Portland 07/04/14 by The Phoenix

art

theater

ThAT wAS SO REAL

POAChED fROM hISTORY

ED POLLACK unvEiLS A MODERniST ARCHivE

_by nick Schroeder p 14

dinner + movie

YOUTh fETIShES

FOOD TRuCKS SATiSFY MORE THAn HunGER

MSMT’S chamberlain BOWS TO THE SCRiPT _by Megan Grumbling p 15

_by Brian Duff | p 24 music

Funk is its own language THE LATEST FROM MAMA’S BOOMSHACK _by Sam Pfeifle p 16

july 4-10, 2014 | Portland’s news + arts + entertainment authority | Free

SILENCINg fREE SPEECh The 17th annual Muzzle Awards expose New England’s top offenders _by Dan Kennedy | p 8

COLUMNS

PORN AND LONELINESS

This week’s ‘In Layman’s Terms’ | p 6

NO TAR SANDS

SoPo drafts ordinance | p 4

PoRTLANd.THEPHoENIX.CoM | THE PoRTLANd PHoENIX | JuLY 4, 2014 3

July 2 - 5 Wed: Trivia NighT 7PM Thurs: adaM WaxMaN aNd Joe Farrell 5-7PM BaNd BeyoNd descriPTioN 9:30PM Fri: F.i. saT: viNyl TaP

FouNdEd SINCE 1966IN 1999

July 4, 2014 | Vol XVI, No 27 ON tHE COVER F theater photo by Judy beedle photography

p 13

Sat. and Sun. Brunch 10:30am-3pm Live Music • New Menu • Deck & Patio

p 24

UPCOMING EVENTS Thursday, July 10th

DINOSAUR JR WITH OGRE / 18+ p4

Friday, July 11th

04 THIS JuST IN 06 PoLITICS + oTHER MISTAKES _ B Y AL D I AMON

06 HooPLEVILLE 06 IN LAYMAN’S TERMS 08 THE 17TH ANNuAL MuZZLE AWARdS _ B Y DAVID KISH

_ B Y DAN A FADEL

_ B Y D AN K E NNE D Y

12 14 15 16 19 24 26

8 dAYS A WEEK ART THEATER LoCAL MuSIC LISTINGS BITING INTo THE FANTASY MooN SIGNS + JoNESIN’ + TooN TIME

_ B Y N ICK SCHROEDER

GRANDMASTER FLASH / 18+ PRESENTED BY

Saturday, July 12th

DEV / 18+

Friday, July 18th

THE TUBES

/ 18+

Saturday, July 19th

CRACKER UNPLUGGED / 18+ Tuesday, July 22nd

QUIET RIOT

_BY NI CK S CHROEDER

_BY MEG AN G RUMB LIN G

WITH FASTER PUSSYCAT, BULLET BOYS AND GILBY CLARKE / 18+

_ B Y SAM P FEIFLE

Friday, July 25th

_ B Y B RIAN DUFF

NATALIE STOVALL & THE DRIVE / 18+

FOO FIGHTERS vs ARCTIC MONKEYS

Saturday, July 26th

WINGER

DIESEL DOUG & THE LONG HAUL TRUCKERS

WITH SYGNAL TO NOISE / 18+

Thursday, July 31st

TOM KEIFER PRoVIdENCE | PoRTLANd

STEPHEN M. MINdICH Publisher + Chairman

EVERETT FINKELSTEIN Chief oPerating offiCer

PoRTLANd general manager JoHN MARSHALL managing eDitor NICK SCHRoEdER graPhiC Designers ANdREW CALIPA, JENNIFER SoARES staff Writer NICK SCHRoEdER listings CoorDinator NICK SCHRoEdER Contributing Writers ZACK ANCHoRS, MARIAH BERGERoN, AL dIAMoN, BRIAN duFF, dANA FAdEL, ANTHoNY GIAMPETRuZZI, CHRISToPHER GRAY, KEN GREENLEAF, MEGAN GRuMBLING, JEFF INGLIS, dAVId KISH, BRITTA KoNAu, KATE MCCARTY, SAM PFEIFLE, LINdSAY STERLING, SHAY STEWART-BouLEY, LANCE TAPLEY aCCount eXeCutives NICoLE ELWELL, EMMA HoLLANdER, ERIC KENNEY, KARINA NAPIER, JoHN PAuL aDvertising oPerations manager AdAM oPPENHEIMER senior aCCountant KATHRYN SIMoES CirCulations DireCtor KEVIN doRGAN

oFFICES PortlanD 65 WEST CoMMERCIAL ST., SuITE 207, PoRTLANd, ME 04101, 207-773-8900, FAX 207-773-8905 | ProviDenCe 150 CHESTNuT ST., PRoVIdENCE, RI 02903, 401-437-6698, FAX 401-273-0920 | NATIoNAL SALES oFFICE 150 CHESTNuT ST., PRoVIdENCE, RI 02903, 401-273-6397 X232, FAX 401-272-8712 | Web site WWW.THEPHoENIX.CoM letters to the eDitor GERMANE To AN ARTICLE THAT HAS APPEAREd IN ouR PAPER SHouLd BE SENT To 65 WEST CoMMERCIAL ST., SuITE 207, PoRTLANd, ME, 04101 | EMAIL To PoRTLANd-FEEdBACK@PHX.CoM. PLEASE INCLudE A dAYTIME TELEPHoNE NuMBER FoR VERIFICATIoN. subsCriPtions $90/6 MoNTHS, $150/1 YEAR | SENd NAME ANd AddRESS WITH CHECK oR MoNEY oRdER To: SuBSCRIPTIoN dEPARTMENT, PoRTLANd PHoENIX, 65 WEST CoMMERCIAL ST., SuITE 207, PoRTLANd, ME, 04101 CoPyright © 2014 BY THE PoRTLANd PHoENIX, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVEd. REPRoduCTIoN WITHouT PERMISSIoN, BY ANY METHod WHATSoEVER, IS PRoHIBITEd.

the PhoeniX meDia/CommuniCations grouP

Chairman STEPHEN M. MINdICH Chief oPerating offiCer EVERETT FINKELSTEIN THE PHoENIX NEWSPAPERS | PHoENIX MEdIA VENTuRES | MASS WEB PRINTING

with King Memphis & "Jumpstart" Jenny Whitter

/ 18+

Saturday, August 9th

JOSH THOMPSON

BROODS

Friday, August 22nd

THE OTHER BONES

POWERMAN 5000 /18+ / 18+

TAJ MAHAL / 18+ Saturday, October 25th

LORD EARTH

Thursday, November 6th

THE PRETTY RECKLESS / 18+

121 Center Street, Portland, ME

(207) 772-8274

7/7 WED

7/9

THE AFTERAFTER PARTY

JON PARDI / 18+

PORTLANDASYLUM.COM

MON

STEELY DAN vs DOOBIE BROTHERS

Saturday, August 23rd

BUY TICKETS ONLINE:

THU

7/3

/ 18+

Sunday, August 17th

GAELIC STORM

WED

7/2

7/19 7/22

THU

7/10

CLASH

MISS FAIRCHILD WEDNESDAY JOE FLETCHER EVERY PORTLAND’S ORIGINAL UNORIGINAL MUSIC NIGHT

575 CONGrESS STrEET POrTLAND MAINE BUY TICKETS: POrTLANDEMPIrE.COM

4 July 4, 2014 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com

this Just in

beyond the polls Anti-tar sands activists rally and strategize in South Portland

no tar sands

SoPo committee introduces Clear Skies Ordinance

When the Waterfront Protection Ordinance was defeated in South Portland last fall, proponents were quick to point out that the vote was not a referendum on tar sands, but on that one specific ordinance, which sought to amend the city’s zoning laws to prevent tar sands oil from being loaded onto ships at SoPo’s waterfront. “People’s feelings are clear...they don’t want to be known as the tar sands capitol of the United States,” mayor Jerry Jalbert said at the time. Shortly thereafter, the city passed a 180-day moratorium on any development or project involving tar sands oil. With the Clear Skies Ordinance, unveiled at a meeting last week, South Portland is taking a different, narrower approach to keeping tar sands out of Southern Maine. The ordinance, crafted over five months by a three-person committee that met close to 20 times and held multiple public sessions, aims “to protect the health and welfare of its residents and visitors and to promote future development consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan by prohibiting within the City the bulk loading of crude oil onto marine tank vessels, and also by prohibiting construction or installation of related facilities, structures, or equipment that would create significant new sources of air pollution, adversely impact or

Idiot Box

_by Matt Bors

“People’s feelings are clear... they don’t want to be known as the tar sands capitol of the United States...”

blUe Clear Skies Ordinance supporters at a public meeting with city council officials June 25. obstruct ocean views and scenic view-sheds, and impede or adversely impact the City’s land use and planning goals.” Specifically, it cites the release of toxic gases, emitted when crude oil is bulk-loaded onto marine tankers, as reason to prohibit that activity. Currently, conventional oil is shipped into Portland Harbor and then pumped northward, through Maine and into Canada. Activists worry that pipeline executives are seeking to reverse the flow in the decades-old pipes, in order to accommodate tar sands oil from Western Canada. “[I]t is a way for the city to say ‘no’ to one type of industrial operation that, even during normal operations, would threaten air, coastal wildlife, and city aesthetics,” according to Protect South Portland, a community advocacy organization. Read the full ordinance at southportland.org. The full South Portland city council will take its first vote on the ordinance on July 7. If passed, it will move on for consideration by the planning board on July 15. The second, and final, reading of the ordinance is scheduled for July 21. A majority vote of the council is needed to adopt the ordinance. Greater Portlanders eager to learn more have an opportunity July 13, two days before the city council vote. Sierra Club Maine is co-sponsoring a 55-seat charter bus to bring anti-tar sands activists to a peaceful rally and protest in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, where they’ll have the opportunity to discuss the issue with environmentalists from throughout New England. Visit action.sierraclub.org for details. This week, EnvironmentMaine will release a report dissecting what it says is a national strategy on the part of Big Oil to squash efforts like the Clear Skies Ordinance.

_Deirdre Fulton

HAPPY HOUR: Mon-Fri. 4-7pm $2.50 Domestics • $3.50 Micros • $5 Nachos

Wed.

$7 Domestic Pitchers • 2 Cheeseburgers & Fries $6.99

Thur. 50¢ Wings • $7 Bud Light Pitchers Fri. $5 Burritos • $4 Cuervo Margaritas Catch all the Red Sox action all season long!

R STOP IN FO OUR DAILY SPECIALS H THE AND WATC TART RED SOX S N SO THEIR SEA OFF RIGHT!

Our hi-def screens, full bar & killer menu will make you feel like you're at all your favorite games.

Voted #1 Wings in Portland!

121 Center St. Portland • 207-772-8274 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK: 11:30am to 1am

WWW.PORTLANDASYLUM.COM

6 July 4, 2014 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com

_BY A L D I AM O N

In Layman’s Terms

politics + other mistakes All the wrong choices Reform is in the air. So is methane gas. Sometimes it’s tough to tell the difference. Such notable entities as former Republican US Senator Olympia Snowe and the Portland Press Herald are calling for changes in the way we elect our leaders in order to restore public confidence, end gridlock, and reverse global warming. There’s a much better chance they’ll accomplish that last one than either of the other two. Snowe, a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on Political Reform (motto: Organizations With Really Long Names Are Just Naturally More Credible), is calling for all states to institute open primaries. There are two types of these. One is a blanket primary wherein all candidates for a particular office run in a single race, regardless of party affiliation. If nobody gets a majority, the top two contenders face off in the general election. The other version maintains partisan primaries, but allows voters of any party to cast ballots wherever they choose. “The armies of gridlock are well-funded and well-organized,” Snowe told the Associated Press. “What we need is a counterweight to that extremism.” Snowe argues that allowing everyone to choose the parties’ nominees will provide an advantage to candidates who advocate cooperation and collaboration, thereby appealing to middle-of-the-road voters. If that seems too good to be true, it’s because it is. Louisiana has had blanket primaries since 1976, during which time the state has maintained its position as one of the most corrupt in the nation. Its elected officials could be defined as moderate only when compared to their pre-’76 counterparts, who were both racist and corrupt. I suppose that’s progress of a sort.

_BY D AV ID KIS h

Hawaii has open primaries that allow voters to take part in choosing any nominee regardless of party enrollment. Since this system was implemented in 1978, turnout has declined dramatically. Nobody seems too sure why, but it could be because most people think allowing voters who aren’t members of a party to pick its nominees is a stupid idea. In California, studies show the congressional delegation has gotten more ideologically extreme since open primaries began in 2010. And the number of third-party and independent candidates has declined sharply. At least 20 states have open primaries for presidential races, thereby encouraging all manner of ballot manipulation. Democrats support the weakest Republican. GOP voters choose the most obnoxious Dem. If you don’t think this has an impact, check out the candidates for the White House in the last half-dozen elections. Or imagine how the results of the recently concluded 2nd Congressional District primaries would have differed if Republican voters could have backed Democratic loser Troy Jackson, while enrolled Democrats sided with Republican also-ran Kevin Raye. In November, we might have had an election so anemic that neither candidate could win. As bad as Snowe’s idea is, the Press Herald has a worse one. The newspaper has been editorializing in favor of more ranked-choice voting, the system currently used to pick Portland’s mayor. It allows voters to rate the candidates from first to worst. If nobody gets a majority, the last-place finisher is eliminated and those votes distributed to the second choices on the ballots. This process continues until somebody either wins, or everyone gets so mixed up they go home.

_ BY DAnA FA Del

“In this system, no elections play exclusively to the party base,” said an editorial in the June 24 paper. “Candidates want first-place votes, but they want second-place ones, too, and have less of an incentive to trash their opponents to motivate the true believers.” Instead, candidates would continue to leave it to outside groups to fund attack ads. In reality, ranked-choice voting in Portland produced none of the promised benefits. Michael Brennan, a partisan Democrat, won the election, narrowly defeating Ethan Strimling, who’s also far to the left of center. Moderate and conservative candidates were non-factors. But at least Portlanders could take heart in knowing their mayor had majority support—if you count second-, third-, and fourth-place votes a part of that majority. Except that’s not true, either. Because ballots without votes for either of the top two finishers weren’t part of the final tally, Brennan actually fell a few points shy of a majority. But at least the minority mayor is the same one who would have won if the count had been conducted in the standard winner-take-all fashion. In other words, for all the expense and confusion, ranked-choice voting didn’t have the slightest impact on the outcome. The truth is that making changes to the voting process because somebody doesn’t like the outcome is no way to improve government. It is, however, the way elections are handled in places like Egypt, Thailand and Louisiana. If reform (or some other foul odor) is in the air, hold your breath until it blows away. ^

Pollute my inbox by emailing aldiamon@herniahill.net.

i n l a y m a n st e r m sph x@ g m a i l .c o m

PORN AND LONELINESS “it seems like a lot of pornography involves men treating women rather unkindly (bossed around, put in uncomfortable or painful situations, etc.). So presumably a lot of nice guys are looking at not-too-nice porn. do you think that is the case, and why do you think they enjoy it?” _BD

“it’s a control issue. that’s what they like about it. that’s my guess. it’s like a power trip. in today’s world, i think men feel like they need to be control in the bedroom and that’s the way things work, but in reality, it don’t work that way. [porn] is very sadistic, like a soap opera for sex addicts. a lot of men, even married men, buy porn because they don’t get that roleplay at home, so they feel they need it from somewhere. _Jessica, 34, manager, interviewed at Lookin’ Good Laundromat “they usually have pornos where [men] are always dominating, but that’s not how sex goes. if you really want to please a woman, you don’t just jackrabbit, hammer it in. you have to build it up, you have to be sensual and intimate with her. and porn really does a bad job of showing the intimacy. you can like, tell, if you watch enough porn, you can definitely tell it’s just all acting. it’s kinda funny and sad at the same time, when people try to have sex based off porn. it’s just unrealistic.” _Jared, 21, in the Navy, interviewed at Federal Spice “i was sleeping with this guy for a few months, and we clearly didn’t have a future together. i ended it partially for that reason, but also because i wanted a deeper connection with someone. however, we built up this deep intimacy and connection in the bedroom that’s left me feeling lonely at night. What are some strategies or ideas to help get me to stop feeling like i want to call him again?”_FD

“Been there! Find somebody else to sleep with, perhaps. you should find yourself as a person, you should have your own interests and shouldn’t have to feel validated by a relationship. it doesn’t mean she has to go and sleep around with all kinds of people, but just to explore herself and her sexuality would be really good for her.” _Aubrey, 23, server, interviewed on Cumberland Ave. “i find this really funny because a lot of my friends right now are going the tinder route. tinder will waste your life for three weeks before you realize how horrible it is. if you’re looking for that ‘get laid quick’ route, i guess that’s what you’d want. if she wasn’t getting the emotional part and that part failed, she’s gonna have to find someone else.” _Brendan, 32, connoisseur, interviewed at Salvage BBQ “i’ve got an off-the-wall suggestion: she can visualize what she wants in a boyfriend and try to attract that for herself. that’s my advice. imagine what you want, but also, be who you are fully. and when you’re not looking for it, that’s when it happens. When you can fully be yourself and then you really do know what you want, that’s when you’re more apt to attract what you want. Visualizing what you want is absolutely part of that.” _Lee, 49, catalyst, and Anthony, 52, guidance, interviewed at Rivalries MY ADvICe: to quote douglas coupland, “the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. life’s cruelest irony.” loneliness is a tough place to be in, but it’s also an important time to figure out who you are and what you want. use your feelings of loneliness to your advantage: be more productive, hang out with different groups of friends, or better yet, become better acquainted with yourself.

ILT is a podcast now! Listen to these and other amazing interviews on SoundCloud at soundcloud. com/in_laymans_terms. Follow me on Instagram @in_laymans_terms_ to check out the advice givers! And don’t be shy!—e-mail me at inlaymanstermsphx@ gmail.com to ask a question.

121 CENTER ST. | PORTLAND, ME 04102 | 207.772.8274

FRIDAY, JULY 11TH WITH MIKE BE & JAY CARON (OF OCK COUSTEAU)

& DJ EL SHUPACABRA

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT PORTLANDASYLUM.COM & TICKETWEB.COM

Battle Bentley’s

of the

Bands

27 Bands

Bayside Bowl

Compete!

More than $3,000 in cash & Prizes NEXT BATTLE: JULY 9, 9pm:

THE TINA KELLY BAND • ROBERT JOHNSON pROJECT FENDER BENDER CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SUBSTITUTES FOR WINNING THE SEMI-FINAL BATTLE! THEY’LL BE BATTLING IN OCTOBER FOR THE $3,000 GRAND PRIZE!

July 5th Covered in Bees With Battery steele and the english Muffins 8pM, free

FmI: SEE THE ENTERTAINmENT pAGE AT WWW.BENTLEYSSALOON.COm 1601 Portland road arundel, Me Phone: (207)985-8966 WWW.bentleysaloon.coM

58 alder street portland, Maine 207.791.2695

8 July 4, 2014 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com

The 17Th AnnuAl

Muzzle AwArds spotlighting those who diminish free speech _By dan Ke n n e dy

A US senator from Massachusetts who wants the federal government to monitor so-called hate speech on television, radio, and the Internet. A local official in Rhode Island who disparages complaints about an unconstitutional law prohibiting anonymous political speech as “absolute nonsense.” A Maine official who pleads with legislators to reinstate a ban on releasing 911 calls, even though such calls are public records in most states. These are just a few of the cases that comprise the 17th Annual Muzzle Awards—a Fourth of July round-up of outrages against free speech and personal liberties in New England during the past year. The New England Muzzles, sadly, are a reflection of repression at the national level. Last year at this time, we were learning from Edward Snowden the extent to which the government spies on our email, telephone, and other electronic communications. This year, a New York Times journalist, James Risen, faces jail for refusing to testify in the trial of a former CIA agent charged with leaking classified information to him. In February, the New England First Amendment Coalition presented Risen with the Stephen Hamblett Award for his staunch defense of the First Amendment. The award is named after the late publisher of the Providence Journal. “The choice is get out of the business — give up everything I believe in — or go to jail,” Risen said, according to a Boston Globe account. “They’ve backed me into a corner.” The Muzzle Awards, launched by the Phoenix in 1998, are intended to single out the dramatic and the petty, the epic and the absurd. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. Yet as these

examples show, the battle to maintain those freedoms must be fought every day. Before we get to this year’s winners, a blast from Muzzles past: In 1999 we awarded a Muzzle to two Massachusetts legislators, Susan Fargo and Paul Demakis, for pushing a buffer zone to keep protesters at a distance from abortion clinics. Fifteen years later, the US Supreme Court agreed, ruling that such buffer zones are an unconstitutional abridgment of the First Amendment. The Court outlined several less instrusive, constitutionally permissible alternatives to protect women, and we hope the Massachusetts state legislature will act quickly. The arguments put forth by challengers of the Massachusetts law were similar to those being used by plaintiffs in a Portland case that seeks to throw out the city’s buffer zone; US District Court Judge Nancy Torresen had said she was waiting to see the outcome of the Massachusetts case before ruling. Last week, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England released this statement: “We believe the buffer zone ordinance in Portland fairly balances the First Amendment rights of individuals with the rights of our patients to access health care free of harassment and intimidation. We still experience regular protesters at our health center and they are still able to get their message out. What is different since the buffer zone has been enacted is that we no longer see the sort of harassment and intimidation we saw previously. We are taking a close look at today’s ruling and examining how it impacts Portland’s buffer zone.” The envelopes, please. Continued on p 9

portland.thephoenix.com | the portland phoenix | July 4, 2014 9

Continued from p 8

Ed MarkEy: His HatE-spEEcH bill could opEn tHE door to cEnsorsHip

Whenever the free-speech rights of Sesame Street characters are threatened, US Senator Ed Markey is ready to stand up and be counted. For instance, consider what happened in 2012 after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, threatened to cut off funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Markey — then a congressman — issued a statement saying, “A Ryan-Romney ticket buys admission to a budget match-up where Big Oil wins and Big Bird loses.”

Unfortunately, Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, is less enthusiastic when it comes to supporting the right to speak offensively on television, radio, and the Internet. This past April, Markey proposed legislation to monitor so-called hate speech that might instigate “crimes based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.” The monitoring project would lead to a congressional report. “We have recently seen in Kansas the deadly destruction and loss of life that hate speech can fuel in the United States, which is why it is critical to ensure the Internet, television and radio are not encouraging hate crimes or hate speech that is not outside the protection of the First Amendment,” Markey said in a press release. Despite Markey’s assurances that his bill would not threaten constitutionally protected speech, others aren’t so sure. Civil-liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate told the Boston Herald, “This proposed legislation is worse than merely silly. It is dangerous.” And Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz put it this way in an interview with the conservative website NewsMax: “I have never in my life seen a successful effort to define hate speech that does not interfere with rights of free expression.”

JoHn robErts: tHE cHiEf JusticE fails to lEad on courtrooM caMEras

The 2013 trial and conviction of the notorious James “Whitey” Bulger captured the public’s attention in a way not seen in Boston since the era of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. But because the murdering mobster was tried in federal rather than state court, no television cameras were allowed. The same will be true later this year, when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is due to be tried for his role in the Boston Marathon bombings. Tsarnaev faces the possibility of society’s ultimate punishment — the death penalty. But even if Tsarnaev is sentenced to die on behalf of the public, members of the public will not be allowed to watch as

justice is or isn’t carried out. There are many potential candidates for this particular Muzzle Award. We are choosing John Roberts because, as chief justice of the Supreme Court, he is also the chief administrative officer of the federal court system. If he were to support television in federal trials, there is little doubt that the entire judiciary would quickly fall into line. Yet Roberts has failed to embrace the idea of televising Supreme Court hearings, saying in 2006, “There’s a concern about the impact of television on the functioning of the institution. We’re going to be very careful before we do anything that might have an adverse impact.” Given that, eight years later, the justices still prohibit cameras during oral arguments, “very careful” is apparently Roberts’s way of saying “forget about it.” Several WGBH journalists are outspoken supporters of televised trials. Emily Rooney, the host of Beat the Press, has raised the issue on numerous occasions. And Jim Braude, the co-host of Boston Public Radio, wrote a guest commentary for the Boston Globe Magazine last year arguing that television is a logical extension the public’s right to attend trials. As US Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, recently told WBUR and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, “You know what the Founding Fathers said about the trials and being open: They ought to be held in front of as many people as would choose to attend.” The public’s eyes and ears — unmediated by journalists — are an important check on the criminal-justice system. It’s time to drag the federal courts from the 19th into the 21st century.

lincoln cHafEE: ri govErnor signs bill to covEr up scHool safEty plans

Following the Columbine High School shootings of 1999, Rhode Island legislators did something very smart. They passed a law requiring school districts to adopt safety plans in public, and only after giving members of the public an opportunity to comment. Several years later, however, the state’s lawmakers did something stupid. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre of 2012, the legislature inexplicably took the opposite approach. Lawmakers exempted all documents related to a “school safety plan” from the state’s Access to Public Records Act (ARPA). And Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law. The public-safety bill was just one of a series of exemptions to the 2012 overhaul of ARPA — widely praised as a step toward open government at the time, but soon bogged down with amendments protecting the identities of public em-

ployees and removing other information from public view. “It seems we are witnessing a backlash of sorts against more transparency,” said Rosanna Cavanagh, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, in an interview with the Providence Journal. Legislators, naturally, said the new public-safety exemption would protect children. But Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, offered a different interpretation. The new requirements, Brown wrote, “would unfairly leave parents in the dark about what schools were doing to protect their children. Without public input, schools will be more likely to adopt flawed school safety plans, and nobody will be able to determine if schools are meeting safety standards.”

andré ravEnEllE: scHool supErintEndEnt suspEnds aidE for — wHat, Exactly?

Working as a professional model in various states of undress is a perfectly legal way to make a living. So, for that matter, is helping special-education kids as a classroom aide. Kaitlin Pearson was doing both — though not at the same time — until one day last January, when Fitchburg schools superintendent André Ravenelle found out about her part-time job posing partially nude for publications such as ModelsMania. Ravenelle suspended her with pay after someone anonymously sent some of her photos to the school department. “The only comment I would make is, we would be committed to take action on anything that we’re knowledgeable of that would pose any concern of someone working with students,” Ravenelle told the Sentinel & Enterprise of Fitchburg. Not surprisingly, Pearson’s story went viral, spreading across the country and overseas, with Britain’s racy Daily Mail weighing in with a story and many, many pictures. But Pearson had done nothing wrong. School officials soon reinstated her. And Pearson’s modeling career got a huge boost. “I’m not going to stop pursuing something I love,” Pearson said in an interview WBZ-TV. “I love my kids and I love teaching them and I love modeling.”

cHristopHEr parr: MainE official asks lEgislators to rEinstatE 911 sEcrEcy

The Portland Press Herald won an important freedom-of-information case last November. On a 7-0 vote, the Maine Supreme

Judicial Court overturned a lower court’s ruling and ordered that the transcripts of 911 calls in a murder case be released. “It’s a strong endorsement of the public’s right to know and the value of public records,” Press Herald lawyer Sigmund Schutz said in an article for the New England First Amendment Coalition written by the paper’s executive editor, Cliff Schechtman. “We all want law enforcement to be able to catch bad guys. I don’t think this harms their ability to do that. I think it says you need a level of transparency in how you do that.” This spring, though, a Republican state senator from Whiting, retired state trooper David Burns, filed legislation making it a crime to release 911 calls related to a pending criminal case. Burns acted on behalf of the Maine Department of Public Safety, whose lawyer, Christopher Parr, earns the Muzzle for defending the censorious bill in testimony before the legislature’s Judiciary Committee. The bill, Parr said, would prevent the “premature public disclosure” of the transcripts — notwithstanding the fact that 911 calls are public records in most states. Fortunately, the bill was killed in the closing days of the legislative session.

scott HolcoMb: principal punisHEs studEnt for twEEting on His own tiME

A public high school sends out a tweet that classes have been canceled in advance of a snowstorm: “No school tomorrow — see you in June.” A student retweets it, adding his own message profanely pointing out that graduating seniors won’t be affected: “Fuck off #seniors #nomakeup #chirpchirp.” The student — 18-year-old Nick Barbieri, a gamer and social-media maven — sent out his retweet from home, on his own time. So what should North Attleborough High School officials have done? The possible answers: (a) ignore it; (b) call Barbieri in for a friendly (or maybe not so friendly) chat; or (c) order Barbieri to remove the offending tweet and several related tweets or risk a five-day suspension,

Continued on p 10

10 July 4, 2014 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com

Continued from p 9

then slap him with six hours of detention even after he complied. Unfortunately, the answer NAHS chose to follow was (c), which led to the involvement of the ACLU of Massachusetts. Our Muzzle goes to principal Scott Holcomb. To Holcomb’s credit, he quickly backed down and canceled the detentions, telling the Sun Chronicle of Attleborough, “The school system is looking to work with the ACLU to figure out how to handle free speech issues while promoting and enhancing digital citizenship in the 21st century.” But he should have known better. One way for Holcomb to begin his process of self-education is by recognizing that his authority to interfere with his students’ First Amendment rights stops at the schoolhouse door. Given that he’ll soon become an assistant superintendent, let’s hope he’s a fast learner.

dEval patrick: govErnor EncouragEs sEcrEcy witH confidEntial sEttlEMEnts

If state officials settle a lawsuit brought by an employee who claims she or he has been falsely accused of wrongdoing, discriminated against, or otherwise treated unfairly, the taxpayers should have the right to know about it. Incredibly, the heads of many state agencies disagree. For tolerating and even encouraging such secrecy, Governor Deval Patrick has earned one of our coveted Muzzle statuettes. Confidential settlements paid with public money have long been a scourge in Massachusetts. Way back in 2006, then-state treasurer Tim Cahill received a Muzzle for buying the silence of former employees with golden gag orders. The most recent outbreak of this practice was

reported in January by the Boston Globe, which found that the Patrick administration spent years fighting public-records requests for the details of such secret agreements. When documents were finally released, some of the details had been blacked out, making it hard to determine exactly what had happened. “For years,” as the Globe put it, “the state has used confidential settlement and severance deals to make embarrassing problems go away, often requiring workers to promise to keep the payments secret and avoid saying anything critical about the agencies.” Such secrecy is hardly out of character for Patrick. As CommonWealth magazine reported in 2011, Patrick sought — and was granted — a ruling by Secretary of State William Galvin that the governor’s office is

exempt from the state’s public-records law. Not that Patrick’s predecessors were any better. But the governor built his reputation on the rhetoric of openness and reform, and his actions are at odds with those ideals.

James

Archer EdMund alvEs: ri town’s lawyEr Mocks call to upHold first aMEndMEnt Anonymous speech has been a vital part of public discourse from the earliest days of our country’s history. Just ask Publius, the pen name used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in writing The Federalist some 225 years ago. The US Supreme Court reaffirmed that anonymity is constitutionally protected in its 1995 McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission decision. But town officials in Smithfield, Rhode Island, appear to believe that the First Amendment doesn’t apply to them. Because in March 2013, Smithfield police arrested a Democratic political consultant named Robert Horowitz and charged him with violating a state law by distributing negative anonymous campaign materials targeting Republican House candidate James Archer and several other Republican politicians. State Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s office dismissed the charges against Horowitz, citing the 1995 Supreme Court decision. But when the ACLU of Rhode Island called on Smithfield police to refrain from enforcing the unconstitutional law in the future, Smithfield’s town solicitor, Edmund L. Alves Jr., called the ACLU’s position “absolute nonsense,” according to an article in the Valley Breeze. Alves added: “It’s not up to police departments to decide which laws they’ll enforce.” Perhaps not. But certainly it’s up to the town’s chief lawyer to advise police not to make the same mistake twice. By failing to do so, Alves not only earned a Muzzle — he goaded the ACLU into filing a federal lawsuit. Isn’t a good lawyer supposed to keep his client out of trouble?

portland city council: antipanHandling ordinancE rulEd unconstitutional

This is a tough one. No one likes to be stopped in traffic only to be subjected to the importunings of an aggressive panhandler. And it’s dangerous. The panhandler could be hit by an oncoming car. Or a driver who stops to hand out money could cause an accident. Still, the Portland City Council should have known better when members voted last July to ban people from median strips. After all, the councilors had voted down the same measure the previous year after advocates for the homeless objected. And when council members finally approved the ban, they did so knowing that the ACLU of Maine was considering a lawsuit to overturn it. “We feel it goes too far in burdening constitutionally protected activities.

The Constitution does not allow you to address these problems with such a broad stroke,” the ACLU’s legal director, Zachary Heiden, said at the time of passage, according the Portland Press Herald. Sure enough, the ACLU sued. And last February, US District Judge George Singal ruled that the ordinance was unconstitutional. Ironically, it was the council’s attempt to protect political speech that provided the ordinance’s undoing. A provision that allowed people onto medians with campaign signs showed that the ordinance was not content-neutral, Singal said. “The ordinance favors one category of speech, campaign signs, over all others and permits only those messages in the traditional public forum,” Singal wrote, according to the Press Herald. “A law may no more favor one type of message because of agreement with it than it may disfavor a message because of disapproval.” The real issue, though, was that the council sought to ban the very presence of panhandlers rather than crack down on illegal behavior.

carMEn ortiz: fEdEral prosEcutor rEfusEs to rElEasE todasHEv filEs

This past May, the Boston Globe revealed some disturbing information about the FBI agent who was in charge when Ibragim Todashev, a friend of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was shot to death in Florida while being interrogated. Todashev and the elder Tsarnaev were the leading suspects in a triple murder that took place in Waltham in 2011. During a four-year stint as a police officer in Oakland, California, Aaron McFarlane, the Globe reported, had been investigated because of allegations that he had engaged in several instances of abusive behavior and had taken the Fifth at a corruption trial. He retired on a $52,000 disability pension, yet was deemed fit enough for the physically demanding work of an FBI agent. If US Attorney Carmen Ortiz had her way, though, the public would still be

in the dark. Late last year, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed a Freedom of Information Act request pertaining to the Todashev shooting and to the state’s participation in Joint Terrorism Task Forces. According to the ACLU, the FBI refused to provide information about Todashev and Ortiz never responded. In April, the ACLU filed suit in federal court. (Earlier this year, Boston magazine and the public radio program This American Life collaborated on an investigation looking into harassment by law enforcement of Todashev’s friends and associates.) This is Ortiz’s third Muzzle in three years. In 2012, she was singled out for her abusive prosecution of Sudbury pharmacist Tarek Mehanna, an Al Qaeda sympathizer whose constitutionally protected propaganda activities were portrayed as terrorism. In 2013, we called

attention to the case she brought against Aaron Swartz, a fragile young Internet visionary who committed suicide while awaiting trial — and a possible prison term — for downloading academic papers without permission. And the beat goes on. Ibragim Todashev’s testimony could have been of incalculable value in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. If mistakes by law enforcement led to Todashev’s death, the public has a right to know about it. Ortiz shouldn’t be allowed to get away with covering up the truth. ^ Dan Kennedy is an associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University and a panelist on WGBH’s “Beat the Press.” He has been compiling the Muzzle Awards since their debut in 1998. He can be reached at dan.kennedy@neu.edu.

best the

2014

D A I LY M U S I C O N O U R D E C K : Wednesday 7/2 Vinyl Tap 6-9PM Thursday 7/3 Joint Chiefs 6-9PM Friday 7/4 The Still 12:30-3:30 Ryan Halliburton and The Grumps 5-8PM Saturday 7/5 Mellyn & Breau 12:30-3:330PM Blues Mafia 7-10PM Sunday 7/6 Lyle & Phil Divinsky & Friends 12:30-3:30PM Jason Spooner Band 5-8PM Monday 7/7 Connor Garvey & Friends 6-9PM Tuesday 7/8 Sam Shain & The Scolded Dogs 6-9PM Wednesday 7/9 Captain Ray & the Castaways 6-9PM

PLEASE CHECK OUR WEBSITE www.portlandlobstercompany.com

• Antique Cars • Boat Parade • Crafts Show • Barbecue

• Outdoor Concerts • Chili Chowder Fest • Strongman Contest • Fireman’s Muster

• Art in the Park • Skateboard Jam • PFL Friends Book Sale and more!

DP10P0127

• Parade • Fireworks • Kids’ Day • Road Races

Drama NGBRS2614 $1,650

Join the Festival in Bath, Maine July 3-6

Queen TM

Metalsmiths Sterling TM MarquiseTM Blue Topaz Cuff Bracelet in Sterling Silver with Diamonds

Plus Smokey’s Greatest Shows & Carnival

Complete schedule of events and information online at: BathHeritageDays.com Produced by Main Street Bath (207) 442-7291

AUBURN • BANGOR • BRUNSWICK SO.PORTLAND • WATERVILLE MANCHESTER,NH w w w. d a y s j e w e l e r s . c o m

12 July 4, 2014 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com

K E E W a s y a 8d gs in n e p p a h e l b a t o n f a round-up o d n o y e b d n a d n a l in port SC HR Oe de R _C Om pil ed by Ni CK

loosened public assembly restrictions and overall madness of Portland? Head then to Freeport, where the celebratory throng should be far more collected to watch toaD the Wet sprocket play L.L. Bean’s Discovery Park, a free outdoor concert series with no fewer than 40 ice cream options within walking distance.

saturday 5 RE-COLONIZE | Fail to catch last

f RETURN TO HOMS, at SPACE Gallery, in Portland on July 8. thursday 3 DIRTY DIESELS | It was way back in 1997, when Portland culture was stuffed with gangdominated hardcore shows, converted porn theaters, and all-ages afterhour dances, that the country rockabilly band

Diesel Doug anD the long haul truckers got their start. Led by

songwriter Scott Link and nurtured by guitarist and Cornmeal Records impresario Charlie Gaylord, they built up a sizable fan base among the city’s greasers and honkies and reconstructed streetpunks before disbanding in 2005. Now, Link has reassembled the group, replacing the original cast with stalwart musicians from Murcielago and Strangefolk for at least one reunion show. The LHT’s play with king MeMphis, who’ve been steamin’ up out their own spirited take on rockabilly in Portland for thousands of years, and “JuMpstart” Jenny Whitter, former host of Free Street Taverna open mics of yore. 9 pm; $10 at Empire, 575 Congress St. 207.879.8988. FRANK TALK | sage Francis, the cult hip-hop hero turned

grizzled elder from Providence, has always had some Portland connections (he’s the one degree of separation between Bad Religion and local folk songwriter dilly dilly). He’s got serious cred around here, which he’s been riding since the great indie wave of underground hip-hop back in the late ‘90s. The Strange Famous Records founder rolls through town with labelmate B. Dolan, the slam poet and activist rapper who’s done crucial work combating homophobia in rap culture, and the Brooklyn-based duo MeterMaiDs. 9 pm; $18-20 at Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., 207.899.4990. KEEPING THE FIRE | To see just one of the many possible evolutions of a punk band, look to sparks the rescue, who came blazing out of Southern Maine back in 2001 and kept momentum during a critical maturation period in 2007-08, when they released the minor pop-punk favorite Eyes to the Sun. Flash forward to 2014, and by some stroke of luck (your choice which), you can see them playing several times a week at the Old Orchard Beach pier. (Maybe it’ll strike twice and you’ll catch them playing their cover of mainstream country-pop

week’s Noshbow? No matter, one of the highlights of the event, the storied deathpunk band covereD in Bees, play another set at Bayside Bowl tonight, this time with the melodic bar-punk trio Battery steele and the minimalist garage-thrash of the english MuFFins. 8 or so and $5 at Bayside Bowl. 58 Alder St., 207.791.2695. UP THE ANTE | Outside the spectrum of pure entertainment, the Meg Perry Center hosts a public forum to discuss something called the national 15 noW caMpaign, a nationwide organization dedicated to raising the minimum wage to $15 one city at a time (just like what was passed in Seattle). Fifteen chapters of the organization have sprouted in US cities (though not yet Portland). Is momentum there for ours to be next? 4 pm at the Meg Perry Center at 36

Market St., call 207.619.4206. LOWER THAT BOOM | If you like being around people, especially ones that move, prime yourself for the record release party by MaMa’s BooMshack by reading Sam Pfeifle’s take on page 16. He praises their multi-horn attack, songwriting prowess, and long-proven ability to bring the ducks to the yard. 8 pm; $12 at One Longfellow Square, 181 State St. 207.761.1757.

sunday 6 RE-MAKE/RE-MODEL | By day,

witness the real-time acculturation of Congress Square Park, the site of one of the weekend’s most intriguing concerts. The analog funk group altereD gee should produce more syrupy sweetness than anything since last Sunday’s Portland Pancake Day. They play with BaBe., a new rock outfit of former members of Leaves Leaves, Marie Stella and others; DreaM reaper, a project of former Conjjjecture frontman Jimmy Cooper; and viDeo nasties, a psychotic stab at modern no wave. 3 pm and no cost at the corner of Congress and High. Visit congresssquarepark.org. CRUSH IT | If you can’t get enough of the blackened sludge churned out by local metal darlings Sylvia, then I strongly

trio Lady Antebellum, the band who just – no big deal – have an inexplicable knack for romanticizing the culture of the pre-Civil War Deep South.) Not quite yet a country-pop band themselves, Sparks’ evolution along the rock spectrum has placed nonetheless them firmly within mainstream culture. Regardless, they’re certainly one of the most accomplished, talented bands to play the pier this generation—trust me, I grew up there—and if your tastes have evolved along the same path, then by all means let the High Lifes flow. 9 pm and free at the Pier Patio Pub.

friday 4 SET IT OFF | It’s First Friday and

the Fourth of July—you shouldn’t need my help here. Make like your favorite style of fireworks and splatter all over your world, and in the late hours, see what pieces you could pick up at Flask Lounge, where hardworking house DJ JaMie o’sullivan spins a whole lotta hips around at once. 9 pm and free at 117 Spring St. LONGEVITY | Can’t suffer the

f king BuZZo, at Port City Music Hall, in Portland on July 7.

portland.thephoenix.com | the portland phoenix | July 4, 2014 13

SEE MORE AT STATETHEATREPORTLAND.COM 609 CONGRESS ST. PORTLAND, ME (207) 956-6000 STATETHEATREPORTLAND.COM

JULY 8 THE MALLETT BROTHERS BAND, SPOSE, THE WRECKING, THE OTHER BONES, MODEL AIRPLANE, THE KENYA HALL BAND, NICK LAVALLE WITH THE MAINE YOUTH ROCK ORCHESTRA

JULY 11

JULY 16

7/1 7/3 7/7 7/9 7/10 7/11 7/13 7/17 7/18 7/24 7/25 7/26 7/27 7/28 7/31 8/1 8/2 8/8 8/13

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS SAGE FRANCIS KING BUZZO ZACH DEPUTY MURCIELAGO WHALE OIL RISING APPALACHIA CIRCA SURVIVE TOUCHE AMORE RICHARD JAMES ... THE MILK CARTON KIDS MODEL AIRPLANE OLD 97S AGAINST ME! ORGONE LONDON GRAMMAR DEAD SESSIONS EOTO FOGCUTTERS RED WANTING BLUE/ ALTERNATE ROUTES 8/16 NOTHING MORE 8/19 TITUS ANDRONICUS 8/21 KISHI BASHI 8/23 BIM SKALA BIM 8/28 LES CLAYPOOL DUO.. 9/4 FUTURE ISLANDS 9/5 M. WARD 9/9 THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS 9/11 RUBBLEBUCKET 9/18 SUN KIL MOON 9/22 BILLY BRAGG 9/27 THE BLACK LIPS

JULY 18

f SNOWPIERCER, at Nickelodeon, in Portland through July 10. recommend tonight’s performance by horse DraWn Death Machine, a four-piece from Ohio. Dudes are kissing cousins, musically speaking. More on the grooved-out stoner vibe are tourmates Doctor sMoke, whose slower approach will help balance an affair at Geno’s which also features the heavy gallop of hessian and the pummeling grind of saWtopsy. 9 pm and $7 at Geno’s, 625 Congress St., 207.221.2382. FASTBALL SONGS | Or get off the grid completely, as devoted house band hello neWMan fill the ocean air with the sounds of ‘90s alt-rock radio. Their party cruise leaves the Casablanca dock at 18 Custom House Wharf at 2. $15; call 207.831.1324.

monday 7 MEET YOUR DOOM | Whether

by the cut of his drone or the cut of his hair, Melvins frontman king BuZZo has sorta become a mainstream figure. He’s also, now 50, mellowed out a bit, as evinced by his recent expedition touring the country with nothing else but an acoustic guitar. A minor blasphemy considering his pedigree, but hey, eardrums need rest, too. Buzz Osbourne transposes thirty years of crushingly heavy Melvins tunes into lighter textures, with an opening set by the fantastic eMMa ruth runDle, whose darkly possessed songs depend on her ambient post-rock textures and a great deal of desperation. She may very well steal the show. 9 pm; $12-15 at Port City Music Hall.

DOWN UNDER POP | The New

Zealand indie-pop duo BrooDs swoop through Empire tonight, playing their electronic, ruminatively dance-driven repertoire. They team with sea level, an ongoing electronic-rock act by talented local musician Dan Capaldi that hits similar notes as transition-era Radiohead. 9:30 pm; $8-10 at Empire.

tuEsday 8 OTHER CONTESTS | Put your futbolmania to the test with tonight’s screening of the highly regarded documentary RETURN TO HOMS, which follows 19-year old Basset, the star goalkeeper of the Syrian national team, as his path is rerouted by the violent authoritarian regime of President Bashar al-Assad. With a narrative forming around Basset’s friendship with Ossama, a media activist, as Assad has ordered the bombing of their home city of Homs, the film seeks to convey the compulsion for Syrian youth to take up the fight against its own army. 7:30 pm; $8 at SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St. 207.828.5600. LIVING LARGE | The idea’s been tossed around town a bunch, but One Longfellow Square’s decision to stage affordable shows of local artists every Tuesday has been a good one. Tonight’s “Live and Local” rosters the stunningly good folk project lisa/ liZa, the barreling grunge/punk of Mouth Washington, and the indie-folkness of tall horse, three dudes who generally juggle a few bands at once. 9 pm; $5 at One Longfellow Square.

with Katastro

WEdnEsday 9

JULY 21

JULY 22

DUST SETTLER | It’s been playing

all week, but maybe today’s the day you check out SNOWPIERCER, the postapocalyptic thriller by Bong Joon-ho, which speculates grimly on the political economy and its social divisions after ecological collapse. With Tilda Swinton in a memorable role—like any role she takes on isn’t. All day at Nickelodeon, see page 25 for details. CHANGE OF PLANS | Through July 26, Ogunquit Playhouse stages BIlly EllIOT THE MUSICal, a fairly irresistible story about a young soccer player-turned-ballet dancer in a hard-working English blue collar town. 2:30 and 8 pm; tickets run $39-74 at 10 Main St. in Ogunquit. 207.646.5511.

with MAN MAN

JULY 24

JULY 28

see more at PORTCITYMUSICHALL.com

thursday 10 JULY 30

CAN’T MAKE THIS UP | If you

told me back in ‘95 that Dinosaur Jr. would be nowadays be playing Portland on a semi-annual basis, I’d have wagered my Nervous Breakdown 7” you were full of baloney. Need more proof that the world is weird and you are old?: tonight’s serious concert options are essentially split between Dino and snoop Dogg, more or less a reprisal of the very poles that made up my junior year of high school. Twenty years later, is there any doubt that Snoop and J Mascis would get along? Head to Asylum if you choose the deafening guitar noise (with local rock monsters ogre, $25); to the Portland Expo to see the unflappably charismatic hip-hop guru ($50-ish).

AUG 1

INGRID MICHAELSON

AUG 19

SEP 3

CHEVELLE

OCT 8

BASSNECTAR

OCT 29

SAM GREEN YO LA TENGO

NOV 26

BLACK VEIL BRIDES

with MIDDLE CLASS RUT

BUY TICKETS

JONNY LANG

with RICH ROBINSON

with KILL PARIS, SON OF KICK

• STATETHEATREPORTLAND.COM • THE CIVIC CENTER BOX OFFICE • 800-745-3000

14 July 4, 2014 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com

art MIDCENTURY MAESTROS

pollack collection dances With modernism _BY nick schr oed er As Maine’s art tourists gobble up the print portraits from ‘50s-vintage Mauricio area’s major summer exhibits—RichLasansky, an artist who came to be best ards Estes and Brown Lethem, Andrea known for his “Nazi Drawings” depictSulzer, and the inexhaustible Alex Katz— ing the brutality of the corps of the Third they’d be smart not to overlook the fine Reich. He’s less venomous here, renderarts enclave on Forest Ave., where collecingZ large engraved images of Charles tor Edward Pollack has operated for much Darwin, Leo Tolstoy, and himself. of the past decade. Pollack’s collection is smartly arranged What you find within the rooms at Polin clusters by artist, yet its most memolack’s gallery is very much like an armory rable works stand alone. A woodcut titled of tools, each helping to pry open the “Queensbridge” (c. 1955) by the short-lived vaults of 20th-century modernist art for artist John Bernhardt displays a budding its wealth of ideas. Comprised mostly of eye toward the energies of postwar New prints (with plenty of drawings, etchings, York, while the magnificent “Pyramides,” photographs, and a few paintings), the a 1970 lithograph by the visionary sculpcollection has serious work by no shortage tor and kinetic artist Alexander Calder, of influential figures: diverse American inventor of the mobile, is a celebration players like Louise Nevelson, Robert Mothof geometry, space, and chromatics. And erwell, and John Heliker; emigrant fixLouise Nevelson, whose life in sculpture tures like Karl Schrag, Gabor Peterdi, and has consistently prodded the form along, Mauricio Lasansky; and revered 20th censhe’s here twice, most memorably in a tury realists like John Sloan, Will Barnet, stern, reverential lithograph (untitled) Rockwell Kent, John Marin, and more. hanging just above the gallery entrance. Boasting marginalia from major names Annexed by aesthetic developments as well as representative works from some in the digital, the site-specific, and the fascinating 20th-century behemoths, incessant demands of social and political this is no doubt a collector’s show—and temperatures, contemporary art bears litone priced accordingly, with few pieces tle resemblance to the work here, which is priced at under a grand and some pushing uniformly two-dimensional and often de$40,000. Some seem purely for fascinavout in its tribute to early Modernists like tion alone—like an opaque drawing of Miró, Gauguin, and Seurat. Yet patrons Mary Cassatt’s circa 1878. Yet many from used to seeing this sort of thing at an inthis show’s back room succeed in framstitution—say the Portland or Ogunquit ing a small, useful study of a particular Museums of Art—might underestimate artist, as with six wood engravings from the magnitude of dedication and collectorearly ‘30s Rockwell Kent, or numerous ship a show like this belies. There is little etchings and lithographs from the Social doubt that Pollack, an arts-patron 80 years Realist émigré painter Raphael Soyer. of age who moved to Portland from New But the effect of this ample collection of York seven years ago, possesses one of the pieces—besides reflecting the impressive most impressive privately-owned collecdedications of their collector—is like a tions of American art in the state. Any semultiform slideshow of the fixations of rious survey of canonized works that pulls evolving modernist subjects, covering people toward the museums this summer anywhere from blue collar waterfronts, should also explore here. ^ quotidian street scenes, or deconstructed and cleverly queered nudes. “AmericAn Prints, DrAwings, & PhoMost serious gawking could be done togrAPhs of the 20th century: realin the front end, which focuses on small ism & modernism” | through september 30 series of significant works by notable | at edward Pollack fine Arts, 25 forest Ave, European-born and American printmakers Portland | 617.610.7173 | edpollackfinearts. and woodcut artists, many of whose work com | reception July 3 5-7 pm were often bound in the exigencies of World War II. While lacking in the political content which would define him, several fine woodcuts from Antonio Frasconi, a Uruguayan of Italian descent who lived in Connecticut from 1945 until his death last year, assert the artist’s position as one of the century’s masters of the form. Striking to a degree ‘PyrAmiDes’ by alexander calder; lithograph in colors, 28 1/2 by bordering on gro28 inches; 1970 tesque are seven

portland.thephoenix.com | the portland phoenix | July 4, 2014 15

theater DISTILLED PORTRAIT

MsMT’s CHAMBERLAIN pAYs fAIThfUL hoMAGE

portland’s neighborhood lingerie shop

646 congress street 207.370.7278 etainboutique.com

_ BY MEGA N G RUM B L IN G

JUd Y BE E dLE phoToGRAphY

Charged with OUi? YOU COUld lOse YOUr liCense fOr 150 daYs! Attorney Christopher Leddy “As a former prosecutor I have insight that allows me to develop legal strategies to favorably resolve cases for my clients.”

Poached from the history books Joshua Chamberlain leads the Twentieth Maine Perhaps the most revered war hero of Maine is Civil War general Joshua Chamberlain, a volunteer enlistee who later served as president of Bowdoin and governor of the state. Generations of Maine children have learned about Chamberlain’s critical flank defense at Gettysburg, and about his nobility in saluting surrendering Confederates. In both the state’s cultural memory and the epic autobiographical musical Chamberlain: a Civil War Romance, the beloved Mainer stands larger than life. Marc Robin directs an animated, beautifully appointed production at the Maine State Music Theatre, in Brunswick, on the very campus where Chamberlain spent much of his life. Chamberlain opens with letters from home being read by the soldiers of the 20th Maine at Little Round Top Hill, where Chamberlain (the fine James Patterson) will soon lead a critical victory for the Union. Chamberlain has in his regiment the company of his younger brothers, rascally John (Ben Mayne) and sickly chaplain Tom (Sam Weber), but he has left behind his headstrong wife Fannie (Kathy Voytko), who is going blind and has made an aggressive plea against his absence. Through flashbacks, Chamberlain surveys the man’s war-troubled romance with Fannie, his honorable military career, and the eclipsing force that battle proves even in his post-war life. MSMT’s handsome production boasts gorgeous costumes, from blue uniforms on the battlefield to shimmering jewel-toned gowns at inauguration, with evocative tableaux and choreography of soldiers both in action and at leisure. Battle scenes roil in haze, riddled with flares of gunfire, while tall, elegant walls slide together to conjure buildings of the Bowdoin campus. The frames around backdrops—a sun-caught forest, the spires of Bowdoin’s King’s Chapel—suggest a haloed memorializing by both Chamberlain’s admirers and himself. The impressive ensemble portrays soldiers, mothers, townspeople, and bluestockings, and all voices are strong, supple, and expressive. Mike Schwitter gives a haunting, sonorous performance as a Confederate soldier moved to spare Chamberlain, and the characterizations of the hero’s brothers and his wife are rich and rife with ambivalence: Voytko’s Fannie has an arrest-

ing, strident voice that veers from brazen to shrill to desperate; and Mayne and Weber create a scrappy fraternal dynamic that’s now stooge-ish comic relief, now affecting. Chamberlain himself, in Patterson’s sympathetic hands and powerful voice, has the measured, righteous humility of the legend, and Patterson owns the profile, gravitas, and distinctive ‘stache. He looks much like the portrait. And his character, as drawn by Sarah Knapp’s script, behaves much like one, as he ages stoically from eager young choirmaster to stooped, grey elder. While Fannie and his brothers descend occasionally into unattractive acts, and while the show doesn’t shy from the agony that Chamberlain’s principles inspire in his ailing wife, we never see him engage in the mundane or less than admirable. He comes across less as a developed character than an amplified legend. Likewise, despite the script’s worthy attempts to explore greyer areas—a female perspective on war, a veteran’s post-war struggles of body and purpose—Chamberlain ultimately serves as a vehicle of historical commemoration. As such, the show’s humbler emotional life at times feels broadly sketched; the script is sometimes burdened with exposition and overly general lyrics. In contrast, the most wrenching moments of the show are the smallest, as when an aged Chamberlain bends slowly, painfully, to pick up the hat thrown by his drunken brother, or when a simple gesture from Fannie, met with her wounded husband’s rigidity, suggest their more intimate, conjugal war losses. The show would be richer with more of these. But Chamberlain: a Civil War Romance is, after all, first and foremost a Civil War show. Its primary focus is the epic, it does the epic with elegance, energy, and reverence, and it will move the many aficionados of this war and Chamberlain’s remarkable service. The greatest love of the show’s title—for both its Chamberlain and its audience—remains the war itself.

Chamberlain: a Civil War romanCe | book and Lyrics by sarah knapp; music by steven m. alper; directed and choreographed by marc robin | Produced by maine state music theatre, in brunswick, through July 12 | 207.725.8769 or msmt.org

Reach Chris directly at 699-4814

Ainsworth, Thelin & Raftice, P.A. 7 Ocean Street, South Portland, Maine 04106 www.atrlaw.pro

Richard Estes’ May 22–September 7, 2014 Visit the world of Richard Estes, American Photorealism’s foremost painter, in his most thorough retrospective in over 20 years. (207) 775-6148 | portlandmuseum.org #RichardEstes

$5 surcharge; free for PMA members

Richard Estes’ Realism is organized by the Portland Museum of Art, Maine, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The museums thank the following donors for their generous support of the exhibition: Gabrielle Bekink and the Honorable Rudolf Bekink, Isabelle and Scott Black, Thelma and Melvin Lenkin, The Lunder Foundation —Peter and Paula Lunder, Debbie Frank Petersen, Walter and Lucille Rubin Foundation, Holly and Nick Ruffin, and John Wilmerding. Local corporate sponsor: Bank of America. Local media sponsors: WCSH 6, Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Richard Estes (United States, born 1932), Beaver Dam Pond, Acadia National Park (detail), 2009, oil on board, 12 1/2 x 30 inches. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Anonymous gift, 2104.2 © Richard Estes, courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York.

GET HAIR CAUGHT SKINCARE BEING

WAXING

BRIDAL MAKEUP

305 COMMERCIAL STREET #6

PORTLAND, ME 04101 info@knaughtyhair.com

Hair salon

207.874.0929

16 July 4, 2014 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com

if le _B y S a M P fe

@yahoo.com

sam_pfeifle

LfCAL MUSIC

An arrangement of alto and baritone sax, trombone, and trumpet grabs your attention so completely. There just aren’t many bands doing that.

FULL hornS AheAd

MaMa’S BooMShack exPlore the speed of soul

Portland has more than its fair share of horn players gigging out on a regular basis. Sax player Ryan Zoidis might be the town’s most high-profile ambassador, with his work in Soulive and Lettuce, but trumpeter Mark Tipton, executive director of the Portland Conservatory of Music, has a resume that would probably surprise you (and you might want to hit SPACE on August 7 to hear his score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). The Fogcutters, Sly-Chi, Rustic Overtones, Model Airplane, Kenya Hall Band. We still miss ya Shufflin’ Tremble. And, okay, some of those bands have the same horn players, but you get the idea. People probably underestimate how hard it is to play the brass and woodwinds (saxophone=woodwind). They ain’t harmonicas. Breath control and omberture? They take practice. Maybe that’s why an arrangement of an alto and baritone sax, trombone, and trumpet combining to front a band like Mama’s Boomshack grabs your attention so completely. There just aren’t many bands doing that. Boomshack have been working their set for a few years now, but Speed of Soul is their debut record, nine original tunes that throw back to the early days of soul—whether Sam and Dave as backed by Booker T and the MG’s or Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers—while peppering in everything from disco to contemporary jam. As with many of those old soul acts, singers Todd Regoulinsky and Lisa Brundage

FWAX TABLeT Distant reveries

F don’t know how long it’s been the case, but we learned very recently that the reverie Machine is on some sort of reprieve from maine livin’. the haunting folk project led by the indescribably magnificent vocals of meghan yates still aims to put out a new record in the coming months, but lives shows in our area are apparently a no-go—not with yates and partner-in-crime mordechai rosenblatt (bass, etc.) are galloping through appalachia this summer. Word is they could be back toward the end of July, but they’ll quickly hit the road again after that. no faulting them; there’s no substitute for getting gone, but we sure hope to hear that voice again. avail yourself of their work and wade around in your memory banks at thereveriemachine.com. F hearing such, such buzz about the youthful garbage-rock trio lunch cult lately. they

(also the bari and alto sax players, respectively) spend a lot of time exhorting listeners to move their feet and listen to the music and whatnot. Sam and Dave’s biggest hit is “Hold On! I’m Coming!”, after all. Essentially, if you’re coming for the lyrics, you’ll be disappointed. In the opening “Back to School,” there is talk of “getting funky like a monkey.” Also: “It ain’t no junk / We’re bringing it back with some old-school funk.” In the title track, we are encouraged to “get it on down / All over this town.” If you’re coming, like Daft Punk, to lose yourself to dance, though, you’ll probably be generally satisfied. Like the band the Blues Brothers pulled together, this sevenpiece could play just about anything and be welcome if you’ve got a crowd of friends and some available drinks. Guitarist Sam Berce can lay out a jam, and does so in that opening tune and on songs like “Truly Sweetly,” where he’s a little bit Stevie Ray Vaughan, and “The Danger,” where he’s a little bit Santana when he’s not doing a really fast wickawicka. He really locks in, too, on “Sho’ Nuff” (it’s unclear who actually talks like that) with a repeating riff mimicked tightly by John Berce on the bass. The latter Berce is most notable in the steady eighth-note walk that drives the melody of “Speed Sound.” It’s the horns, though, that are the focus here, especially the alto sax work by Lisa Brundage. She has a smart solo right off the bat in “School,” and then

sworn protectors of the funk Mama’s Boomshack keep shaking the foundations some plaintive, sultry work in “The Other Woman.” Her tone on the latter is right on point, not too syrupy and with long builds into full-bodied notes. Todd Regoulinsky does more fill work than solos on the bari sax, popping into the gaps left by the rhythm section and bottoming out the bounce on tunes like “Truly Sweetly.” Brundage and Regoulinsky trade vocals throughout the album, too, which varies up the sound pleasantly, even if neither is a truly stand-out vocalist. Brundage fronts “Nothing More to Say” with a jazz-rock vocal, bringing in a Steely Dan feel. She’s not a yeller, but goes big. Maybe she could use a touch of reverb. Nevermind, really, because the song is worth the listen just

for the Alex Cardamone trumpet solo at the 2:30 mark. Man, it’s free and easy, like swinging your arms on a hot summer day down New York City streets lined with brownstones and leafy trees. If you like the horns, that is. If you’ve a fan of “funk,” there are a couple of keepers here, certainly. In large part, though, the album serves as a successful business card. There’s no doubt Mama’s Boomshack are a great time playing live after giving this a listen.

WAXtABLet@PhX.coM

stormed through a set at congress Square park last weekend, and let drop an utterly skuzzy digital album of new and live tracks titled Living Legends Mixtape—a title as tossed-off and baffling as the eleven charmers within. it’s not an album proper; its purpose is thus: to document the rapid evolution of this group of weirdos since 2012’s Grease Burger Pizza Sandwich, which was more or less an experimental noise record. these days, the album declares, lunch cult write songs—though they’re just as likely to play them as they are to descend into lengthy screeds of garage noise. take the study-in-disaster vibe of vintage replacements, add to it the lighthearted playfulness of theodore treehouse or the great cap’n Jazz; and sprinkle a few aesthetic ironies for good measure—deadpan lyrics, too-ambitious guitar work,

brazen self-effacement, and dumb attempts at punk formalism. if like us, you like your rock music character-driven and overdramatic, catch up with these dudes at lunchcult.bandcamp.com. F as if by some twilight encounter in a midcoast glen, a lovely album of mysterious folk songs by the skylark sisters surfaced this week. humbly titled Demo Recordings, its ten tracks submit a selection of folk songs lush with harmonies and gorgeously spare with its strings. opener “take heart” is a lullabye of top-shelf mixtape caliber, the minutiae-obsession of “Sleepytime tea” is as warming as its namesake, and the gorgeous lamenter “my roommates the Wolves” is a fulfilling exercise in animism. Fantastic night music for the heart and mind. Queue up skylarksisters. bandcamp.com.

portLand.thephoenix.com | the portLand phoenix | JuLy 4, 2014 17

CIGARETTES © SFNTC 3 2014

Listings

!GET LISTED

Send an e-mail to submit@phx.com

SATURDAY 5

CLUBS GREATER PORTLAND THURSDAY 3