THURSDAY 3/16

LIVE WIRE: MICHAEL POWELL, M. WARD, DAHOO CHORUS, WHITNEY OTTO, SOJOURN THEATER, SAINT CUPCAKE

(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Tonight OPB's Live Wire! is recording their show at Aladdin with a ton of great guests. All of 'em are interesting, and it should make for a solid show, but I'm putting my money on M. Ward. Last time I saw him play in town was forever ago at the Calexico/Iron and Wine show, where he came out, backed the other bands, and did a few of his sweet little country blues songs. Actually, calling them "country blues" is reductive; there's so much more going on in Ward's music: little wafts of Appalachian mountain music; pre-war jazz love songs; guitar that feels like banjo; guitar that is its own jazz combo; guitar that sounds like SIX guitars and rambling along all loose and colorful like a stack of postcards from all over America. Which is to say, the fact that I'll be in Texas while this is happening makes me wanna smash a bottle of Lone Star on my head. Maybe two. ADAM GNADE

ONEIDA, PARCHMAN FARM, SIX FOOT SLOTH

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Oneida's most recent effort, The Wedding (JagJaguwar, 2005) is the bad trip record of the last few years. The Brooklyn quartet transports you to an earlier time, like summer of 11th grade, when you were in the forest, coming down off some shit speed cut with Borax. Ripping off early Spirit, but with lyrics copped from Dennis Cooper's office-use-only blog. A fragged, jammy mess that aims for the feeling good in the infinite now, but winds up more along the lines of the time you wound up watching The Holy Mountain with your dealer. Neo-hippie calamity, flaming skulls, trails, death valley, hipster noise, East Coast irony, leather vests, pissing blood in Prospect Park; it's all here for your taking. JESSICA HOPPER

DIAMOND TUCK & THE PRIVATES, THE WEAKLINGS, PURE COUNTRY GOLD, THE MONEY CHANGERS

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) See My, What a Busy Week!, pg. 15.

THE HOWLING HEX FEATURING NEIL MICHAEL HAGERTY

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) For those of us who've had a difficult time consistently paying attention to Neil Michael Hagerty's post-Royal Trux discography (and honestly, who can blame us?), it might come as a surprise to hear that his latest proper band—the recently quite prolific Howling Hex—are actually totally worth your ear-time. After a handful of inexplicable solo releases on the infinitely Hagerty-sympathetic Drag City, the gamble seemed to finally pay off with a slew of releases over the last year under the Hex moniker—chief among them the excellent bizarro-boogie of All-Night Fox and the jam-tastic falsetto excursions of You Can't Beat Tomorrow. At this pace, it's difficult to know exactly where Hagerty's going next, but you can bet for damn sure that it's going to be a lot more interesting than RTX. ZAC PENNINGTON

FRIDAY 3/17

BOOMBOX FRIDAY

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!, pg. 15.

THE TURN-ONS, THE UPSIDEDOWN, THE STRAIN

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) According to the Turn-Ons' label, Childstar, one of the Seattle band's songs, "New Jesus," was recently selected by Peter Buck to go on a sampler compilation for Uncut magazine. And yes, if I listen to that track, off their last album, East, I can hear some distinct early-'80s R.E.M.-ness as it winds its way delicately through pulsing threads of post-grunge guitar waves. It's a highlight on a record stuffed with terrific, glammy rock-outs and frontman Travis DeVries' hypnotic quaver. The new album, Parallels, is a slightly more meditative affair but no less exhilarating—if only because the Turn-Ons' ability to craft a bitchin' pop song has reached critical mass. JUSTIN W. SANDERS

FREE ST. PATTY'S DAY PARTY

(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) Unless you actually live in Ireland, where babies are bottle-fed booze straight out of the womb, being under 21 on St. Patty's is the fucking worst. All the good shows happen at bars. All the parties are at bars. So if you count yourself in that too-young number, Hawthorne Theatre's throwing a free all-ages party with Zonewire, World of Lies, Miss Anne Thrope, Perfect in Plastic, DFiVE9, Kandles at Nine, My Favorite Everything, Throwback Suburbia, Hello Square, GoodYear, Ethyria, Caleb Coffey, and Carlos Severe Marcelin. So while everybody else is throwing a wake for their fading youth, you can hear some loud music, spend zero money, and rest assured that your time—if you're lucky—will come. AG

KMRIA, CASEY NEILL & THE NORWAY RATS

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Kiss my royal Irish arse. AG See Music, pg. 19.

DEAD MOON, DIVINING RODS, 8 FOOT TENDER

(Sabala's, 4811 SE Hawthorne) I once got assigned an interview with Dead Moon for Punk Planet and talked to bassist/singer Toody Loomis because, as she told me, her husband/bandleader Fred Cole was "too fucking deaf." We talked about the couple going back to the land up in Alaska, about her son, and about homesteading. She told me all about Clackamas' history, Portland's various scenes over the years, how the city had changed, and how she'd seen punk rock change. It was a great conversation, but the editor over there turned it down. Not enough about the music. In fact, nothing about the music. But those stories... Dead Moon plays punk rock that sounds like AC/DC without the big, dumb arena rock stomp. Cool and all. But talk to them sometime. You'll be better for it. AG

SATURDAY 3/18

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, ELEFANT, VOYAGER ONE

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) If you missed Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Doug Fir last fall, now's your chance to check 'em out—don't make the same mistake twice. BRMC's latest, Howl, is a great departure from their past work. They toned down the drone and traded it in for raw blues, folk, and soul. Where they once burrowed deep beneath a wall of sound, the boys stripped it down to acoustic guitars, slides, and harmonica. And while the aesthetic works all by its lonesome, it's the writing that makes it last. Each song is a dense, drunken pop deconstruction about longing, love, and death, and almost every one of them could be a single. So if you've heard pre-Howl BRMC and weren't feeling it, do yourself a favor and go to this show—it's probably not what you think. ANDREW R. TONRY

MUDHONEY, THE STABBS, DIVINING RODS

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) See Music, pg. 19.

ROLLERBALL, EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL, ARGUMENTIX, GTR LKR

(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Pl) James Squeaky is doing a new podcast based around his new-age/noise deconstructivist project, Argumentix. Says Squeaky, "I started a podcast radio show. Some songs, some me making noises. I dunno. Me acting ridiculous alone in my studio." Check it out at argumentix.podomatic.com AG

ANTI-FLAG, THE CASUALTIES, THE UNSEEN, SMOKE OR FIRE, THE AKAS

(Loveland, 320 SE 2nd) Anti-Flag's new album, For Blood and Empire, calls bullshit on the White House, the Bush regime, biased media, military recruitment, and war crimes. Along with the album of blistering and anthemic punk rock comes essays to explain the songs and the situations they're about (also available online at forbloodandempire.com). But this time around, Anti-Flag's antiwar/anti-military prose was released on a major label, RCA, which is a subsidiary of Sony BMG. In 2005, Sony was fined $10 million for practicing payola (pay to play), which has inadvertently made it nearly impossible for indie promoters and artists to get their music heard, because some lame radio stations were only interested in working with the big labels that could fork over cash. Also, according to buyblue.org, 53 percent of Sony's political donations went to the Republican Party, but hey, now Anti-Flag's message is getting out to more people thanks to their major-label status! So it's cool, right? MEGAN SELING

BLOWUPNIHILIST, DESTRUCTOTRON, MOLOCH, 12 INCHES TOTAL, ENCHANTED 4ST

(Hough Pool, 1801 Esther, Vancouver) Okay, so this show is at a public, indoor, heated pool in the 'Couv. Kind of an "experiment" to see if it's a viable place to put on a hardcore/emo/screamo/blah blah gig. But really, who cares about that? If all goes according to plan, the place will be filled with hot (albeit pale) young hipsters wearing basically nothing, splashing around in tepid water. Gazonga! SCOTT MOORE

SUNDAY 3/19

JOE SATRIANI AUTOGRAPH SESSION

(Portland Music Co., 531 SE MLK) Oh man, sometimes I just throw on some Saaatch and it's like the music explodes behind my eyeballs, maaan. Like, BWWWAA! Ugh. And it's like "wwaaa wheee wadda wadda wheeeeee waaaa wwwwa!" Fuckin' Saaatch. Yeah! Oh, man, check out this riff I just figured out. Wait. Hold on. It goes like this... FILM EDITOR ERIK'S COLLEGE ROOMMATE, STONER GUITARIST EXTRAORDINAIRE SETH, AS TOLD TO AG

CHURCH OF PSYCHEDELIA

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) So last week we ran our bi-annual Music Issue and the topic was "psychedelic music." I thought it was pretty comprehensive, but nothing beats the actual experience of seeing the music live. Holocene's Church of Psychedelia is our Music Issue times infinity with hours of the good stuff courtesy of Dark Yoga, Birch Book, Heavy Lids, DJ Mordechai, and visuals by Penguin Jetpack. For an extra special tie-in, the Church is curated by the Mercury's own Josh Blanchard, who's also one half of the Audio Dregs-released psyche-folk band Plants. Anyone looking to get the lowdown on psychedelic music—local and otherwise—should look no further than Josh. AG

LIAM CAREY, ALELA DIANE, FRANK LEMON

(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Pl) It's midnight at the bar and Marie is all excited. "Adam, you like Joanna Newsom, right?" "Sure. Yeah." "Good. I mean, I know you do, but you gotta go see Alela Diane next time she plays." "She local?" "Yeah, she used to live in Nevada City, but now she's from here. She sounds like Joanna Newsom, but not so... Joanna Newsom, y'know what I mean?" "Yeah, I guess so." "You're gonna love her. It's really old feeling, but still kinda modern. When I saw her she played acoustic and her voice was... Dave what was her voice like?" Dave, her boyfriend, who's working the bar, walks over and hands her a beer. "Yeah, her voice was echoey, like she was singing inside a closet." "Thanks, Dave. Exactly! You're gonna love her. Promise you'll go see her?" "Yes, I do. I promise." AG MONDAY 3/20

MARCHFOURTH MARCHING BAND, SOLOVOX

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) As you maneuver your way through the various clubs and bars and parties that make up Portland's music scene, you hear a lot of shit talk about bands. What it adds up to is a bunch of bitter armchair critics who couldn't pull shit off on their own, bitching down someone else's art. Sometimes it seems like no one escapes it; I've heard hate spewed upon huge bands and groups that have yet to play a show. The one band—the ONE band—I've yet to hear something snippy about is the 35-piece MarchFourth Marching Band, which is billed by Doug Fir as a "surrealist groove machine." Oh yeah, today's the first day of spring. Go outside. AG

TUESDAY 3/21

PARKS AND RECREATION, FRANKLIN DELANO, KIESKAGATO

(Acme, 1305 SE 8th) Bologna, Italy's Franklin Delano make big, slow, layered songs that lumber along with low, rumbling stand-up bass and grating saws at the violin strings. There's a lot of country in there—somewhere, it's buried beneath drums and piano and a million other sounds that settle above each other and lay down sedimentary stacks of glue-slow post-rock. AG

QUASI

(Jackpot Records, 203 SW 9th) See Music, pg. 17.

WEDNESDAY 3/22

GHOSTFACE KILLAH, M1 OF DEAD PREZ, COOL NUTZ, DJ OG-ONE

(Berbati's, 10 SW 3rd) See Music, pg 17.

PHASE ONE: WORDS AND MUSIC

(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Pl) This time around the monthly Phase One: Words and Music night brings together Anybody (music), Salina Nunez (words), Alela Diane (music), Nora McCrea (performance), and Modernstate (music) in the ever-running odyssey to combine and co-op and deconstruct the performance of appreciation of literature and music. Note: Alela Diane also plays Sunday at Towne Lounge. AG

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, FRANZ FERDINAND, THE CRIBS

(Memorial Coliseum, 300 Winning Way) If Death Cab references Yellow Submarine and Franz Ferdinand references the Archduke of Austria, what the fuck's Cribs all about? MTV's Cribs? Ever see the one where Snoop Dogg opened his fridge and it was fulla popsicles? He was like, "Y'know what's really gangsta? Paaawpsicles." A recent post on the Cribs' site reads, "Hi guys. Don't forget, voting is now open for Spin.com's first ever band of the year. We're up against Nine Black Alps in the Brit Rock category, so, you know what to do." Yup, we know what to do. AG

NO USE FOR A NAME, PUNCHLINE, I AM THE AVALANCHE, VERSUS THE WORLD

(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) It's been forever since I rocked No Use for a Name's Leche Con Carne out the windows of my high school convertible. That was the era of listening to mainstream punk like NOFX, Bad Religion, and a ton of other shitty three-chord punk wonders I'd find by referencing the thank yous in liner notes. I was violent and destructive as a teenager, and bands like that were the perfect soundtrack for it—No Use for a Name better than most. Now, almost 20 years on the road later, they're still writing concise, skate-punk songs that, at the right time in your life, might hit you hard in the spleen and kidneys and make you piss blood. And what's more punk than pissing blood?  BART SCHANEMAN See Jessica Hopper's Oneida Up & Coming on pg. 21 for more on pissing blood.