Friday October 6
45 Soul Boys, who one can only assume... play 45’s… of soul records… are at Bunker with BKLYN Tighten Up, a three piece funk band from - ready? - Brooklyn. This looks really fun and I love this kind of music, but the dude sniffing the hops in a ball cap on the header image for this event is triggering my craft beer culture fatigue. Can we get some more voices in craft beer? Where are all my black lady master brewers at?
Matisyahu is at the State Theatre with Common Kings and Orphan. You guys know I collect my events on fb, so I clicked “interested” on this event, and as is so often the case with events on which I click “interested,” people who saw that come through their feed assumed that I wanted to go see Matisyahu, potentially. Someone commented something along the lines of “I hope he’s in better shape than he was in last time he was here.” I am not sure what that means, was he all fucked up or something last time he played here? Anyway, I just want to make it clear that I do not want to go see Matisyahu because I deeply dislike Matisyahu, he seems like an opportunist and I read somewhere that he pushed a bunch of kids off a stage he was performing on and, like, fuck you man. Also he looks like Aaron Carter now. Zing, motherfucker.
Former multi-instrumentalist for 90’s bluegrass/punk band Bad Livers, Ralph White is at Apohadion with Papa C Nathan and Buddy Tom K, White Gourd who are releasing their record at this show, and DJ Tentacles Retraction, AKA Corum from Million Brazillions dj-ing between sets.
PHOME has the Jamie McLean Band, Papa Tim and TDMBE.
Mosart212 and 32French take up their resident post at Thirsty Pig for First Friday.
Oxbow has their outstanding On The One dance party tonight starting at 8. Three things make this an outstanding dance party. The first is that DJs who play soul 45’s generally love their deep cuts, and Hi Duke and Fava Le Chic don’t fuck with you like that. Yes, they play some deep cuts, but mostly they play the hits we love to hear, even if they’re just nerd hits like “Ain’t Nobody,” or some shit that Olds like myself love from back in the day. The second reason this dance party is legit af is that there is just a ton of room to dance. Oxbow isn’t trying to confine your sweet moves to one area, dance wherever the fuck you want. This makes for a lot of hilarious grand entrances throughout the night, as people who have been out cocktailing come wildlly sailing through the door, lubricated dance moves already in motion, to join the group werkin’ it inside. It’s pretty great. The last thing that makes this a sweet dance party is that Oxbow isn’t like a “regular” bar. They have their beers, and they have a few wine and spirit offerings. They don’t have ice, you’re not getting a vodka soda or whatever here, so it sort of thins the herd, so to speak. Sophisticates only, knowamsayin? The boozin’ crowd is just going to keep walking down to the fucking Pearl or whatever. Ya dig? It’s good.
Worried Well return to the stage at Bayside Bowl, presumably because drummer Cam Jones has a break in his schedule of hanging out with J Mascis and playing covers of “Sk8er Boi” with his main gig Weakened Friends. Anyway, welcome back Worried Well! They open for throwbacky fusion duo Crushed Out from Brooklyn.
Murphy’s Law, Cryptid, USA Waste and The Pubcrawlers are at Geno’s.
Julie Cira, Alyssa Kai, Forget Forget and Bright Boy are at UFF.
Dead Sessions are over at PCMH doing good by raising money for hurricane relief. What a fucking year, huh.
Modern Brooklynites are forever on the lookout for new places to gentrify, and since Portland has a member of the Dirty Projectors housed within our murky depths, I’m assuming that that basically functioned like a homing beacon, a siren’s song, if you will, for young urban creatives with trust funds in the borough. Anyway, all of this is to say that LOVE hosts some DJ’s from Brooklyn this month. So much fucking Brooklyn in Portland this weekend, renew your lease now, cuz these guys are coming for your barely-affordable apartment.
Empire has comedy during the art walk, then afterward they have their first friday Throwbacks dance party with KTF. Blue has Darlin’ Corey at 6pm and then The Evan King Group is there at 10pm. Salvage has Pete Witham and the Cozmik Zombies. Dogfish has Mel and the J Tones.
Saturday October 7
The kiddos of MAMM are back at it again with their The Kids Are Alright concert series, today taking place at the Portland Public Library. This one features artist/instructor Kyle Friday.
My newest favorite band in Portland, Pretty Sad, is at Empire tonight with John Hughes Radio, BeautifulWeird and Justin King.
Blue has jazz with the Michael Beling Trio.
You can donate to Fair Rent Portland and dance to 90’s and 00’s music at Zero Station tonight to fund their campaign to pass rent stabilization on November 7th.
Live at 212 has Port City Saints, Spillers, The Bonnets, The Hypotheticals and Marianne Toilet and the Runs.
Flask has their new wave dance party Primary.
Spafford is at PCMH. There is no opener, this is “an evening with.”
West End Blend and Tumbledown Saints are at PHOME.
Seth Warner and a group of local musicians are doing Neil Young’s Ditch Trilogy at OLS to raise money for Chooper’s Foundation and Grace Street Service of Portland, Lewiston and Sanford, who both provide services combatting the opioid epidemic in Maine.
Ms. Wrecks and Double Dessert are having a dance party called VViTCHES BREW at Apohadion.
Sunday October 8
Dougie Poole, Bong Wish, Noisebody and Barbecue are at Apohadion tonight. After Funk, Stop Tito Collective and Hambone are at PHOME. Danger Cakes, Pete Withamand the Cozmik Zombies and Ray’s Occult are at Geno’s.
Modest Mouse is at the State Theatre tonight, which I suppose is mildly interesting, but it’s sold out so get bent