12 February 22, 2013 | the portland phoenix | portland.thephoenix.com
K E E W a s y a 8d gs in n e p p a h e l b a t o n F a round-up o d n o y e b d n a d n a l in port
Ol as sC hr Oe de r _C Om pil ed by Ni Ch
small businesses, and the rising financial burden of maintaining a conventional rock group, it could be the best moment in history to start a band that consists solely of you and your spouse. WhitehoRse, for one, are on it. The Canadian duo of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland make accessible, lyrical, lightly countrified pop songs, looped from tracks of traditional instruments and a miniature Bed, Bath, and Beyond catalog of amplified appliances, from leather Lay-Z-Boy recliners to telephone receivers. They play with bluegrass group the ghost oF PAul ReveRe at 8 pm; $8. 575 Congress St, 207.879.8988. SHUCKS | A longstanding Portland tradition that fuses love for two acquired tastes — oysters and garage-rock — is revived at Bayside Bowl. This year’s “oysteR stomP” gives a nod specifically to wharf staple J’s Oyster Bar (which serves up free bivalves during happy hour all month), and brings fuzzouts the FliPsides and the evil stReAKs, with ’MPG dj mAtt little. 8 pm and free at 58 Alder St., 207.791.2695.
DON’T FORGET THE CANDY
f Angelique Kidjo, at Strand Theatre, in Rockland on Feb 21. thursday 21 BENIN HERE | The soulful, soar-
ing Beninoise singer Angelique Kidjo, whose career began in the late ’80s as a sort of African contemporary of Annie Lennox and evolved to a genre-hopping international appeal, is a pretty significant name to be playing Midcoast Maine in mid-February. Fresh off a live album bearing the talents of Branford Marsalis, singers Diane Reeves and Josh Groban, and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, the UNICEF ambassador and activist’s show is rumored to be a sensational affair. Kidjo hits the Strand, 345 Main St. in Rockland, at 7:30 pm; tickets are $55. 207.594.0070. HEY SUBURBIA | From the burgeoning field of rock sociology, the writer and professor Ryan Moore, author of Sells Like Teen Spirit: Music, Youth Culture, and Social Crisis, speaks about the role of music as an instrument of social change. Moore is young, which should be crucial to understanding his angle, and should be plenty savvy with regard to the repercussions of the more violent technological shifts of the last decade. Moore’s lecture, titled
“Rhythm, noise, & the City: musiC And soCiAl ChAnge,” starts
at noon at the University of New England’s Ketchum Library, Biddeford Campus, 11 Hills Beach Rd. 207.602.2709. EMERGING VOICES | At 6:30, the Portland Public Library mounts an encore screening of the Telling Room’s affecting 2012 student documentary, The Whole World WaiTing, in which over a dozen young writers from Portland’s immigrant community perform original work amid the illustrative backdrops of carefully selected local settings. 6 pm in the Rines Auditorium followed by a discussion with the organization’s Young Writers and Leaders Program (with which this writer has volunteered as a mentor). Call 207.871.1700.
friday 22 DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN | To rest with the
terms jazz, folk, or roots would do a disservice to the hauntingly singular Portland band the ReveRie mAChine. Fronted by the bewitchingly talented Meghan
Yates, whose voice is equal parts Joan Armatrading and Joanna Newsom, the group’s late 2012 release Not By Blood is a mystical, intoxicating listen. Perhaps that’s why they get the otherworldly treatment tonight. Via the outer fringe label Eternal Otter, the Reverie Machine play off-trail at Zero Station, 222 Anderson St., at 7:30 pm. WHAT HAPPENS | The duo dAve gAgne & sAeKo nishimuRA, who co-front the world-folk group Post Provost, offer a cheery midwinter set at the Inn on Peaks Island (in case you’ve forgotten such a thing exists). 7 pm at 33 Island Ave. 207.776.5100. CALL IT A NIGHT | The long time between appearances for Portland rock band metAl FeAtheRs is not without explanation. The group — now slimmed to a trio — have been working on their impressive full-length Handful of Fog, their third (see this writer’s review on page 18), and unveil it tonight at Mayo Street Arts. With the fuzzed-out trash-punk of leAves leAves, synth-driven powerpop group Wood BuRning CAt, and AleX KeAton. 7:30 pm; $5 at 10 Mayo St., 207.615.3609. DOMESTICA | In this era of increased tax incentives for
| The massively popular Tijs Michiel Verwest, better known as the Dutch DJ tiesto, was part of the first wave of club producers to transcend the anonymity inherent in electronic dance music to achieve international fame. He heads a night of house music and trance at UNH’s Whittemore Center, with tommy tRAsh &
quintino and local producer joe BeRmudez, at 7:30 pm. $30, 128
Main St., 603.862.4000.
saturday 23 TRUST YR INSTINCTS | How best to explain the massive appeal of events like the 48 houR musiC FestivAl? Now in its fifth year, around 100 local musicians have been participants, and while they’re sure to have forged some lasting memories, timeless stories, and ironclad endorsements, the underlying appeal of the ad hoc rock fest is its ability to whittle all the bullshit of having a band down to one manic fantasy weekend of music, which is as close an approximation of what it felt like when we were teens in the basement. If this year’s class doesn’t contain people you know, it will undoubtedly include those moments of glory, apprehension, frustration, and joy you’ll find fondly familiar. 8:30 pm; $10 at SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St., 207.828.5600. DEEP SHADE | The indigo giRls, the pathbreaking American folk duo who have long outlived any need for description, play with a full backing band (known separately as the shAdoW BoXeRs) at the Music Hall in Portsmouth. 8 pm; $32-40 at 131 Congress St., Portsmouth, NH. 603.431.2400. (If Monday’s better for you, check
f TV ShoW: ePisode 5, at SPACE Gallery, in Portland on Feb 26.