Here's the view from the rooftop of the hotel at which I'm staying in Portland, the Mark Spencer. I stayed here back in 2007 when I first visited Portland, and re-booked due to it's central location relative to MFNW venues. I shopped around on line for other hotels, and turned down the discount offers out by the airport, as staying anywhere else but here would have felt like being "somewhere else."
Today is going to be a busy day, probably the most challenging of MFNW. If I can get up in time, I'm going to attempt to catch a Number 20 bus and cross the Willamette River to catch the morning show by Little Dragon at the Doug Fir Lounge. Later in the day, it's off to Northeast Portland so that I can see Wales' the Joy Formidable. Back in March, I wrote that the Joy Formidable would soon be too big a band to play a venue as small as The Earl in Atlanta, and today they prove me correct by playing an early, Nike-sponsored show at the Wonder Ballroom. After Joy Formidable, I take a Number 6 bus from Northeast Portland down to Southeast Portland to catch Montreal's Suuns, Portland folkscape duo Talkdemonic (who apparently have an album coming out), and the headliners, Handsome Furs.
Today is going to be a busy day, probably the most challenging of MFNW. If I can get up in time, I'm going to attempt to catch a Number 20 bus and cross the Willamette River to catch the morning show by Little Dragon at the Doug Fir Lounge. Later in the day, it's off to Northeast Portland so that I can see Wales' the Joy Formidable. Back in March, I wrote that the Joy Formidable would soon be too big a band to play a venue as small as The Earl in Atlanta, and today they prove me correct by playing an early, Nike-sponsored show at the Wonder Ballroom. After Joy Formidable, I take a Number 6 bus from Northeast Portland down to Southeast Portland to catch Montreal's Suuns, Portland folkscape duo Talkdemonic (who apparently have an album coming out), and the headliners, Handsome Furs.
Handsome Furs are the Canadian husband-and-wife duo of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry. The couple have joked about being "closet journalists," devoted to that international family of artists who dare to defy authority, to the bands that play, often under risky circumstances, in repressed regions like Myanmar and China’s Hubei province, and to their counterparts in Yugoslavia, Poland and Bulgaria, who work at hazardous chemical plants by day and dodge secret police at night.
After all that, Damian Jurado is playing a late night set at a nearby club, but to get there I'll have to walk. I've seen him before (The Earl, natch), and he's a great singer-songwriter with at least one masterpiece album (St. Bartletts) under his belt. But by the time he finishes his set, Portland's public transit system will have shut down, and I'll have to walk a mile or so and cross the Morrison Bridge to get back to my hotel (I took that long walk Wednesday morning just to make sure such a trek was possible and to assess the safety).
But six bands in four clubs in one day? With a mile-long walk at the end? Think I can keep up and make it all? And if I do, will I have anything left the next day to face The Horrors?
After all that, Damian Jurado is playing a late night set at a nearby club, but to get there I'll have to walk. I've seen him before (The Earl, natch), and he's a great singer-songwriter with at least one masterpiece album (St. Bartletts) under his belt. But by the time he finishes his set, Portland's public transit system will have shut down, and I'll have to walk a mile or so and cross the Morrison Bridge to get back to my hotel (I took that long walk Wednesday morning just to make sure such a trek was possible and to assess the safety).
But six bands in four clubs in one day? With a mile-long walk at the end? Think I can keep up and make it all? And if I do, will I have anything left the next day to face The Horrors?
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