High Notes: The Best Live Music in Portland This Week

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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

John Chandler, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Yes, it’s colder than Christmas outside, but going to a show is an excellent way to shake off cabin fever and prove to Old Man Winter that your quest for culture will not be denied. An evening of catchy songs is proven to ward off catchy colds, and they don’t get any catchier than Fleetwood Mac. It’s California sun wherever they go, so zip up and step out. Don’t get left home alone! Terrible things can happen; just ask Macaulay Culkin when he plays Dante’s on Friday, with Pizza Underground.

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.

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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