High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week, Jan. 6

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Jayhawks by Craig Johnston (image cropped).

With our New Year’s hangovers fading to just a bitter memory, let’s wish a hearty happy birthday to a pair of Portland venues—one still thriving (Crystal Ballroom) and one sadly no more (EJ’s). Well-meaning sentimentality does not get put away with the ornaments, you know.

The Jayhawks

Jan 7 @ 8pm

Whichever descriptive you favor—alt-country, Americana, roots, insurgent country or even ya’ll-turnative—you’ll find this long-running Minneapolis outfit near the head of the class. Currently on the road without co-founder Mark Olson, the Jayhawks, led by singer-songwriter Gary Louris, will likely derive the bulk of their set list from the post-Olson albums ‘The Sound of Lies,’ ‘Smile’ and ‘Rainy Day Music,’ which were recently reissued on vinyl with generous helpings of added bonus material.

$35. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave.

Midge Ure

Jan 8 @ 9pm

An influential Scotsman with a rafter-rattling voice, Midge Ure co-wrote Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas’ with Bob Geldof in 1984, and helped organize the Live Aid and Live 8 concerts. Geldof got a knighthood out of the deal; perhaps Her Majesty is just waiting for the right moment to give Ure his deserved dubbing? In addition to his altruistic accomplishments, Ure served as the singer for synth-pop mainstays Ultravox, co-writing the band’s biggest hit “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes.’ He’s collaborated with Thin Lizzy, been a member of Visage and Rich Kids, and released seven solo records, the latest being 2014’s ‘Fragile.’ Not to be confused with the Yes album of the same name.

$22-24. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St.

Zola Jesus

Jan 9 @ 9pm

For her most recent full-length record ‘Taiga,’ Nika Roza Danilova, who uses the stage name Zola Jesus, immersed herself in the wilds of Vashon Island, Washington in order to build her new album on a back-to-nature foundation. The results are both grandiose and pop savvy, and should earn the 25-year-old Wisconsin native some fresh members to her appreciation society. Operatically trained, with an imperial voice that typically sounds like she’s performing on a mountaintop amidst swarming cherubim and seraphim, Danilova also wields considerable magnetism as a live performer and should not be missed.

$12-14. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave.

Zola Jesus Courtesy of Mute Records (image cropped).

EJ’s 20th Anniversary

Jan 9-10 @ 7pm

For those of us who were regular habitués of EJ’s, Mike Thrasher and Etta James’ rough and tumble rock club on NE Sandy that closed in 2000, it’s a chance to catch up with old friends—and old bands from the glory days. For two nights the clock will rock backward with loud sounds from much-loved, long-gone Portland combos like the Jimmies, Goddamn Gentlemen, Atomic 61, Iommi Stubbs, Gern Blanston and the earth-shaking Heavy Johnson Trio. The Dickel Brothers, who crafted some of the best hayseed drinking music ever, will entertain in the Hawthorne Theatre lounge while the Pabst flows like water.

$5. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave.

Crystal Ballroom 101st Birthday

Jan 11 @ 1pm

You can pay respect to Portland’s bounciest floor for free at this annual all-day extravaganza. Skip the sitter and bring the moppets to an early afternoon edition of You Who, the family friendly variety show starring Portland’s top musicians playing in a fun, relaxed setting. Sallie Ford, Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes from Pink Martini, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will be among the talent on hand, perhaps inspiring the next generation of rock kids to revisit their parents’ record collection and form bands of their own. It’s the “Circle of Life”—exactly like ‘The Lion King,’ only without pushy actors in animal skins forcing you to dance with them.

Free. 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.