Motionless in White w/For Today, New Years Day, Ice Nine Kills; Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez
Picking on Motionless in White feels sort of cheap—they're the ultimate low-hanging fruit. Perhaps the quintessential nondescript metalcore band (a weird oxymoron in itself), Motionless in White have been a band for a decade. In spite of that insane tenure, they have only three LPs to their name. The latest, Reincarnate, is an appalling menagerie of equally reprehensible styles that could most succinctly be characterized as AFI meets Marilyn Manson meets Tim Burton's Batman. In the music video for their 2012 single "Immaculate Misconception" frontman Chris Motionless portrays a "dark Jesus," a premise that would have been cool and slightly contentious in middle school, but is considerably less so when you realize the band's average age is 30.
Outdoor School Benefit w/Arbo, Robot Boy, Dad Rock, Helens; SMART Collective, 6923 SE Foster
Anybody who grew up in Portland and attended public school likely has some sentimental attachment to Outdoor School, a distinctly Oregonian tradition where sixth graders are catapulted into an overnight, nature-immersive curriculum. It's a continuum too, with students getting the opportunity to give back by volunteering as instructors when they enter high school. It's also expensive, and proceeds from tonight's show—featuring all-ages mainstays Robot Boy, Dad Rock, and Helens (previously King Mountain Petrol), all bands I've covered in this column—will benefit the eminently valuable institution.
Check out the Mercury's complete all-ages music calendar!
