High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Birds Of Chicago
Nov 18 @ 8pm
Windy City artists JT Nero and Allison Russell teamed up as Birds of Chicago a few years back—and we’re awfully glad they did. Russell is a captivating singer with splashes of folk, gospel, country, and soul in her voice, while Nero is rooted more firmly in the Americana singer-songwriter camp. The two sync up and miraculously bloom without a ripple, and songs like “Sparrow” and “Cannonball” are gorgeous and uplifting, in a completely non-hokey way. Birds of Chicago are spiritually invigorating without feeling like you’ve joined a cult for the night.
$15-17. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St.
Peter Hook & The Light
Nov 20 @ 8pm
As time hurries on, musical curators like Peter Hook become increasingly important. The bassist for Joy Division and New Order, Hook was a vital part of two highly influential groups and integral to the legendary Manchester scene of the latter 1970s. He and his crew, on their best nights, are able to transmit a genuine signal of time and place, a glimpse of dour strangers reveling in their mutual isolation—together. Currently, Hook is deriving the meat of his set list from ‘Low-Life’ and ‘Brotherhood’, a pair of New Order records from 30 years ago.
$23-25. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St.
Har Mar Superstar, Pizza Underground
Nov 21 @ 9pm
The name on his drivers license reads Sean Tillman, and he bears a passing resemblance to porn star Ron Jeremy, but the singer, actor, dancer, comedian, and Twitter personality known as Har Mar Superstar is a confident and colorful fount of surprisingly soulful songs like “Lady, You Shot Me” and “We Don’t Sleep.” Seriously, the guy’s like Hugh Jackman—he does it all. Former ‘Home Alone’ star Macaulay Culkin—whose recent “death” was revealed to be an Internet hoax, is also on the bill with his band, Pizza Underground. Bring your autograph book!
$20. Dante’s, 350 W Burnside St. Sandy Blvd.
Black Prairie
Nov 21 @ 8pm
What started out as a side project has evolved into its own brand of special sauce. Black Prairie includes four members of The Decemberists, plus Jackstraw guitarist Jon Neufeld and singer-violinist Annalisa Tornfelt, and in five years time they’ve emerged from the lengthy shadow of its more famous parent band. Indeed, the most recent album ‘Fortune’ offers remarkable evidence of Black Prairie’s artistic growth, as the group coalesces around Tornfelt’s mountain-stream pure singing and a repertoire of rough-hewn and intriguing roots music.
$16-18. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St.
Fleetwood Mac
Nov 22 @ 8pm
A chance to see the five storied musicians from Fleetwood Mac’s commercial apex kicking it together on the same stage? We say, catch ’em while you can, and bask in that Buckingham-Nicks-McVie golden vocal blend that accompanied so many sunny days of no responsibility, with “Rhiannon,” “Think About Me,” and “The Chain” blasting from tinny speakers in the car stereo. Even Mom and Dad sang along!
Positive nostalgia, the chance to revisit your past through songs both glad and sad, is like a trip to the decompression chamber. You may experience some discomfort as you readjust from then till now, but ultimately it’s a trip worth taking. Go and realize a few things, why don’t you?
$47 and up. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St.
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