The Music Tapes @ Mission Theater 5/7/2013
Last Tuesday night a circus rolled in to McMenamin’s Mission Theater. Calling itself The Traveling Imaginary it was a two-show stop on a tour organized by ringmaster Julian Koster to promote his band The Music Tapes newest album Mary’s Voice.
Last fall Koster, probably best known as a member of The Neutral Milk Hotel, launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund The Traveling Imaginary. The money raised was used to purchase a custom circus tent that the band is playing shows in across the country along with games, stories, films and amusements.
People arrived in the lobby of the theater to find games set up in front of the red and white striped tent. Julian walked around banging a pan lid with a drumstick and announcing games through an electric megaphone: “The Penny and The Bell!” “Flooded The Sailor School!” “Traditional Bag Toss!” Most required a blindfold and winners were promised prizes after the show.
After about 45 minutes of games the tent was opened and the roughly 30 people in attendance sat on the checkered floor in front of instruments and a seven-foot tall metronome. It was the start of a surreal swirl of music, performance art, storytelling and even a magic trick.
This entry was written by , posted on May 10, 2013 at 1:37 am, filed under Live and tagged Eleven, Eleven Magazine, ELEVEN MAGAZINE PDX, ELEVEN PDX, Eleven PDX Magazine, ELEVENPDX, Julian Koster, Kickstarter, McMenamins, Mike Herman, Mission Theater, Neutral Milk Hotel, Neutral Milk Reunion, PDX, PDX Live Music, PDX Music, The Music Tapes, The Traveling Imaginary. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Crystal Stilts @ Mississippi Studios 7/22/2012
Brooklyn-based quintet, Crystal Stilts, paid Portland a visit Sunday night at Mississippi Studios. You should already be kicking yourself for missing out on the post-punk neo-psych awesome that ensued. With heavy-hitters Blood Beach and Nucular Aminals starting the night off, you can go ahead and kick yourself a few more times.
This entry was written by , posted on July 24, 2012 at 11:11 am, filed under ELEVEN, Live and tagged Blood Beach, Brad Hargett, Crystal Stilts, ELEVEN PDX, JB Townsend, Kyle Forester, Live, Mike Herman, Mississippi Studios, Nucular Aminals, PDX Live Music, Portland live music, Wendy Worzalla. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
The Men @ Mississippi Studios 6/23/2012
What a way to kick off the summer—the evening began with two ripping sets from Hausu and Hurry Up, and by 11pm the room was filled with the stench of campfire and testosterone. Not quite a sold out show, it left some wiggle room for more people to filter in as the New York foursome took the stage. The energetic, heavy, punk/post-hardcore quartet opened with some crowd-pleasing tunes from 2011’s Leave Home which definitely got the fans going—specifically the male crowd (the men outnumbered the ladies in attendance 10:1), who showed their love and appreciation with a sweaty mosh pit of body slamming and beer spilling.
This entry was written by , posted on June 25, 2012 at 4:54 pm, filed under ELEVEN, Live and tagged 2012, ELEVEN MUSIC, ELEVEN PDX, Live, Mike Herman, Mississippi Studios, PDX Music, Portland, Portland live music, The Men, Wendy Worzalla. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
The Blue Angel Lounge @ Wonder Ballroom 05/04/2012
First rule of The Wonder Ballroom: get there early or have your tickets in hand. Waiting in line for will-call and jumping over to the main entrance line is no fun, especially when it’s a 21+ show and no one has their IDs ready. Now that I’ve had my peace, let’s get down to business.
This entry was written by , posted on May 7, 2012 at 2:10 pm, filed under ELEVEN, Live and tagged Anton Newcombe, Austin Psych Fest, ELEVEN PDX, experimental, Germany, Live, Mike Herman, Nils Ottensmeyer, Psychedelic, The Blue Angel Lounge, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Wendy Worzalla, Wonder Ballroom. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Ty Segall @ Star Theater 05/03/2012
Let me start off by saying hats off to the East End kids for booking this show at a larger venue—I can’t imagine the night would have been the same. It was a fantastic evening, bumping into a slew of old and new friends. I mistakenly assumed the show would be in true East End fashion and not start until after 10pm, but we managed to get there in the middle of Nucular Aminals set. The Star Theater was already fairly crowded, and the line to get in didn’t stop for another hour.
This entry was written by , posted on at 1:32 pm, filed under ELEVEN, Live and tagged Charlie Mootheart, Distortion, East End Kids Present, ELEVEN PDX, Emily Rose, Hair, Live, Mikal Cronin, Mike Herman, Nucular Aminals, Psych pop, San Francisco, Star Theater, Ted Nugent, The Beatles, The Ty Segall Band, Ty Segall, Wendy Worzalla, White Fence. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.