High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week Dec. 1

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Tuesday, December 02, 2014

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

If you can tear yourself away from cyber shopping for an evening or two, there’s a potent parade of pop music headed this way, including Thee Oh Sees, the War on Drugs, and the ever-dazzling Rufus Wainwright. Effervescent artiste Jane Siberry is doing a four-night holiday stand at Secret Society and guitar virtuoso Charlie Hunter will demonstrate why seven strings are better than the customary six. 

Thee Oh Sees

Dec 2 @ 5pm & 9pm

Singer-songwriter John Dwyer’s ensemble from the Bay Area is usually described as “psychedelic” but that’s probably due to such bad-trip song titles as “Graveyard Drug Party” and “Adult Acid” rather than the likelihood of a 20-minute sitar freak-out. Thee Oh Sees are a rambling and rambunctious bunch with a gift for cunning low-fi jangle that shines brightly in the headphones. And they’re doing two shows—one for all ages at 5pm and another for grownups at 9pm. 

$15. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St.

The War on Drugs

Dec 3 @ 8pm

Yes, bandleader Adam Granduciel is currently embroiled in a very silly spat with loony tune Sun Kil Moon singer Mark Kozelek, and you are more than welcome to Google the details in your spare time. On the music end, the War on Drugs, like famous band alumni Kurt Vile, revel in a type of classic-sounding radio rock that would have been right at home on the Top 100 a few decades back—except it’s just a few degrees too hazy and weird. Granduciel typically voices his thoughts in a talk-sing tenor somewhere between Dylan and Don Henley, while directing traffic from a galloping fog bank of synthesizers, as exemplified on “Disappearing” and “Red Eyes,” from this year’s ‘Lost in the Dream’ album.

 album. 

$27. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St. 

Rufus Wainwright

Dec 4 @ 8pm

He’s played with the Portland Symphony and recorded with Pink Martini, so it’s safe to say Wainwright loves him some Portland—and the feeling is mutual, so you’ll need to pounce on tickets right away. His current tour is on behalf of a greatest hits compilation called ‘Vibrate,’ so there should be selections from every chapter of his 16-year career, including his very famous take on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that, for many, served as an introduction to Wainwright’s blazing pop-operatic talents.

$60. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. 

 

Jane Siberry’s Hoes & Hosers

Dec 4-7 @ 8pm

During a four-night residency at the Secret Society, this captivating Canadian chanteuse will sing, spin stories, and welcome an assortment of special guests to the stage for a holiday themed revue. Armed with a satchel of songs dating back to the late ’70s, Siberry should have no trouble keeping an audience glued to her every mesmerizing gesture. One of Siberry’s best-known songs is “Calling All Angels,” a 1993 duet with K.D. Lang, who happens to live in Portland. Just saying.  

$39. Secret Society, 116 NE Russell St. 

Charlie Hunter & Scott Amendola

Dec 7 @ 7pm

It’s a duo that plays like a trio! Hunter manages both guitar and bass parts on his custom-made seven-string axe, while drummer Amendola, who’s been Hunter’s percussive foil for some 20 years, keeps pace, occasionally taking the wheel and guiding the bus across some rocky bop terrain. Their most recent record ‘Pucker’ is a mellow and melodic affair that ramps up into some funky episodes featuring the kind of intuitive interplay that only comes from time and trust. 

$20. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave. 

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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