REVIEW: Maynard James Keenan’s PUSCIFER 1st night @ Roseland (Portland, OR – 11/14/09)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
Wine followed by Maynard’s blasphemous vaudeville show… Wow.
So, I’ve been a fan of Maynard James Keenan’s vocal since the first utterances I heard from his “main band” TOOL.  I loved his work with his first side-project, A Perfect Circle, especially the first album Mer de Noms.  I was [...]

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REVIEW: Alice in Chains @ Roseland (Portland, OR – 9/26/09)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
(the new Alice in Chains)
So, I could have seen Pearl Jam, but since I’d seen them (and they put on a freakin’ great live show) and I had never seen Alice in Chains.  So, AiC won out in the battle of who to see tonight.  Regardless of the [...]

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REVIEW: Porcupine Tree w/ That1Guy @ Roseland (Portland, OR – 9/16/09)

Rarely do two bands you like happen to tour together.  Porcupine Tree is touring with King’s X on this U.S. Leg… well… ok, starting in a week in Ohio.  This West Coast leg, though gets That1Guy (another musician I like a lot).  I’m bummed I’m missing a KXC/PT show, but That1Guy is a fun live [...]

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REVIEW: dredg @ Wonder Ballroom (Portland, OR – 8/15/09)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

This was my third time seeing dredg, and the second time this year.  Their latest record (The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion) is an amazing album… a definite front runner for album of the year for me.  It is inspired by Salman Rushdie’s essay “Imagine There’s No [...]

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REVIEW: The Melvins @ John Henry’s (Eugene, OR – 8/9/09)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
I hear that King Buzzo has three dogs.
I bet he walks them really slow.
So, The Melvins have been around for… ever.  First album in 1986, but I didn’t get turned onto them until Melvins’ guitarist King Buzzo joined Mike Patton’s avant-noise metal supergroup Fantômas on the 1999 debut [...]

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REVIEW: King’s X @ Berbati’s Pan (Portland, OR – 6/8/09)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
So… King’s X?  Where do I start.  They’ve been a band for 26 or 27 years.  I’ve been a fan of theirs since 1994.  I see them every time they come through my town (16th time in 15 years).  I’ve seen them in 6 or 7 states (mostly [...]

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REVIEW: Opeth & Enslaved @ Roseland (Portland, OR – - 5/12/09)

Similarly to the professional Abba cover band I saw play with the Cincinnati Philharmonic Orchestra / POPS, the band I saw tonight (Opeth) is from Sweden.  Un-similarly to the Abba cover band, Opeth is… HEAVY.  I didn’t want to risk bringing my nice, new camera to a Swedish & Norwegian Death Metal double-bill (Strongbad email link).  [...]

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REVIEW: Spinal Tap / The Folksmen @ Paramount Theatre (Seattle, WA – - 4/20/09)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
(only a couple this time)

Spinal Tap Unwigged/Unplugged (photo: Shannon Cottrell, LA Weekly)

As mentioned above, I only took a few pictures.  I was in the upper mezzanine, aka nosebleeds.  I tried out my new 60x zoom digital camera; alas, it wasn’t 600x.
The show was great.  [...]

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REVIEW: dredg @ the Hawthorne Theater (Portland, OR – - 4/3/09)

No photos this time around.  Rock shows aren’t conducive to them unless you have a really good camera, plus last time I was here, the venue wasn’t allowing it.  Anyway, on to the show…
The openers… well, I’m bummed because I only caught the very last song of From Monuments to Masses.  I kinda dug them… [...]

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REVIEW: Jason Schimmel’s Orange Tulip Conspiracy @ Samurai Duck (Eugene, OR – - 11/17/08)

FYI… my PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM
Samurai Duck on a Monday night… ugh… but it was for a good cause.  It was to see Jason Schimmel’s Orange Tulip Conspiracy (hereafter “OTC”).  I’d seen Jason thrice prior (with Estradasphere once and with Secret Chiefs 3 twice).  I fought the late night start to [...]

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REVIEW: Richard Crandell @ Cozmic Pizza (Eugene, OR – - 9/13/08)

I had Richard Crandell’s Mbira Magic (Tzadik 2004) back when I lived in Ohio.  I had no idea that he was from Eugene, OR.  I happened upon a listing of a performance he did earlier this spring at Saturday Market, but a day late.  When I saw that he was playing yesterday at Cozmic Pizza [...]

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REVIEW: God of Shamisen @ Samurai Duck (Eugene, OR – - 9/11/08)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM
Well, before the show, I was kind of bummed, as Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco’s upright bassinator) was playing a show at Sam Bond’s in Eugene last night as well.  GOS totally won, but Todd would have put on a great show as well.  Anyway, I swung by [...]

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REVIEW: Secret Chiefs 3 @ Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR – - 8/3/08)

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
The Doug Fir Lounge is an excellent venue in Portland. Pretty good sound, big enough stage, and a weird/comforting log cabin motif… a tout les monde aime l’arbre…

Primer: Secret Chiefs 3 was an offshoot from Mr. Bungle (but have now outlived MB). They play middle-eastern-influenced world/progressive [...]

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REVIEW: EARTH & Jesse Sykes @ W.O.W. Hall (Eugene, OR – - 6/23/08)

Prior to the show, I stopped by Cozmic Pizza for a chai muffin… two wonderful singer-songwriters were playing, Breanna Paletta and Justin Bennett. I caught a few of their songs (3-4). Great stuff. They’re from Portland. Maybe when I have more time, I’ll check out one of their full sets. OK, now on to the [...]

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REVIEW: That1Guy & Buckethead @ McDonald Theatre (Eugene, OR – - 3/22/08)

’twas an oddrocker double bill yesterday… That1Guy and Buckethead.
This was my fourth time seeing Mr. 1Guy. My review of his show last fall is here. That1Guy started right after 9pm and played for just about an hour. He started out with the haunting strings of “Forgotten Whales” (a song that actually made [...]

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the guy with the shirt, the other guy with the pipe, and the guy with the hat walk into a bar

Three blogs within 24 hours… oy, not a good sign.
Anyway, I’m exicted about two more shows coming up (I love living in a cool college town)…
NYC trumpeter Peter Evans is playing at Cozmic Pizza on Monday, Feb 4th. He’s adventurous, he’s played with John Zorn in the past (yay), and his band projects (Mostly [...]

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REVIEW: John Zorn’s Moonchild @ The Moore Theatre / Earshot Jazz (Seattle, WA – - 11/4/07)

Two statements needed to be made prior to really starting this review… 1) caveat for the non-Moonchild enthusiast: “They’re like an audible Jackson Pollock,” and 2) I feel sorry for the ushers who obviously didn’t know what they were getting into when they signed up for this.
A little background / sidenote… I came into being [...]

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REVIEW: That 1 Guy and Grynch @ John Henry’s (Eugene, OR – - 9/18/07)

Well, I think I’ll start posting concerts reviews here… as my “other outlet” is now not available to me (probably for the best).
On Tuesday night, I had the great opportunity to catch one of my favorite one-man musical freak-shows… That 1 Guy (http://www.that1guy.com/). I’d seen him twice before at the Mad Frog in Cincinnati, Ohio. [...]

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REVIEW: my crazy music-filled NYC trip in March 2007

Wow… today is my “first day off” from a show since last Friday (2/9)…
Here’s how NYC “for business” played out on the “for enjoyment” sense of it…

SATURDAY 3/10 I arrived in town at 11:30am. Checked in, and then headed up to “scout out” the Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater as that’s where MASADA was playing that [...]

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REVIEW: Estradasphere @ 2nd Story Nightclub (Bloomington, IN – - 10/6/06)

Estradasphere’s show last night at the 2nd Story Nightclub in Bloomington, IN was PHENOMENAL.
I arrived in Bloomington and about crap my pants with how crazy the traffic and people in town were… apparently it is a HUGE Lotus World Music Festival this whole weekend… oy… anyway, I grabbed grub at the excellent veggie restaurant [...]

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