High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week (Aug 11-16)

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Sabonis courtesy of Good Cheer Records

All right Portland! Are you ready to rock? No? OK, fine. Just let us know when you are ready to rock and we’ll be waiting impatiently in the car. In the meantime, here are five very good reasons to abandon your La-Z-Boy.

Leon Russell

Aug 11 @ 8pm

Still touring at 73, Russell is receiving renewed interest thanks to this year’s release of the Les Blank documentary, ‘A Poem Is A Naked Person.’ Filmed between 1972-74 at Russell’s recording studio outside of Tulsa, it’s a collage-like assemblage of scenes that includes the singer-songwriter-session man-producer performing some of his best-known tunes, including “A Song For You” and “Tightrope.” See the movie if you get a chance, and for sure see the man himself revisit a vast body of work that dates back to the birth of rock and roll.

$35. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave.

Sabonis Record Release

Aug 13 @ 8pm

It’s high time to become a fan of this absurdly talented local quintet. Celebrating the release of its debut five-song cassette, Sabonis (named for Lithuanian basketball legend and former Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis), generates power from the back-and-forth vocal sparring of guitarists Maya Stoner and Edward Beaudin, who gamely try to out-somber each other amidst a nest of pensively stitched guitars. It’s surprising to hear songs as seemingly forlorn as “More Time” and “Mother of all Ghosts” prove themselves to be invigorating and even oddly comforting to us melancholy types.

$6. The Know, 2026 NE Alberta St.

Bongzilla

Aug 14 @ 9pm

So you love Black Sabbath but find their lyrics too abstract? Take a hit off Bongzilla, a stoner rock outfit from Madison with a repertoire of buzzing, rumbling sludge that’s largely focused on the band’s fondness for ganja. “Greenthumb,” “Grim Reefer,” and the red-eye anthem “Amerijuanican” are potent and heady examples of the Bongzilla oeuvre, which should have no trouble connecting with a crowd of freshly legalized enthusiasts.

$16. Dante’s, 350 W Burnside St. Sandy Blvd.

Ural Thomas by Drew Bandy

Ural Thomas and the Pain

Aug 14 @ 8pm

By now you probably know the story: Thomas is a 75-year-old soul-singing stud who flirted with success in the 1960s, opening shows for Otis Redding, Etta James, James Brown, and Ray Charles. Despite being a sensational performer, Thomas lacked the drive for stardom, and returned to a life of relative obscurity in Portland, before being rediscovered years later by some determined locals, who rereleased his early singles and assembled a killer band to back him up. Make no mistake, Thomas is a living breathing soul monster whose aching heart can bring down any house.

$17-20. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St.

Chet Faker

Aug 16 @ 9pm

Can a bearded bloke from the Land Down Under find fulfillment stroking an electric piano and crooning sexy R&B? Sure, why not? Faker (real name Nick Murphy) turned heads with last year’s debut album, ‘Built On Glass,’ that’s awash in smoldering slow-jam pop songs like “Talk Is Cheap” and “Gold” that should be in steady rotation on any Casanova’s playlist. Recent reviews indicate that Faker is the real deal in concert, a committed crooner that plays the audience like a desperate lover hoping for a second chance.

$15. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St.

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's BarFly 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.