High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week

Tuesday, September 09, 2014

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

From Baseball Project to the Breeders, it’s an eclectic mix of music in Portland this week. Here are our picks for the best live music over the next seven days.

Baseball Project

Sept. 10 @ 9:30 p.m.

Baseball Project

Baseball project. Photo courtesy of Yep Roc Records

With the season winding down it’s only fitting to bit adieu to the boys of summer with an evening of diamond-themed pop courtesy of the Baseball Project. It’s an all-star lineup fronted by Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate) and Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5), with able support from Mike Mills and Peter Buck from REM, and Zuzu’s Petals drummer Linda Pitmon.

Bring your bubblegum cards and sing along to glorious odes to the likes of Sal “the Barber” Maglie, Mark Fidrych, and Mudcat Grant—not to mention the greatest song ever written about the Minnesota Twins, “Don’t Call Them Twinkies.”
$10, Dante’s, 350 W Burnside, danteslive.com

The Breeders

Sept. 11 @ 8 p.m.

Twenty-one years have passed since former Pixies bassist Kim Deal and her group, the Breeders, ruled the kingdom of Alt-Rock with the Last Splash album and its catchy single “Cannonball.” And it’s been a dozen years since they appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The band, featuring Kim and her twin sister Kelley, reunited last year for a 60-date tour celebrating the 20-year anniversary of Last Splash and are currently out road-testing some new material that could potentially see the light of day if it plays well in Portland.
$25-27. Wonder Ballroom, 128 N Russell St. wonderballroom.com

Tony Starlight’s Tribute to Dean Martin

Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.

Performing chameleon Tony Starlight welcomes local sophisticates to his new joint for a swanky dinner show dedicated to ol’ Dino himself. Starlight is so Old School he majored in hieroglyphics; his powers of mimicry and comic timing are as impeccable as his tailored tux. Instead of sitting through five bands to get to the headliner, Starlight and his crack backup band will deliver two sets—the first a tribute to Martin’s comedy/variety TV show from the 1970s, and the second a politically incorrect re-enactment of Dino’s nightclub routine.

It also offers the opportunity for couples to do better than business-casual in the wardrobe department. There is a dance floor on the premises.

Visit website for ticket information. Tony Starlight’s Showroom, 1125 SE Madison St. tonystarlight.com

Drake & Lil Wayne. Photo courtesy of Young Money Entertainment

Drake vs. Lil Wayne

Sept. 13 @ 7 p.m.

Hip-hop showdowns don’t get much more epic. Smooth operator Drake has a Grammy and a dozen number-one hits but it’s Lil Wayne who gave his career a leg up, when he signed Drake to his Young Money Entertainment label in 2009. Drake is the favorite of the Portland Trail Blazers; “Up From the Bottom” and “Worst Behavior” are inspirational tunes frequently name-checked by Damian Lillard and Wes Matthews.

Lil Wayne counts Barack Obama as among his high-profile listeners. (You know, the POTUS? We elected him twice?) Separately, they’ll kick out the hits, and come together on joint jams like “Grindin’” and “HYFR”. Good thing this is at a Washington venue, because there will be some “Blunt Blowin’” tonight.
$39.50-125.50, Sleep Country Amphitheater, 17200 NE Delfel Rd, Ridgefield, WA. ticketmaster.com

Richard Buckner

Sept. 14 @ 8 p.m.

It’s terribly trendy for a certain breed of singer-songwriter to sound as if they just miraculously stepped off a dusty shelf at the back of some antique shop with their mustache expertly waxed. Buckner is the real McCoy, a downbeat countrified folkie from California who’s been recording songs of soulful desperation for more than 20 years.

Sometimes he’s got a band, sometimes he’s flying solo acoustic, but when Buckner drops gems like “The moon will grow and moan tonight/And disappear without a fight/You won't give up until you lose/Boys, the night will bury you,” it won’t much matter what kind of paper it’s wrapped in. You’ll be too busy following Buckner through graceful turns of the century.
$12, Mississippi Studios, 3939 Mississippi Ave. mississippistudios.com

John Chandler has been writing about rock and/or roll for 25 years with The Rocket, Portland Tribune, Portland Monthly, Magnet, Dagger, No Depression, and Puncture. He also writes about beer, booze, and bars for Portland'sBarFly website and plays in a couple goofy bands when the mood strikes him. He can most often be found at the wheel of horrificflicks.com, a review website dedicated to horror movies.

Homepage Photo Credit: By Brennan Schnell [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink