great WCYY-sponsored show loaded with animal-named bands (incredibly, no Wolf bands were involved.) Keeping with the Athens, Georgia theme, Twin Tigers started things off and set the epic, noisy tone for the night. Later on, As Tall As Lions pushed things in a dancier direction, and then Minus The Bear added a more epic, polished touch – though all three bands worked really well together. From start to finish, it was just a great night of music. Read on for a full photo gallery! (more…)

It’s been a very busy week for shows (and still going, with great shows tonight and tomorrow at SPACE) and we’ve got plenty of photos to show for it! On Tuesday, Metric headlined a show at Port City Music Hall. I was really impressed by the openers, a UK band called Band Of Skulls. Read on for photos!

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