High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week, Dec 30 - Jan 4

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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Happy New Year’s (almost)! While a majority of revelers will have their hands full with binge drinking and seduction strategies, we encourage multi-taskers to lend an ear to some damn good music and welcome 2015 with joyous stomping and clapping. It’s been known to ward off evil spirits, and we need all the help we can get.

Hot Tuna

Dec 31 @ 8pm

Since it’s New Year’s Eve, let’s talk about old acquaintances. High-flying Jefferson Airplane alums Jorma Kaukonen (guitar) and Jack Casady (bass) have been tuning up together in one form or another for half a century. As is the case with most folks who were once ready for the revolution, Jorma and Jack eventually returned to the dirt in 1970 with Hot Tuna, a stripped-down blues duo that can expand into a rock band if need be. But tonight it’s just two old pals plucking and thumping through “Hesitation Blues,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” and Airplane tidbits like “Trial By Fire” and “Good Shepherd.”

$75-80. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. 

MarchFourth Marching Band

Dec 30-31 @ 8pm

If you want your New Year’s Eve experience to look and sound like Mardi Gras (or maybe halftime at a bowl game), then your search is over. For sheer volume of entertainment, how can anything compete with M4? In addition to phalanxes of comely dancers, hula-hoopers, stilt-walkers, and banner-wavers, there’s a skintight band here that’s capable of blowing up the joint with horn-heavy funk and savvy jazz jump.

$25-45. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St. 

The Strange Tones

Dec 31 @ 8pm

This hardworking quartet, fronted by guitarist Julie Strange and bassist-husband Andy Strange, is one of the most reliably rocking acts in town, with a smoking set list of surf-spy swagger and blustery, low-down blues. On very special occasions (like this one, we assume), the ’Tones are accompanied by the Volcano Vixens, a pair of twitching terpsichorean types with plenty of get up and go-go. Now that’s a proper party!

$17. Duff’s Garage, 2530 NE 82nd Ave. 

Weinland’s NYE Supergroup

Dec 31 @ 9pm

Who’s going to be there? Now in its sixth year, this annual shindig features rural-rock ensemble Weinland anchoring a rotating cast of prominent local musicians—including Laura Gibson, Dave Depper, and members of Blind Pilot—belting out a guilty pleasure playlist. In years past, folks from Portland Cello Project, Minus 5, and the Fruit Bats have all taken turns tearing up everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top. It’s like you’ve finally found the cool secret club where the in-crowd meets for karaoke. 

$25-28. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St. 

Dead Moon

Jan 3 @ 8pm

The chance to christen the New Year with Portland’s most revered band should not be missed. Rock ’n’ roll grandparents Fred and Toody Cole have played together in a number of memorable groups, but it was as Dead Moon (1987-2006) with drummer Andrew Loomis that the Coles hit upon the ideal outlet for such don’t-tread-on-us anthems like “54-40 Or Fight,” “It’s O.K.” and “Fire in the Western World.” Once their afternoon naps are out of the way, all the feisty old-timers will be out in force for this class reunion. 

$26. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside 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'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.

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