POISON IDEA, WEHRMACHT, DEFIANCE, RESIST, CEREMONIAL CASTINGS, HAMMERED GRUNTS, SPELLCASTER

(Satyricon, 125 NW 6th) It ends tonight. PortlandÍs best/worst club depending who you ask Satyricon hosts its final show ever before meeting its fate at the end of a wrecking ball. The house that Portland punk rock builtÓthen spilled beer all over is fittingly going out with a night of classic punk acts, including Poison Idea and Resist. See you in hell, Satyricon. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

GANDALF

(Music Millennium, 3158 E Burnside) Attention, nerdlings! 'Tis time to don our finest mithril and put our magical Glamdring swords to whetstone, for Gandalf has returned!... NERD TRAP. Calm down, Bilbo, it is not that Gandalf. This Gandalf is a band, and it's not the '90s-era Finnish death metal band, either. In 1969, a New York psychedelic pop group known as the Rahgoos changed their name to Gandalf and released their only album on Capitol Records. It's a perfect period piece that's sumptuous and delicately trippy. Now founding members Peter Sando and Frank Hubach are getting back together and performing as Gandalf for the first time since the early '70s, at this afternoon's in-store appearance at Music Millennium. Wear your Legolas costume if you must. NED LANNAMANN

HERE WE GO MAGIC

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Readour article on Here We Go Magic.

"Hausu" info, as well as a link to the complete show listings, after the jump!

Continue reading »

AVI BUFFALO, WAMPIRE

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Every time I go to my grandparents' house, they ask me to lift something heavy, write HTML code for their computer, or open that jar of pickled herring they've been trying to pry apart for weeks. "We've got arthritis! Our eyes are bad!" "You're young, you can handle it!" I equate this youthful plague to the touring capacity displayed by (and imposed upon) Long Beach-based, barely 20-year-old Avi Buffalo thus far. Since the April release of their self-titled debut, the band has barely had time to brood in their rooms and skip dinner to prove a point; they've been too busy doing their geography homework for the gifted-and-talented rock prodigy class they've enrolled in. And for the last leg of their first headlining tour, they partake in another laborious load-in, slinging their jangly, dreamy, and appropriately heavy guitar rock to Portland for our listening pleasure. But they're young. They can handle it. RAQUEL NASSER

PIERCED ARROWS, NAPALM BEACH, THE OBITUARIES, EASTSIDE SPEED MACHINE, DON'T, IRON LORDS

(Satyricon, 125 NW 6th) The final countdown continues for Satyricon, which will live out its final days the way it always has—bringing underground rock bands into its dingy digs. But tonight's (second-to-last) show might actually make you feel like you've fallen into the most kickass wormhole ever. Fred and Toody Cole come this time as Pierced Arrows rather than Satyricon staples Dead Moon. Joining them is seminal Portland punk band Napalm Beach, who haven't played a show in years. The place will no doubt be packed full of people who frequented the venue back in its heyday, as well as young folks who need to see what the hubbub is/was all about. Deafening rock and beer-besotted patrons never goes out of vogue—come say goodbye to a place that carried that tradition for so many good years. MARK LORE

Complete show listings can be viewed here.

TU FAWNING, AAN, BILLYGOAT

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our article on Tu Fawning.

SUFJAN STEVENS

(Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway) The Age of Adz—a spectacular departure from Sufjan Stevens' strummy, effervescent, and bookish Illinois—is a spiral of regret, confusion, and lost love, coated in a swirl of synths and glitchy electronica. Adz is a breakup record. Or, as Stevens told the New York Times, the sound of "my physical body, my feelings, touch, the nerves, anxiety, the chemistry of the brain and the spinal fluid." It appears as if, since the release of Illinois in 2005, Stevens came close to cracking up, both personally and creatively. The resulting Adz (pronounced "odds") is chilly, blunt, raw, and often devastating. It takes time to get used to. But by God, Adz is also brilliant, and establishes Stevens' artistic range as infinitely wider and more intriguing. Here's hoping it brings him the same catharsis as it does me. ANDREW R TONRY

THE PARSON RED HEADS, JAMES APOLLO, HUNTER PAYE

(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) While the band is so new to Portland that they probably still can't properly pronounce "Willamette," the Parson Red Heads are adjusting just fine. They've kept their ginger heads to the ground, working diligently on their as-of-yet untitled full-length, which was recorded in both Los Angeles with pedal steel player Raymond Richards (he's recorded Local Natives) and North Carolina with former Big Star collaborator Chris Stamey (he's recorded Whiskeytown). Place your future bets for 2011 pop dominance on the Red Heads. Until then, just enjoy this headlining show from the band. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

K'Naan, Cattle Decapitation, and Clorox Girls, as a well a link to the complete show listings, after the jump!

Continue reading »

OF MONTREAL, JANELLE MONAE

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Of Montreal's live shows are exuberant, horrifying, delightful things, with their catchy, weird-ass pop serving as the soundtrack for a production that looks like a school play on acid. Even better? Janelle Monae is opening, turning the Roseland into a sci-fi wonderland with her spacey, bass-y epics. ERIK HENRIKSEN

BEST COAST, SONNY AND THE SUNSETS, THE RESERVATIONS

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) It might be clichÉ to compare Best Coast's debut LP Crazy for You to Tiger Trap, but a fuzzy female-led indie pop band suggests few other comparisons. There are serious similarities: charged female vocals, washed-out guitars, and unabashed "I-like-you-but-I'm-not-sure-these-feelings-are-mutual" lyrics. But the sound is lazier than the Trap's and the music is almost defiantly immature and lo-fi as well. Crazy for You's standout track, "Boyfriend"—which is actually sort of melodically reminiscent of the chorus to the Rubinoos song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and Avril Lavigne's so-similar-she-got-sued "Girlfriend"—is a reminder that tasteful simplicity and directness are often more effective than lyrical complexity. So yeah, Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino may not use many tier-three words, but who cares when the tunes are so damn infectious? MORGAN TROPER

SUPER XX MAN, KEEP YOUR FORK THERE'S PIE, MIKE COYKENDALL

(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) The latest installment from Super XX Man—actually one Scott Garred, who's been recording as Super XX Man since 1995—is named Vol. XIII White Bed and serves as a touching farewell to Mr. XX Senior. Garred's father succumbed to cancer in 2008, and that loss is all over White Bed, a generous, heartfelt, and uplifting tribute that showcases Garred's nimble skill with a tune and a lyric. That's not the only goodbye on White Bed, either; "Peter and Paul" is about a "high torque super pooch named Harriet" who is no longer with us. It's a testament to Garred's songwriting skill that, despite these goodbyes, White Bed isn't a bleak, forlorn listen. Rather, it's an excellent record, an affecting and even joyful one that never gets bogged down in sentimentality. NED LANNAMANN

Allo Darlin', Wow and Flutter, Deerhunter, Joe Pug, Mississippi Man, and Cynthia Nelson, as well as a link to the complete show listings, after the jump!

Continue reading »