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Robert Ham

Robert Ham is the Mercury's former Copy Chief. He writes regularly about music, film, arts, sports, and tech. He lives semi-consciously in far SE Portland with his wife, child, and four ornery cats.
Posted inFall Arts 2024

Portland Opera Makes
History Come Alive

Our Oregon debuts commissioned work about poet and advocate Shizue Iwatsuki.
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Portland Opera’s 60th season finds the eminent arts institution at a fulcrum. In recent months, it sold the Hampton Opera Center, the organization’s home base for over two decades, and now it’s deeply embroiled in ongoing discussions about the future of the Keller Auditorium. It’s little wonder then that the company has kept its impressive […]

Posted inMusic

Spend the Night Celebrates Nine Years of Electronic Dance Music Parties

Todd Edwards and Conducta headline the anniversary at Holocene, which also features STN resident DJs tag-teaming the warm up set.
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At Spend the Night’s ninth anniversary, resident DJs Nathan Detroit, Leeonn, Sunrise Energy Club, and Ben Tactic tag-team a warm up opener set for headliners Todd Edwards and Conducta going back-to-back playing their unique spins on UK garage.

Posted inMovies & TV

The Hype About The People’s Joker Is Entirely Warranted

The hilarious debut feature from Vera Drew parodies comic book icons to tell a trans coming out story.
Avatar photo Robert Ham

The hilarious debut film feature from Vera Drew, The People’s Joker, packs a lot into its 92-minute runtime—action, animation, DC comic parody deep cuts, some truly vicious and necessary jabs at some of SNL’s current stars, and a healthy scattering of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it asides. There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the pop culture parody coming of age film, but it’s entirely warranted.

Posted inMusic

Portland Has Two Great Listening Bars, Both Alike in Dignity

Avatar photo Robert Ham

The arrival of listening bars—meticulously designed haunts built around the playing of vinyl records on high-end stereo equipment—in the Portland metro area was inevitable. A mainstay of Japanese musical culture since the ’50s (an estimated 600 audiophile cafés and bars are currently in operation there), the concept has been imported to the US over the […]

Posted inSpring Arts Preview 2024

Portland Has Two Great Listening Bars, Both Alike in Dignity

We compare Sonder Listening Bar and Decibel Sound & Drink, and recommend they swap names.
Avatar photo Robert Ham

The arrival of listening bars—meticulously designed haunts built around the playing of vinyl records on high-end stereo equipment—in the Portland metro area was inevitable. A mainstay of Japanese musical culture since the ’50s (an estimated 600 audiophile cafés and bars are currently in operation there), the concept has been imported to the US over the […]

Posted inTheater & Performance

Prolab Dance’s Latest Work Unfolded Physically, Virtually, and Upon the Ceiling of Kendall Planetarium

when we were Ocean was intentionally overwhelming but delightful in its exploration.
Avatar photo Robert Ham

New work from local arts group ProLab Dance, “when we were Ocean” unfolded physically, virtually, and upon the ceiling of Kendall Planetarium. Critic Robert Ham was delighted by it, even as he was surprised by the number of children in attendance—and how much they also seemed to enjoy it.

Posted inMusic

North Portland Jazz Club the 1905 Announces Reopening Plans

The Mississippi district music venue closed suddenly in November 2023; new management claims to have remedied its financial issues.
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Three months after the venue’s closure, it appears that celebrated jazz club the 1905 may soon reopen under new management. Although there isn’t yet a hard date set, a Monday morning press release from the 1905 announced the venue and pizzeria expects to reopen its doors to musicians and patrons “within the next four to […]

Posted inTheater & Performance

Amy Leona Havin and Holding Project Create a Nonstop Flurry of Movement and Memory

The horse masks were a nice touch.
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The latest dance performance from Amy Leona Havin and the Holding Project only played for three shows, but we’re still thinking about it.

The latest dance performance from Amy Leona Havin and the Holding Project—precious cargo (always the point) only played for three shows, but we’re still thinking about it.

Posted inFall Arts 2023

Works in Progress

Checking in with two of Portland’s most important art projects:  the Doug Fir and Tomorrow Theater.
Avatar photo Robert Ham

Lament, if you must, the many local arts spaces that have come and gone in our fair city. There’s a long list of names and places to choose from. But the better move might be to celebrate the number of local galleries, clubs, and theaters that are still here—survivors of a global pandemic that shuttered […]

Posted inMusic

Candid Ramblings Rhymes with Refreshing Directness

Being in Portland helped rapper Lakeeyscia Griffin find the confidence to write a song about her partner.
Avatar photo Robert Ham

Lakeeyscia Griffin, the 30-year-old Portland rapper who performs and records as Candid Ramblings, chooses her words very carefully. Both onstage and on her sparkling new LP Sublime Timing, phrases and metaphors burst forth from her 5’1” body like tiny torrents. But speaking over Zoom as she sought to recharge her creative batteries with a trip […]

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