High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week

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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Just because you plan on ingesting enough tryptophan to hibernate till Easter is no reason to forsake your live music obligations this week. Shake off the torpor and dig into a Whitman’s Sampler of sweet local bands like Lord Dying, Haymaker, Wild Ones, and Radiation City. And if there are any tickets left, you really should join The Next Waltz, a two-night salute to a brilliant Martin Scorsese film. 

Sturgill Simpson

Nov 25 @ 8pm

No less of an authority than ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine recently ran a story with the headline “Is Sturgill Simpson Country Music’s Savior?” Since busting onto the scene with a pair of highly lauded albums two years ago, this Kentucky troubadour has convinced a whole bunch of folks that he’s the real deal. The evidence is plain as the nose on your face on his latest album, ‘Metamodern Sounds in Country Music,’ which Simpson refers to as his “hippie love record,” even though it sounds a lot more like Waylon Jennings than the Dead. 

$15-17. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave.

Lord Dying

Nov 26 @ 9pm

The holiday season is a trying time for those of us who weren’t blessed with festive DNA. The mental energy it takes to be constantly thankful for everything can prove extremely taxing. If you’re in need of a dose of darkness, Portland metal monsters Lord Dying have a little something to stuff in your stocking. Let the healing powers of doom and desolation pillage your eardrums on almost evil numbers like “In a Frightful State of Gnawed Dismemberment.” (Dedicated to the turkey, perhaps?) Blast away the blahs. 

$10. Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash St. 

Haymaker

Nov 28 @ 8pm

One of Portland’s most revered alt-country combos returned from a decade-long hiatus a few years back, and fans of tasteful twang and lost highway hootenannies ought to do themselves a favor and revisit Haymaker. Led by singer-songwriter Steve Lockwood, Haymaker packs a sneaky wallop whether ripping it up on Okie rock jammers like “Go For a Ride” or getting misty about a certain girl on “Here in My Arms.” Don’t forget to order a beer so you have something to cry into. 

$5. Alberta St Pub, 1036 NE Alberta St. 

The Next Waltz

Nov 28-29 @ 8pm

Organized by ‘Willamette Week’ music writer Jeff Rosenberg, this annual live staging of ‘The Last Waltz’, Martin Scorsese’s epic documentary of The Band’s final concert, is chockfull of local talent like Ural Thomas, Anita Lee Elliott, and Casey Neill interpreting songs by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell. The two-night concert is also a benefit for the Jeremy Wilson Foundation, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance for musicians facing medical emergencies. Hurry! It’s usually a sell-out.

$25-28. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St. 

Wild Ones, Radiation City

Nov 29 @ 8pm

This is an inspired bill, offering lucky listeners the opportunity to see two of the town’s top pop bands on one stage. Wild Ones have a buoyant keyboard bounce to their step that belies the wistful words coming from singer Danielle Sullivan. Similarly, Radiation City singer-keyboardist Lizzy Ellison exhibits a languid grace suggestive of Astrid Gilberto, surrounded by an inventive little bossa nova orchestra. Both bands are sophisticated and melodically adept, proving once again that Portland’s music milieu is an abundance of riches. 

$12. Star Theater, 13 NW Sixth 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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