December's about here and you know what that means: no matter where you go there's going to be an insufferable amount of Christmas music. Maybe you got a taste this past Black Friday and you're already dreading the commercial nightmare that is fa-la-las and ding-dongs. Well have no fear, because we've got the best reprieve to hours of decking the halls and ringing bells. The Kooks have had a strong run of sold out shows throughout North America, and we've got a pair to their booked show at Crystal Ballroom on December 5. All you gotta do is [...]
Deirdre O'Callaghan The Kooks show at the Crystal Ballroom this coming Monday, December 5—which they're playing with Young the Giant and 1776 at part of 94/7's December to Remember week—is super sold out. Bummer. But bum not! For we have a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky End Hits reader. Hey, that's you! All you need to do is answer this really easy Kooks trivia question: The Kooks' second album was named for the recording studio [...]
Minh Tran Here are some lovely pics of the Erasure show at the Crystal Ballroom on Wednesday, complete with such fantastical things as Centurion helmets! Gargoyles! Andy Bell! It looks like quite the show, and luckiy our Minh Tran was on hand to capture it all inside of his camera. Plenty of pics after the jump! [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Far From Home Ep#17 Okkervil River "I Guess We Lost" Check out Okkervil River at the Crystal Ballroom back in June filmed playing a b-side from I Am Very Far , their recent release that is on Jagjaguwar.
Deviating away from her work in Fiery Furnances , Eleanor Friedberger brings her solo debut Last Summer to life next Wednesday with a live performance at Portland's Crystal Ballroom during MFNW. We saw her last July and were quite taken with how eloquent she sounded with primarily only a guitar in hand and her sultry alto vocals. This time she'll have a full band behind her, so expect a full-bodied performance as you meander your way through the festival. Mark your calendar for September 7 and be prepared to watch her along with [...]
photos by Ryan Barkan Steve Earle kicked off his summer tour on June 9th in Seattle and played the Crystal Ballroom in Portland one night later. The pictures in this post are from that show. It's Steve's first full band tour in many years. That band, "the Dukes (and Duchesses)", includes his wife Allison Moorer who he sings duets with and who plays some of her own material [...]
Fleet Foxes' rise to fame in 2008 can't be contextualized through creation myth, character study, or genre vogue. Unlike other bands that ascended in that same year (e.g. Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, No Age), it was only an exceptional sound, not an intruiging background story, that drew our attention to Fleet Foxes. These Seattle boys extracted the fibers of the Americana-pop spectrum, passed them through a vector, and created a music completely of their own. I remember seeing the band perform at small club in Chicago during that winter and vividly feeling [...]
Conor Obherst's allure as a sad-eyed, heart-aching singer-songwriter has proven to be ageless. Regardless of whether that's still (or ever was) an accurate description of the Bright Eyes frontman, it's the image many of his fans will carry-on for the rest of their lives. It's been well over a decade since Bright Eyes first stormed childhood bedrooms across the country. With Obherst's disarming words and melodies front and center, the plain vulnerability of the band's music became intimately tied, mostly via connotation, to "emo" - a rock sub-genre (defined by an overbearing whiney quality, see Dashboard Confessional ) [...]
EDITOR'S NOTE: Our End Hits Concert Challenge series continues, in which we send a music writer to a show against his or her will. This time we sent Aris Wales, our resident metal expert, to an evening with the king of all jam-tastic cover bands: the Dark Star Orchestra , which doesn't just play Grateful Dead tunes, but recreates, in exacting detail, set lists from specific concerts. I love adventures. To me, there's nothing better then stepping out of my comfort zone into unknown territory. Put me in any party, scene, or [...]
About six hours prior to the December to Remember show that brought the Black Keys to the Crystal Ballroom stage for the third time in two months, I came across the Rolling Stone list that chose their 2010 release, Brothers , as the second best album of the year. Falling only to Kanye's masterpiece of a record, it was immediately evident the Keys had cemented their place under pop culture's gazing eye, and it's been a long time comin'. Nine years of diligently toiling away had finally paid off for the group, and [...]
The concept of "fashionably late" was invented by musicians. So why, when all available media says a show starts at 8:00, is the first band, Pepper Rabbit , already playing when I walk in the door at 7:25? Is early the new on-time? Despite the confusion over their start time, the word for Pepper Rabbit is charming. The singer plays a baritone ukulele, and peppy, earnest songs emanate from the stage. They sound a bit like the Decemberists without sea shanties. There's a melodic rhythm to the ooh-oohs being cooed into the microphone, and the warm drum beats envelop [...]
Sometimes you get a decent feel for a band simply by looking at its fans. Awkward, patchy-skinned adolescents and their late-twenties counterparts: Weezer. A handful of cute, shy chicks scattered amongst a bunch of aggressive dudes in their early twenties, most wearing tank tops and baggy t-shirts: Atmosphere. Casually but trendily attired twenty-to-thirty-somethings, a few with dreads and many in pairs: John Butler Trio . Typical modern jam band? Not exactly. John Butler and his trio tore into "Pickapart" to open their Tuesday night set at the Crystal Ballroom . Energetic, groovable and [...]
For the better part of two decade, Manu Chao has dominated the Euro tour scene. But outside a worldly niche, he hasn't stormed U.S. stages with half the explosive success. Well, apparently, America is ready for Manu Chao, because half the country seemed to converge on the Crystal Ballroom last week for a sweaty, sexy, sold-out show that packed the venue to the gills and gave its trademark bouncing floor a massive workout. The Euro superstar killed every minute of his two-hour-plus ruckus, exploding into fits of reggae, flamenco, calypso, rock and everything in between to the thrill and [...]
Thursday night at the Crystal Ballroom was a study in contrasts. Three bands, playing three different styles of music, at three very different points in their careers. With such a format so strongly suggested, what is a poor music writer to do but follow the course that has been laid out? With that in mind, I present my reflections on the evening, a concert review in three parts. Part 1: The Promise Is there a better way of discovering great new music than showing up for the opener? There is [...]
In the life of every great band, there is a sweet spot; that moment in time when they are, if not at the peak of their powers, at that rich point in their career where there can be no doubt that this is something to get excited about, before all the demeaning and retrogressive forces of popular culture throw a wet blanket on the whole thing. It's a delicate line to walk. See a band too early, and the experience is tempered by a thin catalog and the very real possibility that stardom is not in fact imminent. [...]
BREAKING NEWS: Glambert is the real deal. And not just because he introduced lasers to the Crystal Ballroom for the first time in memory last night. Because he's a supremely confident performer who nonetheless projects a charming soupçon of humility onstage. Because his show is precisely ordered and choreographed, yet he still found time to get silly with his dancers and the audience. Because he doesn't need to stick strictly to the melodies of his songs, but at the same time doesn't get lost in a mist of melismas. Because he had [...]
The New Pornographers probably have a rule about inviting people with them on tour...over the phone or by email. They can't do it in person because those receiving the offer would either have a manic dance party, poop their pants, or hyperventilate just a little too much before they calmly reply, "uh, sure" to make it a comfortable experience. But once included in this roving troupe of indie superheros, I'm sure this person feels a sense of overwhelming gratitude to be part of something bigger than your average band. And this lends itself to a pretty rad show. [...]
Fresh off a show at Sasquatch Music Festival and in the midst of a summer long national tour, MGMT played not one, but two sold out nights at Portland's Crystal Ballroom . Considering the venue has a capacity of 1,500 people, that is quite a feat for any band. Sometimes, however, the hype doesn't always reflect the performance. Tame Impala opened the show with grungy, psychedelic vibes and heavy doses of power chords, seeming very much a rock band. The first two songs on their set were a good [...]
Sound Tribe Sector 9 , abbreviated and most commonly known as STS9, is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. The group got together in the early '90s; ten years later, they relocated to northern California. Ever since their beginnings, they have had a huge, loyal following. They are one of my own personal favorite bands of all time. Few lyrics, just pure inspiring music. Their sound is an eclectic mix of rock, jam, jazz, trance, electronic, funk, and hip-hop. I know: awesome energy! They focus on group-wide, extended jam sessions mixing individual instruments with synthesized electronic sounds. I [...]
Sound Tribe Sector 9 , abbreviated and most commonly knows as STS9, is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. The group got together in the early '90s; ten years later, they relocated to northern California. Ever since their beginnings, they have had a huge, loyal following. They are one of my own personal favorite bands of all time. Few lyrics, just pure inspiring music. Their sound is an eclectic mix of rock, jam, jazz, trance, electronic, funk, and hip-hop. I know: awesome energy! They focus on group-wide, extended jam sessions mixing individual instruments with synthesized electronic sounds. I [...]
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