Monday, February 10, 2014

RIP Roseland Theater (Portland)


Okay, maybe it's not the end of Portland's Roseland Theater but it's surely the last time rapper Action Bronson gets invited there.  As you can see in the video, he lit a joint on stage last Monday night and threw it to the audience, and then toked on one of his own. Security intervened, a shoving match ensued, the house lights came up, and the show was over.  

From what I could tell, he got further into his set then Panic! At The Disco did before the creaky old floor at The Tabernacle gave out Friday night in Atlanta.

I've been to a couple of shows at the Roseland, including Nacho Picasso, Chvrches, and Godspeed! You Black Emperor during last years' MFNW, and Reignwolf and Those Darlins' during MFNW 2012.  The audience was just as overwhelmingly caucasian at those events as that shown in this video (hey, it's Oregon). 

Sunday, February 9, 2014

50 Years Ago Today

IMAGE

To be absolutely honest here, it really did kind of change my life.



I was in the Fourth Grade, and my parents let me stay up and watch The Ed Sullivan Show the night The Beatles first appeared on American t.v.

We had never seen anything quite like this before, and it electrified my family.  "They look like girls!," my father declared, and my mother complained that it wan't music - all they did was scream.  Watching the video now, it's really hard to imagine how they came to those conclusions.

The next Monday morning, the kids on the school bus were so wired the driver threatened us with disciplinary action.  Someone on the bus produced a Beatles wig (from where?) and we took turns trying it on and miming the band (my first air guitar performance).  The whole day at school was about like that.  We were incorrigible.  The rumor was that when the subtitle at the 3:50 mark was aired, hundreds of teenage girls across the country committed suicide, but I've never been able to verify that.

Fifty years later, I'm still going to concerts, still listening to bands, and generally living my life to a rock 'n' roll soundtrack.  And it all started on this one night. . . .

Saturday, February 8, 2014

RIP The Tabernacle


I wasn't at this show, but have felt the Tabernacle floor bounce and sway many a time.  It was only a matter of time before it buckled and cracked.  


News flash: the floor upstairs at the god-forsaken Masquerade isn't much better.

View image on Twitter

Update:  Tonight's show for country singer Corey Smith has been cancelled.

Post-Script: According to a February 10 Facebook message, "City officials have inspected the venue and determined there was no structural failure of the floor system. Our subsequent investigation of the building shows areas that require additional attention to insure the ongoing integrity of the building for many years to come. We are working to prepare the venue for our upcoming shows this weekend." However, the Lauryn Hill concert scheduled for Thursday has been moved to Monday, February 17th, not because of the floor but due to the impending ice storm on its way to Atlanta.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Soley



According to the Google Blogspot stats counter, the most popular post on this old man's music blog has been my review of The xx and Austra at The Tabernacle a year ago last Monday, with 554 page views (however they're measured).   My second most popular post, with 204 page views, was a similar review of Of Monsters and Men, also at The Tabernacle, back on November 29, 2012.

Fellow Icelandic performer Soley opened for Of Monsters and Men at the latter concert.  We hadn't heard much from Soley on these shores since then, but KEXP just uploaded a video of her performing in a hostel in Reykjavik.  It's nice to hear her again, and good to see that she appears to be doing well.  I hope she returns to these shores again.

I doubt, however, that this post about Soley will challenge the page view rankings of the other two posts.  

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Let's Go Extinct Album Stream



You know what would be cool?  If we could listen to a stream of Fanfarlo's terrific new album Let's Go Extinct, that would be cool.

Well, here it is.  Enjoy it while it lasts.