Photos by Robert Ham. If we’re being perfectly honest, Kraftwerk didn’t even need to show up at the Keller Auditorium on Saturday night. The technopop pioneers from Dusseldorf could have given the entire two-and-a-half-hour performance over to their robotic proxies, instead of just doing so for one song (“The Robots,” natch) and there’s a good […]
Live Review
Posted inLive Review
Destroyer at the Wonder Ballroom, Fri Sept 18
All photos by Autumn Andel. For someone who has only seen Destroyer live from a distance (behind several rows of crowd on a small outdoor stage at the Pickathon music festival, only a man—Dan Bejar—and his guitar), I had little expectation of Destroyer’s tour kickoff show at the Wonder Ballroom making for a wild Friday […]
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Pickathon Diaries: Pickathon Pic-athon 2015!
Katie Summer Viet Cong Katie Summer Sinkane This marked my fourth year in a row celebrating my birthday at the best place on earth, Pendarvis Farm, and my most playful Pickathon yet. Through a few years of experience I have learned to camp more, stress less, and stay open to being blown away by something […]
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D’Angelo and the Vanguard at Crystal Ballroom, Sun Aug 9
All photos by Minh Tran. Whatever rock D’Angelo has been hiding underneath for the last 15 years has thankfully not caused any lasting damage, as his performance Sunday night at the Crystal Ballroom proved. I’d been fortunate enough to catch D at the Fox Theatre in Detroit during the 2000 Voodoo tour, and it had […]
Posted inPhotography/Film/Production
Pickathon Diaries: Tearing up the Schedule
Photos by Autumn Andel. See all her incredible Pickathon 2015 pics here. After a decade of hearing about the greatness of Pickathon from friends, family, and strangers, I finally made my first trip to the farm this year. I live in Bend, so it’s a three-hour drive for me, and I got a later start […]
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Pickathon Diaries: Top 10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Going to Pickathon
Katie Summer Joseph I attended my first Pickathon this year, and it more than lived up to the hype. It was a beautiful, inspiring, exciting experience, and I can’t wait to go back. But, as happens with most first times, I made a number of embarrassing fumbles. Here are the 10 things I wish somebody […]
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Pickathon Diaries: The Most Modern Music Festival Around
Katie Summer Sinkane Despite its name, origins, and rustic locale, Pickathon has become the most modern and innovative music festival around. Both operationally and stylistically, it’s pushing ahead. This was drilled into me not only by my time on Pendarvis Farm over the weekend, but by the three other festivals I’ve attended in the last […]
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Pickathon Diaries: Ty Segall, Kamasi Washington, Wolf People, and More
Katie Summer Katie Summer Wolf People It always takes a little while to recover from Pickathon, but you’ll be seeing our thoughts and photos trickling out on the blog over the next couple days, interrupting your regularly scheduled stream of posts about hamburgers. Pickathon returned to Happy Valley this past weekend, with more than 50 […]
Posted inPhotography/Film/Production
Jamie XX at Wonder Ballroom, Sat July 25
Minh Tran Minh Tran Minh Tran Does it matter how many pictures were taken of a human selecting and playing records in a room full of other humans? Will the images bear any credence in the minds of organisms who weren’t there? If beside you there is someone checking the late night TriMet schedule, and […]
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Elvis Costello and the Imposters at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Wed July 8
People seem to forget that young Elvis Costello was an absolutely terrifying performer. His media reputation as rock ’n’ roll’s “angry young man” was not unwarranted—the Attractions’ 1978 appearance on German TV show Rockaplast is a perfect document of that period of Costello’s career. Musically, he combined Paul McCartney’s cherubic penchant for melody with a […]
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Nap Eyes and Monomyth at Bunk Bar, Mon July 6
Monomyth Nap Eyes All photos by Autumn Andel. Ah, Monday—probably everyone’s least favorite day of the week. For a good chunk of population, it means having to abandon the leisure and indulgence of the weekend behind, to face the reality that keeps the world in motion. But the Monday following an Independence Day weekend is […]
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Genders, Helvetia, and Tiburones at Mississippi Studios, Friday, June 26
Katie Summer Genders at Mississippi Studios Friday night’s lineup at Mississippi Studios was one for the books. Local sweethearts Genders hosted a send-off show for their bassist, inviting fellow Portland bands Helvetia and Tiburones to share the bill. I am always a little surprised that Helvetia doesn’t get a larger crowd when they play. Don’t […]