Death Cab for Cutie - Troutdale, OR (7/17/2009)

This was the first of three concerts at Edgefield Manor last weekend. Death Cab started off with three songs from Plans and followed them with their typical selection of new and old favorites. The setlist ended up being very similar to the last time I saw them in Spokane. They always put on a good show, but everyone one in my group felt they were not as into it as they could have been.




Last.fm, Flickr

Setlist:

1. Marching Bands of Manhattan
2. Your Heart is an Empty Room
3. Crooked Teeth
4. President of What?
5. No Sunlight
6. My Mirror Speaks
7. Title Track
8. Grapevine Fires
9. I Will Possess Your Heart
10. Little Bribes
11. Cath...
12. A Movie Script Ending
13. Soul Meets Body
14. The New Year
15. The Sound of Settling

Encore:

16. I Will Follow You into the Dark
17. Title and Registration
18. Transatlanticism
-setlist.fm

Track 4 from Something About Airplanes
Track 7 from We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
Track 12 from The Photo Album
Tracks 14, 15, 17, 18 from Transatlanticism
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 13, 16 from Plans
Tracks 5, 8, 9, 11 from Narrow Stairs
Tracks 6, 10 from The Open Door EP

PDX Pop Now!

Seattle may get Bumbershoot and the Capitol Hill Block Party, but Portland has been quietly developing their own summer festival lineup, plus the beer is better.

PDX Pop Now! (July 24th-26th)


This event is designed to showcase up and coming Portland bands. These Portland bands take over the Rotture for 3 days at the end of July. The fundraising events feature artists dedicated to Portland music like James Mercer of The Shins, Brandon Summers of The Helio Sequence, and Marty Marquis of Blitzen Trapper playing at the Ace Hotel. This Thursday the 16th YACHT, Point Juncture, WA, and Y La Bamba are playing outside Portland City Hall.

Bands:

Thrones, Menomena, Grouper, Laura Gibson, Explode into Colors, Dirty Mittens, Au, Red Fang, The Minus 5, The Shaky Hands

last.fm

Pickathon (July 31st - August 2nd)

Pickathon takes place out on Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, OR ( a 15 minute drive from my old high school). This festival features some of the best indie bands playing folk and alternative country music.

Bands:

Blitzen Trapper, Dr. Dog, Vetiver, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Justin Townes Earle, Elliott Brood, Horse Feathers, Alela Diane

Last.fm

Musicfest NW (September 16th - 19th)

This one isn't so much a festival since it takes place in multiple venues across Portland, but it definitely has a festival atmosphere and it brings a lot of great bands to town. Last year's was a lot of fun.

Bands:

Girl Talk, Explosions in the Sky, Monotonix, Bad Brains, Sunny Day Real Estate, Portugal. The Man, The Get Up Kids, Modest Mouse, Love as Laughter, more TBA

Last.fm

Blitzen Trapper was at the Crystal Ballroom for last year's Musicfest NW. Speaking of BT, they have a 4th live session up at Daytrotter. I've added the link to the other Daytrotter links.

Blitzen Trapper - "Black River Killer" (Official Video)

Next month, Blitzen Trapper is releasing their Black River Killer EP. This EP contains six songs only available previously on a tour-only EP and on some live recordings for Daytrotter. The title song appeared on last year's Furr. In accordance with this new release, they have released a video for "Black River Killer". They recruited Portland fans for filming at Portland's Artist Repertory Theater. The video is followed by a short making of, and here is a write-up of the shoot from Portlandesque.

Joel Smith and the Hands of Plenty - Spokane, WA (6/19/2009)

Joel Smith and the Hands of Plenty were opening for Ten Mile Tide at The Swamp last Friday. I first got to see them at Elkfest. We got to see Joel Smith before the thunderstorm drove us back in from the patio. Ten Mile Tide was beginning to setup inside when we left, but were no where near ready to play. The Swamp's patio is a nice place to listen to music when there isn't a downpour.

Skeletonwitch - Spokane, WA (6/12/2009)

I first heard about Skeletonwitch when they were added to the lineup of the Scion Rock Fest in February. Skeletonwitch play fun, straightforward blackened thrash metal. I say fun not to diminish the heaviness of their music. The riffs are punishing, and frontman Chance Garnette commands the stage with his black metal inspired growls. You can't take yourself too seriously in the world of metal or you are doomed to become a joke trying too hard to be hard. I fall firmly on the side of GWAR and Iron Maiden on the metal theatrics argument.

These guys were nice to talk to, and you could tell they had a blast playing. Before playing one song, Chance told the crowd, "This one's about Sataaaaaaaan!" before guitarists Nate and Scott launched into a twin axe attack as smoke billowed out from the back of the stage. That is what metal is about.

Skeletonwitch has Beyond the Permafrost out on Prosthetic Records which I picked up at the show. They are working on their new album and recording in Seattle. Here's a live video of them in Brooklyn to give you idea of their live show though the sound isn't too great.

Elkfest 2009 - Spokane, WA (5/29-31/2009)

Elkfest was hot and fun this year. The Elk installed water misters in their tented area which were quite refreshing. All of the bands were pleasantly surprising. I was already looking forward to seeing the Moondoggies and I wasn't disappointed. I caught the very end of Shim's set on Saturday night. I'll definitely have to check them out in the future. I was able to grab CD's from the Moondoggies and Joel Smith.

The Booze Fighters

Silian Rail

Joel Smith and the Hands of Plenty

The Maldives

Pickwick

David Dondero

The Moondoggies

Flickr, Last.fm

The Decemberists - Missoula, MT (5/24/2009)

We made a short trip over to Missoula to see the Decemberists they day after their Sasquatch performance. It was a homecoming of sorts for Colin Meloy who was born in Montana and started the band Tarkio there. They played The Hazards of Love in it's entirety followed by a varied collection of Colin Meloy/Tarkio/Decemberists tunes. The Hazards of Love takes on new life on the stage and the Decemberists played for almost 3 hours.

Blind Pilot

The Decemberists



Flickr, Last.fm

Setlist:

1-17. The Hazards of Love (album)

Encore

18. Apology Song
19. July, July!
20. We Both Go Down Together
21. Sleepless
22. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
23. (Country Western) If I Could Only
24. Dracula's Daughter
25. O Valencia!
26. The Chimbley Sweep
27. Sons & Daughters

Encore

28. Save Yourself
29. A Cautionary Song
-livejournal

Tracks 19, 29 from Castaways and Cutouts
Track 26 from Her Majesty
Track 20 from Picaresque
Tracks 22, 25, 27 from The Crane Wife
Track 21 from charity compilation Dark Was the Night
Track 28 from Tarkio album I Guess I Was Hoping for Something More
Track 24 from Colin Meloy album Colin Meloy Sings Live!
Track 18 from 5 Songs
Track 23 Emmylou Harris cover?