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STAFF Editor-in-Chief Mark Zusman EDITORIAL Managing Editor for News Brent Walth Arts & Culture Editor Martin Cizmar Staff Writers Hannah Hoffman, Nigel Jaquiss, Corey Pein Copy Chief Rob Fernas Copy Editors Matt Buckingham, Kat Merck Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Ben Waterhouse Movies Editor Aaron Mesh Music Editor Casey Jarman Editorial Interns Melinda Hasting, Annie Zak CONTRIBUTORS Classical Brett Campbell Dance Heather Wisner Food Ruth Brown Visual Arts Richard Speer
Erik Bader, Judge Bean, Nathan Carson, Devan Cook, Shane Danaher, Jonathan Frochtzwajg, Robert Ham, Shae Healey, Jay Horton, Matthew Korfhage, AP Kryza, Hannah Levin, Jessica Lutjemeyer, Jeff Rosenberg, Matt Singer, Chris Stamm, Mark Stock
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OPERATIONS Accounting Manager Andrea Manning Credit & Collections Shawn Wolf Office Manager & Receptionist Nick Johnson Office Corgi Bruce Manager of Information Systems Brian Panganiban Publisher Richard H. Meeker
Our mission: Provide our audiences with an independent and irreverent understanding of how their worlds work so they can make a difference. Circulation: 80,000-90,000 (depending on time of year, holidays and vacations.) Though Willamette Week is free, please take just one copy. Anyone removing papers in bulk from our distribution points will be prosecuted, as they say, to the full extent of the law. Willamette Week is published weekly by City of Roses Newspaper Company 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Main line phone: (503) 243-2122 fax: (503) 243-1115 Classifieds phone: (503) 223-1500 fax: (503) 223-0388
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
3
INBOX TAKING ISSUE WITH ‘PROGRESS’
In “Progress Without Pepper Spray” [WW, Nov. 30, 2011], Casey Jarman describes me as “…Jeremy, a stocky middle-aged agitator in stiff brown Carhartts pants who rambles on without asking a question.” Well, he did get two things correct. I am 59 and my name is Jeremy. At 6-foot-2 and 197 [pounds], I object to “stocky.” After 44 years of political activity and engagement, the last 35 as an anarchist, I don’t know why Jarman is calling me an agitator. So go ahead and call me a fat agitator, but two things really infuriate. First is Jarman’s idiotic playing to the skinny-panted hipster consumers who are your target demographic. The wearing of double-layered expensive pants by other than welders or construction workers is stupid, but it is not a stupidity I would ever be guilty of. Second, I asked many questions—of the audience (it seemed to me that the panel had flapped its gums enough). I asked them how many had been at the Jamison Square absurd “action,” how many knew there were three subsidized-housing towers in the Pearl and how many knew working people who were woken up by the midnight-to-3 am noisemaking? It should also be noted that I suggested we occupy foreclosed houses. My only conclusion is that Jarman must be more of a creative writer than a journalist. —Jeremy Szold Ginzberg Northeast Portland Thanks for shining a light on these local heroes. Right 2 Dream Too is an amazing place, a real testimony to self-determination and community. —“Anne T” Burgerville is a great local company. In addition to the things mentioned in this article, it is also
On a sunny day, look up and you may see a contrail, which is a normal vapor trail that dissipates as quickly as a jet passes. Then there are chemtrails, which hang up there all day and spread out. How the hell can people not notice these things? —John N. I know (or at least claim to know) many things, but one thing I’ll never understand is why you chemtrail folks persist in seeing me as a likely convert to the cause. I may be full of shit, but that doesn’t mean I want to be full of your shit. I’m no apologist for the status quo, and I’m perfectly prepared to believe the military-industrial complex is evil enough to do what chemtrail theorists claim. I’m just not willing to believe they’re that smart. I understand you’ve seen evidence supporting the chemtrails theory. It was probably the first evidence you ever looked at closely, and natu4
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
an Ability Aware employer, hiring employees with disabilities. Go Burgerville! —“Jennifer Gwin”
TWO VIEWS, PLAIN AND SIMPLE
Wow! This is excellent [“Flunk a Duck,” WW, Nov. 30, 2011]. Until I read this article, I had a sneaking suspicion we didn’t know all the facts about the firing [of University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere], notwithstanding Phil Knight’s rage and the rallies of support that the other paper reported. I had formed no opinion about his firing till reading this article. Whatever his brilliance, he broke his employment contract, plain and simple. No employee can do that and expect to keep his job. Case closed. —“Thin-ice” It’s Journalism 101 to include both sides of an issue when you write an article. Plain and simple. I’ve seen a lot of editorialized articles from Willamette Week lately, including this article about Lariviere and the cover story about Occupy Portland. Looks like the news staff at WW need to brush up on their journalism ethics. —“Duck Alum” What you read in this story is essentially the State Board’s view of what happened. If you would like to hear from Lariviere himself, and make up your own mind, you can do so: vimeo. com/33091547. —“Nathan” LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Fax: (503) 243-1115, Email: mzusman@wweek.com
rally, you were impressed. But remember, Orly Taitz has evidence the president was born in Kenya. Those guys in Utah had evidence of cold fusion. Erich von Däniken (remember him?) had evidence that aliens built the pyramids. Evidence is cheap. Besides, if you’re looking for a meteorological conspiracy to expose the excesses of global capitalism, may I humbly suggest global warming? It’s got end-of-the-world sex appeal, plenty of real science on its side, and doesn’t require anything of its conspirators beyond garden-variety human greed, stupidity and short-sightedness. As for the varying durations of contrails: The ones that run through warm, dry air evaporate quickly. The ones that run through cool, wet air stick around for a while. Car exhaust (or even your own breath) will do the same thing, dissipating quickly in dry conditions and hanging around longer on cold, rainy days. QUESTIONS? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com
THE PRACTICE of SANT MAT is based on meditation on inner Light
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NONPROFITS: The Urban League president’s unchecked spending. 7 HOTSEAT: Transit expert Jarrett Walker. 11 ACTIVISM: The divide between unions and Occupy Portland. 12 COVER STORY: Understanding Portland’s tight rental market. 15
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
NEWS TO WHISPER IN MICHELE BACHMANN’S EAR. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz won her council seat in 2008 with public financing, part of the short-lived experiment in Portland that voters killed last year. Facing reelection in 2012, Fritz hasn’t reported collecting any donation over $100. Fritz disclosed last week she’s loaned herself another $25,000, bringing her COMMISSIONER FRITZ self-financing to $50,000. Her challenger, Rep. Mary Nolan (D-Portland), has raised $123,000, all from others. Another award-winning journalist is leaving The Oregonian. Nikole Hannah-Jones, who’s covered race and diversity issues for the newspaper, says she’s joining ProPublica, the Pulitzerwinning online investigative reporting organization. “How can you say no to working for ProPublica?” Hannah-Jones says. (ProPublica’s managing editor, Stephen Engelberg, was once managing editor for investigations at The O.) It’s the latest loss for the state’s biggest daily, which has seen several prominent journalists leave this year. Hannah-Jones, who’s been at the paper for five years, has also been covering Multnomah County. At ProPublica, she says, she will write about “how powerful entities deal with vulnerable communities.” PacifiCorp, Oregon’s second largest utility, agreed last week to a whopper of a fine—$3.925 million, for service failures during a massive power outage in Utah in February 2008. The North American Electric Reliability Council said the outage stemmed from the utility’s lack of preparedness. “NERC determined that PacifiCorp violated 23 different requirements of 15 Reliability Standards,” the Dec. 1, 2011, final order reads. The penalty dwarfs dozens of others NERC has assessed this year. PacifiCorp spokesman Paul Vogel says the company disagreed with NERC but wanted to move on. The successor to Claymation innovator Will Vinton’s studio, Laika, is going to court to enforce the little “™” next to the Claymation brand for its stop-motion animation. Laika filed suit last week in U.S. District Court in Portland against the South Korea-based owners of a software company, alleging that its “Claymation Studio” software infringed its trademark. The software company, Honest Technology Co., Ltd., has offices in Austin, Texas, but lists only a fax number and tech support number on its website; it didn’t respond to an email from WW. A Laika spokesperson declined to comment. Laika, owned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight, has a new movie coming out next year, ParaNorman, a comedy about necromancy and zombies. Read more Murmurs and daily scuttlebutt.
GOT A GOOD TIP? CALL 503.445.1542, OR EMAIL NEWSHOUND@WWEEK.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PORTLAND OBSERVER
NEWS
MAXED OUT AT THE URBAN LEAGUE AUDITORS SAY THE NONPROFIT GROUP’S PRESIDENT USED THE LEAGUE’S CREDIT CARD FOR QUESTIONABLE SPENDING. BY NIG E L JAQ UI SS
njaquiss@wweek.com
The president of the Urban League of Portland is under scrutiny by county auditors for more than $44,000 of questionable spending. Over the past 2½ years, Urban League President Marcus C. Mundy has used the organization’s credit card for what auditors say are expenditures with no clear relationship to the nonprofit’s mission, according to documents obtained by WW under the state’s public records law. The records show that since 2009, auditors have been pushing Mundy and the Urban League to explain his spending. Long after auditors requested explanations, Mundy provided receipts for grocery purchases at Costco, Safeway and Fred Meyer; clothes at Target; his children’s cellphone bills and fundraisers at their private school. He also submitted receipts for a March 2009 trip to Beijing, a $108 receipt dated May 2009 for “human hair,” and many other puzzling expenses. Mundy acknowledges he has made mistakes. “I did not spend enough time on administrative and operational issues,” he says. “But I absolutely did not use the Urban League [credit] card for personal expenses.” His attempts to provide documentation has not satisfied the county nor the Urban League’s own independent auditors. “There was no documentation for the business purpose of these charges in most cases,” the Urban League’s auditors wrote six months ago. One county report, dated Nov. 7, 2011, said the records Mundy recently provided were so incomplete as to be “not auditable.” Records show the Urban League’s board approved most of Mundy’s spending after the fact—but only after county reviews raised serious questions. And it did so despite the organization’s independent auditor warning that the president’s credit-card use could invite an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. Urban League Board Treasurer Charles Wilhoite, who says he’s speaking for the board, acknowledges that the organization’s record-keeping has been sloppy. He says the board is pushing hard for an improved administrative performance from Mundy. Wilhoite also says the Urban League’s financial health is sound, and the board still supports Mundy. “Everybody has total confidence in his ability to continue to lead the League,” Wilhoite says. Urban League chairman Lolenzo Poe recently went on
URBAN LEAGUE PRESIDENT MARCUS C. MUNDY
the offensive against the county’s efforts to hold the organization’s board accountable. “We regret that you concluded that deficiencies remained at the time of your audit,” Poe wrote the county Oct. 6. “But the existence of those deficiencies is not appropriately attributed to any failure or inattention by the Urban League of Portland Board.” (Poe did not return WW’s calls seeking comment.) Multnomah County officials say they have run out of patience and may cut off funding to the Urban League as early as next week unless it comes up with an oversight plan. “Multnomah County takes its role as the steward of taxpayer dollars very seriously,” says county spokesman Dave Austin.
In Portland, the Urban League, whose local chapter was founded in 1945, provides social services for AfricanAmerican seniors and runs after-school programs for lowincome kids. The county has paid the Urban League $729,000 over the past three years under a contract to provide services. County money accounts for more than 20 percent of the League’s $1 million annual budget. The Urban League of Portland has encountered financial problems before. In the late 1980s, financial irregularities at the League led to a crushing $400,000 debt and organizational turmoil. Auditors blamed the League’s CONT. on page 8 Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
7
NONPROFITS
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the gift of a donation!
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M U LT C O . U S
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
URBAN LEAGUE CHAIRMAN LOLENZO POE
board for failure to monitor the spending of then-CEO Herb Cawthorne. In 1999, the League again nearly went bust after financial mismanagement by then-CEO Lawrence Dark. Under pressure from Multnomah County and other funders, the board ousted Dark. Mundy, 53, a Los Angeles native, moved to Portland in 2000 when his late wife took a job at Nike. He worked in risk management for the accounting firm KPMG and later became a vice president and regional compliance officer for Kaiser Permanente. He is a graduate of Howard University and the University of Oregon’s executive MBA program. Shortly after arriving in Portland, Mundy joined the Urban League board. After Dark’s successors restored the Urban League’s financial health, a 2006 county fiscal review gave the League its highest rating—1 out of a possible 4. Mundy took over as president and CEO in 2006, and now earns $91,000 annually, records show. Despite Mundy’s background, however, the League’s financial controls broke down under his leadership. The first official warnings about financial irregularities came from Colleen Yoshihara, a county auditor assigned to conduct a routine fiscal review in 2009. Records show Yoshihara, in a Sept. 2, 2009, report to the Urban League and its board, identified five findings about the organization’s lack of financial controls. Mundy’s credit-card use topped her list. “The League’s president has not submitted supporting documentation for charges on the organization-issued credit card for the past year,” Yoshihara wrote. Yoshihara lowered the Urban League’s score of financial health to 3 out of 4, and asked the League to respond to her review within 30 days, which is county policy. It took Mundy 147 days to provide an official response. On Jan. 27, 2010, he wrote Yoshihara in an email that they might want to schedule a “brief meeting (45 minutes or less) sometime in the next four to six weeks.” For the next three months, records show, Yoshihara tried without success to get documentation of Mundy’s spending. Finally, on April 27, 2010, Wilhoite told the county the board took the findings “very seriously” and “effective April 5, 2010, suspended
the use of company-issued credit cards.” Wilhoite also pledged “the CEO’s expense report will be reviewed and authorized by the board chair.” But when Yoshihara reviewed the Urban League’s books in May of this year, she found Mundy was once again using the Urban League credit card without oversight. And the organization’s financial controls had weakened. “The League’s CEO continues to use the organization’s credit card without providing timely substantiating documentation as to the business purpose of expenses,” Yoshihara wrote Aug. 9, 2011. “The League’s Board has been unable or unwilling to follow through with [promised procedures] resulting in a lack of reasonable oversight of League management.” The Urban League hired operations director Derrick Moten after the 2009 review to beef up accountability. When he got Yoshihara’s 2011 fiscal review, Moten’s response was succinct: “I am dead!!” he wrote to Yoshihara on Aug. 10, 2011. Meanwhile, the Urban League’s own independent auditor, Gary McGee & Co., echoed the county’s warnings, citing “material weaknesses” in the League’s internal controls. “Charges to the President’s credit card were not adequately supported or documented,” reads a June 14, 2011, draft management letter from the McGee firm. “For example, of the $41,512 in total credit card charges made during the year [ending] June 30, 2010, $11,605 were not supported by receipts or other contemporaneous documentation,” the auditors wrote. “[I]n addition, there was no documentation for the business purpose of these charges in most cases.” The outside auditor expressed nearly identical concerns a year earlier. This year, the McGee firm wrote that the IRS could view Mundy’s undocumented expenditures as compensation— and that could trigger sanctions from the IRS. At the same time the Urban League’s fiscal controls went awry, Mundy suffered personal financial setbacks. Property records show Mundy made heavy personal investments in Portland real estate, with disastrous consequences. In recent years, Mundy bought condos on Northeast Broadway, in the Pearl District and in South Waterfront, while living in a milliondollar Irvington home. Records show he sold the Broadway property for a small loss. The South Waterfront condo went into foreclosure in 2008; the Pearl District property went into foreclosure in 2009. The strain of those investments left him overextended. Records show the state of Oregon filed a $26,000 lien against Mundy for unpaid income taxes in 2009, and the IRS filed a $42,000 federal lien against him the same year. Even Multnomah County, got into the act, suing him in 2009 for $2,472 in unpaid county income taxes. In 2010, after his home also went into foreclosure, Mundy sold it and used some of the proceeds to clear his tax liens and pay the county. But his troubles did not end there. Records show that in October, a Multnomah County judge ordered Mundy’s car towed because of $302 in unpaid parking tickets. Mundy denies there is any connection between his financial troubles and his use of the League credit card. “One thing had nothing to do with the other,” Mundy says.
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
INTERVIEW
JARRETT WALKER
NEWS
A PORTLAND TRANSIT EXPERT SAYS WE SHOULDN’T FALL IN LOVE WITH TRAINS WHEN BUSES WILL DO. WW: You call yourself a transit geek from an early age. Jarrett Walker: I was interested in how the bus system worked. I knew the routes and the timetables. Fortunately, there were people at TriMet who were willing to answer my questions when I called them up. I learned it was not a big faceless machine, and I was encouraged to keep thinking about transit issues. You’ve written that the choice of technology in transit—bus or train—is not one of the most crucial decisions. The most controversial suggestion I’ve ever made is that we might want to think about public transit as though its purpose is to help people get where they’re going. I am interested in transit as an instrument of freedom. If we look at transit from that point of view, what really matters is speed, frequency, reliability and span, which means how long a service runs, whether it’s there all day or not. And those variables are just not related to whether we’re on rails or tires.
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Jarrett Walker says he first fell in love with mass transit when he started riding buses around Portland at age 10. By age 14, he was calling TriMet to ask questions and offer suggestions for improvement. Today Walker, 49, is public-transit consultant and author of HumanTransit.org, a transportation blog. His new book, Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking About Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives (Island Press, 235 pages, $35), discusses what he’s learned working around the world studying and working on mass transit systems. Walker has just moved back to Portland after living and working for five years in Australia. WW talked to him about why emotional discussions regarding mass transit sometimes get in the way of smart planning, and he spoke about the hard transit choices that are facing TriMet and the region.
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Can you give an example? The Portland Streetcar has done a lot of good for the Pearl District, but it was introduced as a development tool, and as it was presented, it was always very clear that the emotional attraction of the vehicle itself was an important part of why we should build it. Why should we build a streetcar instead of just running a really good bus service? We’re moving into a much leaner time. We may start having different conversations about how important it is to have emotionally appealing vehicles, as opposed to creating a system that maximizes people’s personal freedom. What city has the best mass transit system in the world? I have an attachment to Paris because of what it is continuing to do in the area of growth, despite everything they’ve already achieved. In the last decade, Paris has installed bus lanes on almost all of its boulevards. It’s continuing to evolve and improve, to make courageous investments.
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How will mass transit change in the U.S. over the next 30 years or so? Cities are the drivers of innovation in an information-based, creativity-based economy, which is what we increasingly have. Cities, in turn, are not going to be sustainable without high quality in the big, sustainable transport modes: walking, cycling and public transit. We can expect a future where the qualities of public transit we are now used to encountering, say, in Europe, become more common here. If you ride around in Northern European cities, transit is ordinary, it’s expected, it is a favored mode—alongside cycling and walking. It’s of high quality. When you are using transit in Northern or Western Europe, [it’s clear] that you are an important and valued citizen. That is obviously not always clear in transit experiences in North America. Although I think that by the standards of some U.S. cities, Portland is in fairly good shape on that. TriMet was the first system you studied. What concerns you about it now? The design of the network is good. But TriMet faces a set of problems almost all U.S. transit agencies are having. They include unsustainable pension costs and very volatile funding sources. In TriMet’s case, it relies heavily on payroll taxes, and obviously that’s the first thing that goes down in a recession. Where can TriMet improve? Personally I wish TriMet could focus on restoring what’s called the frequent transit network. That’s the set of lines that are designed to run every 15 minutes, or better, all day so you don’t have to use a timetable to use them. You can just show up at a bus stop and know something’s coming soon. That’s a very important concept particularly on the east side of Portland, where these lines are designed to fit together into a big grid so you can go more or less anywhere with a single transfer. In the last major service cut, TriMet had to step over a very important quality threshold by cutting the frequent transit network—buses that run worse than every 15 minutes. TriMet knows that, and they know they need to get those services back.
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NEWS
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On Saturday, Dec. 12, Occupy Portland plans to bus hundreds of protesters to the Port of Portland’s marine terminals as part of a coordinated effort by at least nine other local branches of the Occupy Wall Street movement to shut down West Coast ports. The idea is to protest “Wall Street on the waterfront,” says Kari Koch, an Occupier who is helping plan the new protest. “The 1 percent owns much of what goes on in the ports.” The port shutdown was first proposed by Occupy Oakland “in solidarity” with striking longshoremen in Longview, Wash. But the International Longshore and Warehouse Union is publicly vowing not to participate in Occupy’s shutdown nor honor the protest as a picket line. The planned protest reveals tensions between established labor unions and the upstart movement claiming to represent “the 99 percent” of low- and middle-income earners. As much as the unions try to benefit from the enthusiasm created by Occupy—and borrow its slogans—they’d prefer to avoid arrest. The Occupiers, meanwhile, may welcome union support, but disdain the unions’ embrace of party politics. The differences concern style and substance. “If I wanted to shut down the port, I could do it without Occupy. I don’t need ’em,” says Jeff Smith, president of ILWU’s Columbia River District Council. “This is a question for the Occupy movement: Why would I want to send my people home? Why would I take a job away from somebody? “I don’t get what they’re thinking. It’s my job to put people to work. I’ve got jobs for ’em, so I’m going to put ’em to work. And I’m going to take some of Wall Street’s money.” Like many unions, the ILWU endorsed Occupy—until the new movement targeted the ports. Occupy organizers downplay the longshoremen’s rejection of their strike in a strange way: Accusing union leaders of not telling the truth. “The legal reality for ILWU is they would open themselves up to being sued [if it endorsed the port shutdown],” Koch says. “We totally
understand that they are not allowed to do that. We are in direct communication with them. We have been working with the rank-and-file.” Smith says no one from Occupy has called him, although he did get an email from someone whose name he doesn’t recall. “As the president of the local, I would say I run a pretty tight ship,” Smith says. “[Occupy organizers] need to find somebody who is going to take the bull by the horns and run it like an organization. How many people have you seen on the news saying, ‘I’m the spokesman of Occupy Portland’? That’s frankly why I don’t think it’s working.” But Occupy rejects “hierarchy.” “Occupy is a place for the 89 percent of people who are not in unions,” says Koch, who is unemployed but previously worked for a union-backed organization. “It’s more representative of the working class at this particular moment.” She and other Occupy organizers are concerned about getting co-opted by the Democratic Party in an election year. Events like the port shutdown, she says, establish the movement’s independence. And Koch says it’s a sign of strength—not incoherence—that supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul post messages on Occupy Portland’s Facebook page. Sympathetic messages show up on Occupy’s “bat signal,” a high-powered projector. At a Dec. 3 downtown protest, the bat signal cast anticapitalist slogans against the Southwest Park Avenue façade of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, along with a libertarian rallying cry: “End the Fed.” Occupy’s open-source ethos means its slogans are up for grabs. And organized labor has freely partaken. Professionally printed window and yard placards are showing up around Portland, saying “We Are the 99 Percent.” Many were distributed by Working America, a Washington, D.C.-based affiliate of the AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO Oregon spokeswoman Elana Guiney confirms that the union and its affiliates produced “some signage” for people who supported Occupy. That said, she knows some individual union members do expect to participate in Occupy’s Dec. 12 port shutdown. Despite some coordination on specific events, Guiney says, “Occupy is its own movement, and we are our own movement.”
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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PORTLANDERS PAY A STEEP PRICE IN THE NATION’S TOUGHEST RENTAL MARKET. By HANNAH HOFFMAN hhoffman@wweek.com
The first place Lindsay Bozanich finally found to rent this year came with fingernail clippings in the bed. They probably belonged to the former resident of her $800 Murphy bed-equipped studio apartment on Northwest 22nd Avenue and Glisan Street—the person who painted the walls bright yellow and left the kitchen and bathroom coated in so much grime they took hours to clean. But Bozanich, 29, was thrilled. Not with the filth, of course, but with the fact that after several weeks of searching, she had finally found an apartment. CONT. on page 16
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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RENTER’S HELL
Street page 25
CONT.
When her short-term lease ran out, it took even longer to find another place—she and her future roommates spent two months looking. They finally found a house in the Concordia neighborhood that, on their initial visit, contained seven aquariums of assorted reptiles. They grabbed it. (The reptiles later moved out.) “I couldn’t believe how fortunate we were,” Bozanich says, noting that friends have looked even longer without finding a place that fit their budget. “We really counted our blessings on this one.” Portland has long had a reputation as an affordable West Coast city, boasting rents that are lower on average than in Seattle or San Francisco. But affordability only matters to people who can actually find an apartment. The Portland area has the tightest rental market of any major city in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only 3 percent of apartments here are vacant at any given time—half as many as were available three years ago. The days of apartment companies offering a month off or free parking are long gone. Apartment managers and landlords see people lined up outside rentals, many with applications and blank checks in hand. Desperate renters are finding places have been rented within minutes after being posted on Craigslist. Some renters have offered to pay above the advertised rent if it means they can land the place. “We’ll put something up and hear within five minutes they’ve heard about a property and want to have a viewing,” says Bette Durham, a broker at Mainlander Property Management. “Unfortunately, we can’t pull extra properties out of our hats.” The fierce demand for apartments in short supply is causing Portland’s reputation for affordability to slip away. Rents have risen 17 percent in the last five years in the Portland metro area, according to the Metro Multifamily Housing Association, a trade group of landlords and rental managers. That’s well above the national average of 12 percent during that same time. And rents have jumped 8 percent this year—more than three times faster than the nationwide rate. Rents are climbing even faster in downtown and the Pearl District, where they’ve jumped 16 percent this year, according to the records. As a result, many people are being pushed to the edges of the city, adding to the hidden costs of housing, including more money and time spent commuting to jobs. “If we care about people having choices about where they live, if we don’t want to concentrate poverty on the edges of our city, then we need a range of housing choices in each neighborhood,” says City Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Housing Bureau. “We’re limiting people’s choices about where they can live and raise a family.” In a market where demand is so high, developers should be lining up to build more rental properties. But many say they face a dilemma. High-end projects still can’t charge the rents they need to make them pencil out. And more modest building projects, where the rents are lower, are having trouble getting financing. That might also be true in other cities. But in Portland, even during the building boom in the last decade, few developers had any interest in apartments—they built condos instead. That left the city short on rentals as the demand grew—from people who cannot afford to buy a house, those who had to give up the houses they owned, and a steady stream of newcomers who moved here despite the recession. Mark McMullen, the interim state economist, says the influx was mostly young people willing to move here without jobs. “Portland is still a magnet,” he says. “And that’s a good thing.” Except if you can’t find an affordable place to live—in some cases, any place to live. Portlanders traditionally have tended to buy homes, not rent. About 55 percent of Portland-area residents own their homes, compared to 50 percent in Seattle and 38 percent in San Francisco, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. CONT. on page 18
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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CONT. R O B E R T D E L A H A N T Y. N E T
RENTER’S HELL
LUCKY TO HAVE A HOUSE: Lindsay Bozanich, 29, and her roommates Tony Murray (left), John Manlove and Skye Dorsett (not pictured) searched for two months to find a rental house in Northeast Portland. The city’s rents have gone up so much, Bozanich says, “It seems like Portland is getting too big for its britches.”
“WE’D DRAW OUT A MAP OF DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS AND JUST START BICKERING ABOUT JUST HAVING TO LIVE FARTHER OUT.” —LINDSAY BOZANICH
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
That’s because even as home price have risen here in the past two decades, they’ve remained low compared to those in other big West Coast cities. As a result, the relatively soft demand for rentals meant the city simply did not need as many apartment units— until now. Developer Dwight Unti, head of Tokola Properties in Gresham, says Portland has traditionally needed about 4,000 new units of housing per year to keep up with growth in the metro area, but says that need hasn’t been met for the past five years. “We’re way behind the curve,” he says. Today, the area including Portland, Vancouver and Beaverton has about 97,000 rental units. As recently as 2005, a lot of those units were available— one out of every 10, according to Census Bureau records. The rental market suddenly got tighter in 2007. The reason? The national economy was surging, more and more people wanted to buy homes, and credit was readily available. In Portland, developers started taking rental units off the market and converting them to condos. McMullen says the low vacancy rate four years ago was a symptom of a very different kind of rental market—a “supply phenomenon,” he calls it. When the economy tanked in 2008, vacancy rates shot up again—to 7 percent. McMullen says more condos went on the market as rentals because people couldn’t sell them. But the whipsawing continued. Two years later, the vacancy rate dropped closer to pre-recession levels—but for far different reasons.
Banks tightened their credit rules, making it tougher to buy homes, and many people couldn’t afford to stay in the homes or faced foreclosure. That’s left far more people chasing the too few apartments left in the city. Joe Colasurdo moved to Portland from Bellingham, Wash., nearly two months ago and still hasn’t found his own place to live. He’s staying with his girlfriend, Renee, and her two roommates, but the situation has worn thin. In a Gladstone apartment Colasurdo, 25, viewed last month, black mold coated the shower tiles—except where duct tape clung to keep other tiles in place. “I’m surprised the landlord even had me come over,” he says. It wasn’t the only time he looked at what turned out to be a dump. “They would have pictures online and it would look really nice, and I would go there and it would be like, ‘Wow, I’d rather live in my mom’s basement.’” Many people say they have faced similar situations looking for an apartment, with little or no choice when it comes to quality. In September, Zac Thayer, a 20-year-old punk-rock musician, started trolling Craigslist for a house or an apartment to share that would cost him no more than $500 a month. It took two months, including weeks spent sleeping on friends’ couches. “I got pretty panicked,” Thayer says. Most places he saw were disgusting, he says. The worst was a house near Southeast 52nd Avenue and Belmont CONT. on page 20
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Street—like a sauna inside, with a once-white carpet turned brown from cat feces smashed into the carpet. “It’s almost impossible to find somewhere livable in my price range,” he says. The search becomes more complicated for people who need to live in a specific neighborhood, especially if it’s close in. Bozanich, the woman who found fingernails in her new apartment’s bed, needed to live close to the city center. She’d been living with her parents in North Plains, but she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and wanted to be nearer to her clinic in North Portland. The neighborhoods Bozanich desired—inner Northeast and Southeast, downtown and Northwest—have vacancy rates lower than the city as a whole—from 2.1 percent to 2.5 percent. That demand means rents are increasing faster than in places such as Oregon City, Gladstone and Gresham, where the vacancy rates range from 5 to 5.5 percent. (Rents in Gladstone and Oregon City have actually dropped in the past year.) Bozanich saw this firsthand. She looked for a month but couldn’t find a place for less than $1,200 a month. She found her Northwest Portland studio in March. Six months later, she was looking with three other people to rent a house. They waged a daily search for two months, spending hours hitting the refresh button on Craigslist. But the places they liked were snapped up within minutes. They prepared stacks of rental applications and arrived early at open houses, only to find a line had already formed. “We got really frustrated,” Bozanich says. “We’d draw out a map of different neighborhoods and just start bickering about just having to live farther out, and I would be like, ‘I don’t want to spend money to live in a place I don’t really like.’” Landlords say they need to do very little now to attract tenants. Nina Lyski—the building manager for Jeanne Manor, a historic 67-unit building in the South Park Blocks owned by KBC Management—says there are 15 people on a waiting list. “I rented about eight apartments last year sight unseen,” she says. Nancy Swann, who runs the complaint hotline for the Community Alliance of Tenants, says most of the criteria landlords use to reject tenants aren’t new: Credit history, rental history, pet ownership and employment have been application questions
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www.bikenhike.com for years. The difference today is that landlords can afford to be picky. The slightest blemish on a credit history can doom a would-be renter’s chances. Swann says landlords who in the past have been willing to work through problems with tenants are far less inclined to do so in this market. She has heard complaints from people who lost their jobs and whose landlords refused to wait for the tenants’ unemployment benefits to start before evicting them. “A lot of landlords are like, ‘Pay the rent or get out,’” Swann says.
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Developers say the economics of building apartment complexes in Portland don’t pencil out right now, even with rents climbing fast. High-rise buildings need higher rents to pay off their large upfront construction costs, which tend to run higher per unit than the low-slung apartment buildings outside the city’s core. There are only a few places in the city—the Pearl District, for example—where landlords can demand especially high rents, but some developers say not high enough. Spencer Welton, senior vice president of development for Simpson Housing LLLP, says apartment towers like the 15-story building his company planned—and then canceled—for the Pearl District can’t charge rents high enough to pay for the project. Welton says his company, after looking at rents in similarsized Pearl buildings, planned to charge an average of $1,700 to $1,800 a month for a one-bedroom unit. It didn’t pencil out to cover the $56 million project. “With the kind of construction we were trying to do, the rents just didn’t support that,” he says. Portland developer Bob Ball says he can make a new Pearl District building work. He recently announced plans for a sixstory, white-brick apartment complex called The Parker on Northwest 13th Avenue between Pettygrove and Quimby streets, with a planned opening of 2013. Ball says the key is constructing a shorter building with slightly smaller units, thus reducing the building costs while allowing him (he hopes) to charge about the same rents Simpson considered. CONT. on page 23
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
NO ROOMS TO SPARE The 10 major U.S cities with the lowest vacancy rates.
3.1%
1 PORTLAND 3.3%
2 EL PASO 4.3%
3 ALBUQUERQUE 4.6%
4 SAN JOSE
5%
5 LOS ANGELES
6.1%
6 AUSTIN
6.5%
7 SAN ANTONIO
6.8%
8 SEATTLE
7.1%
9 BOSTON
7.2%
10 NEW YORK
S O U R C E : T H E U . S . C E N S U S B U R E A U M E A S U R E S VA C A N C Y R AT E S I N 7 5 M A R K E T S N AT I O N W I D E . T H E S E A R E T H E 1 0 L O W E S T R AT E S O F C I T I E S T H AT H AV E AT L E A S T 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 P E O P L E .
CONT.
RENTER’S HELL
“If you have the right product and the right amount of land, I think the rents are there to support it,” he says. “But if you’re building anything with many stories, you’re going to have to have the rents to pay for it.” Pearl District rents are beyond the means of most Portlanders. Yet developers are not building the low-slung apartment complexes that are cheaper on a square-foot basis to develop and, in turn, rent for less money. Tokola Properties’ Unti says the region’s available land for stick-built, horizontal, suburban apartments has pretty much been used up, and the area’s urban-growth boundary has limited where new construction can be built. Unti also says banks cut way back on lending for real-estate development, especially those for apartments that charge mid- to low-range rents. “In the past, I could borrow about 85 to 90 percent of the cost to build a new apartment,” he says. “Now, I can borrow about 60 percent. Everyone is more risk sensitive, more risk averse.” Unti says public-private partnerships, such as subsidies in urban-renewal areas, could help. Fish says the city has tried to find ways to help, but he admits it hasn’t been enough. According to the Housing Bureau, the city since 2006 has paid $150 million to help add 4,500 units of affordable housing through construction and aid to renters making down payments when they buy a home. Fish says the subsidized units go to households that make 60 percent or less of Portland’s median family income. That means a family of four that makes less than $43,200 would qualify. A single person needs to make less than $30,240. Even with this housing available, Fish says more than 50 percent of Portland renters are “cost-burdened,” which means they pay more than 30 percent of their monthly incomes on rent. “On paper, we’re doing a pretty good job, but the demand just keeps growing,” Fish says. “We’re going to have an impact, but on the margins. The market is going to provide the bulk of the housing.” No one has a good answer for satisfying the demand. “It’s absolutely true we won’t be able to build our way out of our housing crisis,” says Mary Li, Multnomah County community services director. Li, who works with several programs designed to help people find housing, says she sees the shortage on a daily basis. She says the city and county provide financial help for people to rent, from short-term rent assistance to cosigning leases if the renter has bad credit. But those programs don’t address the rental shortage. That means higher rents—the only way developers will get the cash they need to qualify for financing. And rents have already risen too high for the average Portlander. Elisa Harrigan, executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants, says she’s already seeing the impact of high rents. “We’re seeing the burden be higher on tenants to maintain their housing,” she says. “People’s incomes aren’t growing at the same rate as the rental price, and government services are getting cut. “Things were bad before, but they’re worse now.” Bozanich hopes the city and developers figure it out. “I know that community is really important to Portland,” she says. “I hope we get to keep living that way instead of being pushed out and separated.”
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ADAP TED BY
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BASED ON THE MOTION PICTURE WRIT TEN BY JE A N S HEP HER D, L EI GH BRO W N A ND BO B C L A R K PRODUCED WITH SPECIAL ARR ANGEMEN T WITH DR AMATIC PUBLISHING, WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS
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A You’ll Christmas Story shoot your eye out.
Jack Clevenger in A Christmas Story. Photo by Patrick Weishampel.
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ARLENE SCHNITZER CONCERT HALL 24
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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HOTSEAT: Greg Higgins’ sausage saga. FOOD: The great cinnamon roll taste-off. VISUAL ARTS: Shreds of Light. MOVIES: Three, two, one...crap!
28 30 48 50
SCOOP MITTENS OFF: Sorta a big week in local music. Portland soul/dance/electro/pop outfit Dirty Mittens has called it quits...sorta. Most of the band’s members are returning as the guitar-less Artifice, a more dance-centric endeavor. Artifice will premiere on New Year’s Eve at Dig a Pony alongside the similarly dance-tastic Purple N Green. >> Lauded Portland MC Luck-One—Hanif Collins to his folks—is also calling it quits... sorta. Last week he premiered a new track, “Farewell,” which outlines Luck’s plan to drop out of Portland’s hip-hop scene and music-making in general. Before disappearing to travel the globe, Luck says, he will drop another album next year. >> Starfucker is releasing a new album...sorta. The band is releasing a remastered, expanded version of its 2009 Jupiter mini-LP on vinyl Jan. 10. A digital version is already availSWITCH: Dirty Mittens able on iTunes. lose the guitar. RELAPSE: Fans of Portland’s unorthodox Fever Theater, which faded away a couple years ago, can rest easy. Company members Kate Sanderson Holly, Amber Whitehall and Jacob Coleman have formed a new company, Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble, with local actress Cristi Miles and Rebecca Lingafelter, a recent arrival from New York’s Performance Lab 115. PETE is holding a debut party and fundraiser for its upcoming production, Summerland, at 6:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 7, on the roof of the Indigo building at 430 SW 12th Ave. BEER HERE: Another brewery is taking up residence in the railyard warehouse district south of Southeast Powell Boulevard, where Alameda Brewing recently inaugurated a 20-barrel production facility. Gigantic Brewing, a partnership between Hopworks vet Ben Love and former Rock Bottom brewer Van Havig, has applied for a license at 5224 SE 26th Ave. >> Element Restaurant and Lounge, the downtown spot that famously closed less than a month after opening in the summer of 2010, then reopened in September, has changed hands again. The new owner, Bonnie Rundell, goes by the nom de business of Clear Vision LLC. Let’s hope the name is accurate—the place needs it. >> Kenton’s Stone Pickle Deli & Pub has closed. James Miller has applied to open an Italian restaurant named La Vita Bella in the building. >> Tabla Mediterranean Bistro has applied for a license modification to allow off-premises sales—so that you can take home a bottle or two of that great Loire Valley rosé. >> Finally, in Oregon’s ongoing efforts to start a brewery in every tiny town in the state, Dragon’s Gate Brewery has applied for a license in Milton-Freewater, pop. 2,000. CA-CLUNK: Cackalack’s Hot Chicken Shack at the Good Food Here pod on Southeast Belmont Street and 43rd Avenue is soon to be under new ownership or closed. Per a Craigslist posting, “business is great,” but the owners are “moving back east.” The sale is turnkey and includes the recipe for their spicy chicken.
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
DIRTYMITTENSMUSIC.COM
GOSSIP THAT BELIEVED IN TIMMY TEBOW ALL ALONG.
W W P H OTO I L L U S T R AT I O N
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK IN ARTS & CULTURE
WILLAMETTE WEEK
HEADOUT
WEDNESDAY DEC. 7 QUEEN OF AMERICA [BOOKS] Luis Alberto Urrea spent more than two decades on the novelization of his great-aunt’s life story. Not surprising, given all the folk healing, violent uprising, globetrotting and Mexican dictating involved. See review, page 49. Powell’s City
of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.
FRIDAY DEC. 9 ELECTRIC OPERA COMPANY [MUSIC] Yes, you’re probably already sick of hearing Nutcracker music, the “Winter” concerto from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and those other weary, wintry classics— but not like this. One of the city’s finest alt-classical outfits has assembled nearly two dozen classically trained but rocking electric guitarists, keyboard players and drummers to shred the Christmas classics. Mississippi Pizza, 3552 N Mississippi Ave., electricoperacompany.com. 9 pm. $5 suggested donation. 21+. UP THE YANGTZE [MOVIES] One of the better and more creative documentaries to chronicle China’s monumental and extremely controversial Three Gorges Dam project, Up the Yangtze portrays the desperation of the Chinese farmer, the hypocrisies of modern Chinese socialism and the idiocracies of the clueless pasty tourist. 5th Avenue Cinema, 510 SW Hall St., 725-3551. 7 and 9:30 pm. $3. COOL NUTZ PRESENTS “THE GREATEST RAP SHOW EVER” [MUSIC] It takes some big, frosty balls to bill an all-local concert as “The Greatest Rap Show Ever.” Cool Nutz—who appears tonight alongside fine Portland hip-hop artists like Lifesavas’ Vursatyl, Serge Severe, TxE and DJ Wicked—has them right in his stage name. Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash. St., 226-0430. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
SATURDAY DEC. 10 ANGELS IN AMERICA: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES [THEATER] What better antidote could there be to December’s constant stream of syrup than Tony Kushner’s 3 1/2-hour masterwork about AIDS, drug addiction, the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and other horrors of the Reagan era? World Trade Center Theater, 121 SW Salmon St., portlandplayhouse.org. 7:30 pm; runs Thursdays-Sundays through Dec. 31. $15-$32. THE ALL-NIGHT HORROR MARATHON [MOVIES] Four 35 mm screamers into the wee hours: Day of the Dead, The Burning, Boxer’s Omen and Pieces. It’s like your church youth group’s lock-in, with more chainsaws, less sexual tension, and exactly the same amount of pizza. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 281-4215. 9 pm. $12. Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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CULTURE
INTERVIEW
GREG HIGGINS
GREG HIGGINS SHARED HIS SAUSAGE-MAKING SKILLS IN MONGOLIA. M I K E P E R R A U LT
WW: What were your expectations going into this project? Greg Higgins: Well, my expectations weren’t really high food-wise. Food there is OK, it’s nothing special. Very little seasoning—onion, salt, a little pepper—and the sausage tradition is really archaic, old Russian, so I didn’t feel it was going to be that hard to come up with [new] ideas.
VIEW FROM ULAANGOM: Chef Greg Higgins turns camel into ham. BY R U T H B R OWN
rbrown@wweek.com
CHEF GREG HIGGINS knows his way around a sausage. One of the forefathers of local, sustainable dining in Portland—which he has been dishing up at his eponymous downtown restaurant Higgins for almost 18 years—he was curing meat and serving up charcuterie plates when most of the city’s rock-star cooks were still in Pampers. But when aid agency Mercy Corps asked him to spend three weeks teaching sausage- and charcuterie-making to cooks in Mongolia, he didn’t know if he was up to the task. “Basically, there’s next to no pork over there,” Higgins says. “I was thinking, I’ve got an extensive background in real artisanal charcuterie—I’m not so sure how that’s going to work with the products they have.” But to Mongolia he went, keeping an online diary for wweek.com along the way (you can read it at bit.ly/higginsinmongolia). And after being regaled with Higgins’ tales of smoked camel hams, goat-meat hotdogs, battling antiquated Soviet equipment and downing large amounts of vodka for the past month, we had to sit down for a postmortem on his travels.
You ended up having to substitute things like camel, yak and goat for pork in your sausages—what did they taste like? Really, really good. The reason pork is king in the world of sausage-making is that there are five categories of fat in any given pig, and those categories of fats have different applications, create different texture, etc. Within most other livestock—cow, sheep—there’s only one or two types of fat, and they don’t emulsify and don’t create the mouth feel you get out of pork fat. So that was my biggest fear: How was I going to get these fats to stay in suspension so it wasn’t that dry, drippy, grainy sausage that you don’t wanna have? But in reality there’s so much protein content, those animals are so healthy—I imagine the protein content in those animals is triple or quadruple even the pastureraised meat I get here. So what that allowed us to do was achieve emulsions you couldn’t get with run-ofthe-mill meat. So that meant the textures held and the flavors were really good…. The camel ham was absolutely delicious. Was it richer flavor? Sure, it didn’t taste like a cute little pig, but I think if you served that product here, people would love it. Did people enjoy the new food you introduced them to? Oh yeah, I think it was pretty fun. And then some of the stuff was slapstick. The onionring thing [in one blog post, Higgins described
making American food for his hosts], that was witch-doctor material. They were just absolutely flabbergasted by a commonplace ingredient—I went and bought some cornstarch, which is really the secret to a crispy batter. We made corn dogs and onion rings, and the locals were just ecstatic. Go figure. And the meats? Do you think they will keep making them now that you’ve left? I’m absolutely certain the ham-curing and smoking process they’ll continue, because that’s very manageable. And in their world, they have a surplus of certain products. Fat— they don’t know what to do with all the fat. The idea that you would actually render all the fat and cook with it was radical. They have a lot of legs from goats and sheep they don’t know what to do with, ’cause it’s strongerflavored meat, so I taught them to make hams with those and they were very excited. They have a lot of organ meat, so almost everywhere one of the requests was, “Can we put organ meat in it?” Do you feel like ultimately you’ve achieved something? I’m sure we did. I achieved for myself, personally, learning what their challenges are, what their limitations are, and I’ve got a picture of what the potential is—I mean it’s immense, sitting on a resource like all that quality meat in that quantity…. So one of my projects is to put together a care package of products that should be available there in the form of small tools: good thermometers, simple brine injectors, the proper cure salts…. I think the tradition of the meats is so strong that I can’t see it going away. And I can only see that as people do better economically, there will be a point where it’ll differentiate—someone will make better stuff and someone will say, “Their stuff is better. Why is that better?”
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
FOOD & DRINK REVIEW
By RUTH BROWN. PRICES: $: Most entrees under $10. $$: $10-$20. $$$: $20-$30. $$$$: Above $30. Editor: MARTIN CIZMAR. Email: dish@wweek.com. See page 3 for submission instructions.
FRIDAY, DEC. 9 Willakenzie Winemaker Dinner
Downtown French bistro Brasserie Montmartre hosts Willakenzie Estate winery for a five-course wine pairing. As ‘tis the season for hardening the arteries, this looks to be some ribsticking winter fare: warm truffle custard with potato gaufrettes; pheasant and foie gras pot pie and pan seared scallops with fettuccine, truffle butter and prosciutto. Ooph. I need a nap just from writing about it. RUTH BROWN. Brasserie Montmartre, 626 SW Park Ave., 236-3036. 6:30 pm Friday, Dec. 9. $70 per person, including wine and gratuity. 21+.
SATURDAY, DEC. 10 Season’s Eatings Local Food and Spirits Market Portland food purveyors Tails & Trotters, Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery, Unbound Pickling, Confectionery, Olympic Provisions, Kelly’s Jelly, Water Avenue Coffee, River Wave Foods, Xocolatl de David, Briar Rose Creamery and New Deal Distillery get together to push their wares and support the Oregon Food Bank. RUTH BROWN. New Deal Distillery, 1311 SE 9th Ave., 234-2513. 11 am-6 pm Saturday, Dec. 10. Free admission with donation of one nonperishable food item. All Ages.
Learn to Saber!
Pix Pâtisserie’s Bubbly Spectacular month continues with a class on sabering—that’s slicing off the top of a bottle of sparkling wine with a knife or sword. This skill is guaranteed to increase your chances of getting laid by 300 percent. RUTH BROWN. Pix Pâtisserie-North, 3901 N Williams Ave., 282-6539. 5 pm. 21+.
Brewing up Cocktails: Winter Holiday Special Edition
My Voice Music is looking to get new digs and you can help by eating porcini mushrooms. The nonprofit organization “engages marginalized youth in music and performance in order to promote self-esteem, social skills and emotional expression.” Din Din Supper Club and bartender Kelley Swenson will host a fundraiser for the nonprofit. You’ll get a five-course dinner—including dishes such as sautéed chicories with salt cod fritters and a soft-boiled quail egg, and chocolate anise tart with candied orange rind—for the modest price of $60. The dinner will be at the home of My Voice Music’s down-to-earth Executive Director Ian Mouser, who was recently awarded the prestigious Skidmore Prize by this publication’s Give!Guide, and his partner, Karen Darr. Email karen@myvoicemusic.org for more details or reservations.
SUNDAY, DEC. 11 First Press Olive Oil at Nostrana
Southeast Portland Italian restaurant Nostrana has its hands on some fancy first-press olive oil (“olio nuovo”). On Sunday, Dec. 11, chef Cathy Whims will team up with “olio nuovo expert” Jeffrey Bergman (probably worth noting: Bergman is also in the foodmarketing business) for a cooking demonstration, featuring four olive-oilfocused dishes and Italian wine pairings. On Dec. 12, they will offer the same meal as a sit-down dinner. You can also (surprise!) buy the olive oils from Nostrana for $30-$60. RUTH BROWN. Nostrana, 1401 SE Morrison St., 234-2427. 12:30 pm-3 pm Sunday, Dec. 11, 6 pm Monday, Dec. 12. $85. 21+.
MONDAY, DEC. 12 Bones, Brews and Brown Spirits
Inner-eastside brewpub Burnside Brewery Co. is hosting its first pairing dinner, shaking up the standard beerplus-food equation by adding spirits to the mix. The menu features lots of dishes in quotation marks, which means, yes, molecular gastronomy— expect items like a “lemon meringue pie”: leg of lamb, honey comb and “meringue custard” and a “peppermint patty”: liquid-nitrogen grilled chocolate mousse, pork tenderloin, mint “jelly.” Oh, I see what you did there, Burnside Brewing. RUTH BROWN. Burnside Brewing Co., 701 E Burnside St. 6:30 pm Monday, Dec. 12. $75. 21+.
C O U R T E S Y O F P I X PÂT I S S E R I E
Brewing up Cocktails—the Portland bar series that explores the beautiful marriage between beer and liquor—will be rearing its frothy head at the Hop & Vine, with a selection of its greatest hits (such as the “hot scotchy,” made with hot, unfermented beer and Scotch), three new recipes and a beer-cocktail punch. There will also be an ugly-Christmas-sweater competition, so break out those old reindeer cardigans from Gran. RUTH BROWN. The Hop & Vine Bottle Shop, 1914 N Killingsworth St., 954-3322. 6-9 pm Saturday, Dec. 10. Drinks individually priced. 21+.
My Voice Music Fundraiser
AMAREN COLOSI
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
SLICE ’N’ DICE: Learn how to open a bottle like this at Pix Pâtisserie.
KNUCKLE DOWN: Manao is a humble strip-mall restaurant with some seriously impressive eats.
SOUL FOOD, THAI STYLE MANAO DITCHES THE PAD THAI AND BRINGS ON THE PORK KNUCKLE.
a braise (kaeng hung lay, $11) to crunchy squares of fried tofu drizzled with a very strong sour/ sweet sauce ($4). There’s garlicky pork ribs and two kinds of chicken wings. Skip the Manao wings BY KELLY CLA R KE 243-2122 (they taste like the puny, less-sticky cousins of Ike’s fish sauce wings) and devour the southern Pok Pok has fish sauce wings; Manao has pig knuck- Thai-style ones (kai tod haad yai, $12), which have les. That’s not to say that Chef Ekkachai “Chew” a peppery fried chickenlike coating and a sweeter, Sakkayasukkalawong ’s quiet new Thai spot in spicy flavor courtesy of brown sugar and oyster Sellwood will grow to inspire the same legion of sauce. There’s a long list of salads as well, from acolytes and spin-off restaurants. It won’t. But green lettuce to green papaya. In fact, one of the Southeast Portlanders ought to be proud to have best things on offer is a bracingly fresh lemonthe former Pok Pok cook’s interesting roster of grass and cabbage salad packed with chunks of squid, shrimp and slices of cold Northern and Southern Thai Order this: Pork knuckle, Southern pork (phlaa saam klur, $12) that dishes in the neighborhood. pops with the flavors of lime, Thai Instead of standards like pad Thai wings, lemongrass salad. deal: A puckery green papaya bird chili, mint and a bright palm Thai, the unassuming strip-mall Best salad is big enough to split ($8). sugar and fish sauce dressing. eatery boasts dishes like kaa I’ll pass: Pad see ew and other In fact, there’s enough tasty, less muu tod ($11), a Northern Thai/ takeout standards. familiar dishes at Manao that you Chinese recipe that slowly stews a porker’s knuckle in a heady spice-spiked broth, can happily skip most of Thai takeout standards. then dunks the whole thing in a deep-fat fryer. That’s good, because they are the dullest things on (They also serve a similar dish at Bangkok native the menu. Although the veggies were crisp, a recent Chew’s former haunt, Ping, but it’ll set you back pad see ew stir fry ($9.50) was a one-note bummer $20.) Chew’s knuckle is a three-layer dynamo of with gummy, soy-dressed noodles. And the tom kha crispy skin and tender meat separated by a half- soup ($8.50), with its standard mix of coconut milk, inch of gelatinous fat so sticky that your fingers will lemongrass and kaffir lime, was thin and bland. Opt for the weirder, spicier stuff and you’ll be adhere to your lips as you try to lick them clean. Think of it as Thai soul food. Tear a chunk of pork rewarded. And order some roti ($1.50) while you’re off the bone and squash it up with the tart mustard at it—Manao is one of the few places in town that greens, pickled eggs and jasmine rice that come serves the thin, crunchy South Asian fry bread. You with the pig; then spoon some porky five-spice jus can get it plain as a side order like sticky rice or eat all over it. And top that off with the housemade it drizzled with chocolate sauce and condensed sour yellow chili sauce that also comes with the milk like a S’mores-esque dessert crêpe. You didn’t really want pad Thai and green curry dish: a thin, hot, vinegary relish that amps up every flavor it comes into contact with. (If Andy Ricker again anyway, did you? can sell his drinking vinegars, Chew should do the EAT: Manao, 7202 SE Milwaukie Ave., 236-0008, same with this condiment.) manaopdx.com. 11:30 am-3 pm and 4:30-9 pm The specials menu includes lots of other funky Monday-Thursday, 11:30 am-3 pm and 4:30-9:30 gems, from sweet pork curry so thick it’s more like pm Friday-Saturday. $. Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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FOOD & DRINK REVIEW C
CINNAMAN
O U R TE
SY O F KE
N’ RT S A
AK N B
E RY
Tasters: Aaron Mesh, Ben Waterhouse, Casey Jarman, Martin Cizmar, Brian Panganiban, Corey Pein, and Nick Johnson. (Audited by Hannah Hoffman.)
ISA
SEVEN DUDES PICK PORTLAND’S BEST CINNAMON ROLL It wasn’t Willamette Week’s intention to limit our taste-off of Portland’s best cinnamon rolls by gender. But by happenstance, only dudes—seven of ’em—came down to the conference room for a blind taste test of the nine rolls we’d sought out one cold Friday morn. So we bro’d out, as bros are wont to do, eating big ol’ rolls of puffy, sugar-sopped dough while (naturally) exchanging vulgar jokes and braggadocio about sexual conquests. A female staffer did question that methodology afterward, positing that women perhaps prefer gooier rolls than men. She was summarily ushered into the conference room to taste from the wreckage, ultimately confirming the dudely findings. All rolls were ordered from the counter as “two cinnamon rolls” within the same two-hour window and served unheated and unlabeled. Consensus was strong—ideas about the platonic ideal of cinnamon rolls are apparently much more consistent than, say, pizza—so we’re pretty comfortable saying that this is how Portland’s best cinnamon rolls stack up.
Comments: “This is the possibly homosexual European cinnamon roll they fear in red states.” “It’s just a tall croissant with cinnamon on it, but it’s delicious.”
3. LA PETITE PROVENCE 4834 SE Division St., provence-portland.com, 233-1121. (Second location at 1824 NE Alberta St., 284-6564.) The rolls: Shiny, dark-brown spirals, somewhat underdone in the center, with a very sweet, translucent icing. Comments: “I like the nuts a lot, and it’s very buttery with a nice flavor.” “It’s kinda raw, it needed to be in the oven for another three minutes.”
4. FAT CITY 1. KEN’S ARTISAN BAKERY 338 NW 21st Ave., kensartisan.com, 248-2202. The rolls: Giant orbs of puffy brioche dough with a mild sweetness and a hint of spice with the warmth of cinnamon. Comments: “That’s obscenely good dough.” “It tastes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch.” “That’s giant, I’d never be able to finish it, but it’s great.”
2. BAKER & SPICE 6330 SW Capitol Highway, bakerandspicebakery.com, 244-7573. The rolls: Baker & Spice’s version is called the Katie Bun and is more like a croissant than a cinnamon roll. Tasters liked this tower of weightless dough with a light dusting of powered sugar, though it’s not a substitute for a great cinnamon roll.
7820 SW Capitol Highway, fatcitycafe. net, 245-5457. The rolls: Large and dense, these came wrapped in tinfoil and felt like a baseball in the palm. The size of the roll necessitates having to bake the outside until it’s pretty dark, which divided tasters. Comments: “This is what I’d expect from a small-town bakery.” “The icing is very sugary. It’s kind of fried on top, too—it’s like a state-fair elephant ear.” “Most elephant ears aren’t so large.”
5. SUGAR MAMAS 539 SW 13th Ave., 224-3323. The rolls: We actually tried three varieties of cinnamon roll from Sugar Mamas, given our recent glowing review [“All In the Family,” WW, Nov. 23, 2011]. All were in the middle of the pack. Mamas is more of a restaurant than a bakery, and these rolls, which are soaked in sugary sauce that pooled in the bottom of their containers, probably would have fared far better fresh
from the oven. Comments: “It’s mushy. There’s no distinction between the frosting and the dough.” “The one is very cinnamon-y—it tastes like Big Red gum—and the other, with bacon, is very smoky and has very little cinnamon.” “It’s just goopy, and there’s way too much sugar.”
6. FLEUR DE LIS BAKERY & CAFE 3930 NE Hancock St., fleurdelisbakery. com, 459-4887. The rolls: Fleur De Lis has a sterling reputation, so tasters were shocked to learn these dense and flavorless rolls came from the Hollywood bakery. Comments: “These are very processed seeming.” “These remind me of Little Debbie— which is not necessarily a criticism, as I have enjoyed several Little Debbie pastries in my life.” “Two words: shelf stable.”
7. SAINT CUPCAKE 1138 SW Morrison St., saintcupcake. com, 473-8760. The rolls: Pale, dry little undercooked biscuits splashed with watery icing. Universally despised by tasters. Comments: “This tastes worse than it looks, and it looks pretty bad.” “Did they use salt instead of sugar?” “This is just jarring. They’re like Popeyes’ biscuits, but gross.” BIGGEST: Ken’s Artisan (by size) and Fat City (by weight). PRETTIEST: Baker & Spice. HOMELIEST: Saint Cupcake. MOISTEST: Sugar Mamas.
Business in the Front...
Restaurant
JUST OPENED!
8115 SE Stark
$10 Off Dinner With This Ad On orders of $30 or more.
Lunch Special $5.95 3445 NE Broadway Portland, OR 97232
503-477-6073 Open 7 Days A Week Sun - Thurs 11 am - 9 pm, Fri - Sat 11 am - 10 pm Happy Hour 3 - 6 pm We deliver for orders of $25 or more.
Party in the Back! Bar
410 SE 81st Ave. Directly behind the Observatory 30
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
FOOD & DRINK N ATA L I E B E H R I N G . C O M
DEVOUR
Music calendar page 43
TIMBER!: Zizzo kicks meatballs.
ZIZZO’S FC The off-the-clock dabblings of pro athletes can get ugly: Michael Jordan’s fiendish gambling, Michael Vick’s gruesome dog-killing, Tiger Woods’ compulsive boning of soft-chinned floozies. Bless his heart, Portland Timbers midfielder Sal Zizzo just wants to sell reasonably priced meatball subs. That simple dream came to fruition last month with the opening of Zizzo’s FC, a ultramarine Italian wagon parked downtown that peddles three sandwiches along with fried calamari, a meaty baked pasta and ruggedly crisp chocolate cannoli. Demand is high: The wait for a Tuesday lunch stretched 30 minutes despite the cook’s obvious efficiency. Lightly toasted hoagie rolls Order this: Salsiccia sandwich ($6). weren’t sturdy enough for I’ll pass: Caprese sandwich ($6). the loads asked of them— sliced meatballs bathed in a zesty sauce, and the caprese’s thick slices of tomato and gummy mozzarella. The caprese’s roll, softened by a squirt of balsamic vinegar, dissolved back into batter. (Turning the vinegar into a syrupy reduction and toasting the bun until crusty would help.) Kudos to Zizzo for drawing people in the colder months. The next cart was empty and renting for the princely sum of $75 a day, so someone like Rooney or Ronaldo could feasibly open Chav’s Chip Shoppe or a Bacalhau à Braz cart without risking bankruptcy. The Timbers Army will find a perfect pass toward an empty net. Less partisan diners might wish to play the field. MARTIN CIZMAR.
Dec. 31, 2011
Your child can have
health benefits
EAT: Cart pod at Southwest 9th Avenue and Alder Street. 11 am-4 pm Monday-Saturday.
DRANK
DON THE YOUNGER (RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING BREWING CO.) Horse Brass proprietor Don Younger was an icon and instigator, deserving much credit for putting Portland toward the top of the American beer scene. Younger passed away in January, just missing the chance to celebrate the 35th anniversary of his legendary Southeast Belmont Street pub. One of his last pet projects was a beer to celebrate that occasion, commissioned from California’s Russian River Brewing. Russian River produces several of the country’s most sought-after brews—Pliny the Elder, Supplication, Blind Pig—and the company not only brewed Horse Brass the sort of hoppy, low-alcohol session beer Younger requested but gave it an epithet echoing the Roman naming convention reserved for its flagship. The brewer’s Santa Rosa pub and Horse Brass are the only places to get a pint of this grassy and very still ale. Younger was rarely spotted without a cigarette; a trace of tobaccolike resin is a fitting quirk. MARTIN CIZMAR.
1-877-314 - 5678
www.OregonHealthyKids.gov No-cost and low- cost health coverage for ALL uninsured Oregon kids and teens under 19.
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
31
m cm enami ns m u s i c
CRYSTAL
THE
M
C
M
E
N
A
M
I
N
S
.
C O
M
836 N RUSSELL • PORTLAND, OR • (503) 282-6810
HOTEL & BALLROOM
The historic
MISSION THEATER
CRYSTAL BALLROOM
1624 N.W. Glisan • Portland 503-223-4527
14th and W. Burnside
80s VIDEO DANCE ATTACK
94/7 ALTERNATIVE PORTLAND PRESENTS
HOWS ALLLSD OUT! SO
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER REMEMBE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 LOLA’S ROOM
12/5 YOUNG THE GIANT 12/6 FOSTER THE PEOPLE 12/7 AWOLNATION 12/8 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE 12/9 PORTUGAL THE MAN 12/10 THE JOY FORMIDABLE
9 PM $5 21+OVER WITH VJ KITTYROX
Sun-soaked Latin-psychedelia from the founders of Grupo Fantasma and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
DINOSAUR JR. SCRATCH ACID
MON DEC 12 21 & OVER LOLA’S ROOM
FRI DEC 16 Henry Rollins interviews Dinosaur Jr. live ALL AGES
KMHD presents
O C OT E S O U L SOUNDS DJ SANTO w/ CHAUNCEY CANFIELD
LIVE STAGE & BIG SCREEN! MCMENAMINS AND OREGON DISTILLERS GUILD PRESENT
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7
SPIRITS
FREE
OF THE
SEASON
sun dec 11 21 & over · lola’s room
nearly new year’s
FLOATER
FREE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 5:30 p.m. is “eagle time” • free
REVERB BROTHERS THE DUST SETTLERS THE OLD YELLERS
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 4:30 p.m. is “eagle time” • free
OPEN MIC/SINGER SONGWRITER SHOWCASE FEATURING PORTLAND’S FINEST TALENT 6:30 P.M. SIGN-UP; 7 P.M. MUSIC· FREE
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12
ROOT JACK HOUNDSTOOTH FREE
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13
w/ NEW YEARS EVE
SMALL SOULS ST. EVEN FREE
sat mar 24 all ages
MUSIC AT 8:30 P.M. MON-THUR 9:30 P.M. FRI & SAT (UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
Corey Glover
SUPERSUCKERS The Suicide Notes
(of Living Colour)
Corey Henry
(of Rebirth Brass Band)
JAI HO!-lola’s 12/11 the dimes-lola’s 1/6 & 7 80s WEEKEND 1/27 beats antique 1/28 MOE. DR. DOG 2/17 big head todd & the monsters 2/24 pdx jazz festival: bill frisell pdx jazz festival: vijay iyer, prasanna & nittin mitta (3 pm) 2/25 pdx jazz festival: charlie hunter (9:30 pm) 3/2 & 3 RAILROAD EARTH 3/15 NEEDTOBREATH 3/22 kaiser chiefs 12/10
DANCEONAIR.COM
AL’S DEn at CRYSTAL
HOTEL
FREE LIVE MUSIC nIghtLy · 7 PM 12/7-10
DJ’S · 10:30 PM 12/8 DJ Anjali & the Incredible Kid 12/9 DJ E3 12/10 Standing 8
12/11-17
DREW GROW
SEAN FLINN
CRYSTAL HOTEL & BALLROOM Ballroom: 1332 W. Burnside · (503) 225-0047 · Hotel: 303 S.W. 12th Ave · (503) 972-2670
ELSEWHERE
12/7
Edgefield Winery
Samantha Crain
As part of Small Batch Tours Edgy indie-folk · 7 p.m.
CASCADE TICKETS 32
12/7
IN
M CM E N A M I N S
Wilsonville Old Church & Pub
· Special Holiday Show ·
Naomi LaViolette Michele Van Kleef Jazzy holiday cheer · 7 p.m.
cascadetickets.com 1-855-CAS-TIXX
outlets: crystal ballroom box office, bagdad theater, edgefield, east 19th st. café (eugene)
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
12/13
Rock Creek Tavern
Open Bluegrass Jam
Banjos, dulcimers, washboards…bring it! · 7 p.m.
Find us on
Friday and Saturday, December 9 & 10
Mortified Portland
Sunday, December 11 & 18
Crafty Underdog
Tuesday, December 13
PDXJazz presents: George Colligan
Friday, December 16
Homegrown Docfest
Saturday, December 17
Santacon Pub Crawl
Saturday, December 17
Miz Kitty’s Parlour
Saturday, December 31
2012 New Year’s Eve w/ Talkdemonic Deelay Ceelay Brainstorm MyPortlandia Party
Thursday, January 19
DOORS 8pm MUSIC 9pm UNLESS NOTED
Come in from the cold for a cocktail at Zeus Café… try The Astor, an elegant affair featuring Ketel One Oranje, Aperol, St. Germain, grapefruit, lemon and orange bitters.
Thursday, December 15
Friday, January 6
2/13
2/25
DAMIAN ERSKINE PROJECT
GABBY HOLT
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11
McMenamins and Monqui present SAT DEC 31 21 & OVER
5:30 p.m. is “eagle time” • free
WILL WEST & TANNER CUNDY
MEXICAN GUNFIGHT RULE OF THE BONE fri dec 30 all ages
An evening with
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8
THE STUDENT LOAN
performing "Bug" in its entirety
Pierced Arrows
PERFECT ZERO
Bookmark this! McMenamins music & events on your mobile
PDXJazz presents: Cyrille Aimée & Diego Figueiredo: “Django To Jobim” Call our movie hotline to find out what’s playing this week!
(503) 249-7474
Event and movie info at mcmenamins.com/mission
DEC. 7-13 Q&A
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
BILLIONS.COM
MUSIC
Prices listed are sometimes for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and socalled convenience charges may apply. Event lineups are subject to change after WW’s press deadlines. Editor: CASEY JARMAN. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, go to wweek.com/ submitevents and follow submission directions. All shows should be submitted two weeks or more in advance of event. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Please include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: cjarman@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7 White Wives, Koji, Lost City, Paper Brain
[GROWN-UP PUNK] White Wives shares two members and a penchant for soaring choruses with pop-punk agitators Anti-Flag, but this Pittsburgh quintet has nearly as much in common, sound-wise, with Conor Oberst when he’s in a rabble-rousing mood. I do wish there was a way to revise this description in such a way that White Wives might become something you’d like to listen to, because this year’s Happeners is actually a frequently exhilarating exercise in anthemic rock music. But alas, it evokes Anti-Flag taking a stab at Saddle Creek’s bread and butter. Which, surprisingly, really works for me. CHRIS STAMM. Rotture, 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. 9:30 pm. $8. 21+.
Reva Devito, Mario and Malice Sweet, TROX
[MONOGAMOUS R&B] Say, that’s pretty cute. Malice and Mario Sweet, whom you may recognize as background singers with excellent Seattle hip-hop outfit the Physics, made themselves a nice little EP of personal, passionate and kinda banging neo-soul to celebrate their second wedding anniversary. Maybe the duo meant to keep their Happy 2 Year EP low-key, but international interest—including spins on a BBC radio Amy Winehouse tribute—has encouraged Malice & Mario to go a bit more public. Tonight they play with Portland soul diva Reva DeVito, which means steamy, romantic bumpand-grind music all around. Valentine’s Day in December!. CASEY JARMAN. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
THURSDAY, DEC. 8 Death Cab for Cutie, Telekinisis
See profile, this page. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.
Cass McCombs Band, White Magic, Michael Hurley
[MIGRATORY MINSTREL] The songs on Cass McCombs’ last record, this April’s Wit’s End, didn’t so much play out as unfurl: They were quiet and unhurried as a spring bloom and, in typical McCombs fashion, bleak as a winter frost. It seems appropriate that the
itinerant troubadour has released his newest disc, Humor Risk, in the same calendar year, because together the two albums form a study in contrasts. Where Wit’s End’s tempo was glacial, Humor Risk often approaches headnod-ability, while retaining McCombs’ equanimous baritone and bull’s-eye songcraft. Last time McCombs played Portland, his backing band imbued Wit’s End’s sparse compositions with a regrettable easy-listening vibe; the material from Humor Risk should lend itself much better to a full band. JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $12 advance, $13 day of show. 21+.
Other Lives, JBM
[BEASTLY & BEAUTIFUL] It has been quite a year for Oklahoma’s Other Lives. The bone-chillingly stirring and classically stationed band not only spat out a record-of-the-year candidate in Tamer Animals, but opened for Bon Iver and booked upcoming winter dates with an obscure but great little band called Radiohead. Not bad for a group that started as a Portishead- and Sigur Rós-obsessed instrumental group called Kunek in 2003. The second coming arrived in 2004 as Other Lives, earning its keep through swelling melodies, decadent orchestral backing and gluey, cinematic sounds that could be scores for midcentury Westerns. The quintet hasn’t recorded nearly enough material yet, but this kind of musical intellect takes time. MARK STOCK. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 2883895. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
FRIDAY, DEC. 9 Cool Nutz with DJ Fatboy, Vursatyl (of Lifesavas), TxE, Serge Severe, Steveo and Triple SB, DJ Wicked
[HOMEGROWN-HOP] While it may not live up to its audacious title—”The Greatest Rap Show Ever”—this concert is a showcase of some of Portland’s most talented hip-hop MCs and DJs from past and present. First, there’s Cool Nutz, who, when not tour-managing controversial white rapstress Kreayshawn (can you say random?), is out promoting one of his finest projects to date, The Cook Up. Up-andcomers TxE represent the city’s young hip-hop generation, which isn’t afraid to mix soul samples with a more synth-based sound. Vursatyl, whose pioneering group Lifesavas has been
TOP FIVE
CONT. on page 35
BY C AS E Y JA R MA N
RECENTLY FUNDED KICKSTARTER MUSIC PROJECTS. Dr. Maddvibe, The Angelo Show (102 percent funded) Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore’s new album “is not meant to be just a band playing songs, it’s like a carnival.” Ethan Rose, Reflection (106 percent funded) Portland sound artist Ethan Rose’s next show involves a lot of bells. Goddamn bells aren’t cheap, son! Heaven Adores You (104 percent funded) From the folks responsible: “An ‘experimental film’ that explores the impact behind the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith.” Nataly Dawn’s solo debut (523 percent funded) The girl from Pomplamoose with the creepy stare has lots of creepy fans. Two of them paid $3,000 each for private house shows. Five Iron Frenzy’s new album (540 percent funded) Christian ska is not dead.
Q&A: CHRIS WALLA THE DEATH CABBIE TALKS BOWIE, TWITTER AND MUSHY MUSIC. BY CASEY JA R MA N
cjarman@wweek.com
It’s kind of amazing what Death Cab for Cutie—a band often dismissed as kids’ stuff or the mushy embodiment of all things “emo”—gets away with. This year’s Codes and Keys is an ambitious, dark and futuristic effort that culminates in a six-minute atheist anthem. If it’s kids’ stuff, the kids are more complicated than we tend to give them credit for. While frontman Ben Gibbard is responsible for much of the band’s appeal—his high word count and turns of phrase have been widely praised, hated-on and imitated—it’s his bandmate Chris Walla who gives Death Cab its forward-looking, layered sound. Walla has produced every Death Cab record, and his aesthetic can run refreshingly obscure (Codes was inspired, in part, by the spacey krautrock of Ash Ra Tempel) for a guy whose productions have spent so much time hovering toward the top of the Billboard charts. WW talked to Walla, who returned to his native Seattle in 2010 after a four-year stint living in Portland, via phone. WW: Why did you move back to Seattle? Chris Walla: There was some family stuff happening. Long story, but everything is OK. I’m trying to plot my return to Portland, because I miss it a lot. What makes it so different from Seattle? Oh my God, where do I start? Portland’s a town where I don’t mind paying my taxes, because I understand that whatever is going to happen at a civic level is probably going to be cool and going to make the city better in some way or another. Seattle just doesn’t seem to have any capacity to solve any of its myriad problems. It’s my hometown. It’s a beautiful place, it’s full of people I love, but it’s just not nearly as livable a city as Portland is. What inspired you in producing this album? I got way into the Bowie/Visconti records, the three records that happened between ’77 and ’79, Low, Lodger and Heroes. The delivery and shape of those songs is kind of unlike anything anybody else has ever done. They’re not his most successful
records and they’re not his most accessible records, but they’re really, really cool. Has being on a major label ever hindered you? There has never been a problem with any sort of creative interference. I think in the seven years since we signed to Atlantic, they have figured it out. They’re the only major label that’s in the black, and I think they’ve been able to do that, in part, by meeting bands where they’re at. They have largely left us alone. Has Death Cab’s “emo” rep finally faded? I think it has faded, and I think the mushier rockand-roll has gotten pretty popular. We’re not as soft as Bon Iver, and I think we’re sort of on the rockand-roll side of what the Fleet Foxes are doing. There has been a real movement toward opening up and letting it all out in the last four or five years—thankfully! It’s a pretty big, muscly, footbally kind of world. So I say bring on the mush. So you’re on less of an island these days? Yeah, for sure. I think we were one of the first bands of our peers, our little era or whatever, to make the leap to a major label. It was weird. A lot of people were really excited and a lot of people were really mad. [But] we’re still writing songs that we like and making music that we like. How do you feel about your first two records? I love the first couple records! I mean, I don’t put them on to do the dishes or whatever, but I revisit them fairly often. There’s this kind of weird panic about those records that I just love. You don’t get that back at any point. It always dismays me when bands try to go home again. Why are you not on Twitter anymore? I deleted every single one of my 4,400 tweets, tweet by tweet. I needed to take a break. I was just getting mad a lot. I was getting caught up in Internet fights. And it was sort of fueling my terrible feelings about anything political that was happening. My blood was boiling and I needed to turn it down. I’m ultimately a happier person right now. But perhaps I will come back to it. SEE IT: Death Cab for Cutie plays the Crystal Ballroom on Thursday, Dec. 8, with Telekinesis. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages. Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
33
MUSIC S COT T S PYC H A L S K I
PROFILE
THE DANDY WARHOLS DEC. 9-11 [HOLIDAY PSYCH ROCK] In the 17 years since the Dandy Warhols first recorded their weirdly definitive rendition of “Little Drummer Boy,” the Portland icons—our most continuously successful act, even as their hits proved too catchily marketable and their public personae too cheekily debauched for Puddletown tastemakers’ easy embrace— somehow fell into the habit of ever-blossoming Christmastime concerts. Now a Dandys holiday show is every bit as beloved a yuletide tradition as the Cinnamon Bear and (more than one could have ever imagined a decade past), nearly as family friendly. Following in the footsteps of 2009’s weekend-spanning Roman holiday spectacular (limoncello, gelato, well-tailored menswear), the band has touted its upcoming Friday and Saturday shows at the Star Theater by obliquely referencing Bavaria, but most of the attention has been focused on Sunday’s G-rated matinee at Doug Fir. “The Dandies are all family people now, it’s true,” says keyboardist Zia McCabe, herself the mother of a 7-year-old girl. “I mean, for us, before, we were thinking that all ages meant the 16-year-olds to the 20-and-a-half-year-olds, and now we’re including the 3-year-olds. Grownups tend to just stand and watch, so, hopefully, for the kids’ show, we’ll be a little more animated.” Seems odd to think about the Dandys playing before a shuttered bar, but, since their 30-and-over performance at legendary rock club Satyricon last fall, the Multnomah County natives have played a few high-profile sorta-venues technically absent liquor licenses—including a festival gig at Enchanted Forest. “We definitely kinda just take the fun shows, you know, all of the oddball stuff,” says frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor. “Though just packing out the Crystal [Ballroom] last Christmas, that’s pretty much the single greatest musical experience I’ve ever had in my life. Sometimes you get the mix right, everyone’s in the right headspace, every piece of music comes at the right time, falls into place naturally, creates its own energy, and it’s just perfectness for two hours. We’ve been playing together for so long—we turn 18 in January...it’s different every time.” For a band nudging the age of consent (and one rarely picked to mature gracefully, much less serve as elder statesmen), the members are remarkably active. McCabe’s country project Brush Prairie recently released a debut EP, guitarist Peter Holmstrom leads local combo Pete International Airport, drummer Brent DeBoer braves the commute to front Australian roots troupe Immigrant Union, and after co-writing the well-received graphic novel One Model Nation, Taylor-Taylor’s busy with the animatic potential. In the meantime, the Dandys also managed to nearly finish recording ninth album This Machine, which should be released in February...somewhere other than the band’s own Beat the World label. “You know, we’re really good at helping out our friends,” says Taylor-Taylor. “But as far as being a label-label, I guess we’re just not those kind of people.” They’ll tour after the new album’s 2012 release, of course, perhaps summering around the French countryside. The following year’s calendar, though, remains intriguingly open. Is there anywhere locally the Dandy Warhols haven’t played? “You know, we’ve never done a show on the Sternwheeler,” says McCabe. “Would a whole band fit in the pod that goes up to OHSU?” JAY HORTON.
The Dandy Warhols are for the children.
SEE IT: The Dandy Warhols play the Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9-10. 9 pm. $15 advance, $20 day of show. 21+. They play Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., on Sunday, Dec. 11. 5 pm. $15. All ages. 34
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
FRIDAY
MUSIC
friendly. sounds great. best burger. independent. musician-owned /operated
SUPERUCKUS ‘11: HILARIOUS TRUE STORIES/ A BENEFIT TO DEFEAT MS THU
featuring
DEC
8 SEXYNURD
$20-$25
7PM
STEELHYMEN SAT
DEC
10
with
DEER OR THE DOE and GALLONS
$5 ADV
SUN
greatly missed in recent years, will add some funky positivism to the mix. And then there’s DJ Wicked, the original Stumptown scratcher, running the show on the ones and twos. These are our guys— the hometown heroes of hiphop. REED JACKSON. Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash St., 226-0430. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Buck and Bounce 7: Sissy Nobby, Beyondadoubt, Brice Nice
[BOUNCE] Portland’s whirlwind love affair with sissy bounce queen Big Freedia has been well-documented (see Into the Woods’ video of Freedia bouncing along with the strippers at Sassy’s), so will the Rose City explode in passion or jealousy when another of the fringe Southern dance music’s guiding lights hits Holocene? Sissy Nobby makes mile-a-minute bounce music that sounds like early 2 Live Crew thrown in a blender with diva house, lowbudget dance-hall reggae, Atari Teenage Riot and the Cash Money Records roster circa 1993. With its overtly sexual, post-gender lyrics and its entirely breathless pace, this is the shit that drives parents completely insane. It should also drive Portland to some crazed, uninhibited dancing—a rare sight, indeed. CASEY JARMAN. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Portugal. The Man, Nurses
[ROCK] Portland’s own Portugal. The Man doesn’t get enough credit. This is a band that has made a smooth, respectable transition from scrappy underground rock band to one of America’s premier psychedelic pop groups. In the production department, this year’s adventurous major-label debut, In the Mountain in the Cloud, sounds alternately like something Bowie, Paul Simon or Prince might have dreamt up. Yeah, there are a few overly saccharine moments (the Oasis-esque “You Carried Us” tries a tad too hard), but songs like “Head is a Flame” and “Sleep Forever” are legitimately epic, soulful pop singles that deserve monster-hit status. Aging gracefully while garnering a massive national audience is no easy task, but Portugal. The Man has done it. If the group can wean just one teenager off the manufactured heartthrob screamo that lines the pages of Alternative Press, it will have, in my opinion, done its job. CASEY JARMAN. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.
Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, Cyclotron, Still Caves
[DIRTY GARAGE] If Ty Segall’s woozy and relatively mellow Goodbye Bread had you spacing on his knack for Reatard-ed raunch, let Segall’s brand-new three-song slab on Drag City be a reminder: This San Francisco garage dude knows from filth. A-side single “Spiders” opens with 30 seconds of disquieting cacophony before abruptly cutting to a malevolent dirge suffocated by distortion and hiss. At the two-minute
mark, Segall bends himself over a sickening riff that Royal Trux, long sundered though it may be, would still kill for. Segall is playing solo tonight, but here’s hoping he’s bringing the noise. CHRIS STAMM. East End, 203 SE Grand Ave., 2320056. 9 pm. $11. 21+.
Nucular Aminals, The Reservations, Hey Lover, Your Canvas
[WEIRD POP] Oddball Portland quartet Nucular Animals has effectively honed a unique hybrid of tastes: In its songs, kinetically poppy post-grunge meets spooky Ray Manzarek-style synths, thudding nutso bass and a touch of boogie-woogie glee. The result, on the band’s self-titled September debut, plays like Seattle Lovecraftian group the Intelligence teamed with the Rentals to provide the soundtrack for a haunted carousel, with singer Robert Comitz playing the carnie at the controls. If that sounds weird, well, it is. But it’s also a riotous trip through the darkness, prodded along by catchy and playfully poppy melodies that make the ride worth taking. AP KRYZA. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. Free. 21+.
Danava, Rabbits, Lesbian, Diesto
See album review, page 41. Plan B, 1305 SE 8th Ave., 230-9020. 8 pm. $8. 21+.
DEC
IAN KARMEL
7PM
ticket link: theliberators.eventbrite.com
DOORS AT
DEC
12 WED
DEC
14
The Dandy Warhols, Hawkeye
See profile, page 34. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave. 9 pm. $15 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.
SATURDAY, DEC. 10 Onry Ozzborn, Dck Vnngt, Hives Inquiry Squad, Abadawn, 835, Might Misc.
[OCCUPY HIP-HOP] If you’re looking for local MCs who embody
CONT. on page 36
OTHER LIVES
BAND
SONS OF HUNS +HELLO ELECTRIC
WED DEC 7th MON
Orchestral rock sound steeped in romanticisim and nostalgia, a gorgeous soundscape that draws on historical inspiration, and the wealth of sorrow and survival that surrounds it
THE ENTRANCE
6PM
BOURBON and BINGO
FREE 8PM
SUN ANGLE with PIGEONS
$6
+JBM THUR DEC 8th
$12 Adv
upcoming shows
SATURDAY DEC 17TH
IN THE DETENTION HALL featuring COOKY PARKER and DDDJJJ666 9PM, $5
SUNDAY DEC 18TH
$10 Adv
An artist who plays notably intimate live shows, Niblett’s music is minimal and accompanied by drums or guitar, sometimes gentle, sometimes thrashing. The New York Times has called her a fierce singer-songwriter, and we could not agree more
A quartet of up-and-coming Portland favorites who show us just why this city is so musically prodigious
NUCULAR
AMINALS
SCOUT
NIBLETT PICASTRO +HOOKERS
THE RESERVATIONS HEY LOVER +YOUR CANVAS
FRI DEC 9th
SAT DEC 10th
FREE
$12 Adv
Instrumental space rock of epic proportions
HEART OF CRAFT Holiday Show, 3pm
Progressive heavy metal from San Francisco favorites, performing songs from their muchlauded recent release, “17th Street”
$2 Domestics $2.50 Micros
ALL DaY! Sun-Thur
Montgomery Gentry, Sunny Sweeney, Steel Magnolia, Melody Guy
[AMERICAN FOOLS] Eddie Montgomery’s last year played out like, well, a country song: He was dropped by Columbia, diagnosed with prostate cancer and served divorce papers by his wife of 20 years at his own steakhouse. In the end, it’s probably fortunate that Montgomery and partner Troy Gentry aren’t exactly what you’d call introspective. The Kentucky duo’s recently released seventh album, Rebels on the Run (the group’s first record for Southern hip-hop imprint Average Joe’s Entertainment), never veers from its slightly twang-ified ’80s MOR blueprint of cougar bait, primary-colors balladry and passingly defensive reminders of just where they’re from—small towns, perhaps, but no pink houses to speak of. JAY HORTON. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 224-2038. 7:30 pm. $15-$40. All ages.
“The Entrance Band’s new music is the most alluring and, yes, entrancing vibe I’ve yet to experience in this new age. A soundtrack for the new groove.” - Thurston Moore
9PM
with guest
11
all shows 21+ 8pm doors 9pm show (except where noted)
$5DOS
THE LIBERATORS HAIR IN THE DARK: Ganglians play Holocene on Wednesday.
503.288.3895 info@mississippistudios.com 3939 N. Mississippi
10 Flat Screen TVs
ALL GAMES!
Entertainment
Ron Steen
HAMMERS of MISFORTUNE
8pm - 11pm all ages no cover
BLACK PUSSY
WED DEC 14th
CHRISTIAN MISTRESS +SPELLCASTER
SUN DEC 11th
Allen Stone returns with his disarming and charming brand of soul, fresh from a wowza show on Conan O’Brien
ALLEN STONE
FEDERALE THE SOFT WHITE SIXTIES +BRUSH PRAIRIE
FRI DEC 16th
+REVA DEVITO
5515 SW Canyon Court 503-297-5568 www.sylvansteakhouse.com
$5 Adv
Our monthly dance party
THUR DEC 15th
MRS. with DJ BEYONDA 10pm - 2am
$10 Adv
Sweet ‘n Local presents the My Voice Music Holiday Give!Stravaganza
SAT DEC 17th
$5 DOS
The legendary gospel group, and winner of four Grammy Awards, visit us for a unique, and illustrious, one of a kind showcase
ELECTRIC OPERA COMPANY
+MY VOICE MUSIC STUDENTS All Ages!
SAT DEC 17th TUESDAYS
Go Tell It On The Mountain: The BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA Christmas Show
2pm - 6pm
$10 Adv
QUIZZY
WED DEC 21st
$40 Adv
6:30-8:30 FREE - PRIZES! at Bar Bar w/ Quizmaster ROY SMALLWOOD
Coming Soon: A not-to-miss roof-razing New Year’s Eve spectacular quadruple line-up
NURSES RADIATION CITY WILD ONES DJ BEYONDA Great food, Spirits, Sports, and Music
+FROGBURD $5 Adv
Federale grace the stage as a cast of characters, able to make us relive the Hollywood glory of the Old West with their bullet-packed performances
$10 Adv
Jam Session
Every Monday
EMPTY SPACE ORCHESTRA
$15 Adv
SAT DEC 31st
Also: 12/18 - BRANDI CARLILE *SOLD OUT* 12/22 - QUEERLANDIA 12/23 - SCREENING OF “HOME ALONE & “HOME ALONE 2” 12/29 - STAR ANNA & THE LAUGHING DOGS 12/30 - JERRY JOSEPH & THE JACKMORMONS 1/6 - ADAM SWEENEY & THE JAMBOREE
www.mississippistudios.com Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
35
MUSIC
SATURDAY
the populist frustration recently found in your local parks, streets and mega-banks, why not pay Dck Vnngt a visit? The local duo’s new EP, Mrdr Dth Kll (these guys hate vowels almost as much as they hate the man), features furious lyrical explosions over crunchy, apocalyptic video-game beats. The subject matter? Here’s a quick sample: “Mix and match tyrants/ Who’s the bigger G/ Killing to be free/ Willing to believe/ That cyclical news feed/ Oh, what a web weave/ Black ops, private stock, sleeper cell, poison crops.” So, yeah, MCs Bloodmoney and Sloth write lyrics that sound like a one-sided conversation with your crazy conspiracy-theorist uncle. But the beats are thrilling and paranoia is a growth industry. CASEY JARMAN. Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash St., 226-0430. 9:30 pm. $5. 21+.
PLAYLIST
Papercuts, Tim Cohen’s Magic Trick, Sarah Gwen Peters
[DREAM POP] I don’t envy Papercuts’ sound tech. The magic of sole member Jason Quever’s ethereal vocals are the way his voice seems to melt into the organs and gently plucked guitar strings that layer above mallet-heavy beats on most of the band’s dreamy folk songs. Getting those levels perfect every night must be a bitch. Papercuts’ latest disc, Fading Parade (its first for Sub Pop), might offer some respite—Quever pushes his voice further on tracks like upbeat opener “Do You Really Wanna Know” and the ever-so-slightly country-tinged “The World I Love,” but then pulls it right back for gorgeous, husky lead single “Do What You Will” and the Shins-meets-the Zombies psych of “White Are the Waves.” Someone at Bunk Bar better buy that poor tech a beer. RUTH BROWN. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 894-9708. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
The Joy Formidable, Grouplove, Yours
[DIRTY DREAM POP] I got the opportunity to watch the Joy Formidable perform from a bar balcony in Philly last year while the group toured with New York’s the Dig. Although I didn’t come to see the loud, dirty pop outfit, I couldn’t ignore its skillful performance or crunchy, garagelike sound on stage. The trio combines heavy, chunkedout percussion with Ritzy Bryan’s warm, roaring vocals (equal parts Karen O and Gwen Stefani in the latter’s bindi phase). The Londoners released their first full-length, The Big Roar, in early January 2011. Songs like “Austere” are tight with rigidly patterned drums and vocals while others like “The Magnifying Glass” are chaotic, teeming with metal and punk-rock undertones. NIKKI VOLPICELLI. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.
Lost Lander, Radiation City, Bright Archer
[ANTICIPATORY POP] Since arriving in Portland in 1999, Matt Sheehy has been slowly turning up the heat of our expectations. It started with the simmer of his former band, Gravity & Henry, and continued with the still-enrapturing solo album Tigerphobia. Now we have reached a rolling boil with his new project, Lost Lander. The project finds Sheehy—alongside producer Brent Knopf (ex-Menomena)—massaging Beach Boys-style harmonics into an undercurrent of downtempostyle beats. At least that’s what his dazzling live shows have given us. We’re still waiting for the takehome version. On his website, he says, “Debut album coming soon.” Not soon enough, Matt, not nearly soon enough. ROBERT HAM. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 2319663. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Clorox Girls, Welcome Home Walker, Eegos, Chemicals, Diskords
See Primer, page 39. East End, 203 SE Grand Ave., 232-0056. 9 pm. $9. 21+.
CONT. on page 38 36
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
I’VE GOT A HOLE IN MY SOUL THURSDAY, DEC. 8 [SOUL ON WAX] Growing up in a predominantly black area of Memphis, Tenn., Casey Minatrea was born with soul music practically coded into her DNA. Needless to say, moving to Portland in 2003 was a bit of a culture shock. “No one danced,” she says. So when she began spinning obscure soul and R&B records once a month at Rotture five years ago under the name Beyondadoubt, there was little indication the night would become a hit. “I thought me and my 70 friends from North Portland would be the only ones there,” she says. “Then it got bigger and bigger.” On Thursday, Dec. 8, the popular I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul monthly celebrates its fifth anniversary, expanding to two floors and welcoming three guest DJs (WFMU’s Mr. Fine Wine; MakeUp frontman Ian Svenonius; and Jonathan Toubin, host of the New York-based roving dance party Soul Clap and Dance-Off ). Willamette Week asked Minatrea, 32, about some of her favorite 45s to drop on audiences over the last five years. MATTHEW SINGER. Portland’s premier soul night hits the five-year mark. Its star DJ hits us with some singles.
“I’m Not Your Regular Woman,” Lucille Mathis “Social commentary-wise, it’s a mind-blowing song. It’s about this woman, and I can’t tell if she’s the man’s maid or if she just has that role because she’s the woman, but she’s like, ‘I’m not your regular woman/ You just keep me to do your day work/ I’m just a little girl who loves you/ Employed to do your day work.’ I always think of it as a theme song, because I’m not like a regular woman at all.” “You Don’t Care,” Leon Gardner “It has this haunting R&B quality. I remember when I met [WFMU DJ] Mr. Fine Wine, he asked me, ‘What’s your favorite song?’ I told him that one, and he was like, ‘Do you pitch it up at all when you play it?’ And I was like, ‘No, I play it at this speed.’ You lose some people when you drop the tempo, but whatever. Maybe they need a break, or to get a drink.” “The Get It,” Bo Dud and Johnny Twist “It’s one of those songs one of my friends in Memphis turned me on to. They’ll do a soul night in Memphis, and no one will go, but there will be some old guy who’ll sit in the back and listen all night. When my friend gave the record to me, he said a guy came up and thanked him, because he played on it. That’s another thing being from a town that has roots in that music: You’re playing for the people who made the music over 40 years ago.” “Can You Win,” Charlene and the Soul Serenaders “I put it on every mix I’ve made for the past two years. Some of my friends in Memphis are serious record guys, and they went to her house. She gave them two of the private press ones and three of the ones from Volt. Those are the guys who I wanted to impress when I started the soul night. I want Memphis to be proud of me. Everything I do has to live up to the standard of where I’m from.” SEE IT: I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul is 9 pm Thursday, Dec. 8, at Rotture and Branx, 315 SE 3rd Ave. $5.
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
37
SATURDAY M A X I M E FA U C O N N I E R
MUSIC 13 topless bartenders & 80 dancers each week! Open Every Day 11am to 2:30am
TWIN SISTER: Scout Niblett plays Mississippi Studios on Saturday.
www.CasaDiablo.com (503) 222-6600 • 2839 NW St. Helens Rd
Billy Martin and Wil Blades Duo with Skerik
Food & Drink pg. 29
[FUNKY JAZZ] Drummer Billy Martin has spent the past 20 years pounding out a highly experimental blend of cosmic jazz, funk and rock as the backbone of Medeski, Martin & Wood: a trio as synonymous with large-scale outdoor festivals as nitrous tanks. Now the hippie demigod, usually a speck on a stage seen across a crowd of thousands, takes to the Goodfoot with dapper San Francisco Hammond organ master Wil Blades, himself an underground avant superhero. With Seattle sax legend Skerik joining the duo for the second set, this is a rare opportunity to see Martin rip skins in the genre’s native habitat: a crowded, dark, underground basement. AP KRYZA. Goodfoot Lounge, 2845 SE Stark St., 503239-9292. 9 pm. $15. 21+.
Scout Niblett, Picastro, Hookers
[FOLKY PROTO-GRUNGE] Scout Niblett’s 2010 LP, The Calcination of Scout Niblett, is one spooky, phantasmagoric piece of work. Niblett has always been fond of the darker end of the thematic spectrum, but Calcination proves especially stygian. You have to be OK with a certain amount of emotional discomfort, but if you’re willing to venture into those waters, the disc reveals itself to be a wonderful, complicated collection of songs. The LP’s spare instrumentation sounds like it came from a Nirvana album stripped for parts and left to fend for itself in the cold. I guess you could call Scout Niblett’s music “folk,” but she has certainly eked out her own corner of that sizable genre. SHANE DANAHER. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
Borgore
[DUBSEX] Well, at least he’s selfaware. Asaf Borger, the 24-yearold Israeli DJ who produces under the nom de electronica Borgore, titled a pair of 2010 EPs Borgore Ruined Dubstep, an opinion probably shared by the genre’s gatekeepers. While fellow dubstep antichrists Skrillex and Rusko have, in the view of purists, poisoned the idiom with bludgeoning buzzsaw bass and pop-crossover goofery, Borger’s shtick is more willfully obnoxious. First of all, his dripping-glop logo looks like it was ripped from a Garbage Pail Kids trading card. Then, his songs have names like “Nympho,” “Glory Hole” and “Act Like a Ho,” and his production is often so crude it’s like he just learned how to make beats yesterday. Of course, none of that has stopped him from catching on among the growing number of kids who love metalcore and dubstep in equal measures, which should help make Borgore even more of a villain in the bass music world. MATTHEW SINGER. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 224-2038. 9 pm. $20. All ages.
38
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
The Dandy Warhols, 1776
See profile, page 34 Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave. 9 pm. $15 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.
Doodlebug (of Digable Planets) with DJ Alex J, DJ Zimmie, Love Loungers
[HIP-HOP VETERAN] Until Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler emerged from the darkness with jaw-dropping Seattle avant hip-hop act Shabazz Palaces last year, most hip-hop fans didn’t lose a lot of sleep wondering where the members of Digable Planets had wound up. Now that Pandora’s box has been opened—and rumors of a full Digable Planets reunion in 2012 have begun to surface—we’re a bit curious about the state of the group’s other two members. Here’s one now! Until recently, Doodlebug had been the hardest member of the well-loved, jazzy hip-hop outfit to track down. That changed with this year’s Futuristic Sci-Fi, a lessthan-thrilling collection of new Bug tunes with nu-soul-tinged production. There’s a compelling grownup honesty to Doodlebug’s writing, but for something tagged with “Digable Planets Presents,” there’s not much else here to rekindle the fire: Bug’s formerly smooth flow sounds unpolished and his knack for stylish slang has diminished considerably. What’s left is a pretty ho-hum rap record—with no jazz. CASEY JARMAN. The Crown Room, 205 NW 4th Ave., 503-2226655. 9:30 pm. $5. 21+.
Steelhymen, Deer or the Doe, Gallons
[FUZZBOMBS] Though I am unexplainably, deeply and profoundly distressed by Steelhymen’s name, I am in full support of the Portland quartet’s mathy, highly distorted rock jams. The group’s self-titled EP, produced by the amazing multi-instrumentalist and singersongwriter Lauren K. Newman (or LKN), is just the kind of punk-leaning, ballsy rock release this city used to count among its primary exports—shouted vocals, d-tuned guitars, occasional bolts of melody jutting out from the depressed riffage—and it feels like an old friend now. Steelhymen will share a stage with Deer or the Doe (which appears on WW’s fifth annual holiday compilation, Another Gray Christmas 5) and Gallons, an alternatingly groovy and punky quartet that features some familiar faces from the local rock scene. CASEY JARMAN. The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie Ave., 890-0408. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
Red Fang, Brian Posehn, Ron Funches, Ian Karmel
[FUNNY METAL] Everyone in Portland—not just the metal crowd—should be aware of Red Fang by now. With this year’s Murder the Mountains, the band delivered a monstrously pulverizing record with elephantine riffage, but the record’s crunch came with a melodic sensibility that appeals to a wide swath of music fans. While Red Fang should absolutely
SATURDAY-SUNDAY be experienced live for anyone who hasn’t done so yet, the true draw for this gig is the opening comedy lineup, featuring perhaps the country’s funniest metalhead, Brian Posehn, along with Ron Funches and Ian Karmel, easily the most hilarious stand-ups in Portland. Laughter and headbanging—is there a better combination? MATTHEW SINGER. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 2848686. 8 pm. $12 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.
SUNDAY, DEC. 11 Sean Flinn
[JINGLE JANGLE] A pedestal for solo talent, Al’s Den in the basement of the Crystal Hotel has provided weeklong residencies for artists like Jared Mees, Robert Ellis and, now, Portland songwriter Sean Flinn. Known for his fetching jangle-pop guitar work for Nick Jaina and for helming the Royal We, Flinn takes the stage on quieter, more personal terms tonight. Fitting enough, since latest release Write Me a Novel’s primary strength lies in Flinn ‘s own rich and riveting vocals. Fans of M. Ward will take kindly to Flinn’s heavy bag of tricks, not the least of which is his ability to melt a guitar with prancing folk riffs. MARK STOCK. Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel, 303 SW 12th Ave., 972-2670. 7 pm. Free. Flinn’s residence runs through Saturday, Dec. 17. 21+.
The Grouch, Zion I, Eligh, Evidence, DJ Fresh
CLOROXGIRLS.COM
[EXPERIMENTAL HIP-HOP] Zion I and the Grouch go together like peanut butter and jelly. Zumbi (Zion I’s rapping half) and the Grouch spit the same kind of subject matter: spiritual social commentary from a street-ish perspective. Amp Live (Zion I’s producing half) and the Grouch make the same kind of beats: intricate
MUSIC
fusions of electronica, hip-hop and hyphy capable of making you “go dumb” in your spaceship. So naturally the two decided to make some albums together—2006’s Heroes of the City of Dope and last March’s Heroes in the Healing of the Nation—that successfully combined their like-minded talents. Zumbi and the Grouch are both passionate live performers, and Amp Live usually leads a live a band, so these artists’ shows can be just as stimulating as their records. Throw in beloved underground veteran MC Evidence, who would usually headline a Portland stop, and this show becomes very much worth the price of admission. REED JACKSON. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 8 pm. $18 advance, $22 day of show. All ages.
The Dandy Warhols (5:30 pm)
MAKE IT A NIGHT Present that night’s show ticket and get $3 off any menu item Sun - Thur in the dining room
Dec 8th, 9th & 10th
CHRISTMAS
a Beatles Tribute & Holiday Circus Spectacular with
PRIMER
BY M ATTH E W S IN GER
THE CLOROX GIRLS Formed: 2003 in Oakland, Calif. Sounds like: Simple, timeless, tuneful punk, with a mischievous undercurrent. For fans of: The Buzzcocks, the Boys, the Nerves, Exploding Hearts. Latest release: 2007’s J’Aime Les Filles, the band’s debut for seminal L.A. label BYO Records, on which the Girls refined and perfected their snarling, good-humored pop punk…and then disappeared. Why you care: In the mid-aughts, the Clorox Girls were Portland’s great punk hope. One year after a van accident tragically snuffed the promise of the dearly missed Exploding Hearts in 2003, the band—made up of three transplants from Northern California, all decidedly male—released its self-titled full-length and instantly renewed the city’s faith in hooky, three-chord, smash-and-grab punk rock. Although the group met in classic punk fashion (crashing together in an Oakland squat), singerguitarist Justin Maurer had no interest in the nihilism of the crusty guttersnipes around him, preferring the catchy, effusive energy of the Buzzcocks and Redd Kross. Relocating to the Rose City, the Girls earned a reputation as a fun and furious live act. After three albums and a tour that took the trio around the world, the group seemed poised for a breakthrough. Instead, it just faded away. Deep in debt, Maurer moved to Europe for three years, then back to California. In 2010, however, things started to rumble again. Maurer reconnected with drummer Richie Cardenas and recorded a new 7-inch. Now the original Clorox Girls lineup—Maurer, bassist Colin Grigson and drummer Clay Silva—is getting back together, proving sometimes even punks can go home again. SEE IT: The Clorox Girls play East End on Saturday, Dec. 10, with Welcome Home Walker, Eegos and more. 9 pm. $9. 21+.
AN EVENING OF HIGH ENERGY ALT-ROCK
& THE SIXERS
WANDERLUST CIRCUS & THE NOWHERE BAND Thursday, Dec 15th
A CELTIC
CHRISTMAS with
MOLLY’S REVENGE & CHRISTA BURCH Friday, Dec 16th an evening with
HOLCOMBE WALLER with special guests Ritchie Young, Alina Hardin & members of Menomena
Saturday, Dec 17th
LIVE WIRE
musical guest The Lonely Forest Sunday, Dec 18th
+JON McLAUGHLIN
Wednesday, Dec 21st
SHED CULTURE LIVE!
CASS MCCOMBS BAND
EARLY SHOW DOORS AT 7:30PM SHOW AT 8:00PM
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 7 • $16 ADVANCE SWIRLING JAZZ-ROCK FROM GARAGE-A-TROIS ORGANIST
FRIDAY!
MARCO
WHITE MAGIC +MICHAEL HURLEY
THURSDAY DECEMBER 8 • $12 ADVANCE SELF GROUP & DOUG FIR LOUNGE PRESENT
LOST LANDER
SATURDAY!
RADIATION CITY +BRIGHT ARCHER
BENEVENTO
SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 • $10 ADVANCE
+FULERO & DAY: A TRIBUTE TO ELLIOTT SMITH
FRIDAY DECEMBER 9 •
INDIE POP NOSTALGIA FROM GIRL-BOY DENVER DUO
$13 ADVANCE
A SPECIAL ALL-AGES MATINEE WITH PDX ROCKERS
THE
DANDY WARHOLS ALL AGES MATINEE!! Doors at 4:30pm, Show at 5pm
SUNDAY DECEMBER 11 •
$15 ADVANCE
BUZZ-BUILDING INDIE ELECTRO POP FROM LA TRIO
MANSIONS ON
THE MOON
the TIPTONS & the
QUADRAPHONNES
INFECTIOUS LYRICISM FROM NOMADIC SINGER/SONGWRITER
THURSDAY!
WEDNESDAY!
STEPHEN KELLOGG
Hammers of Misfortune, Christian Mistress, Spellcaster
CONT. on page 41
SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, LATE-NIGHT. FOOD SPECIALS 3-6 PM EVERYDAY COVERED SMOKING PATIO, FIREPLACE ROOM, LOTS OF LOG. LIVE SHOWS IN THE LOUNGE...
WHITE ALBUM
See profile, page 34. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 2319663. 5:30 pm. $15. All ages.
[METALLIC EVOLUTION] Since forming in 2000, the Hammers of Misfortune have tried various strains of heavy music: folk metal, black metal, and straight-up power rock. Perhaps this is due to the group’s revolving door of members (earlier incarnations have featured Mike Scalzi of Slough Feb and Christ on Parade bassist Ron Nichols), but the morphing sound has helped the Hammers stay nimble and keep fans and critics curious as to where the band will go next. In the case of its most recent album, 17th Street, the band is under the sway of the keyboardheavy attack and multilayered story lines of prog metal. ROBERT HAM. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
DOUG FIR RESTAURANT + BAR OPEN 7AM - 2:30AM EVERYDAY
TENNIS
MINIATURE TIGERS +DEVON WILLIAMS
MONDAY DECEMBER 12 •
$11 ADVANCE
A SPECIAL EVENING WITH THE GODFATHER OF ALT-COUNTRY
HOWE
GELB JESSE SYKES
& THE SWEET HEREAFTER
Doors at 9pm Show at 9:30pm - LATE SHOW! $10 ADVANCE
TUESDAY DECEMBER 13 •
+TRACY SHEDD
THURSDAY DECEMBER 15 • $14 ADVANCE DOUG FIR PRESENTS A SPECIAL NYE BLOWOUT, PDX STYLE
Dec 30th and 31st
NEW YEAR’S EVE
3 SHOWS!
+FRUIT BATS Stoli presents the best FREE patio party Portland has to offer upstairs in our heated, covered tent! We’ll have outdoor bars, drink specials and DJ Safi will be spinning records to help dance your way into 2012!
SATURDAY DECEMBER 31 •
$16 ADVANCE
A PRE-HOLIDAY SOIREE WITH PDX FOLK-ROCK ENSEMBLE
WITH
STORM LARGE
with special guest HOLCOMBE WALLER
Alberta Rose Theatre (503) 764-4131 3000 NE Alberta AlbertaRoseTheatre.com
AGES AND AGES FRIDAY DECEMBER 23
•
$8 ADVANCE
PACK A.D. - 1/19 LOS CAMPESINOS! - 2/7 + 2/8 (on sale 2/9) VERONICA FALLS - 2/22 JOHN K SAMSON & THE PROVINCIAL BAND - 4/2 BOWERBIRDS - 4/2 METRONOMY- 4/10 All of these shows on sale at Ticketfly.com
THE KNUX 12/14 • THE ANGRY ORTS 12/16 • THE LOW BONES 12/17 THE FLING 12/18 • SONS OF HUNS 12/21 • DREW GROW & THE PASTOR’S WIVES 12/22 LESSER KNOWN CHARACTERS 12/27 • OH DARLING 12/28 • THE LOWER 48 12/29 ADVANCE TICKETS AT TICKETFLY - www.ticketfly.com and JACKPOT RECORDS • SUBJECT TO SERVICE CHARGE &/OR USER FEE ALL SHOWS: 8PM DOORS / 9PM SHOW • 21+ UNLESS NOTED • BOX OFFICE OPENS 1/2 HOUR BEFORE DOORS • ROOM PACKAGES AVAILABLE AT www.jupiterhotel.com
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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SUNDAY DECEMBER 11, 2011 LIVE RACING
STARTS AT NOON • ALWAYS FREE ADMISSION & PARKING • SPECIAL TURF CLUB BUFFET • *FREE DOUGHNUT & COFFEE GIVEAWAY! FEATURING TWO OF OREGON’S FINEST *First 1,000 people, while supplies last. Starting at 11:30am
PORTLAND MEADOWS
I-5 EXIT 306/306B • PORTLANDMEADOWS.COM • 503-285-9144
THIS HOLIDAY GIVE ECM RETO BIERI
CONTRECHANT – MUSIC FOR CLARINET SOLO
ON SALE $13.99 CD
‘Contrechant’ is a brilliant recital for solo clarinet that looks at new developmental possibilities in the `language’ of the instrument in modern music. A wonderful panorama of contemporary music for clarinet by giants of new music - Elliott Carter, Heinz Holliger, Luciano Berio, Peter Eötvös and Salvatore Sciarrino plus an intriguing work by much discussed young Hungarian composer Gergely Vajda.
DUO GAZZANA FIVE PIECES – TAKEMITSU/ HINDEMITH/ JANACEK/ SILVESTROV
ON SALE $13.99 CD
This is the recording debut of Italian sisters Natascia and Raffaella Gazzana, named for the ‘Five Pieces’ for violin and piano by Valentin Silvestrov that concludes the album. These works - a gently pulsing elegy, a serenade, an intermezzo, a barcarole, a ghostly nocturne - combine the familiar and the far-flung, as Duo Gazzana finds creative affinities between the music of four very different composers.
OFFER GOOD THRU: 12/20/11
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
GIANLUIGI TROVESI & GIANNI COSCIA
FRERE JACQUES – ROUND ABOUT OFFENBACH
ON SALE $13.99 CD
This is the third ECM album from Gianluigi Trovesi and Gianni Coscia following in the steps of ‘In Cerca Di Cibo’ and ‘Round About Weill.’ With another generous helping of their androit musicianship and sly humour throughout, this time the duo celebrate a French soul brotherJacques Offenbach, master of the operetta.
ENRICO RAVA QUINTET TRIBE
ON SALE $13.99 CD
Since his return to ECM with ‘Easy Living’ in 2003, the grand master of Italian jazz has gone from strength to strength, in a series of truly exceptional recordings including ‘Tati,’ ‘The Words and The Days,’ ‘The Third Man,’ and ‘New York Days.’ Enrico Rava is currently playing at a peak of lyrical invention, and his newest Italian quintet is amongst his strongest ensembles. Material on ‘Tribe’ includes new and old tunes by Rava and a brace of collective improvisations.
KEITH JARRETT RIO
ON SALE $23.99 2CD
On April 9, 2011 Keith Jarrett returned to South America for the first time in decades to perform three solo concerts. The third and final concert found him in Rio de Janeiro in front of a packed house and enthralled audience. Inspired by the electrifying atmosphere, the pianist pulls a broad range of material from the ether: thoughtful/ reflective pieces, abstract sound-structures, pieces that fairly vibrate with energy.
TOSHIO HOSOKAWA LANDSCAPES
ON SALE $13.99 CD
ECM’s ongoing series of recordings with the Munich Chamber Orchestra continues with an album by Japan’s leading composer Toshio Hosokawa. Born in Hiroshima in 1955, Hosokawa was initially inspired by Western art music from Schubert to Schoenberg. He came to Germany in the 1970’s to study with Isang Yun and Klaus Huber. His work increasingly suggests a dialogue between East and West, between archaic and modern, between ceremonial music and concert music.
SINIKKA LANGELAND THE LAND THAT IS NOT
ON SALE $13.99 CD
Five years after her stunning ECM debut recording, here is a sequel with the same highly creative NorwegianFinnish-Swedish personnel, once more engaged in adventures at the interstices of folk song, literature, and jazz-rooted improvisation, On ‘The Land That Is Not,’ Norwegian singer and kantele player Sinikka Langeland builds upon the blueprint established with ‘Starflowers.’
MARILYN MAZUR CELESTIAL CIRCLE
ON SALE $13.99 CD
‘Celestial Circle’ is the recording debut of the band of the same name. First assembled for Marilyn Mazur’s season as artistin-residence at Norway’s Molde Jazz Festival in 2008, the group has since become a popular institution on the concert circuit. It’s a band of diverse strengths and changing moods, song-oriented but also instrumentally expressive. Organically percussive, too, with Mazur’s panoply of drums and gongs and cymbals and bells a source of natural melody and evocative texture.
MONDAY, DEC. 12 Tennis, Miniature Tigers
[INDIE POP] Even if there weren’t a legal obligation for all music journalists to reference the back story behind Tennis’ 2011 LP, Cape Dory, it would still warrant mentioning that the husband-and-wife duo of Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore conceived its debut album while on a yearlong boating tour of the Eastern seaboard. The album’s wistful pop almost demands homage be paid to its dilatory origins. Cape Dory’s arrangements are minimalistic, its melodies straightforward and its lyrics cheerily enamored with the possibility of pleasure. Tennis’ sophomore LP is due in February, and it will be interesting to see where the duo winds up drawing further inspiration for its sunny, ’50s-enamored pop. SHANE DANAHER. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $11 advance, $13 day of show. 21+.
Sissy Spacek, Tooth Ache, Skllscrpr, Redneck
[PUNK COMES IN SPURTS] L.A.’s Sissy Spacek is exactly what you’d want from a noise-punk band: fireextinguisher blasts of fuzzed-out vocals spit out over slapdash drums and what sounds like the death throes of an android. The 75 (!) songs on the band’s most recent release, Freaked With Jet, are over in the span of seconds, and the whole shebang is wrapped up in 13 minutes. That this whiplash-inducing affront to the senses came from the same mind—that of musician John Wiese— that also released an equally incredible ambient noise record this year only increases Sissy Spacek’s brilliance. ROBERT HAM. Tube, 18 NW 3rd Ave., 241-8823. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
TUESDAY, DEC. 13 Secret Drum Band, The Bubs, Golden Retriever, Sad Horse
[PSSST] You heard about this Secret Drum Band thing? It’s, like, seven chicks, hell of drums and music by Lisa Schonberg from STLS, Explode Into Colors, and Kickball. Heather Treadway, who was also in Explode Into Colors; Rachel Blumberg, who’s played drums with the Decemberists and M. Ward; and you know Tara Jane O’Neil? She plays music with lots of Pacific Northwest people and makes every kind of art? Yeah, they’re all in the band, too. Shh! It sounds rad, I know, but c’mon— be cool. What do they sound like? A-doy, dude: That’s the secret. You gotta see them play, tonight at Backspace or tomorrow at Holocene. JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG. Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave., 2482900. 8 pm. $5. All ages.
White Arrows, Love Inks, Log Across the Washer
[PSYCHEDELIC GLAM] Los Angeles’ White Arrows is only two releases deep into this whole “band” business, but September’s Get Gone (the group’s most recent effort) offers more quality on its scant two tracks than most bands muster in a whole career. The five-piece goes about constructing its own songs almost as if they were remixes, shuffling guitar and synthesizer melodies with the deft touch of a seasoned laptop wizard. White Arrows has a careening, sun-baked energy that shows recognizable traces of both Bruce Springsteen and fellow SoCal blisspop practitioners Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. If it were more careless, it would be called retro rock, but instead White Arrows sounds like a soundtrack to the 1960s that should have been. SHANE DANAHER. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 894-9708. 8 pm. $8. 21+.
Mansions on the Moon
[NEPTUNES ORBIT] For an act that’s yet to release a proper album, Mansions of the Moon—folk troubadour Ted Wendler alongside Lane Shaw and Ben Hazlegrove of the next-gen acid jazzercise
Pnuma Trio—has cast a looming shadow of anticipation ever since the boys were swept from Virginia studios toward the rotation of heavenly bodies Diplo (who curated their introductory mixtape with DJ Benzi) and Pharrell (who produced their imminent EP, Lightyears). It’s tempting to ascribe the group’s continually rising interest to the gravitational pull of tastemaker patrons, but the club-tested/bedsitapproved simmering chill of those few tracks available suggest giant steps to come. JAY HORTON. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 2319663. 9:30 pm. $10. 21+.
George Colligan
[NEWLY ARRIVED JAZZ] Pianisttrumpeter-composer George
MUSIC
Colligan—who has recorded 22 albums, appeared on about 100 more and performed with international jazz stars from Jack DeJohnette to Michael Brecker to Cassandra Wilson—just joined the Portland State University music faculty. He’ll be an exciting addition to the city’s jazz scene. For this concert, which commendably spotlights a local talent, he and a strong supporting cast (guitarist Dan Balmer, bassist Eric Gruber, drummer Todd Strait and pianist Kerry Politzer) will play Colligan originals and music by his late, great predecessor at PSU, legendary Blue Note pianist-composer Andrew Hill. BRETT CAMPBELL. Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St., 223-4527. 8 pm. $15. 21+.
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ALBUM REVIEWS
DANAVA HEMISPHERE OF SHADOWS (KEMADO) [METAL] On its self-titled debut album in 2006, local hard-rock band Danava established itself as a formidable power trio with a healthy lasergloss of analog synth to push its sound into outer space. Second album UnonoU, released in 2008, was an even more epic affair, with sidelong progressive tunes. On its third outing, Hemisphere of Shadows, the band has managed to add an extra guitar player while simultaneously becoming leaner and meaner. “Focus” is the keyword here, as the tunes have become short, barn-burning scorchers full of unison and tongue-twisting melodic runs. And just when it seems the band has abandoned its more expansive leanings, the last 90 seconds of a song like “The Last Goodbye” transmogrifies into an epic organ jam that melts the listener’s brain. Singer/guitarist/songwriter Greg Meleney has studied his mid-’70s Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Thin Lizzy and a host of other lesser-knowns. With that knowledge, some truly soulful guitar playing and a vocal croon that stands alongside Ozzy Osbourne and Geddy Lee, Meleney leads his group into charted territory with finesse and passion. The band is a well-oiled machine, and in the most poised and functional phase of its career. Local fan boys and pretty ladies galore pack Danava’s local gigs, but most of these casual rockers have yet to put their money where their mouth is and actually buy this album. They should. NATHAN CARSON.
SERIOUS BUSINESS KOOL (FUTRO) [ELECTRO HIP-HOP BANGERS] Kool, the debut album from Portland duo Serious Business, opens by comparing the group’s music to candy. That metaphor isn’t too far off base. Producer/MC Jason Mampel and frontman Danny Diana-Peebles’ electrified party bangers owe at least as much to the genre’s class jocks as they do to Justice, Deadmau5 and other reigning electro-cool kids. Serious Business adores goofy threads and big synth hooks (the bigger and goofier, the better). Drawing lyrical inspiration from partying, sweaty sex and lower-middle class ennui, these guys border on self-parody. If Ke$ha were two skinny dorks, she’d be Serious Business. At seven tracks in length, Kool is a scant artifact of Serious Business’ style, but this truncated running time allows the duo enough room to stretch its muscles without exhausting its frantic mood. The album’s linchpin track, “NSFW,” employs a guest chorus from Stacy Peltier as a framework to hang Serious Business’ party-nerd manifesto: “Your anthem for drunk sex and best friends.” The crew spends the rest of the album illuminating exactly how this offer will play out. If Serious Business performed all of this with a straight face, it might not fly. But Mampel and Diana-Peebles have a redeeming sense of humor about their affected boasting. There aren’t many MCs who can soundtrack a rager while paying equal homage to their “innocence and 14-karat swagger.” There are even fewer who would have the self-awareness to notice this was a good idea in the first place. SHANE DANAHER. SEE IT: Serious Business plays Holocene on Thursday, Dec. 8, with Atole, VTRN, A Gentleman’s Picnic and DJ Winston Lane. 8:30 pm. Free. 21+. Danava plays Plan B on Friday, Dec. 9, with Rabbits, Lesbian and Diesto. 8 pm. $8. 21+.
Friday 12-9
DSL COMEDY hosted by
BRISKET LOVE-COX 21+ in the Lounge • 9pm
REGGAE NIGHT 21+ in the Lounge • 10:30pm
Saturday 12-10
AN OLD SCHOOL KEGGER with
THE HEAVY BROTHERS & DR. THEOPOLIS 21+ in the ConCert haLL • 9pm
STAHLWERKS
A NIGHT OF CLASSIC INDUSTRIAL, GOTHIC, AND HARD DANCE MUSIC. 21+ in the Lounge • 10pm
Sunday 12-11
KARAOKE ON THE BIG SCREEN with SEAN BAILEY! 21+ in the Lounge • 9:30pm
Tuesday 12-13
OLD SKOOL
SPINNING CLASSIC ELECTRONIC, DANCE, AND HIP HOP VINYL 21+ in the Lounge • 9pm
Wednesday 12-14
3 GLORIAS
FLAMENCO EN VIVO live flamenco event with:
CANTE: JESUS MONTOYA TOQUE: PEDRO CORTES BAILE: SAVANNAH FUENTES 7pm
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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Buffalo gap Wednesday, December 7th • 9pm
Buffalo Bandstand
for more info, CheCk out RENTALS
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Hosted By: live artist Network T hursday, December 8th • 9pm
Rocktown Revue
Hosted By: Chris Margolin (acoustic rock) friday, December 9th • 9pm
Sarah Billing
(a special holiday show) Saturday, December 10th • 9pm
Broken Soviet
(modern classic rock) Sunday, December 11th doors open 9 :30am
fanattic
“all your Nfl favorites” Tuesday, December 13th • 9pm
WIN $50!!
UPCOMING EVENTS
opEN MIC NIgHT Hosted By: Scott gallegos
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MFA APPLIED CRAFT PUBLIC EVENTS OPEN STUDIOS Friday, December 9, 6:00-9:00pm
Meet MFA Chair JP Reuer to find out more about the unique AC+D Program
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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> MAR 11
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> MAR 24
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Rose Garden Area/ Memorial Coliseum
Application deadline February 1.
MFA_Dec11_OpenHouse.indd 1
> FEB 11-12
advance notification, facebook.com/rose.quarter.pdx pre-sales @Rosequarter and more at RoseQuarter.com rosequarterblog.com
OPEN HOUSE Saturday, December 10, 11:00am-1:00pm
42
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Tickets ON SALE NOW at Rose Quarter Box Office, all participating Safeway/ TicketsWest outlets, , or by calling 877.789.ROSE (7673).
For more info please visit RoseQuarter.com
MUSIC CALENDAR
[DEC. 7-13] Kelly’s Olympian
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. Editor: Jonathan Frochtzwajg. TO HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED, send show information at least two weeks in advance on the web at wweek.com/submitevents or (if you book a specific venue) enter your events at dbmonkey.com/wweek. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Please include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: music@wweek.com. For more listings, check out wweek.com.
426 SW Washington St. California Stars, Poor Boy’s Soul, Eric Nordby
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Michael Hurley with The Croakers
Lents Commons
ADAM KRUEGER
9201 SE Foster Road Open Mic
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Samantha Crain
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Billy D
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Ed Hamell
Mississippi Studios
116 SE Yamhill St. Melvin Seals & Dead Ahead, One Way Station
Rotture
315 SE 3rd Ave. White Wives, Koji, Lost City, Paper Brain
Someday Lounge
317 NW Broadway Random Axe, White Chocolate, The Cigarettes
Tony Starlight’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Andrew Oliver
303 SW 12th Ave. Drew Grow
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Toshi Onizuka
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Final Offense, Patria Jodida, Mentes Ajenas, Madame Torment
Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave.
6000 NE Glisan St. Half-Step Shy
Brasserie Montmartre 626 SW Park Ave. Brooks Robertson
Camellia Lounge 510 NW 11th Ave. Open Jazz Jam
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. AWOLNATION, Sleeper Agent
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. The Oh My Mys
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Suburban Slim’s Blues Jam (9:30 pm); High Flyer Trio (6 pm)
Ella Street Social Club 714 SW 20th Place
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Ganglians, Young Prisms, The Memories, DJ Sgt. Forkner
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Worth, Emy Reynolds, James Lammon
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. The Mel Brown Quartet
Touché Restaurant and Billiards 1425 NW Glisan St. Nancy King with Steve Christofferson
Trail’s End Saloon
1320 Main St., Oregon City Danny O’Brien & Ken Brewer
Vie de Boheme 1530 SE 7th Ave. Gypsy Jazz Jam
White Eagle Saloon 836 N Russell St. Perfect Zero
Wilfs Restaurant and Bar
800 NW 6th Ave. Ron Steen Trio with Toni Lincoln
Serious Business, Atole, VTRN, A Gentlemen’s Picnic, DJ Winston Lane
The Old Church
Jade Lounge
Thirsty Lion
Jimmy Mak’s
Tonic Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Song Circle with Brian McGinty 221 NW 10th Ave. Tony Starlight
Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Blue Skies for Black Hearts, The Exceptional Lei’s, Terwilliger Detour, His ‘n’ Hers, Michael Lewis
Kennedy School
5736 NE 33rd Ave. Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
Kenton Club
2025 N Kilpatrick St. Stumblebum, The Streakin’ Healys
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Tree Frogs
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Samantha Crain
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Bingo
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Jonah Luke, Christopher Worth (9 pm); Mo Phillips (6 pm)
Mississippi Studios
6000 NE Glisan St. Biddy’s Open Bluegrass Jam
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Other Lives, JBM
Brasserie Montmartre
3435 N Lombard St. Claes
626 SW Park Ave. John “JB” Butler & Al Craido
Camellia Lounge
510 NW 11th Ave. Lew Jones (9:30 pm); Parfait Bassale (8 pm) 430 N Killingsworth St. Steve Kerin
1332 W Burnside St. Death Cab for Cutie, Telekinisis
Tiger Bar
830 E Burnside St. Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers, Jon McLaughlin
Biddy McGraw’s
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar
71 SW 2nd Ave. Eric John Kaiser
Biddy McGraw’s
225 SW Ash St. Seventh Silence, The Shy Seasons, Protege Infantry
1669 SE Bybee Blvd. Adlai Alexander
Thirsty Lion
2845 SE Stark St. 4 on the Floor, World’s Finest
Artichoke Community Music
2016 NE Sandy Blvd. The Fenix Project Jam Session
1422 SW 11th Ave. Heartstrings Duo
Doug Fir Lounge
832 SE Grand Ave. Dina & Bamba Y Su Pilon D’Azucar with La Descarga Cubana
The Blue Diamond
The Old Church
Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel
1314 NW Glisan St. Greg Wolfe Trio
Corkscrew Wine Bar
2026 NE Alberta St. Vicious Pleasures, Sick Secrets, Therapists
Goodfoot Lounge
1036 NE Alberta St. The Nutmeggers, Mark MacMinn (9:30 pm); Criminal Class Review (6:30 pm)
Chapel Pub
The Know
2201 N Killingsworth St. Billy Kennedy & Jason Okamoto
Alberta Street Public House
125 NW 5th Ave. Reva Devito, Mario and Malice Sweet, TROX
1001 SW Broadway Shirley Nanette
102 NE Russell St. The Javier Nero Quintet
3000 NE Alberta St. The White Album Christmas: Wanderlust Circus, The Nowhere Band (Beatles tribute)
Ash Street Saloon
Refuge
Holy Children, Hidden Knives, Bath Party
Alberta Rose Theatre
Palace of Industry
1305 SE 8th Ave. Empire Rocket Machine, Ol’ Devols, The Idealists
350 W Burnside St. Gun Room Melodies, Reverend Loose Morals, Absent Minds
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. The Trail Band
3130A SE Hawthorne Blvd. Songwriters Roundup
Plan B
Dante’s
Aladdin Theater
7850 SW Capitol Highway Kit Garoutte 5426 N Gay Ave. Flat Rock String Band
Beaterville Cafe
303 SW 12th Ave. Drew Grow
Andrea’s Cha Cha Club
O’Connors
Dropa, Verso Recto
Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel
Muddy Rudder Public House
3158 E Burnside St. Richmond Fontaine
WED. DEC. 7
THURS. DEC. 8
Andina
Music Millennium
Afrique Bistro
5819 SE Milwaukie Ave. Open Mic
3939 N Mississippi Ave. The Entrance Band, Sons of Huns, Hello Electric
8105 SE 7th Ave. Sleepy-Eyed Johns
SNOCK IT TO ME: Michael Hurley plays every Wednesday in December at LaurelThirst.
Yukon Tavern
Crystal Ballroom
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Security by Numbers, Kleverkill, Shovelbelt
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Cass McCombs Band, Michael Hurley, White Magic
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Rocktown Revue, Chris Margolin
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. The Legendary Superstars (9 pm); Tough Lovepyle (6 pm)
East End
203 SE Grand Ave. K-Tel ‘79, Leroy Jerome, DJ Noah Fence, Glitter Express (Portland Radio Authority benefit)
Ella Street Social Club
714 SW 20th Place In Medias Res, Sioux Falls
Goodfoot Lounge 2845 SE Stark St. Pocket, Emulator
Hawthorne Theatre
Mock Crest Tavern Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Lauren Sheehan Duo
Music Millennium 3158 E Burnside St. The Strange Tones
Original Halibut’s II 2527 NE Alberta St. Terry Robb
Peter’s Room 8 NW 6th Ave. Wax, Cassow
Plan B
1305 SE 8th Ave. Heathen Shrine, Black Mold, Noctus
Red Room
2530 NE 82nd Ave. The Sindicate, Larsen Vegas Starr, Shark Party
Secret Society Lounge 116 NE Russell St. Lila Nelson
Sellwood Public House 8132 SE 13th Ave. Open Mic
Slabtown
1033 NW 16th Ave. Left Coast Country, Polecat, Student Loan
Slim’s Cocktail Bar
8635 N Lombard St. Bottlecap Boys, Nilika Remi
Ted’s (at Berbati’s)
231 SW Ankeny St. Miguel Artugue, Antoine Erhardt
The Blue Diamond 2016 NE Sandy Blvd. Tom Grant Jazz Jam Session
The Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Alan Jones Jam
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Spineshank, Interim Divine, Amerikan Overdose, Ditch Digger, Betrayed by Weakness
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar
Holocene
2026 NE Alberta St. Jr. Worship, My Only Ghost
1001 SE Morrison St.
1001 SW Broadway Johnny Martin
The Know
1422 SW 11th Ave. Kay Louise Robbins 71 SW 2nd Ave. Tom Ryan, Jane Kramer, Mark Putnam 3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Bone Rock, Bones, Nice Nate, BayBay Ruthless
Tony Starlight’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Cabaret Chanteuse-The Christmas Version: Gretchen Rumbaugh, Darcy White, Ruthann de la Vega, Natalie Gunn, Inge Hoogerhuis, Debbie Hunter, Lauri Jones, Claudia Knauer, Mary Knea, Steven Nash, Susan Peck, Carrie Rambo, Joshua Stenseth, Rebecca Teran, Donna Kay Yarborough
Trail’s End Saloon
1320 Main St., Oregon City Rae Gordon
Twilight Café and Bar 1420 SE Powell Blvd. Dococular
Vie de Boheme
1530 SE 7th Ave. Al Criado & Havana Knights
Vino Vixens Wine Shop & Bar 2929 SE Powell Blvd. Faerabella
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Gabby Holt (8:30 pm); Will West & Tanner Cundy (5:30 pm)
Wilfs Restaurant and Bar 800 NW 6th Ave. Sean Holmes & Fred Stickley
The Slate
2001 NW 19th Ave., Suite 104 Xavier & Su Banda Clasica, David Hastings (Causa Coming-Out Party)
FRI. DEC. 9 Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel 303 SW 12th Ave. Drew Grow
Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. The Trail Band
Alberta Rose Theatre 3000 NE Alberta St. The White Album Christmas: Wanderlust Circus, The Nowhere Band (Beatles tribute)
Alberta Street Public House
1036 NE Alberta St. Laurel Brauns (9:30 pm); Mikey’s Irish Jam (6:30 pm)
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Sambafeat Quartet
Artichoke Community Music
3130A SE Hawthorne Blvd. Friday Night Coffeehouse
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Cool Nutz with DJ Fatboy, Vursatyl (of Lifesavas), TxE, Serge Severe, Triple SB, DJ Wicked
Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave. Toyz in Da Hood, DJ Chill, Tragedy503, Knothead, Public Drunken Sex, Chief Gray
Beaterville Cafe
2201 N Killingsworth St. Naomi Hooley
CONT. on page 44
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
43
MUSIC
CALENDAR
BAR SPOTLIGHT
Someday Lounge
VIVIANJOHNSON.COM
125 NW 5th Ave. Vocab
Star Theater
13 NW 6th Ave. The Dandy Warhols, Hawkeye
The Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Little Hexes, Gaea
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar 1001 SW Broadway Key of Dreams
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Organized Sports, Rainbow Person
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave. Bronn & Katherine Journey
The Slate
CARPE DIEM: According to its Twitter page, the curious moniker of YOLO Lounge (412 SW 4th Ave., 719-6901, yololounge.com) is an acronym for the cavernous sushi joint/dance club’s motto, “You only live once.” True enough, but based on last Friday’s happy-hour crowd—one couple at the bar, one table in the corner, one bored waiter—Portlanders are choosing to enjoy that one life somewhere else. Maybe the crowds show up later. I left at 7:30 pm, after a pair of sugary, coconut-heavy cocktails and a plate of very good hot wings, when the combination of monochrome design theme; thudding, anonymous R&B; the enormous, pixelated geisha mural behind the bar and the emptiness of the place started to get to me. If you don’t mind the music or the persistent feeling of being watched, though, there are worse places to grab a Ninkasi and some Asian fusion after work. BEN WATERHOUSE.
2001 NW 19th Ave., Suite 104 Mars Retrieval Unit, DJ Dem Dirty, DJ Sleepy (art and music event)
Thirsty Lion
71 SW 2nd Ave. The Prescription
Tiger Bar
317 NW Broadway Each of the Days, Ampora, At These Hours
Tony Starlight’s
6000 NE Glisan St. The Chancers (9:30 pm); Billy Kennedy & Jim Boyer (6 pm)
Brasserie Montmartre 626 SW Park Ave. Al Craido & Tablao
Camellia Lounge 510 NW 11th Ave. Tree Top Tribe
Clyde’s Prime Rib
5474 NE Sandy Blvd. LaRhonda Steele
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Portugal. The Man, Nurses
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Satisfaction (Rolling Stones tribute), The Carnabetian Army (Kinks tribute)
5421 N Greeley Ave. Bordertown
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
1111 SW Broadway Portland Gay Men’s Chorus
Hawthorne Theatre
4627 NE Fremont St. Traditional Hawaiian Music
1503 SE 39th Ave. Steve Nobles (of Honey Wars), Alex Hudjohn 3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Me Talk Pretty, Madina Lake, Hell or High Water, New Year’s Day, Avion Roe, Icarus The Owl, Veio
Holocene
2527 NE Alberta St. Big Monti
221 NW 10th Ave. The Devin Phillips Band
Kelly’s Olympian
Kenton Club
1635 SE 7th Ave. Ron Rodgers & The Wailing Wind, Rich Layton & The Troublemakers (9 pm); Honey and the Hamdogs (6 pm)
Eagles Lodge, Southeast
4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The New Iberians Zydeco Blues Band
East Burn
1800 E Burnside St. Pagan Jug Band
East End
203 SE Grand Ave. Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, Cyclotron, Still Caves
Ella Street Social Club 714 SW 20th Place Mythological Horses, Saucy Yoda
Ford Food and Drink 2505 SE 11th Ave. Josh Cole, Brongaene Griffin
Greeley Avenue Bar & Grill
44
7850 SW Capitol Highway David Friesen with Dan Gaynor, Tim Willcox, Rob Davis and Charlie Doggett
Jimmy Mak’s
Duff’s Garage Duff’s Garage
O’Connor’s Vault
Original Halibut’s II
426 SW Washington St. Future Historians, The Hollywood Tans, Johnny Keener
1635 SE 7th Ave. Sarah Billings
Noho’s Hawaiian Cafe
1001 SE Morrison St. Buck and Bounce 7: Sissy Nobby, Beyondadoubt, Brice Nice
Doug Fir Lounge 830 E Burnside St. Marco Benevento
Newmark Theatre
2025 N Kilpatrick St. Gaytheist, Towers, Monogamy Party
Lents Commons
9201 SE Foster Road Noah Peterson
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Samantha Crain
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Christmas Jug Band
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Electric Opera Company (9 pm); The Sale (6 pm)
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Nucular Aminals, The Reservations, Hey Lover, Your Canvas
Mock Crest Tavern 3435 N Lombard St. Joe McMurrian
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Reverb Brothers
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
2527 NE Alberta St. Jim Mesi
Original Halibut’s II Papa G’s Vegan Organic Deli
2314 SE Division St. Lynn Conover
Pints Brewing Company
412 NW 5th Ave. Jane Kramer, Zay Harrison
Plan B
1305 SE 8th Ave. Danava, Rabbits, Lesbian, Diesto
Red Room
2530 NE 82nd Ave. Chase the Shakes, Reanimated, Item 9, Bangovers, Juicy Karkass, Skatterbomb
Roseland Theater
320 SE 2nd Ave. Deas Vail, Sick of Sarah, Now Now, Tigress, She’s Not Dead
Brasserie Montmartre
626 SW Park Ave. Half Step Shy (9 pm); Al Craido & Tablao (5:30 pm)
Bunk Bar
1425 NW Glisan St. Dan Shulte Trio
Trail’s End Saloon
1320 Main St., Oregon City AC Porter & the Live Wires 1420 SE Powell Blvd. Distrackted, Cast Down, Sons of Dirt
Vie de Boheme
1530 SE 7th Ave. Jen Fox & the Wayward Sons
Vino Vixens Wine Shop & Bar 2929 SE Powell Blvd. Thad Beckman
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. The Dust Settlers, The Old Yellers (9:30 pm); Reverb Brothers (5:30 pm)
SAT. DEC. 10 15th Avenue Hophouse 1517 NE Brazee St. Renegade String Band
Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel 303 SW 12th Ave. Drew Grow
Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. The Trail Band (7 pm and 3 pm)
Alberta Rose Theatre 3000 NE Alberta St. The White Album Christmas: Wanderlust Circus, The Nowhere Band (Beatles tribute)
Alberta Street Public House
1036 NE Alberta St. Brave Chandeliers, Chris Blair, Jolliff
3130A SE Hawthorne Blvd. Holiday Concert
1314 NW Glisan St. Toshi Onizuka Trio
Artichoke Community Music
Ash Street Saloon
1033 NW 16th Ave. High Beamz, Klickitat, Off the Grid
225 SW Ash St. Onry Ozzborn, Dck Vnngt, Hives Inquiry Squad, Abadawn, 835, Might Misc.
Slim’s Cocktail Bar
Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave. Ancient Heat, Palmas, DJ Etbonz, Onuinu
Beaterville Cafe
2201 N Killingsworth St.
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale David Greco Holiday Show
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Pagan Jug Band
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Z’Bumba (9 pm); Level 2 (6 pm); Lorna Miller Little Kid’s Jamboree (4 pm)
Mississippi Studios
1028 SE Water Ave. Papercuts, Tim Cohen’s Magic Trick, Sarah Gwen Peters
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Scout Niblett, Picastro, Hookers
Camellia Lounge
3435 N Lombard St. Bobby Lindstrom
510 NW 11th Ave. Mia Ingrid, Randy Porter, David Evans
Clyde’s Prime Rib
5474 NE Sandy Blvd. Andy Stokes
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. The Joy Formidable, Grouplove, Yours
Mock Crest Tavern Mount Tabor Theater
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Dr. Theopolis, The Heavy Brothers
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Alan Hagar
Newmark Theatre
Dante’s
1111 SW Broadway Portland Gay Men’s Chorus (8 pm and 2 pm)
Doug Fir Lounge
Noho’s Hawaiian Cafe
350 W Burnside St. Bombino
Duff’s Garage
Secret Society Lounge
8635 N Lombard St. Bison Bison, Dye Hippie Dye, Tortune, Meghan McNealy
Branx
Touché Restaurant and Billiards
Andina
Slabtown
6000 NE Glisan St. The Resolectrics (9:30 pm); Twisted Whistle (6 pm)
830 E Burnside St. Lost Lander, Radiation City, Bright Archer
8 NW 6th Ave. Montgomery Gentry, Sunny Sweeney, Steel Magnolia, Melody Guy, Kurt Van Meter 116 NE Russell St. Lincoln’s Beard (9 pm): AnnaPaul & The Bearded Lady (6 pm)
Biddy McGraw’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Tony Starlight Christmas Extravaganza
Twilight Café and Bar Biddy McGraw’s
Moonlight Mile, Daga
1635 SE 7th Ave. Broken Soviet
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. The Strange Tones
East Burn
1800 E Burnside St. DJ Gray Matter & Motherbunch
East End
203 SE Grand Ave. Clorox Girls (reunion performance), Welcome Home Walker, Eegos, Chemicals, Diskords
Elevated Coffee
261 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Cody Weathers & The Men Your Mama Warned You About
Ella Street Social Club 714 SW 20th Place The Shimmering Stars, The Shivas, My Autumn’s Done Come, Shadow House
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. Billy Martin and Wil Blades Duo with Skerik
Hawthorne Hophouse 4111 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Spodee-O’s
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
1503 SE 39th Ave. Ninjas with Syringes, Rendered Useless, Faithless Saints, Absent Minds
Hawthorne Theatre
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. On Enemy Soil, Veio, In Her Memory, Hyperthermia, A((wake)), Gladius
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. The Bottlecap Boys
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. Violet Isle, The Horde & The Harem, Archeology, Brothers Young, Tango Alpha Tango
Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Wizard Rifle, Valkyrie Rodeo, Towers
Kenton Club
2025 N Kilpatrick St. Nucular Aminals, The Happening, The Slutty Hearts
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Tree Frogs
4627 NE Fremont St. Traditional Hawaiian Music
Pints Brewing Company
412 NW 5th Ave. Ray Dodd
Pioneer Courthouse Square
701 SW 6th Ave. Tuba Christmas Concert
Plan B
1305 SE 8th Ave. Dead in a Ditch, Jack (of Wayne Gacy Trio), Tweakin’ Like Matty, Roadkill Carnivore, Compulsive Slasher
Red Room
2530 NE 82nd Ave. Manx, Town and the Writ, Invivo, Chloroform, Jeff Handley & the Traveling Goodbye, Leathery Chunnel, Onerius
Vancouver School of Art and Academics, Royal Durst Theatre
3103 Main St., Vancouver, Wash. Celerama, Red Panda, Hunky-Dory, Key of Crucnch
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. The Manix, Fools Rush, Abolishonist
The Lovecraft
421 SE Grand Ave. Atrocity Exhibition, Shallow Seas
The Woods
6637 SE Milwaukie Ave. Steelhymen, Deer or the Doe, Gallons
Thirsty Lion
71 SW 2nd Ave. Sugarcookie
Tiger Bar
317 NW Broadway Stonecreep, Dethproof, Battle Axe Massacre
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Cast Down, Splintered Throne, Dog Tribe
Tony Starlight’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Tony Starlight Christmas Extravaganza
Touché Restaurant and Billiards 1425 NW Glisan St. Kelley Shannon Trio
Trail’s End Saloon
1320 Main St., Oregon City Robbie Laws Fundraiser
Twilight Café and Bar
1420 SE Powell Blvd. Mr. Plow, PDX Punk Rock Collective, Ramblin’ Rod’s Bastard Children
Vie de Boheme
1530 SE 7th Ave. Mango Nights Tango Orchestra
Vino Vixens Wine Shop & Bar 2929 SE Powell Blvd. Arthur “Fresh Air” Moore Harmonica Party (8 pm); Blues Jam (2 pm)
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Rule of the Bone, Mexican Gunfight (9:30 pm); The Student Loan (4:30 pm)
Winona Grange No. 271 8340 SW Seneca St., Tualatin The Celtic Conspiracy
Wonder Ballroom
128 NE Russell St. Red Fang, Brian Posehn, Ron Funches, Ian Karmel
SUN. DEC. 11 3 Doors Down
Slabtown
1429 SE 37th Ave. Dennis Hitchcox
Slim’s Cocktail Bar
303 SW 12th Ave. Sean Flinn
Star E Rose
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. The Trail Band (7 pm and 3 pm)
1033 NW 16th Ave. And And And, Father Figure, Support Force 8635 N Lombard St. Power of County, the Gams 2403 NE Alberta St. Dim Peepers
Star Theater
13 NW 6th Ave. The Dandy Warhols, 1776
Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel Aladdin Theater
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Danny Romero
Ash Street Saloon
The Blue Monk
225 SW Ash St. Deathtrap America, Jokers & Jacks, Porter Jones
The Crown Room
Beaterville Cafe
The Foggy Notion
320 SE 2nd Ave. The Grouch, Zion I, Eligh, Evidence, DJ Fresh
3341 SE Belmont St. Professor Gall 205 NW 4th Ave. Doodlebug (of Digable Planets) with DJ Alex J, DJ Zimmie, Love Loungers
2201 N Killingsworth St. John Craryl
Branx
3416 N Lombard St. Paint & Copter, Spacewaves, Phantom Animals
Clyde’s Prime Rib
The Gallery at Port City
830 E Burnside St. The Dandy Warhols
2156 N Williams Ave. The Hive Dwellers (featuring Calvin Johnson), Hooded Hags, Angelo Spencer, Les Hauts Sommets, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar 1001 SW Broadway Barbara Lusch
5474 NE Sandy Blvd. Ron Steen Jazz Jam
Doug Fir Lounge
Nothing Said, Orion, Stein, K Hump, Caducus, Change Your Mind, Steady Riot, The Seventh Penalty, Fast Fox
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Annie Vergnetti (8 pm); Adolfo Angel Cuellar IV (6 pm)
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Billy Kennedy & Tim Acott (9:30 pm); Freak Mountain Ramblers (6 pm)
Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom 1332 W Burnside St. The Dimes
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale The Half Hearted
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Cary Novotny & Johnny Connolly
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. The Dirty Words
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Hammers of Misfortune, Christian Mistress, Spellcaster
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Irish Music
NEPO 42
5403 NE 42nd Ave. Open Mic
Penner-Ash Wine Cellars
15771 NW Ribbon Ridge Road, Newberg Noah Brenner
Rontoms
600 E Burnside St. Alameda, Kelly Blair Bauman
Slim’s Cocktail Bar 8635 N Lombard St. Catarina New
Tabor Heights United Methodist Church
6161 SE Stark St. An Advent Carol Service
The Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Trio Subtonic
The Lovecraft
421 SE Grand Ave. Hips. Lips. Tits. Power. Women Who Rock!
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave. Goddard’s Piano Studio
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave. Randy Porter, Gregory Ewer, Nancy Ives
Tillicum Club
8585 SW BeavertonHillsdale Highway Johnny Martin
Trail’s End Saloon
1320 Main St., Oregon City Robbie Laws
Valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny St. MayMay, Raulsson, Lindsay Clark
White Eagle Saloon 836 N Russell St. Open Mic/Songwriter Showcase
MON. DEC. 12 Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel 303 SW 12th Ave. Sean Flinn
Duff’s Garage
Andina
Ella Street Social Club
Ash Street Saloon
1635 SE 7th Ave. Rick Welter Benefit 714 SW 20th Place Jarad Miles, St. Even
Hawthorne Theatre
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
1314 NW Glisan St. Pete Krebs 225 SW Ash St. Destroy Nate Allen, Mornings, Briertone, Poor Boy’s Soul, WhistlePunk!
Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave. Battery-Powered Music
CALENDAR Biddy McGraw’s
6000 NE Glisan St. Mike D.
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Karaoke from Hell
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Tennis, Miniature Tigers, Devon Williams
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Free Will (8 pm); Suzie and the Sidecars (6 pm)
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Lloyd Jones
O’Connors
7850 SW Capitol Highway Kit Garoutte
PCPA Antoinette Hatfield Hall
1111 SW Broadway Sally Harmon & Frank Gruner
The Blue Monk
Goodfoot Lounge
3341 SE Belmont St. Julia Schlippert and Wild Wild Men
Hawthorne Theatre
Tony Starlight’s
2845 SE Stark St. Open Mic
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Dom Kennedy, Skeme, Tope
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Salon de Musique
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. The Dan Balmer Band
Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. David Gerow with Phase Four
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Portland Country Underground
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale Skip vonKuske
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Bob Shoemaker
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Ishango, How to Build a Fire (9 pm); Bluegrass Jam (6:30 pm); Mr. Ben (5 pm)
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Piano Bar with Bo Ayars
Tube
18 NW 3rd Ave. Sissy Spacek, Tooth Ache, Skllscrpr, Redneck
Valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny St. Houndstooth, Neal Morgan, DJ Jen O
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Root Jack, Houndstooth
TUES. DEC. 13 Al’s Den at the Crystal Hotel
303 SW 12th Ave. Sean Flinn
Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Timothy B. Schmit (of The Eagles)
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. JB Butler
Ash Street Saloon
Secret Drum Band, The Bubs, Golden Retriever, Sad Horse
Buffalo Gap Saloon
6835 SW Macadam Ave. Open Mic
Bunk Bar
1028 SE Water Ave. White Arrows, Love Inks, Log Across the Washer
Camellia Lounge
510 NW 11th Ave. Ezra Weiss Quartet
Doug Fir Lounge
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro Open Bluegrass Jam
Mission Theater
1624 NW Glisan St. George Colligan
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Aaron Nigel Smith (family-friendly Bob Marley tribute)
Plan B
830 E Burnside St. Mansions on the Moon
1305 SE 8th Ave. Heroin Mascara, Benson Jones, My Robot Lung
Duff’s Garage
The Blue Monk
1635 SE 7th Ave. Open Mic Night
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Dover Weinberg Quartet (9:30 pm); Trio Bravo (6 pm)
Ella Street Social Club 714 SW 20th Place Black Carl
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. Scott PembertonTrio
Hawthorne Hophouse 4111 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Ben Larsen & Austin Moore
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Hot Club of Hawthorne
Jimmy Mak’s
3341 SE Belmont St. Pagan Jug Band
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Don & the Quixotes
Thirsty Lion
71 SW 2nd Ave. PDX Singer-Songwriter Showcase
Tony Starlight’s
3728 NE Sandy Blvd. Grant High School Jazz Ensemble
Twilight Café and Bar 1420 SE Powell Blvd. Open Mic with The Roaming
Vino Vixens Wine Shop & Bar
2929 SE Powell Blvd. Arthur “Fresh Air” Moore Harmonica Party
221 NW 10th Ave. The Mel Brown Septet (8 pm); Orjazzum (6:30 pm)
White Eagle Saloon
LaurelThirst
20 NW 3rd Ave. Idiot Tuesdays with DJ Black Dog
225 SW Ash St. The Lockouts, Atlas and the Astronaut, The Messy Jacksons
2958 NE Glisan St. Jackstraw
Backspace
2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale
115 NW 5th Ave.
The Old Yellers
McMenamins Edgefield Winery
836 N Russell St. The Shook Twins
Yes and No
927 SE Morrison St. DJ HazMatt
Bubblin: Dave Quam, DJ Roane, Jusayn, Ben Tactic, Lincolnup
The Foggy Notion
Someday Lounge
The Whiskey Bar
Star Bar
3416 N Lombard St. BENT
WED. DEC. 7 Devils Point
5305 SE Foster Road ‘80s Night with DJ Brooks
East End
203 SE Grand Ave. DJs Total Fucker, Moderhead
Groove Suite
440 NW Glisan St. Marc Vano, Blake Brix, The Midwest Express
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. DJ-808
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. DJ Krillim
The Whiskey Bar 31 NW 1st Ave. American Girls
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. Mild Child
THURS. DEC. 8 Rotture
315 SE 3rd Ave. I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul: DJ Beyondadoubt, DJ Name Names, Mr. Fine Wine, DJ Jonathan Toubin (Soul Night’s 5-year anniversary)
Someday Lounge
125 NW 5th Ave. Mixer: Lorin Atzen, Jesse Gay, Sky Wolfe, Michael Grimes and Mr. Romo, Selectress Instigatah
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. DJ Jake Cheeto
The Crown Room
205 NW 4th Ave. F*ck The Disco: DJs Evil One, Doc Adam, Tyler Tastemaker
The Lovecraft
421 SE Grand Ave. Manchester Night with DJ Bar Hopper
The Whiskey Bar 31 NW 1st Ave. Damage
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. DJ Avant to Party
Tube
18 NW 3rd Ave. Expressway to Yr Skull: DJ Miss Prid, ExtrAlone
Valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny St. DJ Genevieve D
FRI. DEC. 9 Beauty Bar
111 SW Ash St. Off Brand: DJs Doc Adam, Nick Dean
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. DJ Ghostdad
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Art Fair/Swap Happy Hour with DJ Robert Ham
Palace of Industry 5426 N Gay Ave. DJ Holiday
Rotture
315 SE 3rd Ave. Live and Direct: Rev Shines, Slimkid3, DJ Nature
MUSIC
Sassy’s Bar and Grill
31 NW 1st Ave. Recess: Lowriderz, 2Legit, Free Crush, Chase Manhattan
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. Stuff N’ Things
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Turbo Returns!: DJs Jose D, Kozmik Steel, Jimbo
Valentine’s
232 SW Ankeny St. DJ Cuica, DDDJJJ666, Maxx Bass
SAT. DEC. 10 Beauty Bar
111 SW Ash St. DJ Nature
Greeley Avenue Bar & Grill
5421 N Greeley Ave. Eye Candy with VJ Rev. Danny Horton
Ground Kontrol
511 NW Couch St. DJs Nate C, Chip
Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom
125 NW 5th Ave. Tom Mitchell, Ron Trent 639 SE Morrison St. DJ Uriah Creep
The Lovecraft
421 SE Grand Ave. Glam Night: DJs Overcol, Horrid
The Whiskey Bar 31 NW 1st Ave. Bass Therapy
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. Dr. Def
Valentine’s 232 SW Ankeny St. New Dadz
MON. DEC. 12 Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Ocote Soul Sounds, DJ Santo
Tiga
1465 NE Prescott St. DJ Magic Beans
TUES. DEC. 13 East End
203 SE Grand Ave. DJ Old Man Stares
1332 W Burnside St. Jai Ho! Bollywood Bliss Dance Party
Kelly’s Olympian
Palace of Industry
Mount Tabor Theater
5426 N Gay Ave. DJ Pippa Possible
Roseland Theater
426 SW Washington St. DJ Hairfarmer 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Old Skool
8 NW 6th Ave. Borgore, Sir Kutz, DJ Offline
Star Bar
Rotture
Tiga
315 SE 3rd Ave.
639 SE Morrison St. DJ Bradley 1465 NE Prescott St. DJs Sunny 1550
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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DEC. 7-13
Rocket Man
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
For those in need of your annual fix of A Christmas Story, there are a couple options: You can wait for the 24-hour Ralphie-fest on TNT, or you can watch Portland Center Stage’s adaptation of the flick. EMILEE BOOHER. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 7:30 pm Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturdays-Sundays. Noon and 5 pm Saturday, Dec. 24. Closes Dec. 24. $29-$64.
In the program notes for this Twilight Rep production, director Aimé Kelly says Rocket Man “lays the foundation for a quantum-meta cognizant journey.” Whatever that means, Steven Dietz’s play is certainly slippery. Melancholic Donny (a compelling Mark Twohy) has dumped all his possessions on the lawn with a sign reading “Here’s my life—make an offer.” His friends and family respond with predictable alarm. Donny speaks vaguely of a trip he plans to take. He fiddles with a mysterious machine in his attic. He talks about the stars. A disco ball spins. The second act finds us in a parallel universe, where time moves in peculiar ways and temperaments have shifted. In this well-paced, well-intentioned production, you want to feel for Donny and clan. But just as Donny is told that his “application for empathy has been denied,” so too does Dietz’s zigzagging between sentimentality and sarcasm make it tough to care all that much about any of his characters. REBECCA JACOBSON. Shoe Box Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 312-6789. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, Dec. 8-11. $10-$15.
Ebenezer Ever After
The Santaland Diaries
Most prices listed are for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and so-called convenience charges may apply, so it’s best to call ahead. Editor: BEN WATERHOUSE. Stage: BEN WATERHOUSE (bwaterhouse@wweek. com). Classical: BRETT CAMPBELL (bcampbell@wweek.com). Dance: HEATHER WISNER (dance@wweek.com). TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit information at least two weeks in advance to: bwaterhouse@wweek.com.
THEATER Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
What better antidote could there be to December’s constant stream of syrup than Tony Kushner’s 3 1/2-hour masterwork about AIDS, drug addiction, the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and other assorted horrors of the Reagan era? Portland Playhouse’s production is sure to be this winter’s mosttalked-about show: Its cast includes Lorraine Bahr, Gretchen Corbett, Nikki Weaver, Ebbe Roe Smith and Wade McCollum. World Trade Center Theater, 121 SW Salmon St., 205-0715. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays; 7:30 pm Tuesday-Wednesday Dec. 20-21; and 2 pm Friday, Dec. 30. No show Christmas day. Closes Dec. 31. $15-$32.
The Big Bang
The inventive premise of the 1997 play The Big Bang (staged here by Triangle Productions) is that the audience is a group of potential investors being pitched a musical by two guys with nothing but a sorry assortment of props and a dream. Unfortunately for our wannabe producers, it’s a heaping pile of a dream, a comically overambitious production that (in four three-hour parts) would tell the complete history of the world. The thankfully much abridged version coleads Benjamin Sheppard and James Sharinghousen pitch us “investors” will delight Mel Brooks fans and make the politically correct uneasy: The humor is dated and hammy, and it employs pretty much every racial stereotype. JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG. Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 NE Sandy Blvd., 239-5919. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, Dec. 8-11. $15-$35.
Brie
Watching Brie is less like seeing a play than like seeing dean-enraging talent-show sketch comedy by your high school’s fuck-ups. The two-act tale of a MySpace courtship is an altogether punk production: Written by John Walterich and presented by Jedediah Aker, it’s performed by a largely amateur, very tattooed cast at Tonic Lounge, and scored live by rotating punk-rock acts. I suppose it’s in keeping with punk sensibilities that Brie is a crass play, but that doesn’t mean the unimaginative cursing, distasteful misogyny and homophobia and puerile onstage antics don’t get obnoxious. JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG. Tonic Lounge, 3100 NE Sandy Blvd., 238-0543. 9:30 pm Monday, Dec. 12. $5. 21+.
Cavalia
Cirque du Soleil co-founder Normand Latourelle’s horse show is pure spectacle: The acrobats and aerialists have rubber bands for bodies and are seemingly immune to gravity, but the real performance is by the “four-legged artists.” In one of the most touching acts, a trainer coaxes six running horses into a perfect trot around her and, with the slightest change in her body, the steeds simultaneously turn the other direction as if all seven figures are one entity. The mood quickly changes from elegant to heart-racing. One by one, horses gallop against a vast desert landscape as daring riders perform a number of tricks, including hanging upside down, sideways and backward off the saddle. Soon a rider’s head is inches away from thundering hooves, and the audience is astonished and horrified. EMILEE BOOHER. Cavalia Big-top, Northwest 12th Avenue and Pettygrove Street, 866-999-8111. 8 pm Dec. 10, 13-14, 17, 19-23, 26, 28 and 30; 2 pm Dec. 11 and 18. 3 pm Dec. 10, 17, 24, 27, 29 and 31 and Jan. 2. $24.50-$189.50.
46
The Christmas Revels
This year’s revels, titled “The King and the Fool,” has a medieval English theme. Scottish Rite Center, 1512 SW Morrison St., 274-4654. 7:30 pm Dec. 8-10, 1 and 7 pm Dec. 10, 1 and 5 pm Dec. 11. $18-$36 adults, $7-$15 children.
A Christmas Story
Stumptown Stages reprises the company’s musical sequel to Dickens’ story. PCPA Brunish Hall, 1111 SW Broadway, stumptownstages.com. 7:30 pm Dec. 9-10, 16-17 and 23, 2 pm Dec. 18 and 24. $26.30-$34.30.
The Last Tinderbox: A Little Horseplay in Wartime
Readers Theatre Repertory performs David Richie’s comedy about the Pig War, a little-known dispute in 1859 between the U.S. and Great Britain in the San Juan Islands. Blackfish Gallery, 420 NW 9th Ave., 295-4997. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, Dec. 9-10. $8.
The Moon in the Triangle
New theater company Monkey With a Hat On presents a “multimedia kung-fu play” that involves “digital light projections, ballet, film and a live band.” I have no idea what that all means, honestly, but it sounds pretty awesome. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030. 7 pm Sunday-Tuesday, Dec. 11-13 and Saturday-Monday, Dec. 17-19, through Dec. 19. $5. 21+.
My Mind Is Like an Open Meadow
Memory, old age and the importance of living life to the fullest are the themes of this solo performance by Hand2Mouth Theatre member Erin Leddy. The show’s something of a duet, actually, between Leddy and sampled recordings that her now-91-year-old grandmother, Sarah Braveman, made in 2001 and 2010, cleverly edited to create a convincing illusion of live conversation. Braveman serves as narrator, critic and subject, reading poems, critiquing her granddaughter’s lovely, Death Cab-esque songs and recalling painful memories of her childhood. Braveman’s struggle to remember the names of long-dead cats is heartbreaking, and the soundscape created by Ash Black Buffalo, John Berendzen and Holcombe Waller is as immersive and compelling as anything I’ve experienced. Leddy’s performance is physically strenuous and emotionally draining, her best work to date. BEN WATERHOUSE. Ethos/IFCC, 5340 N Interstate Ave., hand2mouththeatre.org. 8 pm Thursday-Friday, 2 and 8 pm Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 8-11. $12-$18.
Reckless
The students of Portland Actors Conservatory presents a holiday drama by Craig Lucas about a woman fleeing an assassin hired by her husband. Portland Actors Conservatory, 1436 SW Montgomery St., 274-1717. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays Dec. 11 and 18. Closes Dec. 18. $10-$25.
Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka
Northwest Children’s Theater visits the chocolate factory. NW Neighborhood Cultural Center, 1819 NW Everett St., 222-4480. 2 pm Dec. 10-11, 17-18, 20-24, 27-31 and Jan. 1; 7 pm Dec. 9-10, 16-17, 21-23 and 28-30. $13-$22.
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
[NEW REVIEW] Since debuting on Morning Edition two decades ago, this all-too-true story of David Sedaris’ stint as an elf at Macy’s has become, at least among the public-radio set, an unlikely Christmas classic—and rightly so. Reporting from the beast’s belly, Sedaris casts his withering gaze upon latter-day Christmas’ commercialism and pageantry while still reminding his audience what the holiday’s really about. With source material this good, it’s hard to go wrong. Portland Center Stage’s fifth production of Joe Mantello’s one-man adaptation stars Jim Lichtscheidl, a Minneapolis actor making his Portland debut. Replacing Portland favorite Wade McCollum, Lichtscheidl has some big, jingle bell-adorned shoes to fill, but he proves more than up to the task. Lichtscheidl’s metamorphic impressions of the colorful personalities with whom Crumpet the Elf must contend might even surpass Sedaris’ own. Nobody, though—and I mean nobody— does Billie Holiday like Sedaris does. JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 7:30 pm Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 pm Saturdays-Sundays. Noon and 5 pm Dec. 24, no show Dec. 25. Closes Dec. 31. $25-$51.
The Shame Company
[NEW REVIEW] At summer camp one year, my cabin choreographed a dance routine to a song by TLC. We wore cutoff jean shorts and shook sassy index fingers at the audience. I’m quite certain it was awful. Grisly flashbacks of this performance haunted me during this energetic show by sketch comedy troupe the 3rd Floor, in which some of the strongest scenes excavate the embarrassment and angst of adolescence. But it’s not all giggly summer camp sketches—the show also boasts sequined unitards, grown men mimicking cats, a video reel featuring such bygone luminaries as Dennis Rodman and JonBenét Ramsey and a very funny pantomime by Jason Keller as a smooth jazz percussionist. Characters reappear throughout the show, stringing otherwise unrelated sketches into an unexpectedly cohesive and amusing evening. Some of it makes sense and some of it doesn’t, but the choreography is hilarious and the comedic timing first-rate— and did I mention the sequined unitards? REBECCA JACOBSON. Miracle Theatre, 525 SE Stark St., the3rdfloor. com. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Closes Dec. 17. $14-$16.
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol
This latest Christmas Carol perversion at Artists Rep, by Seattle playwright John Longenbaugh, achieves the dubious feat of being even more long-windedly dull and moralistic than the usual version. BEN WATERHOUSE. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 241-1278. 7:30 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 pm Sundays. Closes Dec. 24. $20-$50.
A Very Merry PDX-MAS
This year’s Broadway Rose Christmas show is largely a rehashing of the company’s 2008 holiday revue, Celebrate Home. It’s a fine thing. That show was a refreshing antidote to the tired camp that fills most of America’s stages each December. It was funny, sincere and exceptionally well performed. Two members of that cast (Amy Beth Frankel and Anne McKee Reed) are back this year, along with all of the very funny songs director Abe Reybold and his writing partner, Jay Tumminello, penned for Celebrate Home. They’ve added a few more numbers this year, including a seasonal affective disorder-inspired rewrite of “My Favorite Things” and “Joy to the Burbs,” a half-serious paean to life beyond Southwest 65th Avenue. Don’t like funny? Maybe cute kids and jazzy arrangements of carols will get you in the door. BEN WATERHOUSE. Broadway Rose New Stage Theatre, 12850 SW Grant Ave., Tigard, 6205262. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2
pm Sundays; 2 and 7:30 pm Saturdays. Closes Dec. 17. $20-$28.
White Album Christmas
A circus spectacular set to a live performance of The Beatles. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 7196055. 9 pm Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 8-10. $20-$25.
A WWII Radio Christmas
Tapestry Theatre is taking a hiatus this year from its perennial Christmas from Home nostalgia-fest, but you can still get your fill of foley thanks to the students of Oregon Children’s Theatre’s Young Professionals program. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 228-9571. 2 pm SaturdaySunday, Dec. 10-11. $10.
ZooZoo
Imago pulls together favorite scenes from the company’s Frogz and Biglittlethings for a bundle of visual delights. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., 224-8499. 7 pm Dec. 8-9, 16, 21,
PREVIEW CHRISTOPHER PEDDECORD
PERFORMANCE
IN GOOD COMPANY (NORTHWEST DANCE PROJECT) A premise designed to make you feel old.
It’s been a banner year for Portland’s Northwest Dance Project, which specializes in dancing work by international contemporary choreographers. The company won two European dance competitions and was invited to perform in New York next month. And in advance of this month’s holiday show, In Good Company, six of its members learned to work a record player for the first time. Feel old yet? You will. In Good Company bucks NWDP’s convention by having six company dancers choreograph work on each other. The only limit was that pieces had to be set to vinyl from Executive Director Scott Lewis’ 10,000-record collection, but as twentysomethings, the dancers weren’t used to records and weren’t sure where to start: “At one point, [dancer] Andrea Parsons asked me ‘Who’s Alan Parsons?’ and I realized she was searching by her own last name,” Lewis said. “I had to teach them how to handle records, how to work a turntable. One of them asked me, ‘How do you know when one song ends and another begins?’” Final selections include Nina Simone, Steve Martin, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Nick Drake. Dancer Lindsey Matheis, who was charged with coordinating rehearsals and gathering program information, says the pieces offer variations—grounded floorwork, character dances, breakaway gestural sequences—on the company’s contemporary balletic vibe. Thematically, the pieces cover anything from the progression of relationships (Franco Nieto’s I Love My Baby) to gravity (Andrea Parson’s The Art of Standing Up) to the gossipy chaos of a houseful of aunts (Ching Ching Wong’s Tsismis). DJ Anjali will spin the tunes live during the show; records hung from the ceiling will decorate the studio and warm wassail will be served. In Good Company is a fundraiser for two upcoming tours: As winner of the 2011 Sadler’s Wells Global Dance Competition, NWDP will perform at London’s Olympic Arts Festival next June. Before that, the company will dance repertory works Jan. 7-9 at New York’s FOCUS Dance festival. Neither performance is likely to feature wassail. HEATHER WISNER. SEE IT: In Good Company at Northwest Dance Project Studio, 833 N Shaver St., nwdanceproject.org. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Dec. 9-10; 4 pm Sunday, Dec. 11; 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 15-17. $30-$40.
DEC. 7-13
COMEDY Spoken
Seattle’s Unexpected Productions brings its long-form improv show to the Brody. Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, 224-2227. 7:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. $8-$10.
Superuckus
Comedian Augi is joined by other storytellers in this benefit for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie Ave., superuckus. com. 7 pm Thursday-Friday, Dec. 8-9. $20-$25. 21+.
CLASSICAL
Portland Gay Men’s Chorus
Electric Opera
Yes, you’re probably already sick of hearing Nutcracker music, the “Winter” concerto from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and those other weary, wintry classics—but not like this. One of the city’s finest alt-classical outfits has assembled nearly two dozen classically trained but rocking electric guitarists, keyboard players and drummers to shred the Christmas classics. 9 pm Friday, Dec. 9, at Mississippi Pizza (3552 N Mississippi Ave., 228-3231, $5), 5 pm Saturday, Dec. 10, at Oregon Zoo.
Metropolitan Youth Symphony
String, cello and flute ensembles perform music from Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals and a tuneful Mozart divertimento. Marylhurst University, 17600 Highway 43, 2394566. 7 pm Friday, Dec. 9. $5-$10.
Ocote Soul Sounds
With help from pianist Vince Frates, the cellist performs original compositions and improvisations. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. 7:30 pm Thursday, Dec. 8. $12-$15.
Grupo Fantasma guitarist/bassist Adrian Quesada and Antibalas flutist/ singer Martin Perna join forces for a mighty melange of funk, Afrobeat, reggae and Latin rhythms. Lola’s Room, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm Monday, Dec. 12. $10-$12.
Bach Cantata Choir
Oregon Repertory Singers
Adam Hurst
Ralph Nelson conducts the 60-voice choir with soloists and chamber orchestra in the last three cantatas J.S. Bach assembled into his Christmas Oratorio, plus Correlli’s Christmas Concerto. Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, 1907 NE 45th Ave., 702-1973. 7:30 pm Friday, Dec. 9. $18-$25.
The choir’s annual holiday concert features traditional Christmas carols and seasonal songs, plus music by Benjamin Britten and Portland composer Joan Szymko. St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1716 NW Davis St., 2300652, orsingers.org. 2 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. $10-$30.
Cantico: The Portland Chamber Singers
Oregon Symphony, Northwest Community Gospel Choir
The 20-voice choir opens its season with music by the Spanish lateRenaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, John Rutter, contemporary composers Stephen Paulus and Brian Wilson, and holiday songs. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. 8 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. $10-$12.
Charles Floyd conducts his choir and orchestra in a high-intensity gospel concert. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 228-1353. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, 4 pm Sunday, Dec. 9-11. $25-$90.
I M A G O T H E AT R E
23, 28 and 30; 2 pm Dec. 11, 18, 20, 22, 26-27 and 29-31; noon and 3 pm Dec. 10, 17 and 24 and Jan. 1. $16-$29.
PERFORMANCE
Abetted by its small vocal ensemble, Cascade and dance troupe the Locomotions, the 130-voice choir sings holiday music written for gay choruses, music from Africa, Spain, India and Israel, carols and “digital hijinks.” Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 226-2588. 8 pm Friday, 2 and 8 pm Saturday, Dec. 9-10. $16-$42.
Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble
The 14-piece big band plays new music by PSU jazz director Charley Gray, guitarist Kyle Williams, cellist/ trumpeter Eric Allen and sax-master Gus Slayton. Community Music Center, 3350 SE Francis St., 916-213-6909. 8 pm Saturday, Dec. 10. $10-$15.
Shin-young Kwon
The Oregon Symphony violinist, who gave a sterling recital of J.S. Bach’s solo sonatas last spring, returns with a survey of another half dozen by Eugène Ysaÿe. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. 7:30 pm Tuesday, Dec. 13. Free.
DANCE Do Jump!
If the Nutcracker isn’t your speed, consider Do Jump!’s holiday show Ahhh Ha!, a greatest-hits collection from the company’s past three decades. Echo Theater, 1515 SE 37th Ave., 231-1232. 7:30 pm Friday, Dec. 9; 3 and 7:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 10; 4 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. $20-$32.
Nrityotsava
Enjoy an evening of Indian classical-dance styles—Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Odissi—as well as folk and Nepalese dance at this benefit for Kalakendra Performing Arts. Evans Auditorium at Lewis &Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road. 3:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. $10-$15.
THAT YOU, MR. WU?: Hip cats in Imago Theatre’s ZooZoo.
Oregon Ballet Theatre: A Holiday Revue
Oregon Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker
If you’ve ever wondered what happened to Quarterflash, you will find your answer at Oregon Ballet Theatre’s A Holiday Revue, where band founders Marv and Rindy Ross will make guest appearances at select performances. Not a ‘flash fan? Don’t let that harden your heart to the show itself. A Holiday Revue is fine, seasonal entertainment for grown-ups: sets and costumes have a retro vibe and the dance vignettes blend stylish with substantive and comedic with wistful. This second annual installment features more dance numbers than the first and also includes jazzy, live vocals by Susannah Mars. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 800-745-3000. 7:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 10, Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 15-17 and Thursday, Dec. 22; 2 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. Closes Dec. 22. $29.15$156.45.
Oregon Ballet Theatre stages the classic George Balanchine/New York City Ballet version, which has all the traditional trappings, from scary mice to swirling sweets. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 800-745-3000. 2 pm Saturday, Dec. 10; 6:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. $21-$140.
ScratchPDX
ScratchPDX, a rotating group of improvisational performers, meets once a month to test new dance, music, storytelling, comedy and more on a live audience and get feedback at intermission. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., 358-0898. 9 pm second Saturdays through May. $10.
For more Performance listings, visit
GI V E T H E GI F T OF M US IC
GREAT STOCKING STUFFERS FROM DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON AND DECCA!
Andrea Bocelli
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The Maltese Tenor sings opera’s most glorious arias! Sale $14.99 CD
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Pasion-Cuban boleros & Argentinean tangos
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One Night in Central Park Sale $14.99 CD Sale $23.99 Deluxe CD + DVD set
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Ives-Four Sonatas Hilary Hahn-Violin Valentina Lisitsa-Piano Sale $14.99 CD
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Patricia Petibon-Soprano Michael Boder-Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona Sale $33.99 DVD
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VISUAL ARTS
DEC. 7-13 REVIEW
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
False Starts, Repairs, and Overhauls
A ramshackle train barrels through a lightning storm in Mark Licari’s False Starts, Repairs, and Overhauls. The ink, graphite and acrylic drawing is so largescale, so feverish, so hallucinogenic, so downright gonzo, it singlehandedly fills Disjecta’s cavernous main gallery, even though it’s a strictly two-dimensional wall piece. Meanwhile, in the far more intimate Vestibule installation space, Vanessa Calvert’s False Cover continues the artist’s exploration of melty, Jabba the Hut-like sculpture in which distorted furniture and upholstery create an atmosphere of quasi-surrealist grotesquerie. Calvert’s first forays into this territory were hindered by a crafty, DIY execution, but in recent shows she has beefed up her technique, resulting in firstrate works that are materially complex and formally cohesive. Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate Ave., disjecta.org. Closes Jan. 7.
Gang of Four
The underwhelming group show, Gang of Four, includes nebulalike abstract paintings by David Coyne, interlacing geometric etudes by K. Scott Rawls, mixed-media works by Zach Kosta and some truly unfortunate wall reliefs by Emily Kosta that look like maritimethemed bric-a-brac from a Key Largo souvenir shop. Can you say “tacky”? galleryHOMELAND at the Ford Building, 2505 SE 11th Ave., galleryhomeland.org. Closes Jan. 2.
Gamic Magic
Like painters Chris Haberman and Jennifer Mercede, Jesse Reno suffers from overexposure, exhibiting so often that his work’s impact can be watered down. But a fresh look at Reno’s work shows that the artist’s high-volume output need not deflate his aesthetic currency. Paintings such as The Horse and the Rider exude a neo-primitivist urgency, while It’s More the Magic Than the Wand shows chromatic sophistication and a gift for imagery melding human, animal and spirit creatures in his part of the Gamic Magic show that also features Theodore Holdt. Graeter Art Gallery, 131 NW 2nd Ave., 477-6041, graeterartgallery.com. Closes Dec. 30.
Tom Hardy
Freelance curator Mark Woolley fills the old Ogle Gallery space with paintings, drawings and sculpture by one of the Northwest’s most beloved artists. Tom Hardy at 90 celebrates the nonagenarian’s prolificacy across diverse media and styles: jauntily rhythmic sculptures, Asian-influenced landscapes and elegant nudes. But Hardy’s most impactful pieces are astounding gestural abstractions, such as Abstract With Rust. The work practically leaps off the picture plane with bravado, motion and raw verve. Ogle Gallery,
DUSTIN ZEMEL
By RICHARD SPEER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit show information—including opening and closing dates, gallery address and phone number—at least two weeks in advance to: Visual Arts, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: rspeer@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115. Emailed press releases must be backed up by a faxed or printed copy. 310 NW Broadway, 227-4333. Closes Dec. 31.
Werd Scho Wida
The intrepid, inexhaustibly inventive Blakely Dadson advances his artistic evolution with the drawing show Werd Scho Wida (colloquial German for “things will get better”). Conjuring a mad, inspired pastiche, Dadson combines Bavarian townscapes, films stills from Disney’s Pinocchio, a portrait of Bette Davis and imagery from the execrable 1986 comedy Three Amigos, tying the incongruous elements together in a loose retelling of the Book of Revelation. Somehow, it all works. Dadson makes virtuosic use of negative space and adds doses of ribald wit in Nurse Shark, in which a busty, latter-day Florence Nightingale protrudes from the jaws of a great white. Tasty stuff, indeed. Chambers@916, 916 NW Flanders St., 227-9398, chambersgallery. com. Closes Dec. 23.
Pulliam December Group Show
G. Lewis Clevenger’s abstract paintings stand out in Pulliam’s group show. Ever freer and more intuitive, Clevenger’s works are veering further away from his customary grid-based compositions toward something looser and more Stuart Davis-like. Meanwhile, Jeffry Mitchell’s precious elephantinscribed ceramics aim for whimsy but achieve only cheesiness, while Linda Hutchins’ graphite scrawls, more on the mark, have minimalist panache to burn. Finally, Richard Hoyen’s oil paintings of Oregon landmarks distill Oregon-iana in grittily picturesque fashion. His depiction of Latourell Falls has a morosity reminiscent of Gus van Sant and Walt Curtis, minus the rough trade and squirting penises. Pulliam Gallery, 929 NW Flanders St., 228-6665, pulliamgallery.com. Closes Dec. 30.
Mechanics of Hither and Yon
If you are traveling for the holidays, don’t miss Mechanics of Hither and Yon, the Portland airport’s yearlong installation by Brenda Mallory. By all accounts, you will witness her grandest scale to date, a large wall work made from cotton coated in beeswax, with blackened hardware that emerges about 20 feet from floor to ceiling. Evoking nests or hives, Mallory uses thin, black steel rods that help direct the eye to starbursts. Others are clustered, folded and outstretched like limbs, dark orchids and even microscopic life-forms explored through a new lens. The piece is accessed after the security checkpoint, so get your ticket early and stop by on the way to your gate. TJ NORRIS. Portland International Airport, flypdx. com. Closes November 2012.
For more Visual Arts listings, visit
LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! THANKS.
SHRED OF LIGHTS In Shred of Lights, one of Worksound’s best ever shows, five artists examine the acts of transcription, documentation and commentary, and their relevance to contemporary life. At the show’s First Friday opening, writer/curator/ performance artist Lisa Radon staged a live piece titled COPIER: Horizons, which cogently and poignantly distilled the show’s themes. During the performance, eight women sat at a long desk, transcribing in longhand Radon’s own handwritten transcription of an essay by the late writer and Fluxus artist Dick Higgins. As the scribes scribbled away, desk-mounted microphones picked up and amplified the sounds of their pens on paper, creating a kind of music: a wistfully syncopated song about the dying art of writing by hand. On a desk in the gallery’s entryway, sociologist Sammy Shaw laid out working drafts of his research project, which compares and contrasts the art scenes in Portland and Nashville, Tenn., where Shaw studies at Vanderbilt University. Gallery-goers are invited to peruse the drafts, whose gist, we gather from talking to Shaw, is that Portland kicks Nashville’s ass. Dustin Zemel has filled the gallery’s east project room with a multi-channel video installation that wickedly satirizes television news and cable talk shows. Fake news segments unfurl across a
Dustin Zemel’s video installation wickedly satirizes TV news.
half-dozen TV monitors, each featuring a histrionic announcer attempting to capture the viewer’s attention. As you approach each monitor, an interactive element kicks in—the monitor senses your proximity—and suddenly the anchor stops talking and just grins at you, satisfied to have drawn you in. Meanwhile, the talking heads on the other televisions intensify their own antics, desperate to lure you to their own screens. It’s a nerve-wracking, spot-on microcosm of the din of cable TV. As an antidote to these blowhards, painter Michael Endo offers quiet, meditative paintings that depict desolated landscapes, nearly devoid of human habitation. This is a vision of a society that is either pre-technological or postapocalyptic, and in either case far removed from the information overload evoked in Radon’s, Shaw’s and Zemel’s work. Endo paints in a palette of dingy grays and blacks, except in the sinister Grim Reaper fantasia Strega, whose diabolical reds and Pepto-Bismol pinks telegraph a garish menace. Life off the grid might be less than utopic, Endo suggests. Shred of Lights loses cohesion in Ray Anthony Barrett’s mixed-media paintings, which are not clearly related to the show’s theme. Despite this, the show manages to navigate diverse media in considering the ways we document and transfer knowledge in an era when pen and paper have yielded to cloud computing and flash drives. RICHARD SPEER. SEE IT: Shred of Lights at Worksound, 820 SE Alder St., worksoundpdx.com. Closes Dec. 28.
WW ’s got a
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
nose for news
BOOKS
DEC. 7-13
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. By MARIANNA HANE WILES. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit lecture or reading information at least two weeks in advance to: WORDS, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: words@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7 First Wednesday with Wine
Pair your poetry with wine at Blackbird’s monthly reading series. First Wednesdays at the Fremont shop combine wine tasting with readings and performances by a variety of local authors. The folks at Blackbird hope “authors will bring joy, confusion and understanding to your life” (according to their event page). I thought that was what the wine was for.... Blackbird Wine Shop, 4323 NE Fremont St., 282-1887. 7 pm. Free. 21+.
Loggernaut Reading Series
The theme is “Stranger” and this month’s readers are Apricot Irving, Riley Michael Parker and John Beer. Irving has reported for This American Life and has a forthcoming memoir. When not writing poetry, Beer (no relation to Widmer or Budweiser) teaches creative writing at Portland State University. Parker is responsible for experimental press Housefire and is the writer/producer of a John Waters-esque film called The Promise Keepers. Ristretto Williams, 3808 N Williams Ave., 288-8667. 7:30 pm. $2 suggested donation.
THURSDAY, DEC. 8 VoiceCatcher Book Release
For the past six years, VoiceCatcher has provided an excellent publication opportunity for Portland’s female writers and artists. The resulting anthology is an annual compilation in the vein of all those literary “best of” books that fill bookstore shelves in time for the holidays; this one could be called Best of NW Writing (and Art) by Women, but that title’s a bit clunky. The sixth VoiceCatcher launches in Vancouver with readings by six of the contributors: Alice Hardesty, Leah Stenson, Meredith Stewart, Dawn Thompson, Deb Scott and April Bullard. Cover to Cover Books, 6300 NE St. James Road, Vancouver, 360-514-0358. 7 pm. Free.
Literary Mixtape: McSweeney’s Edition Instead of boring you with their latest hastily scribbled work, readers at Literary Mixtape share short selections from authors they like and admire. It’s kind of like they’re book DJs. December’s event will be in celebration of the release of a new McSweeney’s title, The Rector and the Rogue. Editor Paul Collins will read, along with other Portlandbased McSweeney’s contributors: Tom Bissell, Elizabeth Miller and Arthur Bradford. Valentine’s, 232 SW Ankeny St., 248-1600. 7 pm. Free.
SUNDAY, DEC. 11 The Studio Series
Who knew Johns Landing had its own monthly poetry reading? December’s edition will include beautiful wordsmith Valentine Freeman and a crew of five writers calling themselves the Moonlit Guttery Team, whatever that means. They’ve also promised an open mic to follow the reading, so stop by the Ross Island Cafe and Grocery for snacks and settle in for the show. Stonehenge Studios, 3508 SW Corbett Ave., 224-3640. 7 pm. Free.
MONDAY, DEC. 12 Patricia Cornwell
Even if you don’t read Patricia Cornwell, her name probably sounds a bit familiar (probably from seeing her name on mass-market paperbacks at the supermarket checkout). For thriller and mystery readers, though, she’s got the star power of
Stephen King. Cornwell is on tour to promote her newest title in the Kay Scarpetta series, Red Mist. Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 228-4651. 7 pm. Free.
Drunk Poets Society
This poetry open mic takes place every Monday at the horror-themed Lovecraft bar. RUTH BROWN. The Lovecraft, 421 SE Grand Ave., 971270-7760. 8 pm. Free. 21+.
TUESDAY, DEC. 13 Readings@ Milepost 5
Second Tuesday reading series at Eat.Art.Theater, the cafe and performance venue in the bowels of the collective. Each month a few featured readers share their poetry and prose and then open the mic to the crowd. Eat Art Theater, 850 NE 81st Ave., 548-4096. 7:30 pm. Free.
Smalldoggies Reading Series
Smalldoggies follows a simple recipe: start with a great venue (Blue Monk), add one musical guest (Blind Bartimaeus at 8 pm) and three readers (Vanessa Veselka, Erin Ergenbright and Karen Wood Hepner, starting at 8:30 pm). Stir. Mix. Enjoy. The Blue Monk, 3341 SE Belmont St., 595-0575. Music at 8 pm, readings at 8:30 pm. $5 suggested donation to Smalldoggies Press. 21+.
For more Words listings, visit
The artistic community at Milepost 5 invites the public to join their
REVIEW
QUEEN OF AMERICA Luis Alberto Urrea spent some 26 years on Queen of America (Little, Brown and Company, 496 pages, $25.99). The novel is understandably precious to the Mexican-American author as it borrows heavily from the exploits of Teresita Urrea, his great-aunt. Teresita supposedly possessed spiritual healing powers, earning her a national reputation in Mexico and the title “Saint of Cabora” from the indigenous people whose cause she championed against A Mexican faith healer a regime that sought her assasrules in the EE.UU. sination. Queen of America finishes what Urrea began with 2006’s The Hummingbird’s Daughter, continuing his fictionalized retelling of Teresita’s years as a young adult exiled from her beloved homeland by Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz following a bloody revolt she helped inspire. Under the watchful protection of her ornery, sharpshooting father Don Tomás, Teresita works her way from El Paso to San Francisco, St. Louis and then New York City. It’s a long journey, and Urrea spares no detail while brilliantly blending actual events with a well-crafted narrative of his own creation. Urrea excels at enveloping the reader in the minute customs associated with life in the American Southwest in the 1890s, effortlessly placing readers in the sweltering, cavernous Arizona desert: “Southwest of it, the tormented and mysterious Yaqui mountains, and to its north the vast wall of the red and saffron Frog Mountain, the complex of peaks and canyons that sealed Tucson off to the rest of the world.” Queen of America focuses on the evolution of Teresita’s healing powers and her blossoming celebrity, an evolution that finds her embracing her newfound fame on a healing tour of America. Teresita is the obvious focus of the novel, and Urrea succeeds in rendering her an engaging protagonist. We watch her transform from the humble, 19-year-old Indian girl with magical powers into a faith-healing celebrity. We rejoice with her when she finds love; we are devastated when that love dissipates. This all follows Urrea’s resolute literary style—part magical realism, part Southwest frontier diary and part traditional coming-of-age story. Within that tale of transformation lies a gripping, coherent narrative that’s obviously the product of painstaking research. Urrea leaves out no detail in his descriptive prose, a meticulous technique that helps the reader delve all the more intensely into the characters and their environment. Luis Alberto Urrea’s noble efforts at reimagining the story of his saintly great-aunt manage to enlighten and entertain. The 26 years were time well spent. MICHAEL LOPEZ. GO: Luis Alberto Urrea appears at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 7. Free. Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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DATES DEC. 7-13 HERE
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. Editor: AARON MESH. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, send screening information at least two weeks in advance to Screen, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: amesh@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
NEW
2011 British Arrow Awards
[ONE NIGHT ONLY, AGE OF ADZ] The best commercials on the telly. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. 7 pm Wednesday, Dec. 7. NEW
All Night Horror Movie Marathon
[ONE NIGHT ONLY, REVIVALS] Four 35 mm screamers into the wee hours: Day of the Dead, The Burning, Boxer’s Omen and Pieces. It’s like your church youth group’s lock-in, with more chainsaws, less sexual tension, and exactly the same amount of pizza and doughnuts. Hollywood Theatre. 9 pm Saturday, Dec. 10. NEW
American Landscape
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] Cinema Project presents three films on the ground: 9/1/75 shows a Wisconsin campground on Labor Day, Castiac Lake portrays a California reservoir, and Bowers Cave looks at a cavern turned into a landfill. Hollywood Theatre. 7 pm Tuesday, Dec. 13.
Arthur Christmas
An Aardman animation about the son of Santa. WW, being naughty, missed the press screenings. Look for a review on wweek.com. PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard, Wilsonville. NEW
Battle for Brooklyn
[ONE NIGHT ONLY, Q&A] A documentary about a graphic designer fighting a new Nets basketball arena. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 11. Eminent domain activist Randal Acker will answer questions after the screening.
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
77 With a Portland release timed to coincide with a larger Muppet resurrection, here’s a documentary about Kevin Clash, the hand that rocks the Children’s Television Network. It’s made with the approval of kiddie entertainment behemoths Disney and Henson, so the social message is softened, but Being Elmo is the genuinely affecting success story of a young African-American man who dared to be a nerd. Clash’s rise from urban poverty to Tickle-Me superstardom is a gratifying case of colorblind merit recognition: It recalls the ascendence of Obama and Oprah, although Clash himself most suggests Tyler Perry in his desire to simultaneously peacock and disappear into a character. His narrative is constantly compelling, though there’s not enough contextual material to pad out a full-length documentary. But the explanation of how puppets are brought to life, both in Baltimore bedrooms and TV studios, is animated by Clash’s astounding vocal and tactile skill, along with his sheer delight at giving and receiving so much love. Even people (like me) a few years too old to ever adore the shrill mugging of Elmo may finally understand the fuzzy red guy’s appeal to young hearts: He fulfills the human need to be wholeheartedly wanted. Living Room Theaters.
The Descendants
72 George Clooney, who may be the closest thing we now have to a Cary Grant, seems of late to be reversing Grant’s career trajectory. While Grant went from pratfalling acrobat to ironically self-aware sex symbol, Clooney has recently made room in his usual Teflon-suave scoundrel persona for roles that place him more as a bruised emotional clown. In Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, Clooney puts in a nuanced, wincing performance as the Dickensianly named Matt King, a workaholic real-estate lawyer and haole heir of Hawaiian royalty, who finds himself suddenly at sea when his wife of many years is knocked into a terminal coma by a high-speed motorboating accident. Not only does he not know
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how to relate to his two daughters— stock indie-quirky 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and acid-tongued boarding-school teen Alex (Shailene Woodley)—but he is left to discover that his lonely, stay-at-home wife had fallen in love with another man behind his back. Clooney makes the most of his underwritten role—it is a comedic wonder to watch him lope awkwardly in flip-flops, or register his polite, pride-sucking pain over and over—but it is difficult nonetheless for the viewer to invest emotionally in the film, despite its easy charisma. R. MATTHEW KORFHAGE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, City Center, Fox Tower, Lloyd Center. NEW
Double Tide by Shannon Lockhart
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] Cinema Project presents two stationary, 49-minute shots of a woman digging for clams in the mudflats of Seal Cove, Maine. Hollywood Theatre. 7 pm Wednesday, Dec. 7.
Drive
95 Drive, the luxurious new L.A. noir
from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, is the most brutally antisocial movie of the year. It is also the most romantic—but it is primarily spellbound by the romance of isolation. It is also exhilarating filmmaking, from soup to swollen nuts. It contains half a dozen white-knuckle action sequences— starting with a Ryan Gosling robbery getaway timed to the final buzzer of an L.A. Clippers game—yet its closest relative is the lightheaded, restrained eroticism of Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love. In this context, the relentless carnage of Drive’s second half makes a sick kind of sense: It is a movie about men who only know how to show loyalty and care by staving in the skulls of other men. It is macho, selfpitying poppycock, and it engrossed and moved me like no other picture I’ve seen this year. And I have a sliver of justification: The entire history of noir, stretching back to The Maltese Falcon through Drive’s obvious influences like Walter Hill’s The Driver and Michael Mann’s Thief, is a lot of macho, self-pitying poppycock. That does not diminish the power of those movies. If Drive, a deliberate throwback, belongs in their company, it is because it is unreservedly committed to the decadent masochism of its fantasy. R. AARON MESH. Fox Tower, Valley. NEW Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
77 Never mind the generic title and chugga-chugga guitar riffs on the soundtrack: Brazilian action-thriller Elite Squad: The Enemy Within has a lot more going for it than, say, a Dolph Lundgren direct-to-video toss-off. A sequel to Elite Squad, a movie hardly anyone outside Brazil ever saw, Enemy Within is one of the most popular films in South American history, and it’s easy to see why: It pulses with righteous indignation against a system rotten not just at the core but at the branches on down to the roots of the tree it hangs from. Problematically, it doesn’t offer—to quote that damn song from Drive—a real hero. As the Serpico of the state police force acronymed BOPE, Col. Nascimento, played with dark-eyed austerity by Wagner Moura, comes closest, but even he is prone to ordering a helicopter to open fire on a favela in order to kill lowlevel drug dealers. Without an eye in the slums, the message gets buried beneath the body count. But director Jose Padilha (the gripping documentary Bus 174) plugs up any deficiencies in the script he co-wrote. He offers a scorching visual style and whiplash pacing, making even a college lecture on Brazil’s prison-industrial complex throb with furious energy. MATTHEW SINGER. Hollywood Theatre.
Happy Feet Two
Dance, penguin, dance! WW did not attend the screening. PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Cinema
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
99, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Wilsonville.
REVIEW A N D R E W S C H WA R T Z
MOVIES
The Hedgehog
80 The morbid yet sentimental cult
classic Harold and Maude lives on in the tangled blond hair of an 11-yearold Parisian girl named Paloma. The Hedgehog, a French coming-of-age drama, opens with the clichéd (and videotaped) monologue of this young, wealthy and intelligent child who says she’d rather die than succumb to the adult conformity that surrounds her. Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) plans to kill herself on her 12th birthday to avoid the fate of “the fishbowl, where adults beat against the glass like flies.” But as the 165 days leading up to her birthday begin to dwindle, Paloma becomes an observer to more than the superficiality of her Champagneguzzling mother and self-absorbed sister. Her self-made documentary travels out of the apartment, down the stairs, and into the beautifully complex inner lives of her janitor (Josiane Balasko) and new neighbor (Togo Igawa). Through short yet powerful conversations, the unlikely trio learn to give up their hiding places and join a world that is full of humor and hope. As the film progresses, The Hedgehog transitions from a trite account of the weight of privilege to an unexpectedly thoughtful and gently provocative narrative of the process of learning how to love. SHAE HEALEY. Living Room Theaters.
Hugo
80 Martin Scorsese’s decision to
helm the 3-D adaptation of Brian Selznick’s Caldecott-winning novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, seemed an odd and possibly addled one at first blush. But look at Scorsese’s filmography sideways and this august director’s late-career digression into family-friendliness makes a strange sort of sense, for beneath the blood and unpardonable French of films like Goodfellas and Casino, one finds a freewheeling and wide-eyed reverence for the antic, the cartoonish, the downright silly. (Two words: Joe Pesci.) Set in a vivid version of 1930s Paris so edibly adorable it might as well have been born in a crocodile tear sliding down Amélie’s pristine cheek, Hugo drapes its bittersweet study of broken dreams over a plot of fairy-story simplicity. The titular pipsqueak (played by extraterrestrially cute Asa Butterfield) is an orphan living inside the rather capacious walls of a sprawling train station patrolled by a guttersnipe-hunting station guard (Sacha Baron Cohen) and enlivened by a Tati-esque flow of murmuring humanity. Scorsese pulls off a few wonderful tricks with Hugo. It is a film populated by uncanny visions— dreams, films, dummies, trompe l’oeil expanses—and resonant with wonder, dolor and regret. The message: Life, though brief, admits of magic. The messenger: a master magician still. PG. CHRIS STAMM. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cornelius, Living Room Theaters, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Immortals
Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to POKE YOU IN THE EYE. R. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cornelius, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard.
The Ides of March
83 Probably a bit hysterical in its bleakness—maybe that’s a predictable outcome of a proudly liberal filmmaker like George Clooney dealing with the concessions of a Democratic POTUS. But the disillusionment in Ides has an evangelical fervor: This movie is going to find your Shepard Fairey poster and set it on fire. It’s like an anti-Bus Project. That it corrodes so effectively is thanks to Clooney communicating the romance of the campaign trail, which is basically summer camp for drizzle-loving workaholic wonks. Ryan Gosling, continuing his prolific year of playing hyper-aggressive grinners, is the media-strategy guru for Democratic presidential front-runner Mike Morris (Clooney). The early stretches of the movie have the wish-fulfillment
BALLS DROPPING: Jon Bon Jovi and Lea Michele.
NEW YEAR’S EVE The latest in a tide of seasonal ensemble films that play like Short Cuts or Magnolia for people with strong feelings about annual festivities, New Year’s Eve insists that nothing ennobles the human spirit like partying all night. It is a tenaciously stupid movie, one where Lea Michele gets stuck in an elevator with Ashton Kutcher and berates him about hope and magic until he agrees to make out with her. I feel similarly shellacked: Barraged for 118 minutes with second chances and fresh starts, I am compelled to find at least one nice thing to say about every person in this movie. It will not be easy. This is a film populated almost exclusively by performers I loathe. But I resolve to try. Hilary Swank: She is required to deliver several speeches that are basically a series of mawkish nouns strung together like refrigerator poetry, and she does not have a seizure or fall down or anything. Halle Berry: A nurse, she sits by the bed of Old Dying Robert De Niro for most of the holiday, and does not flinch when he mistakes her for his ex-wife and smiles toothlessly at her. Zac Efron: His character is supposed to be a callow douchebag, and he does this thing where he talks into his smartphone and shifts it squarely in front of his mouth each time he wants to emphasize a word, which is quite convincingly douchey. Lea Michele: She is not stingy with the lip gloss. Ashton Kutcher: He does not change out of pajama pants for the entire film, even when he gets out of the elevator and goes to Times Square, and I like to think he had this stipulated in his contract so that his day on set could be like every other day of his life. Jessica Biel: Playing an expectant mother who is competing to deliver 2012’s first baby, she is the centerpiece of a scene where a nurse yells, “May the best vajayjay win!” But nobody will hold this against her because no one will remember she was in this movie. Michelle Pfeiffer: She looks fantastically sexy. Truth. Josh Duhamel: Someone hands him a tiny bichon frisé to hold at a dinner party, and he neither drops it nor gets fur on his tuxedo. Katherine Heigl: There actually are a lot of women in the world who are rigid and needy and inexplicably hostile, and I think she makes them feel better. Jon Bon Jovi: He gets slapped in the face twice. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg: At no time during his single scene in New Year’s Eve does he pepper spray anybody. The girl from Little Miss Sunshine: She is in another movie! Sarah Jessica Parker: She is in another movie! Old Dying Robert De Niro: He performs a meta-commentary on the trajectory of his career by playing a man who just wants to die as soon as possible. “What’s the difference?” he asks. “Why delay the inevitable?” Which also nicely summarizes New Year’s Eve. PG-13. AARON MESH.
Tonight, let’s just say nice things.
23 SEE IT: New Year’s Eve opens Friday at Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Tigard and Wilsonville.
MOVIES
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and intellectual energy of Aaron Sorkin: The banter between Gosling and intern Evan Rachel Wood has the particular energy of two people aroused by their own smarts. This makes it all the more flooring when players reveal their primary colors. The point of The Ides of March—a very “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” kind of moral—is that every social advancement is built on the back of an unknown, innocent victim. It’s an observation difficult for an Oregon progressive to deny, and Clooney’s direction moves the chamber piece at such a ruthless pace that objection is impossible. But the pessimism makes this more of a horror movie than a social analysis. It is a very good horror movie, and its savage iconoclasm is bracing. R. AARON MESH. Fox Tower.
NEW
Invincible Armour
[ONE NIGHT ONLY, REVIVAL] The only known 35 mm print of a 1977 martial-arts movie that pits Iron Finger against Eagle Claw. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Tuesday, Dec. 13.
J. Edgar
66 Spread over four decades and leached of any bright hues, Clint Eastwood’s biopic of intelligencehoarding FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) is complex and brave, if at times almost comically misguided. Though filled with lurid material—Hoover intimidating Robert F. Kennedy with a tape recording of his brother screwing, Hoover trying on his mother’s nightgowns and necklaces—it never lapses into exploitation. Such tastefulness is Eastwood’s hallmark as a filmmaker, and also his great weakness: It makes him almost as humorless as the man he’s chronicling. (DiCaprio’s performance as a coal-eyed, fussy tyrant who sincerely loves his country is more nuanced than I anticipated, if also a little monotonous.) Eastwood’s big miscalculation is shooting nearly half the movie with Hoover and confidante Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer) in liver-spotted old-age makeup, so that by the end it looks like crotchety Muppets Statler and Waldorf are heckling Martin Luther King Jr. Despite this fundamental hitch (and a 137-minute aimlessness), J. Edgar has the virtue of being penned by Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who takes the shamed relationship between Hoover and Tolson and finds a real love story. This eventually becomes the chief focus of
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Into the Abyss
87 With the characteristically disconsolate title Into the Abyss, Werner Herzog’s death-row movie has less of the “travelogue with philosophical footnotes” quality that has marked (and sometimes cheapened) his recent output. It helps that the director, who conducts jailhouse interviews from offscreen, for once cannot possibly be more gloomy or absurd than his subject. He is the second documentary master to tackle true crime this2year: Into COL X 1" the Abyss is far bleaker than Errol Morris’ Tabloid, but no less nuts. Herzog profiles Michael Perry, executed by the state of Texas on July 1, 2010, for the killing of three people—including a mother and son—in order to steal a red Chevy Camaro from a home’s garage inside a gated community. Meeting with victims’ relatives, other convicts and Perry himself (eight days before lethal injection), Herzog elicits bewildering details from staggeringly luckless people. As Perry maintains his innocence against a landfill of evidence, the bucktoothed 28-year-old man recalls how the one opportunity afforded him in his teen years, an Outward Bound canoe trip to the Everglades, culminated (à la Aguirre) in an attack by monkeys. Herzog remains peerless as a poet of logistics. He notices that the car Perry once wanted has sat in an impound lot for 10 years. While Perry waited to die, a tree grew inside it. PG13. AARON MESH. Living Room Theaters.
“ Blistering, madas-hell. A- !”
THE SITTER J. Edgar, echoing the poignancy of Harvey Milk’s passion for Scott Smith. Black’s empathy extends to men not courageous enough to be lovers. He looks inside J. Edgar Hoover’s closet and finds more than skeletons. R. AARON MESH. Cedar Hills, Moreland, Oak Grove, City Center, Division, Fox Tower, Lloyd Mall, Tigard.
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Jack and Jill
Adam Sandler is Adam Sandler’s sister. Not screened for critics by WW press deadlines. Look for a review (maybe) on wweek.com. PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard.
Like Crazy
55 Everyone has friends like Jacob and Anna, the twentysomething couple at the center of Like Crazy. They’re the kind of young lovers who, once they start dating anyone seriously, become so completely absorbed in a relationship that all traces of individual identity disappear. Suddenly, their lives become a Coldplay song. Nothing else matters except their love, and the rest of us just can’t understand because that love is so overwhelming, so powerful, so deep. In short, Jacob and Anna are kind of annoying. It’s not really their fault, though, and certainly not the fault of Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, the actors who portray them. Both deliver warm, organic performances in this tiny, critically rhapsodized drama. But if a film is about two people drawn together with such gravitational force that it gradually repels them, the attraction needs to be palpable. Through much of Like Crazy, it is not. Blame, then, falls on director Drake Doremus (Douchebag). He tells a story that spans years yet zooms by so quickly—thanks to several montages and time-lapse sequences that are more artful than effective—the characters never become truly knowable outside the bubble of their all-consuming relationship. Rarely do they have a conversation that brings the viewer inside this allegedly transcendent romance. We’re just supposed to accept that their connection is profound, because they drove Indy cars together and spent a weekend on Catalina Island. PG-13. MATTHEW SINGER. Fox Tower.
Margin Call
56 Perfectly primed to capitalize on current interest in just how majestically wrecked we all are and shall seemingly forever be, Margin Call dramatizes 2008’s financial death rattles by isolating a 24-hour span in which one fictional Wall Street firm tries to figure out what to do with all of the shit falling into its huge, shiny fan. Writer-director J.C. Chandor’s central premise, that these guys bathing in cash and Drakkar Noir were simply doing their jobs, is a steep slope to climb at the moment, and Chandor’s evident faith in essential goodness isn’t fuel enough to get us up to that peak of magnanimity with him.
STARTS FRI, DEC 9 HOLLYWOOD THEATRE
4122 NE SANDY BLVD. • (503) 281-4215 www.hollywoodtheatre.org • CALL THEATER FOR SHOWTIMES
R. CHRIS STAMM. Academy, Living Room Theaters.
Martha Marcy May Marlene
78 As a member of a back-to-the-
land cult in the Catskills, Marcy May’s boyfriend, Patrick, “cleanses” her and the rest of his flock with ritualized rape and shooting lessons. Sequestered away in a lavish lakeside home in Connecticut, Martha’s FILLER AD estranged sister tries to fix her with tall glasses of kale and ginseng juice and pretty pink sundresses. Both are driving her crazy. Writer/director Sean Durkin has created an unsettling, intense portrait of a girl close to losing her marbles because she can’t determine exactly what life after brainwashing ought to look like. As Martha/Marcy, Elizabeth Olsen (the younger, healthier sister of the bobble-headed Olsen twins) is a subtle wonder of confusion and apathetic bitterness. The emotions glide across her open face and lodge behind her gray-green eyes as she shakily tries to reintegrate herself into the normal world—and fails in both small and spectacular ways. Oddly enough, even twothirds through Martha Marcy May Marlene, it’s still uncertain which is more crazy: turning control of your life over to a cult leader or living an empty life in pursuit of money and great deck chairs. As Martha/ Marcy’s grip on what is a dream, a memory or happening right now becomes more and more slippery, it turns out that none of those states is really all that safe. R. KELLY CLARKE. Fox Tower.
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Melancholia
90 Lars von Trier’s restless formal
experimentation makes him difficult to pin down, but the Dane responsible for Dancer in the Dark and Dogville tends toward an obsession with wretchedness. The results are often insane (the fate of Willem Dafoe’s poor penis in Antichrist), sometimes painfully funny (the absurd theater of The Idiots) and frequently just plain stupid (almost everything else he’s touched). With Melancholia, von Trier has finally struck on a subject and a story perfectly suited to his fixation on the epically fucked; he has, at last, made a masterpiece. Von Trier begins at the end, with surreal eschatological visions rendered in extremely slow motion: Birds fall from the sky, and a woman sinks into a golf course’s pristine lawn as two planets, one of them our own, move in for a potentially cataclysmic meeting. A planet called Melancholia hurtling toward Earth at 60,000 mph while a Wagner plaint plays the entire species off and Kirsten Dunst scowls? Ridiculous, I know. But listen: There really are soul-searing kinds of sadness that can stretch minds to cruel and impossible limits, and perhaps such states can only be comprehended with the help of something as absurd and terrifying as a new blue planet rising on Earth’s horizon. What is certain is that von Trier brings us perilously close to understanding the horri-
CONT. on page 52 Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
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DEC. 7-13 F L AT I R O N F I L M C O .
ble shape of utter disconsolation. It hurts to watch. It should. R. CHRIS STAMM. Cinema 21.
Midnight in Paris
77 Sorry to break it to you, New
York, but Woody Allen is cheating on you. He’s had trysts in the past, but in Midnight in Paris his flirtation with the City of Light blossoms into a full-blown affair. If it’s any consolation, Paris isn’t about Paris in the way Allen’s classic New York films were about the experience of actually being in New York. It’s more about the idea of Paris, and really the idea of any time and place that aren’t our own. Owen Wilson, convincingly stepping into the “Woody Allen role,” stars as Gil Pender, a screenwriter and selfdescribed “Hollywood hack” who thinks of himself as a novelist born in the wrong era. On vacation in Paris, he wanders into the streets one night and tipsily stumbles upon a rip in the space-time continuum that transports him to the 1920s to party with his literary idols: F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway. It’s a fairy tale for lit majors, and Allen’s best work in years. That said, calling Paris a true return to form for Allen after the past decade’s mixed bag is an exaggeration. It’s more of a charming trifle. PG-13. MATTHEW SINGER. Academy, Hollywood Theatre, Laurelhurst, Movies on TV, Valley.
Moneyball
90 If the dehydrated poetry of
sports-page chatter fails to tickle you even a little bit, I can almost guarantee Moneyball will leave you cold. For although director Bennett Miller (Capote) and his elite writing team (Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian) pad Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) with paternal longings and past defeats, there’s not a whole lot of squishy human interest to dig into here. This is a movie about baseball and the obsessed men who devote their lives to it. Make no mistake: There is heart in Moneyball, but it’s the part of the heart that swells at the sight of numbers on the back of a Topps card and breaks beneath tacky banners commemorating past championships. Mercifully short on baroque re-enactments of pivotal match-ups and pandering lockerroom banter, Miller’s uptown update of Major League is almost wholly devoted to the front offices and underground clubhouses in which the game behind the game is played. The swift, captivating first half of Moneyball finds Beane, the sort of jocular ex-jock who fears stillness, failing at his thankless mission before teaming up with math geek Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), whose righteous faith in certain overlooked statistics convinces Beane to field a team of ostensibly mediocre has-beens and never-weres. The subsequent ups and downs of the 162-game season register as last-minute trades, squabbles with scouts, klatches with coaches and various other verbal maneuvers conducted in windowless rooms filled with cheap furniture. Pitt, perhaps the most orally fixated actor not employed by Vivid Video, chews his way through these assignations. Maybe we need the reminder: Sometimes it’s the stuff we don’t see that counts. And so: Let’s go, Oakland! CHRIS STAMM. Living Room Theaters.
The Muppets
85 Every Muppet movie—hell, even the ’70s television show—is about pining for a bygone era, whether it be that of the vaudevillian variety show that The Muppet Show romanticized so well, or the caper flick, or even Treasure Island. This reboot, coordinated by Jason Segel, asks: Can’t we just be happy with an old-fashioned, MGM-style musical number (with puppets)? The tear stains on my jacket are proof I’m not too hard to please. Some of my favorite moments were the original songs by Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie. Conchords fans
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Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
ELITE SQUAD: THE ENEMY WITHIN will notice parallels to his other stuff, but these compositions are a delight. (The only misstep is when Chris Cooper’s villain goes all rappin’ granny on us.) Amy Adams is upstaged by the new Muppet, Walter, who is 2 feet tall and her rival for Segel’s companionship. Walter’s a perfect addition to the gang, serving as an avatar for all us grown children who still love the plush. I have quibbles: In a movie that had an a cappella “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and chickens clucking Cee-Lo’s “Fuck You,” why were “The Rainbow Connection” and “Mahna Mahna” the only songs from the older movies included? But this film made me feel the same joy that The Muppet Movie stirs decades later. That’s pretty impressive. PG. AP KRYZA. Cedar Hills, Eastport, CineMagic, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard, Wilsonville, Roseway. NEW
My Reincarnation
[ONE WEEK ONLY] A man recognized by Tibetan monks as a spiritual master considers leaving for the modern world. Look for a review Friday on wweek.com. Clinton Street Theater. 7 and 9 pm Friday-Thursday, Dec. 9-15.
My Week With Marilyn
44 Michelle Williams steps off the Oregon Trail to play Marilyn Monroe, and gets about halfway there. She has the look of Marilyn—her features are like a portrait of Tinker Bell carved from a ripe peach—and nails the calculated-naif pout of the public persona, but she’s never quite convincing as Norma Jeane Baker. Her efforts to seem wounded and confused are always a smidgen too knowing and telegraphed. The surrounding movie looks at Monroe from the least interesting possible angle, that of snooty Anglos. It is a typical Weinstein Company property in the wake of The King’s Speech: light, British and shapeless. (It’s built around a romance with some sappy little gofer played by Eddie Redmayne, but I couldn’t say where the affair begins or ends.) Director Simon Curtis, a BBC vet, might be trying to win a bet over how much of the Empire’s acting talent he can waste. He plows through Julia Ormond, Toby Jones, Emma Watson and Dominic Cooper with terrible editing—uniformly clumsy and groping. Judi Dench holds her ground for a few lines, and Kenneth Branagh sneaks in the movie’s sole fully realized performance as a preening and furious Laurence Olivier. He also delivers the only scene that hints at how Monroe’s charisma lit up the screen, as he watches dailies from The Prince and the Showgirl and quotes The Tempest: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.” The rest of the movie is the weak, soporific stuff poured out of teapots. R. AARON MESH. Fox Tower.
Puss in Boots
Antonio Banderas makes his Garfield. WW did not attend the
press screening, as WW was at Occupy Portland instead of the cat movie. PG. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cornelius, Moreland, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard, Wilsonville, 99 Indoor Twin. NEW
The Sitter
Three years ago, if you told us the newest David Gordon Green film wouldn’t be screened for critics, we wouldn’t have known to laugh or cry. Have you ever seen a mistake in nature? Have you ever seen an animal make a mistake? Look for a review on wweek.com. R. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cornelius, Living Room Theaters, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Tigard, Wilsonville, St. Johns Twin Cinema-Pub.
The Skin I Live In
86 Very particular body-image
issues are at the core of The Skin I Live In, Pedro Almodovar’s violently outre new movie. It proves that the director’s penchant for physical modification has only grown more pointed—or rounded. It is perhaps the most twisted and unsettling film Almodovar has made (and this is a director whose Talk to Her featured a nurse tenderly raping his comatose patient), but it is not exactly a horror movie. Instead, it is a throwback to golden-age Hollywood’s mad-scientist movies, as if the dressup games of Vertigo had been conducted by James Whale around the time he made Bride of Frankenstein. The mad scientist, a plastic surgeon to be exact, is played by Antonio Banderas, and he is most certainly insane. Other characters keep mentioning this to him, in case he had forgotten. But Banderas’ understated performance recalls the pained dignity of James Mason in Lolita. Likewise, the movie proceeds calmly, through elision and implication, until it becomes a study of how sexuality can be formed through victimization, yet leave room for a sense of self to emerge triumphant. Almodovar takes the elements of classic films—the doctor playing God, the grand staircase, the femme fatale—and splices them into unexpected shapes that turn out to be exactly what you wanted. R. AARON MESH. Hollywood Theatre, Fox Tower.
Tower Heist
57 Tower Heist pulls off an astounding ruse: It is directed by Brett Ratner, it posits Ben Stiller as a hero of the economically downtrodden, it juices the arrest of a white-collar criminal by having his escape van flip over in the middle of a Manhattan street while Stiller is clotheslined by an FBI agent, and I still found myself thinking halfway through that it was a good deal better than I expected. Credit for this goes mostly to the cast, who all agreed to emphasize the least flattering aspects of their personas for comedy. Matthew Broderick and Casey Affleck take the most humiliation, playing a sad sack and an incompetent, respectively, and
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
29 The Twilight saga is finally getting to the good stuff. And by good stuff I mean the vampire batshit crazy stuff: rough girl-onvamp sex, demon babies, blood health tonics and wolf mind links. And yet, with all this delightfully bizarre fodder, much of the fourth movie (otherwise known as “the one where Edward and Bella get married, finally do it and Bella gets impregnated with his vampire baby”) is about as fun as a pelvic exam. All three leads—scowl-faced Kristen Stewart, sad alabaster puppet Robert Pattinson and shirtshredder Taylor Lautner—act as if they were expecting another press junket and wandered on to a movie set by mistake. And yet, it’s not all terrible. Or, to be clear, the last third of the film is so fabulously awkward and silly as to approach camp-classic status. Forced to endure an insatiable fetus draining her body from the inside out, Bella looks truly chilling. As her due date nears, her body is reduced to a skull attached to what looks like a wind chime made of gnawed chicken bones. It’s the only unsettling image the movie franchise has ever produced. Even better, the much anticipated birthing scene (a fan favorite during which, true to the book, Edward performs Bella’s emergency C-section with his teeth) is a masterpiece of the histrionic and the ridiculous that ends with both Team Edward and Team Jacob artfully covered with smears of blood and womb goo. It’s the kind of scene that makes you want to invent a drinking game and watch it a half-dozen times on repeat while you laugh uncontrollably and squirt whiskey out of your nose. PG-13. KELLY CLARKE. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard, Wilsonville, 99 Indoor Twin, St. Johns Twin Cinema-Pub.
NEW
Up the Yangtze
90 [THREE NIGHTS ONLY, REVIVAL]
One of the better and more creative documentaries to chronicle China’s monumental and extremely controversial Three Gorges Dam project, offering a look into the effects of the dam’s massive human exodus. Director Yung Chang follows the lives of several Chinese teenagers who work and live aboard a tourist cruise traveling along the Yangtze, a ship designed to present wealthy Westerners one last glimpse of traditional “Gorge life” before the dam floods out the area’s hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. Up the Yangtze portrays the desperation of the Chinese farmer, the hypocrisies of modern Chinese socialism and the idiocracies of the clueless pasty tourist, all in an insightful, beautiful package. Bravo. LANCE KRAMER. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7 and 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Dec. 9-10. 3 pm Sunday, Dec. 11.
The Women on the 6th Floor
71 Man, being rich sucks. What with
your withholding wife and dull stock-trading job and creepy, hyper-
articulate sons and all. What’s a middle-aged, midcentury Parisian to do? According to Philippe Le Guay, writer and director of this bilingual Boulevard comedy, he should occupy the maids’ quarters. Fabrice Luchini plays our moneyed, appearance-obsessed hero, whose confidence in his job, marriage and class begins to crumble when he hires a Spanish maid, naturally named María, to care for his cavernous apartment. This being the ’60s—when Spain’s economy was in tatters, Franco’s Catholic dictatorship still held sway, and the fastest way for an ambitious Spaniard to put away a nest egg was to do menial labor in foreign metropolises—the city is full of Spanish ladies. María, played by Natalia Verbeke, is the hardest-working,
backest-talking and, most important, prettiest of the bunch. Luchini is delightful as the dusty square falling under the wine-soaked spell of the Spaniards—they have that effect on you—and the film is enjoyable in its good-natured spoofing of one-percenter stodginess right up until its disappointingly incongruous and unearned conclusion. BEN WATERHOUSE. Living Room Theaters. NEW
When Do I Start?
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] A locally made comedy about keeping unemployment benefits. Hollywood Theatre. 7 pm Friday, Dec. 9.
REVIEW THIRD WINDOW FILMS
come off the best. Stiller channels his choked rage into a nuanced servility to ultra-rich boss Alan Alda in exchanges that accurately capture the pain of maintaining cordial relations with someone constantly exploiting you. Tea Leoni performs a lovely dance of a drunk scene. Eddie Murphy plays a more soured and violent Billy Ray Valentine. And then the movie gets to the heist itself, and grinds to an excruciating halt with a set piece featuring a car made out of pure gold, first dangling out a window, then stuffed atop an elevator. None of this finale is possible to explain, and, to be frank, I would rather pretend I never liked any of it, even momentarily. Deal? PG-13. AARON MESH. Cedar Hills, Eastport, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, City Center, Division, Evergreen, Hilltop, Lloyd Mall, Movies on TV, Tigard, Wilsonville.
MOVIES
We have a bright idea:
MORGAN GREEN-HOPKINS
DEC. 7-13
GIVE!
GLASSES HALF FULL: Mitsuru Fukikoshi goes home for dinner and assault.
COLD FISH Mr. Murata, the tropical-fish vendor and serial killer who drives the Japanese horror fantasia Cold Fish, likes to describe what he does to his victims as “making them invisible.” He accomplishes that by first making every part of them visible, butchering their corpses into pieces of red meat the size of sirloin tips. Played by the actor Denden, Mr. Murata is a cheerfully raging madman, but he is never so giddy as when he and his wife, Aiko (Asuka Kurosawa), are stripped to their skivvies and painted in the blood of dismembered business partners. Director Shion Sono (Suicide Club, Noriko’s Dinner Table) comes from the Takashi Miike end of the J-horror buffet, and he’s staking his claim to shock value on making the most queasily specific movie yet about the practicalities of chopping up a body. Fine, then: Cold Fish might not perturb anybody who’s read the even more vivid entrail-disposal descriptions in Ian McEwan’s novel The Innocent, but there is something memorable about the sight of a woman spooning with her husband’s small intestine. But Cold Fish, which screens this week as part of the NW Film Center’s Japanese Currents series, nauseates but doesn’t really disturb. That’s because it slowly adjusts viewers to its depravity, like gradually boiled frogs—and also because it never contrasts its brutality against any tenderness or warmth. It’s essentially a Japanese Straw Dogs without Peckinpah’s over-identifying anguish. The movie’s poster shows browbeaten hero Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) with his eyeglasses smashed like Dustin Hoffman’s; his character is so telegraphed that we know exactly what kind of transformation meek Shamoto will undergo once Mr. Murata tosses those symbolic spectacles in the river. The direction and degree of his frenzy are harder to predict, and impossible to believe. In Sono’s movie, a man can be only a nebbish or a rapist—which, as a symbol for the plight of the Japanese businessman, sure, whatever. But as a man, he doesn’t have enough soul to compel interest. Cold Fish is an extreme movie looking to provoke extreme reactions. I’d prefer to respond the way I usually do when I step in something vile: gag a little, and go on with my day. AARON MESH.
Gutting the competition in Japan.
55 SEE IT: Cold Fish screens at the NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Dec. 9-10. Japanese Currents continues through Sunday, Dec. 18, at the NW Film Center. Visit nwfilm.org for full listings.
Give!Guide is filled with 100 amazing nonprofits you should support. HEAD TO WWEEK.COM/GIVEGUIDE TO GIVE NOW! Follow us: facebook.com/giveguide twitter.com/giveguide youtube.com/giveguide Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
53
GIANT ACHIEVEMENT.
A WORK OF GENIUS. A MOVIE MASTERPIECE”. -LISA SCHWARZBAUM, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“SURELY ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR SCREEN ACHIEVEMENTS OF RECENT YEARS.” -ANDREW O’HEHIR, SALON
“AMAZING.” -RICHARD CORLISS, TIME
KIRSTEN
CHARLOTTE
A FILM BY
KEIFER
ALEXANDER
DUNST GAINSBOURG SKARSGÅRD
AND
SUTHERLAND
LARS VON TRIER
MELANCHOLIA
MOVIES
DEC. 9-15
BREWVIEWS
SCREENING: NIPPON REREAD 1 AND 2 Sat 04:00 HOSPITALITÉ Sat-Sun 07:00
NEW LINE CINEMA
“A
Pioneer Place Stadium 6
IT WILL CHANGE EV ERY THING.
CINEMA 21 EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT NOW PLAYING Portland (503) 223-4515 W W W. M E L A N C H O L I A F I L M . C O M
Music Willamette Week THURS 12/08 2 COL. (3.772”) X 2” ALL.MEL.1208.WI
ngs Lis4tiCOLOR TM
YOU DON’T SMELL LIKE SANTA: Will Ferrell’s charm (always a precarious thing) depends wholly on his innocence. If you ever get the feeling he knows better, Ferrell’s pushiness becomes insufferable, since every vehicle he’s in is about him wresting away the steering mechanism and veering everyone into some fantasyland. In Elf, he’s driving a sleigh, and the movie ranks among his most enduringly blithe workouts. Jon Favreau perpetually directs movies about grown men who want to play with toys forever, and here he found the perfect alibi, and a leading boy happy to stare blankly while singing at the top of his lungs. AARON MESH. Showing at: Laurelhurst. Best paired with: Full Sail Wassail. Also showing: Hook (Academy). Fifth Avenue Cinemas
PAGE 33 Invites you to an advance screening of
510 SW Hall St., 503-7253551 UP THE YANGTZE Fri-SatSun 03:00
Regal Lloyd Mall 8 Cinema
2320 Lloyd Center Mall, 800-326-3264 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 03:35, 08:55 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed TOWER HEIST Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 12:05, 03:10, 06:25, 09:15 IMMORTALS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:30, 06:15 JACK AND JILL Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 12:15, 03:00, 06:05, 09:05 J. EDGAR Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 06:00, 09:00 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 12:20, 03:30, 06:30, 09:20 HAPPY FEET TWO Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 12:00, 03:05, 06:20, 09:25 THE MUPPETS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:25, 03:15, 06:10, 09:30 PUSS IN BOOTS Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:10, 03:20 IMMORTALS 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 03:25, 09:10 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:35, 06:35
Cinema 21
616 NW 21st Ave., 503-2234515 MELANCHOLIA Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 04:00, 07:00, 09:30
Clinton Street Theater
December 13th 7:00 P.M.
Please visit WWW.GOFOBO.COM/RSVP and enter the code WWEEKJZ2W To download your complimentary tickets! THIS FILM IS RATED PG-13. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13. PLEASE NOTE: ARRIVE EARLY! Seating is first come, first served, except for members of the reviewing press. Theatre is overbooked to ensure a full house. Theatre is not responsible for overbooking. This pass DOES NOT guarantee admission and must be surrendered upon demand. No one will be admitted without a ticket and only reviewing press will be admitted after the screening begins. All federal, state and local regulations apply. A recipient of tickets assumes any and all risks related to use of ticket, and accepts any restrictions required by ticket provider. Warner Bros., Allied-THA, Willamette Week and their affiliates accept no responsibility or liability in connection with any loss or accident incurred in connection with use of a prize. Tickets are the property of Warner Bros. Pictures who reserve the right to refuse, revoke or limit admission at the discretion of an authorized studio and/or theatre representative at any time. Tickets cannot be exchanged, transferred or redeemed for cash, in whole or in part. Violators are subject to prosecution. We are not responsible if, for any reason, winner is unable to use his/her ticket in whole or in part. Not responsible for lost; delayed or misdirected entries. All federal and local taxes are the responsibility of the winner. Void where prohibited by law. NO PHONE CALLS!
IN THEATERS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 www.sherlockholmes2.com
54
Willamette Week DECEMBER 7, 2011 wweek.com
2522 SE Clinton St., 503238-8899 MY REINCARNATION FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 07:00, 09:00 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Sat 12:00
Laurelhurst Theatre
2735 E Burnside St., 503232-5511 THE GUARD Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 06:45, 09:00 50/50 Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 07:30 ELF Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:40 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 07:10 THE RUM DIARY
Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:15 THE HELP Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 06:30 CONTAGION Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:30 DOLPHIN TALE Sat-Sun 01:10
Forest Theatre
Roseway Theatre
4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503281-4215 ELITE SQUAD 2: THE ENEMY WITHIN Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:30 THE SKIN I LIVE IN Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:20 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 06:45, 09:15 ALL NIGHT HORROR SHOW Sat 09:00 BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN Sun 07:30 INVINCIBLE ARMOUR Tue 07:30 CINEMA PROJECT: AMERICAN LANDSCAPE Tue 07:00 13 LAKES Wed 07:00
7229 NE Sandy Blvd., 503282-2898 THE MUPPETS Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:00, 02:30, 05:15, 08:00
St. Johns Twin Cinemas and Pub
8704 N. Lombard St., 503286-1768 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 05:30, 08:00 THE SITTER Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 05:00, 07:00, 09:00
CineMagic Theatre
2021 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-231-7919 THE MUPPETS Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 05:30, 08:00
Kiggins Theatre
1011 Main St., 360-737-3161 DIE HARD Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon 06:00
99 Indoor Twin
Highway 99W, 503-538-2738 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 Fri-Sat-Sun 02:30, 07:00 PUSS IN BOOTS Fri-Sat-Sun 02:30, 07:00
The OMNIMAX Theatre at OMSI
1945 SE Water Ave., 503797-4640 FLYING MONSTERS FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:00, 02:00 BORN TO BE WILD Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 12:00, 03:00 TORNADO ALLEY Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:00, 05:00 THE ULTIMATE WAve. TAHITI Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 04:00 THE POLAR EXPRESS Fri-SatSun 06:00 DEEP SEA Fri 08:00 ADRENALINE RUSH: THE SCIENCE OF RISK Fri 09:00
1911 Pacific Ave.., 503-8448732 J. EDGAR Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 07:00, 09:45
Hollywood Theatre
Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10
846 SW Park Ave., 800326-3264 DRIVE Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 12:15, 02:40, 04:45, 07:35, 09:45 THE IDES OF MARCH Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:55, 02:10, 04:30, 07:10, 09:25 THE SKIN I LIVE IN Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:50, 02:20, 04:55, 07:30, 10:05 J. EDGAR Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:50, 04:10, 07:00, 09:50 MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:00, 02:30, 05:10, 07:40, 09:55 LIKE CRAZY FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:30, 02:45, 04:50, 07:25, 09:40 THE DESCENDANTS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 12:10, 12:45, 02:35, 04:15, 05:05, 07:05, 07:45, 09:35, 10:10 MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:05, 12:35, 02:25, 02:55, 04:40, 05:15, 07:15, 07:50, 09:30, 10:00
NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium 1219 SW Park Ave., 503221-1156 BARE ESSENCE OF LIFE Fri-Sun 04:30 COLD FISH Fri-Sat 09:30 KINEMA NIPPON BENEFIT
340 SW Morrison St., 800326-3264 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 04:00, 09:50 NEW YEAR’S EVE Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:10, 03:50, 07:10, 09:55 ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE -- GHOST PROTOCOL Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed TOWER HEIST FriSat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:40, 04:20, 07:40, 10:15 IMMORTALS Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 01:45, 10:20 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:30, 04:15, 07:30, 10:10 THE MUPPETS Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 01:00, 03:45, 07:00, 10:00 IMMORTALS 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 04:30, 07:45 ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 01:20, 07:20
Academy Theater
7818 SE Stark St., 503-2520500 HOOK Fri-Sat-Sun-TueWed 04:15 50/50 FriSat-Sun-Tue-Wed 10:00 DOLPHIN TALE Fri-Sat-Sun 02:45 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Fri-Sat-Sun-Tue-Wed 05:15, 07:30, 09:35 THE HELP Fri-Sat-Sun-Tue-Wed 04:00 MARGIN CALL FriSat-Sun-Tue-Wed 06:55 THE RUM DIARY Fri-SatSun-Tue-Wed 09:15 THE SMURFS Sat-Sun 12:00
Valley Theater
9360 SW BeavertonHillsdale Highway, 503-2966843 THE HELP Fri-Sat-SunMon-Wed 06:20 THE RUM DIARY Fri-Sat-Sun-TueWed 09:15 50/50 Fri-SatSun-Wed 09:00 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 07:00 DOLPHIN TALE Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon 11:30 FOOTLOOSE Fri-Sat-SunWed 06:40 DRIVE Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 09:30
Living Room Theaters
341 SW 10th Ave., 971-2222010 THE SITTER Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:30, 02:50, 05:00, 07:15, 09:10 THE WOMEN ON THE 6TH FLOOR Fri-Sat-Sun-MonTue-Wed 12:00, 02:10, 06:45 INTO THE ABYSS Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed 04:20, 08:50 THE LIE Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 05:20, 09:30 THE HEDGEHOG Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue-Wed 12:20, 02:40, 07:30 HUGO 3D Fri-SatSun-Mon-Tue-Wed 11:50, 01:10, 03:00, 04:00, 06:00, 09:00 BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 12:10, 03:10, 07:40 MONEYBALL Fri-Sat-SunMon-Tue 09:35 MARGIN CALL Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-TueWed 05:10, 09:25 SUBJECT TO CHANGE. CALL THEATERS OR VISIT WWEEK.COM/MOVIETIMES FOR THE MOST UP-TODATE INFORMATION FRIDAY-THURSDAY, DEC. 9-15, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED