High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week, June 2-7

Tuesday, June 02, 2015

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

The Shivas courtesy K Records

Could it be a warming trend? Certainly this week’s lineup suggests an impending thaw, as the Shivas, Chris Marshall, Joseph Arthur and Best Coast bring the heat of a season that doesn’t require scarf or hoodie.

The Shivas

June 2 @ 9pm

Welcome summer’s warm embrace by cramming a meatball hero in your face while shimmying the night away to the sun-drenched sounds of the Shivas. Though they occasionally opt for a noisy detour, on signature songs like “Living and Dying Like Horatio Alger” and “Do The Crocodile” the Portland-based Shivas pile on the garage guitars and echo-chamber vocals to the point where it seems like you’ve spent three months baking in the sun instead of just three minutes.

$5. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave.

Chris Marshall & The August Light

June 3 @ 8pm

Local country boy crooner Chris Marshall continues to shape and sharpen his considerable gifts on the new album ‘Some Kind of Dream.’ The first single from the record, “I Feel Like Running” displays a broader palette of sound from his band the August Light, and deeper layers of sympathetic everyman soul from Marshall, whose voice already shines with a benevolent Neil Diamond edge.

White Eagle, 836 N Russell St.

PDX Pop Now Compilation Release Party

June 3 @ 8pm

Get a sneak preview of the annual PDX Pop Now festival and album release that traditionally serves as a reasonably accurate forecast of our city’s wildly varied musical milieu. Tonight, see scrappy psychedelic combo Psychomagic stand shoulder to shoulder with rising razor-sharp rapper Rasheed Jamal and lovely, luminous singer-songwriter Robin Bacior, on a bill that makes little sense in terms of stylistic continuity, but speaks volumes about the abundance of riches we’ve got stashed in our little community.

$8-10. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St.

Joseph Arthur by Danny Clinch

Joseph Arthur

June 5 @ 9pm

Welcome back Joseph! The Brooklyn singer-songwriter spent about six months in Portland around the turn of the century, playing several shows armed with a tricked out acoustic guitar that carried an entire arsenal of loops and beats. A first-rate lyricist, Arthur was the first American artist signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, and he’s currently on the road supporting his 16th album ‘Days of Surrender.’ And in case you missed it, Arthur released an incredible collection of Lou Reed covers last year called ‘Lou.’ His entire catalogue is worth diving into like a crystal-blue ocean during a cruel heat wave.

$18. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St.

Best Coast

June 5 @ 8pm

There aren’t a lot of hidden depths in a Best Coast song; it’s mainly status reports from singer Bethany Cosentino’s state of mind, as on “Feeling OK” from the band’s new album ‘California Nights.’ Her moods are transitory, doubt and depression clouded over in a stony haze. “It’s not that bad, and I have no reason to be sad/ But I find a way almost every day to stay this way,” she sings in “When Will I Change.” For the most, part her inner turmoil comes wrapped in catchy pop paper, which makes even a bummer song like “Fading Fast” seem pretty groovy.

$20-25. Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

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's BarFly 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.