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WWEEK.COM
VOL 37/23 04.13.2011
B E R K L E Y I L L U S T R A T I O N . E T S Y. C O M
BACK COVER
NEWS WHO KILLED THE COP BILLS IN SALEM. FOOD & DRINK ZUKIN EATS ALL THE RAMEN. MOVIES KILLER TIRE, KILLER DWIGHT.
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Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
CONTENT
LAND MINES OPPONENT: An interview with Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speaking in Portland this week. Page 14.
NEWS
4
FOOD & DRINK
25
LEAD STORY
17
MUSIC
29
CULTURE
22
MOVIES
47
HEADOUT
23
CLASSIFIEDS
51
STAFF Editor-in-Chief Mark Zusman EDITORIAL Managing News Editor Henry Stern Arts & Culture Editor Kelly Clarke Staff Writers Nigel Jaquiss, James Pitkin, Beth Slovic Copy Chief Kat Merck Copy Editors Matt Buckingham, Peggy Perdue, Sarah Smith Special Sections Editor Ben Waterhouse Screen Editor Aaron Mesh Music Editor Casey Jarman Assistant Music Editor Michael Mannheimer Editorial Interns Ailin Darling, Kevin Davis, Rachael DeWitt, Nathan Gilles, Tiffany Stubbert CONTRIBUTORS Stage Ben Waterhouse Classical Brett Campbell Dance Heather Wisner Visual Arts Richard Speer
Erik Bader, Ruth Brown, Nathan Carson, Shane Danaher, Robert Ham, Whitney Hawke, Jay Horton, Matthew Korfhage, AP Kryza, Nilina Mason-Campbell, John Minervini, Katrina Nattress, Rebecca Raber, Alistair Rockoff, Jeff Rosenberg, Anika Sabin, Matt Singer, Chris Stamm, Mark Stock
DISTRIBUTION Circulation Director Robert Lehrkind
PRODUCTION Production Manager Kendra Clune Art Director Ben Mollica Graphic Designers Soma Honkanen, Adam Krueger, Carolyn Richardson, Dylan Serkin Production Interns Christa Connelly, Jessica Stambach
MUSICFESTNW Executive Director Trevor Solomon All Purpose, All the Time Dan Winters
ADVERTISING Director of Advertising Jane Smith Display Account Executives Sara Backus, Maria Boyer, Michael Donhowe, Drew Harrison, Janet Norman, Kyle Owens Classifieds Account Executive Jennifer Lee, Corin Kuppler Advertising Assistant Ashley Grether Marketing and Events Manager Jess Sword Marketing and Promotions Coordinator Brittany McKeever
Our mission: Provide our audiences with an independent and irreverent understanding of how their worlds work so they can make a difference. Circulation: 90,000 (except during holidays and school vacations.) Though Willamette Week is free, please take just one copy. Anyone removing papers in bulk from our distribution points will be prosecuted, as they say, to the full extent of the law. Willamette Week is published weekly by City of Roses Newspaper Company 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Main line phone: (503) 243-2122 fax: (503) 243-1115 Classifieds phone: (503) 223-1500 fax: (503) 223-0388
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INBOX WWEEK.COM READERS COMMENT ON ROGUE OF THE WEEK: HAND (APRIL 6, 2011) “HAND needs to get with the times. European birch trees are great in humid continental Europe. Here in Portland it makes no sense to stick by a guideline that was adopted 25 years ago to preserve a nuisance tree that requires extra irrigation in the summertime. It makes way more ecologic (and aesthetic) sense to plant xeric plants to withstand the droughts that we undergo during the three months of the year when it does not rain. I say take out the gloomy birches and allow people to plant ‘sensible’ street trees.” —Keith Nevison “Monoculture is a bad thing. If the streets have a mix of species, problems like Dutch elm disease don’t decimate whole city blocks.… Anyone who would think birches were good street trees is tripping. Besides the problems mentioned, aphids also like to infest them in the warm season and the trees drip honeydew on people and cars.” —xtinA “There are situations where tree diversity makes sense and others when it doesn’t. In a forest, diversity is important. Where street trees along short streets are being used to articulate a formal street plan, as they have been since the inception of Ladd’s Addition, diversity undermines the objective. For example: It would make no sense to plant evergreens and maples among the cherry trees in the Washington Mall (or along the waterfront downtown…). The street trees are in a public right of
I’ve always been puzzled about the economic matrices of people who work in Portland and live in Vancouver. Do they create a net economic gain or loss for our city and state? —When Yaks Attack Vancouverites? Ha! Why, I bet those dirty freeloaders are laughing at us right now. You know Washington has no income tax, right? And then I bet they buy all their goods here, and avoid sales tax, too. No wonder the place is so popular with Republicans! There’s only one problem with this handy slam: it’s not true. Washingtonians who work in Oregon do pay Oregon income tax. This makes sense, of course—after all, the place where you get the wages should be the place where you’re taxed on them, right? Which is why Portlanders who work in Vancouver don’t have to pay Oregon income tax. Psych! Just kidding; those folks have to pay, 4
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
way and subject to city regulation. These are not private gardens. No one has an absolute right to select a particular species for the right of way. In the case of Ladd’s Addition, the regulations have been clear for 25 years. If birches are a poor choice of street tree, the way to fix the problem is to designate a new tree for the street. It is not for every property owner to take matters into her own hands and make decisions based on dubious authority…. It makes me sick to see a self-centered property owner, newly arrived in the neighborhood, dump on dedicated volunteers who have spent countless hours in support of a vision. That vision—historic preservation, street tree plan, controlled traffic—has seen property values in Ladd’s Addition more than quadruple over the past 25 years.” —PLI “As a neighbor of the house in question, I went through the same thing when I tried to plant a maple tree on the same street. Ms. Brodie’s landscapers did their homework better than I did, though, and obtained a permit for non-birch trees. Seems strange to renege on that permission, now that it’s been granted. I spoke to the landscapers and they had some solid, nonaesthetic reasons for planting those trees, not the least of which was to not give parasites/beetles a perfect straight line of their favorite food. A little bit more tact from the folks at HAND and Save Our Elms would go a long way.” —PDXGeoff LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Fax: (503) 243-1115, Email: mzusman@wweek.com
too. It’s kinda cool the way the state doesn’t pin itself down to any one particular rationale when it comes to explaining why you owe it money. According to Robert Whelan, senior economist at the Portland consulting firm ECONorthwest, Washington residents who work in Oregon contribute a cool $205 million to our tax coffers each year. (For comparison, Multnomah County residents in toto contribute about a billion.) That’s a lot of scratch to fork over to a state you don’t even live in. “And we get all that without having to provide them with housing, police, fire service or water,” says Whelan. “We should send them a thank-you note, God bless ’em.” I agree. Thanks, Vancouver! Not only do you collect all the region’s Republicans in one place for easy avoiding, you give us tons of free money. Sure, you don’t waive sales tax for us anymore— but the way we act, who can blame you? QUESTIONS? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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CIVIL RIGHTS: A trans-woman’s complaint. TRANSPORTATION: Examining the LO streetcar proposal. CITY HALL: Whatever happened to recycling food waste? TRAIL BLAZERS: Can they get out of the first round?
8 11 12 15
FACTS EVEN DONALD TRUMP WON’T QUESTION.
Brad Avakian, a potential challenger for U.S. Rep. David Wu in the 2012 Democratic primary, appears to be nearing an announcement. As first reported April 11 on wweek.com, Avakian has hired as his adviser Jake Weigler of Grant Park Strategies, the political outfit started by Josh Kardon, ex-chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Avakian, Oregon’s commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, previously represented Washington County in the Legislature.
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Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
W W S TA F F
There’s a roadblock to bipartisan efforts to connect the Legislature’s K-12 appropriation with local school districts’ spending (see “Breaking the Cycle,” WW, April 6, 2011). House Bill 3539 was stymied in a House Business and Labor Committee hearing April 6 by co-chairman Mike Schaufler (D-Happy Valley) and Rep. Greg Mathews (D-Gresham). Both panned the bill as an assault on collective bargaining, because it would shift control over teacher pay away from Oregon’s 197 school districts. Rep. Mark Johnson (R-Hood River) was disappointed but not deterred. “We continue to believe the idea has great merit,” Johnson says, “and we hope to continue discussions.” Add another name to the growing list of potential candidates for Portland City Council in 2012. Annette Mattson, a member of the David Douglas School Board since the Clinton era, says several people have approached her about running for city commissioner. “I am open to the idea,” says Mattson, a government affairs administrator for Portland General Electric. MATTSON
W W S TA F F
The City of Portland will include steroids on the list of substances it looks for when random drug tests begin in July for cops. As first reported April 8 at wweek.com, city Human Resources Director Yvonne Deckard says the city has located a lab in Northern California that processes steroid tests for about $130 each, down from about $250 elsewhere. A new labor contract with police approved in February includes random drug tests for the first time, and police oversight advocates worried the city wouldn’t test for steroids because it was struggling to find a lab it could afford. The contract lets the city run 660 drug tests annually on the union’s 915 cops. The tests will also look for cocaine, amphetamines, opiates and marijuana.
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D E N N I S C U LV E R
NEWS
KILLING ALL COP BILLS WHO’S STOPPING POLICE REFORM IN THE CAPITOL? BY JA M E S P I T K I N
jpitkin@wweek.com
State Rep. Lew Frederick entered the 2011 Legislature with a package of bills he hoped would respond to the six officer-involved shootings last year in Portland. Halfway through the session, Frederick (D -North/ Northeast Portland) now says all four measures to reform police oversight are either dead or dying. “There’s not a block on it, but there’s not a lot of enthusiasm by any means,” says Frederick, who’s in his first full session in the Legislature. Who killed the bills? Asked for his view on whodunit, Frederick points a finger at four ex-cops elected to serve in the state House—including three on the 10-member House Judiciary Committee that holds life-or-death power over most police-reform efforts in the Capitol. The committee is co-chaired by Rep. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha), a retired Portland police lieutenant, and Rep. Wayne Krieger (R-Gold Beach), a retired trooper for the Oregon State Police. Rep. Andy Olson (R-Albany), a retired State Police lieutenant, also serves on the Judiciary Committee. And Rep. Sherrie Sprenger (R-Scio), a retired Benton County sheriff’s deputy, is not on Judiciary but is viewed as influential on law-enforcement issues in Salem. (Rep. Greg Matthews, a Democrat from Gresham, is also a former cop.) The fact that 8 percent of Oregon’s 60 House representatives (and 30 percent of the House Judiciary Com-
mittee) are ex-cops points to the respect that police enjoy among voters. And the twist that four of those reps take credit for killing Frederick’s bills highlights the remarkable influence they enjoy over efforts to change state laws on police oversight. “When you have the police making the laws, what have you got?” asks Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch. “I’m not saying Oregon is a police state. But it has the taint of a police state when you have so many law-enforcement officers sitting on committees where they’re deciding whether the police should be held accountable for shooting people.” Among other effects, Frederick’s bills would have: Mandated drug tests and expanded psychological counseling for cops who use deadly force. (See Murmurs, page 6, for the latest on testing Portland cops for steroids.) Required the Oregon Department of Justice to probe deadly-force incidents instead of leaving those investigations to local agencies. Mandated sporadic psychological evaluations as a condition for continued police certification. Required a state study of racial profiling, community policing and minority hiring in police agencies. Mandated a statewide study of police training. Krieger, Barker, Sprenger and Olson say they worried the bills mandated a statewide fix to a Portland-specific issue. “I’m not saying Portland doesn’t have a problem. I’m not in a position to decide,” Sprenger says. “But let’s look at other remedies before we look at [changing state law].”
Krieger is even more blunt. “The mayor, the city commissioners, the district attorney [and] the city police need to take care of their own house,” he says. “I’m not gonna have some outside influence come in.” Barker says he consulted Portland Police Chief Mike Reese and Officer Daryl Turner, who heads the 900-member Portland police union. The chief and union president found common ground in opposing the bills. Barker says Reese assured him many of the issues were already being addressed inside the Police Bureau. But Barker says he was also concerned about creating additional expenses for the cash-strapped state. In the end, Barker says, his opposition to the bills came from his own experience as a lawmaker and a cop—not out of favoritism to the police. “There’s a lot of myths of the thin blue line,” Barker says. “If there’s a problem, I would take a look at it. But these weren’t the solutions.” State Sen. Chip Shields (D-North/Northeast Portland) tried to push a similar bill in the Senate to mandate DOJ probes, drug testing and more counseling after deadlyforce incidents. Shields says the Senate bill also is dead. He blames Portland police-reform advocates in part for failing to make their presence felt in Salem. “The groups that are interested in this need to be down here working the bill,” Shields says. Rev. T. Allen Bethel heads the Albina Ministerial Alliance, an outspoken group on police reform in Portland. He says his community faces significant barriers to access in the Capitol. “The community does not have a lobbyist who is paid full-time to be down in Salem,” Bethel says. “What the community does is go to the polls and vote, and we elect these officials to represent our interests. If they cannot do that, the community has the right to go back to the polls at election time and remove them.” Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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CIVIL RIGHTS DARRYL JAMES
NEWS
LOST IN TRANSITION WHY AN OREGON TRANSGENDER WOMAN SAYS SHE GOT FIRED. BY AIL I N DA R L I N G
adarling@wweek.com
When Tea Gillis started work last August as a senior designer at Northwest Natural Products in Vancouver, Gillis went by Todd Gillis and wore slacks and men’s shirts. But Gillis, who has two children and lives in Southeast Portland, was also seriously considering sexual reassignment surgery, and had been taking estrogen treatments for over a year to become a woman. Now, Gillis alleges in a complaint to the Washington Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that her abrupt termination in February resulted from her request to begin dressing as a woman at work while she prepared to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. Gillis and her attorney, Lake Perriguey, allege that Northwest Natural Products, a manufacturer of gummy-bear vitamins, violated federal and state laws on gender identity discrimination. “They were using my work on a national level,” says Gillis, 47. “I thought it was going very well.”
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Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
Gillis says she came to work a few months into her $58,000-a-year job as a senior package designer wearing nail polish. Perceiving discomfort from her direct supervisor and some co-workers, Gillis says she went to human resources and asked if the nail polish violated any company rules. Gillis says a human resources rep, Amy Mullins, told her she had no problem with it, and told her to “go ahead and get her freak on.” Gillis also began wearing a bra to work to address her changing body. Gillis says many of her co-workers knew she was a “trans-woman” and had seen her dressed as a woman outside of work. “We all got along very well,” says Gillis. “They called me the ‘color’ of the office.” In January, Gillis’ psychiatrist told her she had to begin presenting as a woman— wearing a complete female wardrobe, makeup and going by the name of Tea— full-time to prepare for her surgery. This time, Gillis says, the HR rep told her she would have to talk to her supervisor and “see if it was something they could handle.” Two weeks later, Gillis says she hadn’t heard back from Mullins or her supervisor. Her attempts to contact them were unreturned. Eventually, Gillis says she was
BODY OF EVIDENCE: Tea Gillis says a Vancouver company canned her as she prepared for surgery to become a woman.
told the department didn’t have time “to consider her concerns.” On Feb. 22, Gillis says Mullins fired her without reason, saying she was “no longer a good fit for the company.” “I was shocked,” Gillis says. “I checked with my creative director frequently. The owner was very pleased.” Northwest Natural Products President Kate Jones says Gillis was fired because the company was dissatisfied with her work.
“Ms. Gillis’ poor attendance and work quality are well-documented and speak for themselves,” Jones says. “There is absolutely no basis for this claim.” Since her termination, Gillis has been unable to find work, forcing her to postpone her reassignment surgery and stop seeing her psychiatrist. “It’s really tough,” she says of finding work. “Do I go out as Todd? Do I go out as Tea? I’m really in a strange place.”
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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NEWS MARISSA LOUISE
TRANSPORTATION
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
only about a 1.6 percent decrease in the number of vehicles on the road during peak rush hour. Jill Gelineau, a lawyer for Public Storage, a Lake Oswego landowner opposing the project, wrote in an April 11 letter to Portland City Council that the streetcar “will do almost nothing to improve transportation in the Highway 43 corridor in the short or long term.” Adams and the Lake Oswego City Council, which also votes next week to select a “locally preferred alternative,” have gotten an earful from project critics, such as a well-funded crew from the ritzy Dunthorpe neighborhood between BY NIG E L JAQ UI SS njaquiss@wweek.com Portland and Lake Oswego, and Lake Oswego residents who oppose large-scale development When Mayor Sam Adams and his council col- in the city’s Foothills neighborhood. leagues vote April 20 whether to move forward Adams and his staff are less focused on reducwith a streetcar extension to Lake Oswego, they ing Highway 43 congestion than in boosting will do so before answering many key questions. development in Johns Landing. As with the pro“There’s a lot of due diligence that hasn’t been posed Foothills development, significant zoning done,” Adams says. “We’re going into decision changes are required before development along making before we know a lot of the answers.” the line happens. Adams acknowledges next As The Oregonian reported recently, the big- week’s vote puts the train ahead of the track. gest questions cover the price tag—as much as “The zoning is not yet in place here or in $458 million, according to the highest estimate Foothills,” he says. “In other cases, like the River in a December 2010 draft environmental impact District, the zoning was done concurrently.” statement. But before getting too worked up The difference is, Metro is running the about whether the Federal planning process because the Transit Administration will FACT: The environmental impact deal crosses municipal boundfund the project, it’s worth statement projects the number aries, unlike the River District, examining the rationale for the of households in Lake Oswego’s which lies entirely within transit corridor will increase proposed 6.6-mile rail link. Portland. But Adams and his 51 percent between 2010 and All transportation projects 2035, despite increasing only 6 staff are willing to move both seeking federal funding must percent from 1990 to 2005. That forward because they believe submit a “purpose and need” projected increase doesn’t include the streetcar will catalyze the Foothills development. statement. That statement development and they think in this case says, “The need the actual cost to Portlanders for the project results from: Historic and pro- will be relatively small. jected increases in traffic congestion in the Lake Paul Smith, Portland’s lead planner on the Oswego to Portland Corridor....” project, says the city would contribute $14 milThat makes sense. Highway 43 between lion of what he says is a $350 million total price Portland and Lake Oswego is often jammed. tag. About $6 million would come from a local And ongoing development at South Waterfront improvement district in Johns Landing; another will only add to congestion. The problem for $5 million would come from system development streetcar proponents is that spending hundreds charges on new projects. That math is likely to be of millions of dollars will not materially reduce good enough for at least four of the five votes on congestion, according to projections. the council (Commissioner Dan Saltzman favors Forecasts show the streetcar will attract 3,400 ending the track at the Sellwood Bridge). more “boarding rides” than existing bus service But if the city’s math is wrong or the feds don’t in 2035, but traffic will be little changed. A study cover 60 percent of the cost as city planners hope shows building the streetcar would shave only or reject lofty valuations of right of way as part of one minute off the 33-minute travel time by car the local jurisdictions’ contribution? from Lake Oswego to Portland State University “This deal will require a lot of significant in the year 2035. political lifts,” Adams says. “If they don’t happen The study found that compared with the “no- or our partners in Lake Oswego can’t find conbuild” option of the status quo with existing bus sensus, then maybe the streetcar doesn’t make service, the streetcar extension would result in sense.”
THE PROPOSED LAKE OSWEGO STREETCAR WON’T REDUCE CONGESTION, NOR WILL IT COST CITY TAXPAYERS A BUNDLE.
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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KICKED TO THE CURB WHY GREEN PORTLAND DOESN’T RECYCLE FOOD WASTE CITYWIDE YET. BY B ETH SLOVIC
bslovic@wweek.com
A pilot program in Portland to collect food waste separately from residential garbage won’t expand to include the entire city this spring as expected. Two new Portland garbage transfer facilities to handle the extra stream of waste aren’t quite ready to accept the table scraps. But a larger issue—one familiar to residents of leafy city streets, where Mayor Sam Adams recently proposed new collection fees—also remains unresolved. Would Portlanders be willing to pay more for garbage service to fund this new program? Or, to divert food waste from the city’s garbage stream without creating significant new costs, would Portlanders be willing to forgo once-a-week garbage pick-up? “That’s one of the big policy questions,” says Bruce Walker, a solid waste and recycling program manager with Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. “We want to make sure
One already enthusiastic supporter of expanding the pilot that began in April 2010 is Rachel Lipsey, a 35-year-old resident of the Richmond neighborhood who provides catering on the set of the TNT television series Leverage. As a result of her work, some of which she performs in her Southeast Portland home, Lipsey says she generates significant amounts of food waste like egg shells and coffee grinds that no longer must go into her garbage can. Instead, under the program, Lipsey and other participants toss everything from fish bones to pizza delivery boxes and tea bags into their green rolling carts for yard debris. As part of the pilot, yard debris mixed with food waste gets picked up from residents in the four neighborhoods once a week. In the rest of the city, yard debris gets picked up once every two weeks. (The more frequent service is intended to prevent smells from the food waste.) Lipsey says foul odors haven’t been a problem for her except once last summer when she forgot to take her can to the curb. Her household garbage has decreased so dramatically, she’s considered switching to once-a-month pick-up. “There’s just no garbage,” she says. In San Francisco, where residents started mixing food waste with yard debris in 2009 under a city mandate, the city also still collects garbage weekly. Portland officials say that’s not ideal, however, and not just because of the added cost. “If you still have your garbage picked up weekly, why would I need to change my habits?” Walker says. By weight, food waste accounts for 30 percent
“I START OUT WITH THE PREFERENCE OF NOT WANTING TO INCREASE FEES.”—SAM ADAMS if we’re making a big step that we’ve gotten that final direction from City Council.” A survey to answer those questions went to the 2,000 residents in Portland’s four pilot neighborhoods—Richmond, Arnold Creek, Hazelwood/Centennial and Roseway—last week. Residents have until April 25 to respond. Then Adams and city commissioners will weigh those answers against the rising cost of garbage service, which is likely to increase an undetermined amount in 2012 even before factoring in expansion of food-waste pick-up to all Portland neighborhoods. “I start out with the preference of not wanting to increase fees,” Adams says. 12
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
of household garbage, since leftovers tend to be denser than other household waste, says Walker. If Portland were to keep weekly garbage service and increase the frequency of yard debris pick-up to accommodate the new food-waste program, city residents would be looking at an annual garbage bill increase of $48 to $60, or as much as 19 percent. Though city officials anticipated they would have the new food-waste program up and running in all of Portland by this spring, they remain optimistic that 2012 seems a more realistic goal. “Without question we want to expand and recover food waste and give residents an opportunity to put that to better use,” Walker says.
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
JODY WILLIAMS
J U DY R A N D
A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER WHO THREATENED TO FRY CANADA’S PRIME MINISTER. WW: How do you gauge whether your work has been successful? Jody Williams: Over 40 million mines have been destroyed from stockpiles. And there have been mine-clearance programs in all of the most-mined countries in the world. One hundred and fifty-eight countries have signed the treaty. That’s over 80 percent of the countries in the world. Even countries who haven’t joined, like the U.S. and China, have felt pressure. The U.S. hasn’t used land mines since the first Gulf War. We haven’t exported them since 1992. We haven’t produced them since the middle of the ’90s, and we have destroyed millions from U.S. stockpiles, which leads to the question: Why won’t they just sign the damn thing? What are the chances the U.S. will ever sign the Mine Ban Treaty? In theory, the Obama administration is undergoing a serious review of [land-mine] policy. I say that with some criticism because the policy was reviewed under Clinton and Bush. I don’t know what they can review again. I think Obama has too many things going on with the military to irritate them with this treaty. Joining the land-mine treaty is too much of a small thing in his military agenda and could risk pissing [the military] off. BY N AT H A N G I L LES
ngilles@wweek.com
Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams wasn’t always so anti-authoritarian and outspoken. Williams, who is speaking in Portland this week, says she worried about getting in trouble growing up in a small town in 1950s Vermont. But at age 7, when two boys started harassing her deaf older brother, she stood up. “I wanted to beat the crap out of them,” says Williams, now 60. “But I could never catch them.” Williams went on to stand up for others, and over time, she says, it got easier. In college, Williams protested the Vietnam War. In the 1980s, she worked to raise awareness about U.S. interventions in Latin America. And in 1992, Williams founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Her efforts paid off in 1997, when 122 countries signed the Ottawa Convention, a treaty calling for the end of using, producing, selling and stockpiling land mines. The number of signatories has since climbed to 158—not including the United States. In 1997, Williams won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work. And in 2006, Williams co-founded the Nobel Women’s Initiative, an organization that brings together six living female Noble Peace Prize winners to help women’s rights activists around the globe.
What did you think about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009? I think the Norwegian Nobel Committee erred in judgment. It is always very dicey awarding a sitting head of state—they can wage war. In Obama’s case, he was already waging two! I appreciated Obama’s recognition that he didn’t deserve it. But he should have gone a step further and declined the honor. What was the biggest mistake you made during the land-mine ban campaign? My mistakes were mostly haranguing other campaigners. I didn’t always play nice, let me put it that way. Now, I’ve become a picture of grace and empathy [laughs]. But from my perspective as a coordinator, I don’t know if we did anything major wrong, because we succeeded.
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Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
And your worst moment? We were in Norway. It was September 1997 and it was the last negotiating session on the treaty. The U.S. had not participated and a couple weeks before the end, Clinton decided to send a delegation to participate in the negotiations. But the real intent of the delegation was to make sure that if a treaty happened it would not take effect immediately. What did you do? We threatened some of the governments we had been supposed partners with. What kinds of threats? Oh, I was pretty crude. I told the man who was in charge of the [Canadian] delegation that we would fry the [Canadian] prime minister. That we would go after him publicly and shame him hideously because here was the man who had challenged the world to pass the ban and at the last minute wanted to cave to the United States. Why have you said working for peace is not for the faint of heart? I get really irritated at the “Kumbaya”-peace dove-rainbow image of peace. The work we did on the land-mine campaign took work every day, seven days a week, for years and years. Martin Luther King—if you think he is a “Kumbaya” wimp, you’d better read the history about his work, or Nelson Mandela, or Aung San Suu Kyi imprisoned in Burma for most of the last 20 years. What keeps you going? I’m stubborn and self-motivated. And I do believe that anybody can contribute to making the world better. GO: Williams is speaking at 7 pm Thursday, April 14, at Concordia University. Free. She is also delivering the keynote address at Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility’s anniversary dinner at 6 pm on Friday, April 15. Call 274-2720 for ticket availability.
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CAN THE BLAZERS FINALLY ESCAPE THE FIRST ROUND? BY C AS E Y JARM A N
cjarman@wweek.com
As the Trail Blazers prepare this week for their third consecutive playoff appearance, Portland seems poised to make a push for postseason success thanks to the midseason addition of Gerald Wallace. Getting out of the first round in the Western Conference for the first time since 1999 is a big deal because the team this summer must reassess a roster loaded with oft-injured players and veterans with uncertain futures. But while the Blazers appear to have their best shot at advancing to the second round in the Nate McMillan era, it’s also looking like kind of a clusterfuck. Below, we assess the team’s most likely opponents (as of WW’s Tuesday afternoon press deadline). SAN ANTONIO Record against Portland: 1-3 Key Blazers: LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Miller have both had big games in wins over the veteran Spurs. It’s that one-two punch that would help the Blazers upset San Antonio. The story: During the Kevin Pritchard era, the Blazers tried to emulate the Spurs’ international scouting and focus on team chemistry. Beating San Antonio would be total studentbecomes-the-teacher material. DALLAS Record against Portland: 2-2 Key Blazers: At times this season, Aldridge has made perennial All-Star Dirk Nowitzki look like a punk. But it would take strong guard play—including Brandon Roy, who was dreamy against the Mavs in March—to match Jason Terry and J.J. Barea. The story: This is widely viewed as Portland’s best-case scenario, but we can’t stop thinking of the tumultuous seven-game series from 2003, the last time these two teams met in the first round. Dallas won, remember? LOS ANGELES LAKERS Record against Portland: 3-1 Key Blazers: In the Blazers’ sole victory against the Lakers last week, Wallace bullied Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. The Blazers would need him to be huge in the playoffs. The story: Despite the Lakers’ limping to the finish line, the smart money is on vastly improved play by Los Angeles in the postseason. Still, a Blazer upset would mean bragging rights as “Laker killers” for years to come. I say bring ’em on. OKLAHOMA CITY Record against Portland: 3-1 Key Blazers: Wallace, who scored 40 on OKC in March, and Nic Batum, who’s had some success stopping star Kevin Durant, who could’ve been a Blazer if not for the Greg Oden pick. The story: While Portland and OKC usually play competitive games—the Blazers lost three games to the Thunder this season by a combined 12 points—this is a very young, improving team that nearly upset the Lakers last year. Besides, Blazer fans certainly don’t need reminders of Durant’s success. Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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For three decades we have conducted a massive economic experiment, testing a theory known as supply-side economics. The theory goes like this: Lower tax rates will encourage more investment, which in turn will mean more jobs and greater prosperityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;so much so that tax revenues will go up, despite lower rates. The late Milton Friedman, the libertarian economist who wanted to shut down public parks because he considered them socialism, promoted this strategy. Ronald Reagan embraced Friedmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideas and made them into policy when he was elected president in 1980. For the past decade, we have doubled down on this theory of supply-side economics with the tax cuts sponsored by President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003, which President Obama has agreed to continue for two years. You would think that whether this grand experiment worked would be settled after three decades. You would think the practitioners of the dismal science of economics would look at their demand curves and the data on incomes and taxes and pronounce a verdict, the way Galileo and Copernicus did when they showed that geocentrism was a fantasy because Earth revolves around the sun (known as heliocentrism). But economics is not like that. It is not like physics with its laws and arithmetic with its absolute values. Tax policy is something the framers left to politics. And in politics, the facts often matter less than who has the biggest bullhorn. The Mad Men who once ran campaigns featuring doctors extolling the health benefits of smoking are now busy marketing the dogma that tax cuts mean broad prosperity, no matter what the facts show. As millions of Americans prepare to file their annual taxes, they do so in an environment of media-perpetuated tax myths. Here are a few points about taxes and the economy that you may not know, to consider as you prepare to file your taxes. (All figures are inflation-adjusted.) CONT. on page 18
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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TAXES
CONT.
1. Poor Americans do pay taxes.
4. Many of the very richest pay no current income Dodgers, have not paid any income taxes since at least Gretchen Carlson, the Fox News host, said last year “47 taxes at all. 2004, their divorce case revealed. Yet they spent $45 percent of Americans don’t pay any taxes.” John McCain John Paulson, the most successful hedge-fund manager million one year alone. How? They just borrowed against and Sarah Palin both said similar things during the 2008 of all, bet against the mortgage market one year and then Dodger ticket revenue and other assets. To the IRS, they campaign about the bottom half of Americans. bet with Glenn Beck in the gold market the next. Paulson look like paupers. Ari Fleischer, the former Bush White House spokes- made himself $9 billion in fees in just two years. His curIn Wisconsin, Terrence Wall, who unsuccessfully man, once said “50 percent of the country gets benefits rent tax bill on that $9 billion? Zero. sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in without paying for them.” Congress lets hedge-fund managers earn all they can 2010, paid no income taxes on as much as $14 million of Actually, they pay lots of taxes—just not lots of federal now and pay their taxes years from now. recent income, his disclosure forms showed. Asked about income taxes. In 2007, Congress debated whether hedge-fund man- his living tax-free while working people pay taxes, he had Data from the Tax Foundation show that in 2008, agers should pay the top tax rate that applies to wages, a simple response: Everyone should pay less. the average income for the bottom half of taxpayers was bonuses and other compensation for their labors, which $15,300. 5. And (surprise!) since Reagan, This year the first $9,350 of income only the wealthy have gained sigis exempt from taxes for singles and nificant income. The Heritage Foundation, the Cato $18,700 for married couples, just Institute and similar conservative slightly more than in 2008. That means millions of the poor do not marketing organizations tell us relentIncome and tax information from 2007, latest available for top 400. make enough to owe income taxes. lessly that lower tax rates will make us But they still pay plenty of other all better off. taxes, including federal payroll taxes. “When tax rates are reduced, the Median Wage, Average of Percentage Higher Burden economy’s growth rate improves and Between gas taxes, sales taxes, utility Single Worker Top 400 of Median-Wage Worker taxes and other taxes, no one lives taxliving standards increase,” according Income $26,000 $344,759,000 free in America. to Daniel J. Mitchell, an economist at When it comes to state and local Heritage until he joined Cato. He says Income and Payroll Tax ($6,084) (58,176,761) taxes, the poor bear a heavier burden that supply-side economics is “the than the rich in every state except Versimple notion that lower tax rates will Share of Income Paid in Tax 23.4% 16.9% 38.5% mont, the Institute on Taxation and boost work, saving, investment and Less Charitable Gifts $0 ($28,512,000) Economic Policy calculated from offientrepreneurship.” When Reagan was elected presicial data. In Alabama, for example, the Share of income Paid in Tax 23.4% 18.7% 25.1% dent, the top marginal tax rate (the burden on the poor is more than twice tax rate paid on the last dollar of that of the top 1 percent. The one-fifth W W C H A R T — S O U R C E : A U T H O R C A L C U L AT I O N S F R O M I R S of Alabama families making less than income earned) was 70 percent. He cut it to 50 percent and then 28 per$13,000 pay almost 11 percent of their income in state and local taxes, compared with less than 4 is 35 percent. That tax rate starts at about $300,000 of cent starting in 1987. It was raised by George H.W. Bush percent for those who make $229,000 or more. taxable income—not even pocket change to Paulson, but and Clinton, and then cut by George W. Bush. The top rate is now 35 percent. almost 12 years of gross pay to the median-wage worker. Since 1980, when Reagan won the presidency promis2. The wealthiest Americans don’t carry the burden. The Republicans and a key Democrat, Sen. Charles This is one of those oft-used canards. Sen. Rand Paul, the Schumer of New York, fought to keep the tax rate on ing prosperity through tax cuts, the average income of the tea party favorite from Kentucky, told David Letterman hedge-fund managers at 15 percent, arguing that the vast majority—the bottom 90 percent of Americans—has recently that “the wealthy do pay most of the taxes in this profits from hedge funds should be considered capital increased a meager $303, or 1 percent. Put another way, country.” gains, not ordinary income, which got a lot of attention in for each dollar people in the vast majority made in 1980, in 2008 their income was up to $1.01. The Internet is awash with statements that the top 1 the news. percent pays, depending on the year, 38 percent or more Those at the top did better. The top 1 percent’s averWhat the news media missed is that hedge-fund manthan 40 percent of taxes. agers don’t even pay 15 percent. At least, not currently. So age income more than doubled to $1.1 million, according It’s true that the top 1 percent of wage earners paid 38 long as they leave their money, known as “carried inter- to an analysis of tax data by economists Thomas Piketty percent of the federal income taxes in 2008 (the most recent est,” in the hedge fund, their taxes are deferred. They only and Emmanuel Saez. The really rich, the top one-tenth of year for which data is available). But people forget that the pay taxes when they cash out, which could be decades 1 percent, each enjoyed almost $4 in 2008 for each dollar income tax is less than half of federal taxes and only in 1980. one-fifth of taxes at all levels of government. The top 300,000 Americans now enjoy almost Social Security, Medicare and unemployment as much income as the bottom 150 million, the insurance taxes (known as payroll taxes) are paid data show. mostly by the bottom 90 percent of wage earners. That’s because, once you reach $106,800 of income, 6. When it comes to corporations, the story is Before Reaganism, the vast majority saw their incomes you pay no more for Social Security, though the much the same—less taxes. grow, but since then they’ve been virtually flat. much smaller Medicare tax applies to all wages. Corporate profits in 2008, the latest year for which Warren Buffett pays the exact same amount of Social data are available, were $1,830 billion, up almost Start End Increased Percentage Security taxes as someone who earns $106,800. 12 percent from $1,638.7 billion in 2000. Yet, even Change Income though corporate tax rates have not been cut, cor3. In fact, the wealthy are paying less taxes. porate income-tax revenues fell to $230 billion 1950 to 1980 $17,719 $30,941 $13,222 75% The Internal Revenue Service issues an annual from $249 billion—an 8 percent decline, thanks to a 1980 to 2008 $30,941 $31,244 $303 1% report on the 400 highest income-tax payers. In number of loopholes. The official 2010 profit num1961, there were 398 taxpayers who made $1 million bers are not added up and released by the governW W C H A R T — S O U R C E : A U T H O R A N A LY S I S or more, so I compared their income tax burdens ment, but the amount paid in corporate taxes is: In 2010 they fell further, to $191 billion—a decline of from that year to 2007. Despite skyrocketing incomes, the federal tax burden from now for younger managers. How do these hedge- more than 23 percent compared with 2000. on the richest 400 has been slashed, thanks to a variety fund managers get money in the meantime? By borrowing of loopholes, allowable deductions and other tools. The against the carried interest, often at absurdly low rates— 7. Some corporate tax breaks destroy jobs. actual share of their income paid in taxes, according to the currently about 2 percent. Despite all the noise that America has the world’s secondIRS, is 16.6 percent. Adding payroll taxes barely nudges Lots of other people live tax-free, too. I have Donald highest corporate tax rate, the actual taxes paid by corthat number. Trump’s tax records for four years early in his career. porations are falling because of the growing number of Compare that to the vast majority of Americans, whose He paid no taxes for two of those years. Big real-estate loopholes and companies shifting profits to tax havens like share of their income going to federal taxes increased from investors enjoy tax-free living under a 1993 law President the Cayman Islands. 13.1 percent in 1961 to 22.5 percent in 2007. And right now America’s corporations are sitting on Clinton signed. It lets “professional” real-estate inves(By the way, during seven of the eight George W. Bush tors use paper losses like depreciation on their buildings close to $2 trillion in cash that is not being used to build facyears, the IRS report on the top 400 taxpayers was labeled against any cash income, even if they end up with negative tories, create jobs or anything else, but acts as an insurance a state secret, a policy that the Obama administration incomes like Trump. overturned almost instantly after his inauguration.) Frank and Jamie McCourt, who own the Los Angeles CONT. on page 20
WORKING STIFFS TAXED MUCH MORE THAN PLUTOCRATS
IT WASN’T ALWAYS LIKE THIS
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Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
WWEEK.COM/EATMOBILE PAID ADVERTISING
EAT MOBILE IS IN ITS FOURTH YEAR — ITS SECOND UNDER A BRIDGE, AND EVERY YEAR IT CHANGES.
There’s more to Eat Mobile than eating samples from 40 Portland food carts. The gathering of mobile kitchens is also the occasion for the sort-of-prestigious Carty Awards. While the first two Carty Awards came with awesome trophies, they have been of purely symbolic value until now. No longer: This year’s winner will take home a seven-piece knife set from Shun Knives. And who decides which cart chef gets the sharp toys? With the help of Mike Thelin, journalist and foodfestival developer, and Connie Wohn of Stylus 503, we brought in the best minds we could find:
JOSH OZERSKY:
Meat enthusiast Josh Ozersky writes about food for Time magazine, The Huffington Post and Esquire, and is the author of The Hamburger: A History (2008) and the forthcoming Colonel Sanders and the American Dream. He received a James Beard Award for his work as editor of New York magazine’s food blog, Grub Street. He lives in New York City.
SEAMUS MULLEN:
Seamus is known for his approachable, modern Spanish cuisine, which has garnered critical acclaim and a strong following. While chef of Boqueria restaurant in Manhattan, Mullen earned a glowing review from The New York Times. In 2009, Mullen introduced his cooking style to a national audience as a finalist on the Food Network series The Next Iron Chef. His first cookbook, Hero Food, will be published in January.
DANIEL DELANEY:
Daniel is a foodmedia producer and entrepreneur, who, after finishing a streetfood thesis at the University of the Arts, launched VendrTV, a weekly Web video series about street food. Dan and his crew set out to discover mobile eats from Maine to Santa Monica and everywhere in between. The show has been featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, as well as in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Daily News.
EAT MOBILE DOES FORKTOWN So, you’ve followed your Portland instinct and waited until the last possible moment to buy Eat Mobile tickets—and now the general-admission tickets are all gone. Don’t worry! As of press time, a limited number of pre-tasting tickets are still available for $46 apiece at the Willamette Week store. Also, Eat Mobile and Forktown Food Tours have teamed up for two bus tours of carts in their natural habitats. You can still survey the best of the city’s food carts without the headache of trawling Twitter to figure out where the good ones are this week.
JAMIE BECK
INTRODUCING THE EAT MOBILE CARTY AWARD JUDGES:
A L I C I A J R O S E P H O T O G R A P H Y. C O M
HERE’S WHAT WE’RE DOING DIFFERENT THIS YEAR. NAOMI POMEROY:
Naomi and her sous chef, Mika Paredes, first welcomed customers to Beast on Sept. 27, 2007. Accolades and awards have followed: Food and Wine magazine has recognized her as one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America for 2009. Locally, Beast was honored as Restaurant of the Year for 2008 by The Oregonian. In March of 2010, Naomi was selected as a finalist for the James Beard Awards in the category of Best Chef: Northwest. She currently appears as a contestant on the third season of Bravo series Top Chef Masters.
TOMMY HABETZ:
Tommy Habetz began his culinary career at Bobby Flay’s flagship restaurant, Mesa Grill, then trained under Mario Batali at Batali’s first restaurant, Po. He was handpicked by Batali and Joe Bastianich to take on one of the two sous chef positions at Lupa, Mario and Joe’s Roman trattoria, where he created the pasta menu. Tommy was sent by Mario to train under Paola Di Mauro at her home and vineyard just outside of Rome. Tommy moved to Portland in
2002, became the head chef at Ripe Family Supper in 2003, and opened the Gotham Bldg. Tavern to critical acclaim in 2005. He and partner Nick Wood opened Bunk Sandwiches in the fall of 2008, and joined forces with bar man extraordinaire Matt Brown to open Bunk Bar in the fall of 2010.
ADAM SAPPINGTON:
One of the early adopters of inhouse butchery and nose-to-tail eating, Adam worked alongside Cory Schreiber at Wildwood, where he helped make seasonality synonymous with Oregon cuisine. In 2007, Adam and his wife, pastry chef Jackie Sappington, set out to start their own restaurant—the Country Cat Dinner House & Bar—which offers a little slice of home by bridging the comforts of a Midwestern supper with the farm-fresh ingredients of the Pacific Northwest. He has been featured in Time magazine, USA Today, and Portland Monthly.
While our rarified experts are choosing their favorite, you, the Eat Mobileattending public, will make your opinion known with the even-more-coveted People’s Choice Award, presented by Eat St.
EAT MOBILE DOES FORKTOWN TOURS: FRIDAY 4/29, 11 AM-2 PM: LUNCHTIME CART HOP SATURDAY 4/30, 6-9 PM: SOUTHEAST SUNSET SNACK-A-THON
Tickets for each tour are $45 and include samples at the cart stops and nonalcoholic beverages on the bus.
WHOLE FOODS MARKET BRINGS CART BITES TO GROCERY SHELVES
STREET EATS CART TO SHELF CONTEST
As part of its sponsorship of Eat Mobile, Whole Foods Market is asking the people of Portland to pick a food-cart creation to add to their weekly grocery list. Inspired by its Producer Loan Program, which makes loans to farmers and food producers looking to grow their businesses, Whole Foods is adding a Street Eats line to Portland-area markets: graband-go items created by food-cart owners and sold by Whole Foods. And it wants your help. The winner of the Street Eats campaign will work with Whole Foods to develop a food item that showcases his or her product and meets the Market's quality standards. To make this possible, the winner of the campaign will be eligible to receive a Local Producer Loan. You can cast your vote for the cart food you want to see on the market shelf online at wweek.com/eatmobile or at any area Whole Foods.
ABOUT THE LOCAL PRODUCER LOAN PROGRAM: Started in 2006, the Local Producer Loan Program has provided up to $10 million in lowinterest loans to independent local farmers and food artisans.
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
19
TAXES
CONT.
policy for managers unwilling to take the risk of actually building the businesses they are paid so well to run. That cash hoard, by the way, works out to nearly $13,000 per taxpaying household. A corporate tax rate that is too low actually destroys jobs. That’s because a higher tax rate encourages businesses (who don’t want to pay taxes) to keep the profits in the business and reinvest, rather than pull them out as profits and have to pay high taxes. The 2004 American Jobs Creation Act, which passed with bipartisan support, allowed more than 800 companies to bring profits that were untaxed but overseas back to the United States. Instead of paying the usual 35 percent tax, the companies paid just 5.25 percent. The companies said bringing the money home— “repatriating” it, they called it—would mean lots of jobs. Sen. John Ensign, the Nevada Republican, put the figure at 660,000 new jobs. Pfizer, the drug company, was the biggest beneficiary. It brought home $37 billion, saving $11 billion in taxes. Almost immediately it started firing people. Since the law took effect, Pfizer has let 40,000 workers go. In all, it appears that at least 100,000 jobs were destroyed. Now Congressional Republicans and some Democrats are gearing up again to pass another tax holiday, promoting a new Jobs Creation Act. It would affect 10 times as much money as the 2004 law. 8. Republicans like taxes too.
President Reagan signed into law 11 tax increases, targeted at people down the income ladder. His administration and the Washington press corps called the increases “revenue enhancers.” Reagan raised Social Security taxes so high
Social Security. The result: If you are single and make less than $20,000, or married and less than $40,000, you lose under this plan. But the top 5 percent, people who make more than $106,800, will save $2,136 ($4,272 for two-career couples).
that by the end of 2008, the government had collected more than $2 trillion in surplus tax. George W. Bush signed a tax increase, too, in 2006, despite his written ironclad pledge never to raise taxes on anyone. It raised taxes on teenagers by requiring kids up to age 17, who earned money, to pay taxes at their parents’ tax rate, which would almost always be higher than the rate they would otherwise pay. It was a story that ran buried inside The New York Times one Sunday, but nowhere else. In fact, thanks to Republicans, one in three Americans will pay higher taxes this year than they did last year. First, some history. In 2009, President Obama pushed his own tax cut—for the working class. He persuaded Congress to enact the Making Work Pay Tax Credit. Over the two years 2009 and 2010, it saved single workers up to $800 and married heterosexual couples up to $1,600, even if only one spouse worked. The top 5 percent or so of taxpayers were denied this tax break. The Obama administration called it “the biggest middle-class tax cut” ever. Yet last December the Republicans, poised to regain control of the House of Representatives, killed Obama’s Making Work Pay Credit while extending the Bush tax cuts for two more years—a policy Obama agreed to. By doing so, Congressional Republican leaders increased taxes on a third of Americans, virtually all of them the working poor, this year. As a result, of the 155 million households in the tax system, 51 million will pay an average of $129 more this year. That is $6.6 billion in higher taxes for the working poor, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated. In addition, the Republicans changed the rate of workers’ FICA contributions, which finances half of
9. Other countries do it better.
We measure our economic progress, and our elected leaders debate tax policy, in terms of a crude measure known as gross domestic product. The way the official statistics are put together, each dollar spent buying solar energy equipment counts the same as each dollar spent investigating murders. We do not give any measure of value to time spent rearing children or growing our own vegetables or to time off for leisure and community service. And we do not measure the economic damage done by shocks, such as losing a job, which means not only loss of income and depletion of savings, but loss of health insurance, which a Harvard Medical School study found results in 45,000 unnecessary deaths each year. Compare this to Germany, one of many countries with a smarter tax system and smarter spending policies. Germans work less, make more per hour and get much better parental leave than Americans, many of whom get no fringe benefits such as health care, pensions or even a retirement savings plan. By many measures the vast majority live better in Germany than in America. To achieve this, unmarried Germans on average pay 52 percent of their income in taxes. Americans average 30 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. At first blush the German tax burden seems horrendous.
STARVING OUR GOVERNMENT Supply-siders said lower tax rates would mean more revenue, yet tax revenues rose after Clinton’s 1993 tax-rate hikes and fell after Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax-rate cuts. Incomes through 2008 (latest data) are up 4.3 percent; corporate profits through 2009 were up 60 percent (in 2010 dollars; billions for totals, actual for per capita).
INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX
CORPORATE INCOME TAX
SOCIAL SECURITY & MEDICARE TAX
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
Year
Population
Total
Per Capita
Total
Per Capita
Total
Per Capita
GDP
Per Capita
2000
281,421,906
1,276.3
4,535
263
936
830
2,948
12,645
44,931
2010
308,745,538
898.5
2,910
191
620
865
2,801
14,660
47,483
27,323,632
(377.8)
(1,625)
(72)
(316)
35
(147)
2,016
2,552
9.7%
-30%
-36%
-27%
-34%
4%
-5%
16%
6%
Change Percentage Change
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But in Germany (as well as in Britain, France, Scandinavia, Canada, Australia and Japan), The gap between the median wage (half make more, tax-supported instituhalf less) and the average wage is growing four times tions provide many of faster than median wage because pay increases are the things Americans pay going mostly to workers at the top. (In 2009 dollars) for with after-tax dollars. Buying wholesale rather than retail saves money. Year Median Wage Average Wage Gap A proper comparison would take the 30 percent 1990 $23,799 $33,112 $9,313 average tax on American 1991 $23,747 $32,958 $9,211 workers and add their out-of-pocket spending 1992 $23,870 $33,644 $9,773 on health care, college 1993 $23,296 $32,947 $9,651 tuition and fees for services, and compare that with 1994 $23,333 $32,987 $9,654 taxes that the average German pays. Add it all up 1995 $23,439 $33,363 $9,924 and the combination of 1996 $23,797 $33,991 $10,195 tax and personal spending is roughly equal in 1997 $24,431 $35,168 $10,737 both countries, but with a 1998 $25,215 $36,441 $11,226 large risk of catastrophic loss in America, and a tiny 1999 $25,887 $37,640 $11,754 risk in Germany. 2000 $26,298 $38,708 $12,409 Americans take on $85 billion of debt each 2001 $26,369 $38,258 $11,889 year for higher education, while college is financed 2002 $26,418 $38,040 $11,622 by taxes in Germany and 2003 $26,324 $38,102 $11,778 tuition is cheap to free in other modern countries. 2004 $26,526 $38,839 $12,313 While soaring medical 2005 $26,322 $38,941 $12,618 costs are a key reason that since 1980 bankruptcy in 2006 $26,489 $39,458 $12,969 America has increased 15 2007 $26,630 $40,106 $13,476 times faster than population growth, no one in 2008 $26,420 $39,511 $13,091 Germany or the rest of the modern world goes 2009 $26,261 $39,269 $13,008 broke because of accident or illness. And child poverty in America is the 1990-2009 +$2,462 +$6,157 +$3,695 highest among modern Percentage Change 10% 19% 40% countries—almost twice the rate in Germany, G.H.W Bush (3 years) $71 $532 $461 which is close to the averClinton (8 years) $2,428 $5,064 $2,636 age of modern countries. On the corporate G.W. Bush (8 years) $122 $804 $682 tax side, the Germans encourage reinvestObama (1 year) $(159) $(243) $(84) ment at home and the outsourcing of low-value W W C H A R T — S O U R C E : S O C I A L S E C U R I T Y M E D I C A R E TA X DATA B A S E work, like auto assembly, and German rules tightly control accounting so that profits earned at mantra of tax cuts for the rich, they kept applyhome cannot be made to appear as profits earned ing the same treatment until they killed him. in tax havens. Luckily we don’t bleed the sick anymore, but Adopting the German system is not the we are bleeding our government to death. answer for America. But crafting a tax system that benefits the vast majority, reduces risks, David Cay Johnston is a columnist for tax.com provides universal health care and focuses on and teaches the tax, property and regulatory diplomacy rather than militarism abroad (and law of the ancient world at Syracuse University at home) would be a lot smarter than what we College of Law and Whitman School of Management. He has also been called the “de facto chief have now. Here is a question to ask yourself: We started tax enforcement officer of the United States” down this road with Reagan’s election in 1980 because his reporting in The New York Times and upped the ante in this century with George shut down many tax dodges and schemes, just two of them valued by Congress at $260 billion. W. Bush. How long does it take to conclude that a pol- Johnston received a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for icy has failed to fulfill its promises? And as you exposing tax loopholes and inequities. He wrote think of that, keep in mind George Washington. two bestsellers on taxes, Perfectly Legal and Free When he fell ill his doctors followed the common Lunch. Later this year, Johnston will be out with wisdom of the era. They cut him and bled him to a new book, The Fine Print, revealing how big remove bad blood. As Washington’s condition business, with help from politicians, abuses plain grew worse, they bled him more. And like the English to rob you blind.
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FOOD & DRINK: Everybody loves ramen. MUSIC: The many hats of Randy Newman. THEATER: One killer recording session. MOVIES: Radial killer.
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SCOOP SUCK IT UP, WINKLEVII. LUTZ LIVES: When the beloved Lutz Tavern, reportedly the first bar to sell Pabst to hipsters, closed in September after 56 years of beer-only business, Woodstock residents responded with a mix of abject mourning and speculation as to what sort of business could take best advantage of the Tavern’s immaculate midcentury fixtures. We were hoping for a pie shop. As it turns out, the crying and plotting may have been premature: Clinton Street Pub owners Jayson Criswell and Robert Kowalski (also of Crow Bar) have applied to reopen the space as Lutz’s Tavern. Given the pair’s record, you can bet they won’t change a thing—beer-only license included.
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WESTWARD DESIGNS: When Portland fashion designer Barbara Seipp moves her boutique, Phlox, from Mississippi Avenue into the renovated Eagle Building at 1300 W Burnside St. in May, she’ll drop the name in favor of the title of her clothing line: Isaac Hers. The move marks a westward migration for Seipp: “The evolution of Mississippi Avenue left me feeling like we didn’t fit,” she says. “The West End and the Pearl are still really the primo shopping areas.” Seipp says the new store will be “much more of a lifestyle shop”—complete with “gifty stuff and apothecary.” Isaac Hers joins shoe store Solestruck, men’s boutique Blackbird, Tanner Goods and Dunderdon in the Eagle, once the site of the city’s preeminent bear bar. AND-A I WOULD WALK: New food-cart alert (no, wait—this one actually sounds interesting). Andrew Grasso, who also runs the Mad Max-esque vegan motorbike taqueria TREATmachine, is bringing just about every Portland food trend together in one compact cart. Called 100 Miles, his new venture aims to source 99 percent of its foods from local farmers. The menu will change depending on what is seasonally available, with a focus on panini and platters, and a separate vegan menu. “We are going to try and build relationships with the farms we use...and form a real sort of bond with our food, the people that grow it, and have complete transparency in what we sell and do,” says Grasso. “People like to talk about the slow food movement, and this is it in its purest form, I’d say.” The new cart will take over TREATmachine’s spot on Southeast Morrison Street and 20th Avenue (next to Wolf & Bear’s) at the beginning of May, while the taco trike will go mobile. CORRECTION: Last week’s review of local decaf coffees (see “What About Decaf?” April 6, 2011) contained an incorrect photo. The second-ranked New Seasons Decaf ran with a photo of a bag from Portland Roasting. The coffee was in fact New Seasons’ house brand; no beans from Portland Roasting were tasted for the article.
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WILLAMETTE WEEK
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK IN ARTS & CULTURE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13 [MUSIC] DAS RACIST Well whaddya know, a hip-hop group that’s actually funny! Das Racist is like your stoned next-door neighbor, only they get high and rap about race and class and Dwight Schrute instead of starting another drum circle. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $15. All ages.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14 [SOCCER] PORTLAND TIMBERS VS. CHICAGO FIRE Dust off your vuvuzela: The newly major-leagued Portland Timbers FC play their first real home game at PGE Park. Er, we mean JeldWen Field. Jeld-Wen Field, 1844 SW Morrison St. 8 pm. $12-$125. [MUSIC] EL TEN ELEVEN Instrumental rock is not just Mogwai and the Friday Night Lights soundtrack, guys. Los Angeles duo El Ten Eleven makes voiceless music that’s grandiose and danceable and only slightly pretentious. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 8:30 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15 [MOVIES] ATLAS SHRUGGED: PART I A new drama extolling the virtues of free enterprise and corporate railroads. Based on a book by Ayn Rand. Opening on tax day. We’re mentioning this convergence not as a recommendation so much as a warning that you may want to avoid Fox Tower on Friday. Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10, 846 SW Park Ave., 221-3280. Multiple showtimes. $7.50-$10.50.
SATURDAY, APRIL 16
VINYL DESTINATION OUR TOP THREE PICKS FOR RECORD-STORE DAY.
Jackpot Records Downtown
Record Room
These days, almost every hobby, obsession and food gets its own holiday. April is full of especially weird celebrations— it’s National Pecan Month, in case you forgot about the existence of the “all-American nut”—and Saturday, April 16, is no exception: It’s National Eggs Benedict Day (mmm, hollandaise sauce), National Stress Awareness Day, and most importantly for Portland’s music nerds, Record Store Day. Started in 2007 by a group of vinyl geeks, Record Store Day is now an internationally celebrated observance at over 700 independent record stores, and most of our favorite local shops are selling goodies (limited-edition 7-inches from Wild Flag and Blitzen Trapper!) and hosting rad instore concerts for free. Here’s our guide to the nerdiest holiday around. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER.
Things start early at 10 am with a set from DJ Dollar Bin, a.k.a. Steven Turner of Mudhoney, and the Voodoo Doughnut van is hanging out all morning. Kickass metal-punk band Red Fang plays at 2 pm, and there should be plenty of free beverages and prizes left by then.
Bands! DJs! Food carts! (Hungry Hearts Cupcakes and Saucy’s barbecue). Events all day, starting with a noon DJ set by Jenny Hoyston, a performance by 1939 Ensemble (featuring Breeders drummer Jose Medeles) and a few pieces of limited-edition vinyl.
203 SW 9th Ave., 222-0990, jackpotrecords.com.
Everyday Music Downtown
1313 W Burnside St., 274-0961, everydaymusic.com.
It’s like a mini “Best New Band” reunion! Music by Sallie Ford and Hosannas, a DJ set from Nurses, lots of free goodies, and a chance to nab the Decemberists’ Live at Bull Moose EP before it sells out.
8 NE Killingsworth St., 971-544-7685.
GO: Record Store Day events will be taking place at record stores around the city on April 16. Go to recordstoreday.com for a list of participating venues.
[COMEDY] FLY-ASS JOKES Ian Karmel’s comedy showcase goes on a pre-Bridgetown bender with a massive lineup of local comics: Whitney Streed, Phil Schallberger, Sean Jordan, Richard Bain, Ian Karmel, Solomon Georgio and Mike Drucker, plus a “surprise guest” host. Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, 225-2227. 8 pm. $8-$10. [WORDS] MICHAEL POLLAN Author and food activist Michael Pollan speaks at the University of Portland. The event has sold out, but a limited number of “rush” tickets will be released 30 minutes beforehand, at the Chiles Center box office. University of Portland, 5000 N Willamette Blvd., 224-8499. Tickets on sale 6:30 pm, talk begins at 7 pm. $20, cash only.
SUNDAY, APRIL 17 [PINBALL] PINBRAWL 2011 Ground Kontrol hosts its third annual pinball tournament, featuring some of the fastest index fingers in the Pacific Northwest. Ground Kontrol, 511 NW Couch St., 7969364. 10 am. Spectators free, $20 to compete. Pre-register at groundkontrol.com. 21+. Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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= Highly recommended. PRICES: $: Most entrees under $10. $$: $10-$20. $$$: $20-$30. $$$$: Above $30. Editor: RUTH BROWN. Email: dish@wweek.com. See page 3 for submission instructions.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15 Speakeasy Fundraiser for the Old Church
Downtown’s holiest events venue, the Old Church, is throwing a 1920s-and’30s-themed party and fundraiser. Good-time gals and guys can partake in Prohibition-era pastimes, including listening to cabaret, wearing flapper dresses and fedoras, drinking and dancing, with music provided by Janice Scroggins, the Benson Bubblers and the Checkered Past. All proceeds will benefit the Old Church Preservation Fund. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. 6:30 pm. $5-$20 suggested donation.
Oregon Public House Fundraiser
Gilgamesh Brewing is hosting a fundraiser for the Oregon Public House, the nonprofit bar going in on the ground floor of the Village Ballroom. The brewery will be filling growlers and serving from several different kegs. Local band Porches, which includes one of the brewers, will headline a show with Alameda and Old Age. Proceeds benefit the Oregon Public House. Village Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum St. Doors 6 pm, show starts 8:30 pm. $6. 21+.
SATURDAY, APRIL 16 Kitchen Revival Tour 2011
The Architectural Heritage Center opens up the kitchens of nine vintage homes on its Kitchen Revival Tour, giving us commoners the opportunity to nose around the pantries and cookie jars of our economic superiors. The self-guided tour features architecture from 1900 to the 1950s. 10 am-4 pm. $20 AHC members, $25 general public. All ages.
GermanFest 2011
Bailey’s Taproom is holding its first German-style beer festival, featuring beers from over 16 Oregon breweries, including Alameda, Lompoc, Breakside, Laurelwood, Hopworks and more. The $15 entry fee gets drinkers a souvenir stein and five tokens to sample goods such as Bavarian-style roggenbier and salty, sour gose (one token is good for a 6-ounce pour, two for a 12-ounce). Prost! Bailey’s Taproom, 213 SW Broadway, 295-1004. 4 pm. $15 admission. Cash only. 21+.
Firkin Fest
Have a firkin good time sampling cask ales from 30 Oregon breweries at Rogue Ales’ Firkin Fest. All beers are unpasteurized, unfiltered, naturally carbonated in the cask and served at cellar temperature of 55 degrees. The $30 admission gets you eight 6-ounce tasters and two food tickets to sample gourmet cheese, meats and chocolate. Firk yeah. Green Dragon, 928 SE 9th Ave., 517-0660. 11 am-2 pm and 3-6 pm. $30. 21+.
SUNDAY, APRIL 17 A Conversation Between Plate and Glass
Top-shelf San Francisco barman and Yamazaki Whisky brand rep Neyah White is headed to Beaker & Flask for a five-course whiskey-pairing dinner to raise money for Japanese food bank Second Harvest. Chef Anthony Walton has created a menu of Japaneseinspired plates, such as miso-marinated Kobe beef and silken tofu with orange mint and sour plums, to match some very nice single malts. Beaker & Flask, 727 SE Washington St., 503-888-3118. 6:30 pm. $120 per person. RSVP with David Shenaut at dshenaut@oregonbarguild.org. 21+.
EGGCELLENT: Biwa’s ramen is topped with a soy-poached egg and tender pork.
CAN I GET A RAMEN?
tier pieces aren’t adequately rendered, leaving fat that’s gummy. The soup also comes with pickled ginger, green onion, sesame and seaweed. $7.50; $9.50 with extra chashu.
ONE MAN’S QUEST FOR THE BEST BOWL IN PORTLAND.
Hakata/chashu broth: B- Noodle: B Toppings: C+
BY NI C K ZU KIN 243-2122
Ichidai 5714 SE Powell Blvd., 771-4648, ichidairestaurant.com. This longtime favorite for value-conscious, but not overly picky, sushi-eaters also produces one of the few non-pork bowls of ramen in Portland that’s worth eating. The broth tastes strongly of chicken, without any telltale signs of bouillon or MSG. The al-dente noodles are commercial, but fresh. There isn’t much more in the bowl, just sliced green onions and chewy chashu, but the soup also comes with a side of Ichidai’s chicken karaage (fried chicken), which works better in the soup than à la carte. Not only is this a good ramen, it’s one of the better chicken noodle soups in town. $9.50.
Portlanders love comfort food, and there’s no Japanese food more comforting than a hot bowl of ramen. We spent some chilly winter nights sampling 20 bowls at 13 restaurants around town. Ramen, a wheat noodle soup with Chinese origins, comes in four main varieties, all of which can be found in the Portland area: tonkotsu (intense pork flavor), shio (broth seasoned with salt), miso (broth seasoned with fermented bean paste) and shoyu (broth seasoned with soy sauce). From there, a variety of toppings can be added—everything from simple veggies to meat to menma (fermented bamboo shoot). There are other great ramens out there—Ping’s sour-and-spicy Thai version or Ate-Oh-Ate’s Hawaiian variation called saimin, for example—but in this roundup we’ll stick to the Japanese classics. Biwa 215 SE 9th Ave., 239-8830, biwarestaurant.com. Biwa’s opening in 2007 was the spark that ignited Portlanders’ present interest in ramen and Japanese pubs. The restaurant’s ramen reached its peak about two years ago with housemade noodles and an unusual but soul-satisfying porklicious broth with charred onions. The current broth is milder, with a pork bone flavor muted somewhat by chicken. It’s one of the least sweet broths around, perhaps because it contains no MSG, but the flavor could be more rounded. The commercial noodles Biwa now uses are sufficient, but the toppings elevate the soup and make it something special. No ramen I’ve had anywhere—the Bay Area; L.A.; Vancouver, B.C.; or even Japan—has had such carefully prepared and delicious toppings. The soy-poached egg has a custardy center. The grilled miso pork loin has an amazing infusion of umami. The pork shoulder has a fried-meat crust, yet inside is as tender
as good Texas barbecue. The funky kimchi, specially made for the soup, adds a nice bright and spicy balance to the broth. $11 basic ramen, $22 loaded; $5 basic ramen early and late at the counter.
Broth: B Noodle: B- Toppings: B
Broth: B Noodle: B- Toppings: A+
Hakatamon 10500 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, Beaverton, 641-4613. Hakatamon, the Japanese restaurant attached to the Beaverton supermarket Uwajimaya, has been on a steady decline for years. The ramen is still worth eating, but it suffers from inconsistency. Some days the broth is quite salty, some days bland; usually it’s oily. The underlying flavor of the broth has an intense and mildly sweet pork flavor augmented by alliums, but the greasiness is off-putting. The thin, fresh noodles are too soft and brittle, but still among the better ones I tried for this survey. The lean pieces of chashu (roasted or braised pork) are too dry, while the fat-
Ikenohana 14308 SW Allen Blvd,, Beaverton, 646-1267, ikenohana.com. Ikenohana is a westside sleeper, one of the better values for Japanese food in Portland with inexpensive, tastier-than-the-norm sushi. The ramen has a light, slightly woody shoyu broth, with very good thin noodles. The bowl comes with julienned carrots and green onion, shiitake mushrooms, fish cake, and boiled greens—all mild ingredients matching the mild broth. The chashu is very lean and thus a bit dry. $8.75. Broth: B- Noodle: B+ Toppings: B-
CONT. on page 26 Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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FOOD & DRINK
Tonkotsu broth: C Noodle: D Toppings: C Shoyu broth: C+ Noodle: D Toppings: C
hoped, but ramen is still what Mirakutei does best. All three types of ramen start with the same rich pork broth, which is then enhanced with shoyu, miso, or a spicy mixture of miso and yuzu (a Japanese citrus). The richness of the broth isn’t sufficiently balanced by the miso, which only deepens the umami flavor. But the shoyu and, even more so, the spicy yuzu, add a delightful brightness to the broth. Each of the soups comes with green onions, sprouts and menma, but more topping choices would be very welcome. The chashu is quite good—suitably fatty with a nuanced sweetness. The fresh, curly noodles are fine, but I think everyone anticipating Mirakutei’s opening was hoping for handmade noodles. $8 for shoyu or miso ramen, $8.50 or spicy yuzu miso ramen. Shoyu broth: B+ Noodle: B- Toppings: B Miso broth: B Noodle: B- Toppings: B Spicy yuzu miso broth: B+ Noodle: BToppings: B
Miho 4057 N Interstate Ave., 719-6152, mihopdx.com. Miho, like Biwa, represents the new breed of izakaya—a hip but casual bar that mixes traditional dishes with chef-created specialties, often driven by what’s local and seasonal. Miho’s pork ramen, a version of tonkotsu ramen (though not called such on the menu), definitely leans more on the traditional side. It has a suspiciously white and creamy broth that’s sweet, almost buttery. There’s a nearly overpowering punch of pepper, possibly from the default topping of togarashi (a spicy, chile-based seasoning), or possibly just an inherent part of the broth. The soup includes green onion, boiled egg, fish cake and sprouts, plus tender chashu. The curly, tasty noodles are the same used by several restaurants in this roundup. $8 for roast-pork ramen, vegan ramen also available for $8.
Osakaya 7007 SW Macadam Ave., 293-1066. This Johns Landing restaurant was once part of the Koji empire, but seceded to the benefit of its diners. Nearly every aspect of its ramen is better than that of its former parent. The pork broth has a pleasant butteriness and a silkier mouth feel. The soy broth has an agreeable caramel character. The curly noodles are a big step up from Koji’s or Shogun’s and seem to be a fresh variety, though they are not housemade. Best of all is the pork. The hunk of sweet meat is thick and tender like stewed kakuni (pork belly), but lean like most chashu in town. Osakaya’s bowls of ramen are quite large, too. $7.50 to start; $8.15 with wakame; $8.35 with extra meat; miso broth also available.
Broth: B- Noodle: B- Toppings: B
Shigezo 910 SW Salmon St., 688-5202, shigezo-pdx.com. Shigezo is a Japanese chain that for some reason chose Portland over cities like Seattle and San Francisco for its first mainland location. (It also has a location in Hawaii.) I approach chains with skepticism, but the ramen here is easily the best item on its menu and clearly among the best bowls in Portland. Shigezo has three broths: the tonkotsu, a rich, pork-permeated broth with a funky undertone and without some of the sweetness that can dominate other pork broths; the miso, which is flat and flavorless, an unfortunate miss; and the “Tokyo Ramen,” a chicken and shoyu broth with a light, well-balanced flavor reminiscent of soba dashis but with more meatiness. All noodles are made in-house and are the best in this roundup. The noodles in the miso ramen and tonkotsu ramen are slightly thicker than average, which works better with the robust tonkotsu than the limp miso broth. The thin noodles in the Tokyo Ramen work well with the subtler soup. Both types of noodles are firm
Mirakutei 536 E Burnside St., 467-7501, mirakuteipdx.com. Mirakutei is the newest addition to Portland’s ramen scene and a sister restaurant to Hiroshi, one of Portland’s two best sources for sushi. The menu is not as focused on ramen as food geeks like myself may have
A IR M
KU TE I: Sp icy yuzu miso.
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Pork broth: C+ Noodle: B- Toppings: B Soy broth: C+ Noodle: B- Toppings: B
without being chewy, and a pleasure to eat. The tonkotsu comes with few toppings, just seaweed, green onion and chashu. The chashu is tender without much complexity, and even the large bowl comes with only two small pieces. The Tokyo Ramen, a regular item on the specials menu, comes with sprouts, seaweed and green onion as standard. However, the specials menu includes a list of additional ramen toppings: boiled egg, butter, corn, cheese, nori and kimchi. The miso ramen comes with a garden of vegetables not worth listing—they just further muddle an already lackluster bowl. $9.50 for a reguH IZ lar bowl, $13.75 for a large bowl (only EG slightly smaller than a football helmet). O: To Additional ramen toppings range from 50 yko ramen cents to $1. bowl.
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Koji Osakaya/Shogun Noodle Multiple locations, koji.com. A local chain, Koji provides what most chains provide: barely more than edible, consistent, cheap food in a corporate environment. Neither its tonkotsu nor its shoyu broth has much flavor, and what’s there comes, I suspect, from an MSGladen seasoning packet. The difference is more apparent in the tonkotsu, which should have an intense pork flavor but here has almost none. The noodles are indistinguishable from packaged ramens. The shoyu comes topped with fish cake, menma, sprouts and green onions, while the tonkotsu also has pickled ginger. The chashu is lean, dry and sometimes chewy. The related Shogun Noodle in the Fubonn Shopping Center is no better, just slightly cheaper, without the chance to eat bad sushi. $6.95 for miso, shoyu or tonkotsu; $7.95 with extra chashu or wakame.
Tonkotsu broth: A- Noodle: B+ Toppings: BTokyo broth: A-Noodle: B+ Toppings: B Miso broth: C- Noodle: B+ Toppings: B
Takahashi 10324 SE Holgate Blvd., 760-8135, thetakahashi.com. One of Portland’s oldest Japanese restaurants, Takahashi is known for cheap sushi and a toy train that runs along a track above patrons’ heads. The sushi is some of the worst in Portland, but cooked items are occasionally better. The ramen is not worth the trip to Felony Flats, however: The salty broth tastes like it came from a bouillon cube. In addition to usual toppings like bean sprouts and green onion, the bowl seems to be loaded with whatever is left over from making tempura—carrot, onion, chicken and even broccoli, which doesn’t work at all in the soup. The noodles are too thick for the light broth and are more gummy than firm. $9.50; $11.50 served with a side of the worst gyoza you’ll ever eat. Broth: C- Noodle: C+ Toppings: D+
Toshi 745 SW 185th Ave., Beaverton. Toshi is another restaurant popular more for its prices than for quality. It has 10 different bowls of ramen—more than any other restaurant in town. The broths I’ve tried, whether merely seasoned with salt or flavored with soy sauce, seem to start with the same insipid base. Add butter and corn and the soup is edible—because it tastes like butter and corn. The noodles seem to be fresh, but barely better than a dried noodle. Both of the bowls I tried included green onion, sprouts, menma and wakame, plus a very lean and dry “barbecue” pork. $7.95 for soy sauce, $8.50 for corn butter; none of the 10 renditions exceeds $8.95. Soy suace broth: D- Noodle: C+ Toppings: C Salt, butter-corn broth: D Noodle: C+ Toppings: B-
Yuzu 4130 SW 117th Ave., Beaverton, 350-1801. Yuzu has long been a hidden gem, a tiny izakaya known mostly to Japanese Portlanders and savvy restaurant industry workers
looking for cheap late-night eats and sake. It doesn’t have a sign and service can be stand-offish for those who haven’t proven their bona fides by becoming regulars who order sufficient booze. The menu is solid from top to bottom, and the ramens are no exception. The tonkotsu broth has a stronger following with its creamy texture and unnaturally white color, as if it has been enriched with milk powder. But it has some pork flavor, made tastier by the addition of garlic and sesame seeds offered on the side. The soup is served with traditional thin, straight noodles, which are also somewhat brittle and soft, and topped with seaweed, onion, pickled ginger and menma. The chashu is moderately fatty, but a bit bland. The shoyu broth is less lauded online, but for the style, a better rendition. It’s light, a little woody, with a funky fish flavor underlying the salty-sweet broth. The shoyu ramen comes with curly noodles, similar to the ones at Biwa and Mirakutei. The soup is topped with wakame, green onion, menma, a perfectly cooked egg and the same chashu as the tonkotsu ramen. $8.95 to start, $9.50 with chashu, $10.95 with stewed pork. Tonkotsu broth: B- Noodle: B Toppings: B+ Shoyu broth: B Noodle: B- Toppings: B
Taishoken 3486 Southwest Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton. Taishoken is a famous Tokyo restaurant that, unlike the others in this survey, serves a large selection of ramens (including the less common tsukemen ramen), some side dishes and nothing else. This soon-to-open store in Beaverton promises to make its own broths and noodles and focus only on ramen. If truly related to the Tokyo original and similar to the now-closed Hawaiian outpost, this could be the spot that nails broth, noodles and toppings, raising the bar even higher for ramen in Portland. Let’s cross our fingers. BIO: Contributor Nick Zukin is the coowner of Kenny & Zuke’s Delicatessen and SandwichWorks. He also runs the local food sites portlandfood.org and extramsg.com, and is a voracious consumer of under-the-radar ethnic cuisine.
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NEWS
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APRIL 13 - 19 Q&A
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
PA M E L A S P R I N G S T E E N
MUSIC
Prices listed are sometimes for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and socalled convenience charges may apply. Event lineups are subject to change after WW’s press deadlines. Editors: CASEY JARMAN, MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, go to wweek.com/submitevents and follow submission directions. All shows should be submitted two weeks or more in advance of event. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Please include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: cjarman@wweek.com, mmannheimer@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13 Das Racist, Holy Ghost!, Reporter, Rude Dudes
[GOOD-HUMOR MEN] At first, Brooklyn’s Das Racist seemed like a goof, and the most annoying kind of goof at that: three hipster doofuses appropriating hip-hop as a vehicle for snarky in-jokes only their friends would get. That’s what happens when your introductory single is “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” an absurdist novelty that could be a sly commentary on corporate branding but is more likely just some shit that made them laugh when they were high once. As more songs—and, eventually, a pair of mixtapes—came out, however, a clearer image of the trio emerged. Yes, these guys are jokesters, but they’re not a joke. And they’re not making fun of hip-hop. If anything, MCs Heems and Kool A.D. use rap to make fun of pop culture as a whole, filtering post-modern information overload through a kaleidoscope of free-associative lyrics referencing everything from Gary Soto to Four Loko. As they explain on the track “hahahaha j/k,” “We’re not joking/ Just joking/ We are joking.” Get it now? MATTHEW SINGER. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $15. All ages.
Ani DiFranco, Animal Prufrock
[THE H-WORD] It’s tempting to tease the less playful tendencies of her signal fan base these past 20-some albums as the iconic feminist chanteuse returns to touring after a few years’ domesticity, but much as she charmingly stumbles over references to husband and baby ’midst slightly less intimate stage rapport, Ani DiFranco has always meant more
than mere politicking. For that matter, shorn of a larger societal message, it’s that much easier to appreciate her singular pleasures—the wit, the syllabic urgency, the immediately distinct guitar work—of her songwriting and performance. JAY HORTON. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. $35. All ages.
Ellie Goulding, The Knocks
[FOLK AND RUN] U.K. electro-pop doyennes indulging in more than a whiff of the wavering twee—taking the pastoral, say—have become something of a cottage industry of that green and pleasant land, and Ellie Goulding’s debut, Lights (even repackaged as, wait for it, Bright Lights), didn’t quite make time running up that hill, despite a concurrent Nike campaign illuminating her apparent marathon addiction and a John Lewis advert/Elton John cover that ran silver for the 2010 Christmas singles race. Arriving breathless to these shores, with a touch of laryngitis adorably bonking her voicebox toward the last thrust of show-stopping choruses ordinarily shaking terraces amid bedsit intimacy, she’d been notably surprised and not half scared to hear sold-out cheering sections taking up the baton. JAY HORTON. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.
Kode9, Ryan Organ, Lincolnup, Ben Tactic
[DUBSTEP SAMURAI] If you have a passing interest in dubstep and think you’re going to check out this show on a whim, think again, my friends. The obsessives are going to be out in full
TOP FIVE
CONT. on page 31
BY JO H N VAN DER SLI CE
JOHN VANDERSLICE’S FAVORITE PODCASTS. BBC Radio’s A History of the World in 100 Objects Fascinating Radio 4 documentary that begins with the Mummy of Hornedjitef and ends with a portable solar-panel lamp and charger. Radiolab I’m sure most of you are familiar with this one, which just won a well-deserved Peabody Award. It’s very well-produced WNYC podcast, marked by cynical verbal jousting between the two hosts, longtime NPR science correspondent Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad. New Yorker Fiction Podcast A monthly reading and analysis with The New Yorker’s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. Start with the brilliant Cynthia Ozick reading Steven Millhauser’s In the Reign of Harad IV. My estimation of the story changed greatly after hearing Ozick’s insights. KQED’s Forum Michael Krasny hosts this eclectic daily live call-in show. He’s had everyone from David Foster Wallace to The Daily Show’s John Oliver. They have nine years of archives on KQED.org. Harry Shearer’s Le Show Shearer, otherwise known as a high percentage of voices on The Simpsons and for playing the bass player in This Is Spinal Tap, has been recording Le Show for 28 years. It’s a remarkably entertaining hour of music, skits and satirical songs. He’s gotten more political over the years, with excellent coverage of Katrina and the government failures in preventing the destruction in New Orleans. SEE IT: John Vanderslice plays Doug Fir on Monday, April 18, with Ivan & Alyosha. 9 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+. See listings for details.
HE GIVES US ALL HIS LOVE RANDY NEWMAN ON RACE, GOD AND THE ONE GREAT SONG HE WON’T PLAY LIVE. BY C ASEY JA R MAN
cjarman@wweek.com
Randy Newman wears a lot of hats: risk-taking consummate songsmith, novelty-tune hitmaker, film-scoring genius, parent-approved Disney songwriter—and, in concert, the stand-up (well, sit-down) comedian. What often gets left out of the conversation is that Newman’s last two records of new material—1999’s Bad Love and 2008’s Harps and Angels—were just as ballsy and ambitious as his first two, if not more so. Newman’s next release, The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 2, underscores the point: This guy rarely pulls punches, even in the tunes that sound sweet on the surface. Newman was just as sweet—and as honest—when reached by telephone last week. WW: Do you find yourself writing more autobiographical songs these days? Randy Newman: I mean, that’s where I’m finding them. I’ll take them wherever they come from. For one thing, you try and keep it…I don’t want to say age-appropriate, but I can’t help it. You can’t pretend that they’re written by a 24-year-old somehow. They ought to be something that someone 50 or 60 could sing. That’s interesting, because you haven’t tamed with age. A lot of songwriters kind of— Amazingly, they sort of drift off into ballad land! I can understand it, because the audience is there, too. When I do ballads now, there’s like this total attention. I noticed it in Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles many years ago. No one can rock like Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles—and they just didn’t choose to. It might be something hormonal.... Are there any songs in your discography that you won’t play these days? Yeah, there are. There are things I play that audiences like that maybe I like less well. But it hurts people’s feelings when [I] say that “I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today” doesn’t interest me that much. It hurts people’s feelings. It’s like you think they’re stupid. But liking this music or that music has nothing to do with intelligence. One song I like that I don’t play is “Old Man.” Which is a good song, but I can’t get the audience back when I do it. Not that
it’s so effective, but it’s so bleak that it’s a laughkiller for sure. You wouldn’t end with it, either? I’ve tried. I can’t do anything with it.... I think if they stop trusting you as a nice guy or a person, it changes things. They look at you different. Would we be better off if we talked as bluntly about race as you do on Harps and Angels’ “Korean Parents”? Oh, I don’t know. It’s hard to defend “Korean Parents.” I can defend it saying that it’s meant in fun and it’s not pejorative in any way, but I can’t make a really good case for it. My kids don’t let me do it here in L.A.. They have friends with Korean parents who are [bursts into laughter and snorts] serious people! For a laugh, I would…I don’t know what I’d do. Almost anything. You sing that you don’t believe in God, but don’t you need him as a narrative device? Well, it’s a big thing in the world. The fact that I don’t believe in it is a drop in the bucket. Christianity is such a hit! Judaism was way too rough. You get love and, uh, forgiveness in there...whoo! It’s such a hit that it’s of great interest to me. Do you listen back to your old albums? More so now that my kids will be playing something. But I think they like James Taylor and Paul Simon or Arcade Fire better. So not much, no. I don’t like looking back. Never have. Don’t like looking forward, either. But I never learned to live all that “in the moment” stuff. Where you are is a great place to do it. Years ago I saw people fishing in that river—in the Willamette that you’re named after there. Right in town! Fantastic! Do you ever think about retirement? Well, we were just discussing Portland the other day [laughs]. Really? Yeah. Yeah, though I don’t know. I’ve got the feeling that sometime I’ll start liking being in [the studio] all by myself. I still think that will happen. So I’m not seriously thinking about retiring, I don’t think I could.... [And] it rains a lot there. Everything creaks. Ugh. Getting up every day to a gray sky? I don’t know. SEE IT: Randy Newman plays the Aladdin Theater on Friday, April 15. 8 pm. $55. Minors must be accompanied by parent. Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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DOUBLETEE.COM / ROSELANDPDX.COM
UNITY TOUR 2011
OUTDOORS IN EUGENE!
August 25th • cuthBert • 6:30Pm • All Ages
MS. LAURYN HILL
OUTDOORS IN EUGENE
ON SALE FRIDAY!
sAturdAy june 11th • 8Pm • All Ages Arlene schnItzer concert hAll
Jesse Cook may 12th • aladdin theater • 8pm • 21+
fRIDAy MAy 20TH • cuTHbERT • 7PM • ALL AGES SIZE MATTERS TOUR
TOMORROW NITE!
AN 21 • MAX VANGELI
april 14th • roseland • 8pm • all ages
BLACK sTONE CHERRY • LIKE A sTORM APrIl 21st • roselAnd • 8Pm • All Ages
sidestep & jaden • ronin & ekim april 20th • roseland • 8pm • all ages
NIAYH
MAus HAus APrIl 22nd • dAnte’s • 9Pm • 21+
Brett
TOMORROW NITE! april 27th • 8pm • alll ages peter’s room@roseland
eldredge
may 3rd • peter’s room@roseland • 8pm •all ages MUSIC MILLENNIUM PRESENTS
AnimAl FArm • risky stAr & Good Biz
APRIL 14TH • PETER’S ROOM @ ROSELAND • 8PM • ALL AGES 30
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
mAy 8th • 8Pm • All Ages Peter’s room@roselAnd
WANDA JACKSON Red Meat
SEATED SHOW WITH DANCEFLOOR
sAturdAy mAy 7th • roselAnd • 8Pm • 21+ 503-224-TIXX
SAFEWAY-MUSIC MILLENNIUM
WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY force for this show. For good reason, too: Kode9 is a figurehead of the genre, and the one responsible for bringing the skitter-step, bass-heavy sound to above-the-fold recognition through his label Hyperdub (home of the much-vaunted and enigmatic producer Burial) and with his own fractal, weed smoke-infused singles. Catch him now before his sure-tobe-buzzed-about set at this year’s Coachella festival. ROBERT HAM. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 2397639. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Deep Dark Robot feat. Linda Perry, The Hugs, Palo Verde
[FEELING A LITTLE PECULIAR] Blessed or cursed with the ability to render the dopiest of sentiments immediately and irrevocably memorable—“What’s Up,” her 1993 4 Non Blondes hit, was infectious as the CDC understands the term—Linda “Typhoid” Perry contented herself the past decade with ghosting the hits (Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, the Pink oeuvre) that make the drive-time audience sing, at least up until some unfortunate lass broke her heart and Perry finally had something worth writing about. The resulting band Deep Dark Robot and album 8 Songs About a Girl isn’t exactly revelatory, with traces of platinum popcraft uneasily blending with garage trappings on tracks like “Fuck You, Stupid Bitch,” but it’s so much more interesting to hear what happens after the party’s stopped. JAY HORTON. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $15. 21+.
Absence of Light, Let the Night Roar, Tenspeed Warlock, Rolling Through the Universe
[HIGH ON TIRES] Whether you’re biking the streets or trucking down the highway, there are certain kinds of bludgeoning metal that provide a perfect score. Atlanta’s Let the Night Roar earns its self-proclaimed “motorcycle metal” tag instantly when you spin up one of its raging motorized sludge tracks. Remember the Green Goblin-faced semi from Maximum Overdrive? That truck would love to careen down the blacktop and lurk, idling in alleys to Let the Night Roar’s 2010 EP, Volume 2. Three excellent locals round out the bill, making it clear it’s another classy production from the extraordinary local booking masterminds at Starbird Promotions. NATHAN CARSON. Plan B, 1305 SE 8th Ave., 230-9020. 8 pm. $5. 21+.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14 El Ten Eleven, Lynx, Girlfriends
[POST-ROCK] Carving out a personalized niche in the world of instrumental rock is difficult. Most of the time, the aim is either widescreen epic (see: Explosions in the Sky) or subtlety to the point of being, frankly, a little boring (see: Tortoise). Finding a middle ground is rare, but L.A.’s El Ten Eleven has managed to stake out a spot between the grandiose and the ponderous. On its last two records, the duo—drummer Tim Fogarty and bassist Kristian Dunn— tightened up its once meandering sound, creating a compact and danceable brand of post-rock that keeps the music’s intricate rhythms without getting lost within them. And Dunn is known to bust out a double-neck bass/guitar hybrid from time to time. Rad! MATTHEW SINGER. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 8:30 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
Dr. Lonnie Smith
[ORGAN GROOVER] One of the great organists in jazz history, Dr. Lonnie Smith has been rocking the B3 and rolling in awards since the ’60s, following Jimmy Smith’s classic gospel-and-blues-drenched sound with his own tricky soul-jazz groove. Judging by the results on its new record, Spiral, this incarnation of the classic organ trio, including guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jamire Williams, leaves
plenty of room for inventive soloing by all three members on everything from ballad standards to uptempo stomps, yet their interplay sounds as tight as can be. BRETT CAMPBELL. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $17 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.
Ólöf Arnalds, The Ocean Floor, Jordan O’ Jordan
[HIDDEN PLACE] When your voice is praised as “somewhere between a child and an old woman” by Björk, you know it has to mean something. And the quirky, divisive pipes of Ólöf Arnalds—like Björk, an Icelandic singer with a flair for the whimsical and the beautiful—certainly doesn’t sound like anything else in the market. Arnalds is part of the fertile and collaborative Icelandic music community, and though her connections (she’s toured wtih Múm, and latest album Innundir Skinni was produced by a member of Sigur Rós) have informed most of her stateside reviews, it’s her own tunes—rich, sparse and dreamlike—that deserve most of the praise. Opening the show is the Ocean Floor, and Lane Barrington’s plucky folk project is the perfect entrance into Arnalds’ weird, alluring world. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie Ave., 890-0408. 9 pm. $8 advance, $10 day of show. 21+.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15 Randy Newman
See music feature, page 29. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-9694. 8 pm. $55 (minors accompanied by parents). All ages.
Adventures With Might, Spesus Christ, Pocket Knife
See album review, page 34. Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave., 248-2900. 9 pm. $5. All ages.
MUSIC
Deftones, Dillinger Escape Plan, Funeral Party
See Primer, this page. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. $32.50. All ages.
Breakestra
[SOUL STEW] Modern funk-infused soul often forsakes influence in favor of imitation. But every now again, an artist emerges who uses his or her influences to break the mold. Miles Tackett, lead bassist and crooner of L.A.-based Breakestra, thumps out pure funk perfection, and wears his soul on his sleeve with his octet of brilliantly on-point musicians. Everything from James Brown to the Isleys, Temptations, Curtis Mayfield, Parliament, Isaac Hayes, Marvin and beyond are thrust into the group’s collective musical bucket, stirred with a little hip-hop and served on a hot platter drawing out the best flavors from every influence. Neosoul seldom sounds so soulful. AP KRYZA. Dante’s, 350 W Burnside St., 226-6630. 9 pm. $15. 21+.
Monarques, World’s Greatest Ghosts, Jared Mees & The Grown Children, Light For Fire
[JUST LIKE BUDDY HOLLY] America’s midcentury pastoral was at best an optimistic fantasy, though its aesthetic has been so persistent that even a half-century after the fact, Monarques have managed to reach into that collective fantasy and come out clutching a remarkably compelling sound. Borrowing from Buddy Holly’s crisp guitar and the surrounding era’s predilection for sunny doo-wop, the local band has, in less than two years, made itself indispensable Portland crowd pleasers. To pair Monarques with World’s Greatest Ghosts and Jared Mees & the Grown Children is to risk creating a critical mass of chipper, indie-rock charm. SHANE DANAHER. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
CONT. on page 32
PRIMER
by C ASEY JA R MA N
DEFTONES Formed: 1989 in Sacramento. Sounds like: Downing a bucket of cough syrup before finding yourself in a coffin filled with angry chinchillas. For fans of: Depeche Mode, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Black Sabbath, Pantera, Sepultura, Mogwai, Rage Against the Machine, Will Haven. Latest release: Diamond Eyes, a disappointing collection of predictable—by Deftones standards, at least—soft-hard-soft formula tunes and alt-metal riffage. Why you care: Because Deftones were the little nu-metal band that could—or at least shoulda. When the band matured past the rap-rock-infected pre-screamo captured on 1995 debut Adrenaline to the infinitely more mature Around the Fur two years later—the melodic, shoegaze-metal anthem “Be Quiet and Drive” was especially promising—great things seemed to be on the horizon. White Pony, the band’s experimentation-heavy opus, cashed in on the band’s early promise. White Pony seemed a harbinger of a smarter, gentler hard rock to come—which never really panned out. Still, the band’s very loud 2003 self-titled follow-up still ranks among the decade’s best hard-rock records, and continued Deftones’ hot streak. The uneven but adventurous Saturday Night Wrist followed. Then, in 2008, bassist Chi Cheng was in a car accident that left him in a coma from which he never fully recovered. In the wake of the accident, the band scrapped an entire album, Eros—rumored to be its strangest and most ambitious disc to date—and recorded new disc Diamond Eyes with ex-Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega. Despite the uneven quality of its recent releases, the band’s live shows are worth seeing, and frontman Chino Moreno—despite a general lack of lyrical lucidity—has quite a way with words, be they spoken, sung or screamed. SEE IT: Deftones play Crystal Ballroom on Friday and Saturday, April 15-16. See listings for details. Both shows 9 pm. Both shows all-ages. Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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FRIDAY - SATURDAY DAS RACIST
BREW VIEWS P. 50
MUSIC
KEEPING IT UNDERGROUND: Das Racist plays Wednesday at Branx.
Megafauna
[SUPPER CLUB SOUNDS] With a name that nods to the simpler, Pangea days of woolly mammoths and American lions (yes, we had giant lions!), Portland four-piece Megafauna plays jazz that looks back as well. Not millions of years, but a couple of generations, to the lounge lizard days of Charles Mingus and Weather Report. Dark and droning guitar work dresses Megaufauna’s devil-may-care jazz with a bit of modernism. The band’s sound is smooth, sensual and perfect for digestion. Grab a bite and be entertained, like America used to be. MARK STOCK. East Burn, 1800 E Burnside St., 236-2876. 10 pm. Free. 21+.
Gaytheist, Wax Edison, The Chair Project
[UNCHAINED MELODY] I thought the slow, grinding opening chords of “A Meth Head to the Madness” were pretty sludgy and epic when I dropped the needle on Wax Edison’s new vinyl EP, Fires Rabbits. Then I fixed the speed from 33 rpm to 45. It’s still rad stuff that makes good use of lurching, old-school melodic hardcore riffs while retaining a sloppy, basementpunk-show delivery at the same time. “Pariah (Caring)” contains the inscrutable lyric “Got a monkey on my back like you wouldn’t believe/ King Kongathon, you know a wrongathon” over Fugazi-style changing time signatures and enthusiastic bursts of shout-along rawk. The album features a couple unexpected (and surprisingly seamless) brass-section appearances, including something akin to “Taps” that plays Wax Edison out. The horns further complicate the band’s curious balance of earnest hard rock and party punk, but by the end of the record you’ve just got to go with it. It’s a nice changeup—especially at 45 speed. CASEY JARMAN. Mudai, 801 NE Broadway, 287-5433. 9 pm. Free. 21+.
Lloyd Mitchell Canyon, Gentle Surprise, Dave
[COUNTRY] There have been a few new roots/country releases in Portland recently, most of which have been low-key affairs, but Lloyd Mitchell Canyon’s self-titled EP is one you should perk up your ears for. Frontwoman J. Crow’s vocals are country by way of ‘70s rock, with Ann Wilson and Stevie Nicks clearer influences on the debut disc than any of country music’s famous ladies. Crow’s band—which cites Drive-By Truckers, Richmond Fontaine and Neko Case as influences, among other alt-country mainstays—plays it a touch straighter, with chug-a-lug percussion and the occasional barn-burn-
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ing violin solo. While the recording itself occasionally lacks energy (on “Walk a Mile With Me,” the band seems a mile behind Crow), it also shows a ton of promise. And really, I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night than in the company of a good alt-country band at the always-inviting Kenton Club. CASEY JARMAN. The World Famous Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick St., 285-3718. 9 pm. Free. 21+.
SATURDAY, APRIL 16 Mad Rad, Serious Business, Rafael Vigilantics, Hurtbird
[ATOP PARTY MOUNTAIN] In case you’ve missed it, Seattle is quickly eclipsing our hometown as the nexus of some of the most fearless and inventive hip-hop groups around. If you don’t believe me, stop by Branx tonight to catch the quartet Mad Rad. This multicultural outfit feeds off a fairly thick soup of inspiration. Its latest album, The Youth Die Young, finds glittering bits of New Wave and electro bumping up against cavernous beats and even some touches of frenzied rock for good measure. Onstage, the three rappers up front lose themselves in the sweaty swirl of sound. Get there early for an opening set by local favorites Hurtbird. ROBERT HAM. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 8 pm. $7. All ages.
Deftones, Dillinger Escape Plan, Funeral Party
See Primer, page 31. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. SOLD OUT. All ages.
Lady Sings The Blues: A Tribute to Billie Holiday
[LONG LIVE LADY DAY] This tribute show is the fifth celebration of a true treasure, a voice so recognizable and absorbing it sums up an entire chapter of history. Billie Holiday’s bluesy gut-born vocals cut big bands down to size and changed jazz forever. Tortured like most brilliant minds are—she was a drug addict for the later part of her life before dying in 1959—Billie was too much for this world. Naturally, she’s no easy cover, but worthy performers like Sara JacksonHolman, Acoustic Minds and Audie Darling, among many others, will bid Lady Day her due musical credit. Proceeds benefit Siren Nation Women’s Music and Arts Festival. MARK STOCK. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
CONT. on page 34
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Quartet w/Jason Marsalis on Vibes DEVIN PHILLIPS SAT April 16Th • AlAddin TheATer • 7pm • 21+
April 13Th • BrAnX • 9pm • All AgeS
april 14th • mississippi studios 9pm • 21+
(live)
FRIDAY APRIL 15Th • DAnTe’S • 9Pm • 21+
SATURDAY APRIL 16Th • RoSeLAnD • 8Pm • ALL AgeS
Fri April 15Th • reFuge • 10:30pm • 21+ Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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MUSIC
SUNDAY - MONDAY
SUNDAY, APRIL 17 Tragedy, Thrones, Ealdath, Bi-Marks
[HIDDEN HARDCORE] Among Portland’s musical secrets, of which there are more than you might expect, Tragedy is perhaps the most anomalously underrated. The hardcore punk group qualifies as a Big Freaking Deal just about everywhere except its adopted hometown. Formed 11 years ago in Memphis, Tragedy now boasts a legion of black-clad followers that spans the globe. While this show at Branx isn’t experiencing anything close to a publicity blitz, the Aprilthrough-June tour that immediately follows it has Tragedy slated to headline concerts in settings as diverse as Bratislava and Brooklyn. With the group’s fifth album on the horizon (self-released, of course), it is high time that Portland refreshed its aggro cred and started paying attention to this abrasive institution. SHANE DANAHER. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 7 pm. $6. All ages.
Shelley Short, Darren Hanlon, White Lighter
[BLESSING LIGHT] Bless Shelley Short. The local chanteuse created one of my favorite records of the past few years, 2009’s A Cave, A Canoe, which was rich with her inviting, squeaky voice and an experimental sound that favored lush textures over the usual, all-toodirect singer-songwriter fare. Short is set to release a new album, Then Came the After, later this year, and while I haven’t heard it yet, it is likely to be an extension of her weirdo-folk wanderings, and another reason to treasure one of our finest homegrown talents. Get here early for an opening set from White Lightning, the guise that Typhoon’s Kyle Morton takes when playing without 11 other people. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $5. 21+.
All Time Low, Yellowcard, Hey Monday, The Summer Set
[(POP) PUNK’S NOT DEAD] In a world of bands that sounded like Blink 182, they were the band that sounded like Blink 182, but with a violin. Yellowcard was on the outer crest of the late-’90s pop-punk bubble, emerging bruised but not defeated from its scraps with the likes of Sum 41 and New Found Glory. A 2008 hiatus, paired with a discreet exit from Capitol Records, might have seemed a logical endpoint for the group, but as of last year, Yellowcard is back in business. The quartet has lost some momentum, slowing to an occasionally soporific pace on its comeback album, When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes, but Yellowcard still has that violin going for it, and it is still unquestionably a band that makes music. Tonight it plays with All Time Low, a band that sounds a lot like Green Day, just with a little less charm. SHANE DANAHER. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 6:30 pm. SOLD OUT. All ages.
MONDAY, APRIL 18 John Vanderslice, Ivan & Alyosha
[NOW WITH STRINGS] As a longtime John Vanderslice fan—nay, adherent—I worried a bit when I first caught wind of White Wilderness, the record Vanderslice would be recording with the Magik*Magik Orchestra. So much of what makes Vanderslice’s discography unique is his freaky, detail-oriented recording process, and while Vanderslice began working heavily with collaborator Scott Solter years ago, imagining him working with strings seemed like an experiment that could end
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any number of unpleasant ways. But White Wilderness turned out to be one of the Bay Area songwriter’s most complete-sounding efforts to date. Even with the orchestra, traces of the Vanderslice sound— overdriven drums on “Overcoat,” odd vocal harmonies on “The Piano Lesson”—remain, and his songwriting remains as strong as ever. Unfortunately, the orchestra isn’t making this tour—which kicks off in Portland—but the trio setting is a good one for JV, who, in addition to his studio skills, can write circles around most of his contemporaries. CASEY JARMAN. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+.
tattoos. But that notion is total bullshit! Out to prove that metal is for everyone, the weekly Heavy Metal Ladies Night takes some of Portland’s heavier bands, adds a killer DJ (that would be the show’s curator, frequent WW contributor Nathan Carson) and offer free admission for women. It’s a killer idea, and it helps that Carson can recruit acts like Rabbits, a local trio that mixes sludgy, bleak metal with punk undertones on its Melvinsbiting new record, Lower Forms. Sounds like the perfect recipe for some heavy-metal matchmaking to me. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. East End, 203 SE Grand Ave., 232-0056. 9 pm. $4 (free for ladies). 21+.
Heavy Metal Ladies Night: Rabbits, Gone to Croatoan, DJ Nate C
Movits!
[FOR THOSE LADIES ABOUT TO ROCK] For too long, heavy metal— or any heavy music, really—has been painted as a man’s game: thunderous, thick tunes played by gruff dudes with tattoos and long hair for other dudes with long hair and
[SWING FOR THE FENCES] When Swedish hip-hop swing (no, I’m not making this up) trio Movits! appeared on The Colbert Report in 2009, the first thing Colbert asked was “How do you say ‘You are the
CONT. on page 37
ALBUM REVIEW
ADVENTURES! WITH MIGHT SELF-TITLED CASSETTE (APES TAPES) [BEEP BEEP BANG] From the opening moments of “Val Kilmore,” the first song on Adventures! With Might’s self-titled debut full-length, I expect to hear Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan coming in with a well-timed “reach out and touch faith!” But the band takes things in a different direction, one with roots decidedly more ’90s than ’80s—“Val Kilmore” winds up sounding like a pulp tune; “Unfinished Pop” is a combination of crunchy guitars and synths that can’t help remind of Garbage. Even when the band is incorporating 8-bit blips and bleeps into its sound (see the trance/dance/sex anthem “Eat Your Children” and the downright Zelda-ish “N.E.S”), the combination of A!WM’s aughties disco-pop aesthetics and its ’80s Casio technology seem to split the difference and land the band’s sound squarely in the decade that brought us Weezer and Nine Inch Nails. That should probably be a bad thing, as many of us would rather forget the ’90s altogether and feel that any kind of sentimentality for that decade should fall into the “too soon” trash bin. And yet the disc works: in part because it is recorded beautifully—the low-end synth sounds are impressively bowel-shaking, and the ghostly effects on Marc Swart’s smooth vocals are effective at giving A!WM’s songs a shoegaze sheen—and in part because the duo is partially tongue-in-cheek, or at least knowingly theatrical, throughout. I mean, who makes a song called “Real Portland” sound like a nightclub from the movie Blade? Who even titles a song “Have You Seen The Dark Knight?”? Everything down to the band’s origin—Inger Medina and Swart purportedly met in a lifedrawing class as teacher and student, then used their sexual tension to build a band—seems a touch suspect. But there’s value in suspending your disbelief for a moment and letting Adventures! With Might’s half-cheesy/half-stunning sound wash over you, just like there’s value in cracking open your old CDs to see what was moving you 10 or 15 years ago. It takes the heartfelt, cinematic closer “You Think Too Much”—a warning to would-be critics, perhaps?—for A!WM to prove its point: Good music transcends time and technology. Not every song on this debut fits that description, but most of it sounds pretty cool right now. CASEY JARMAN. SEE IT: Adventures! With Might plays Friday, April 15, at Backspace with Spesus Christ and Pocketknife. 9 pm. $5. All ages.
FUNERAL PARTY
FRIDAY 4/15 @ 4PM APPEARING LIVE 4/15 & 4/16 @ CRYSTAL BALLROOM Formed a mere two years ago, word has spread fast and transformed these cult local SoCal heroes to pop stars. They’ve quickly transcended the Hardcore and Metal scene, with catchy dance songs that touch on influences like The Cure (they got their name from a song on ‘Faith’), At The Drive In, and even The Human League. Their new album ‘The Golden Age of Knowhere’ was produced by Lars Stalfors (Matt & Kim, The Mars Volta) and mixed by Dave Sardy (Band of Horses, LCD Soundsystem, Oasis.)
KYLE VINCENT
FRIDAY 4/15 @ 7PM Kyle Vincent’s latest release, ‘C-Sides’ is the third in a series of collections of “Rare & Unreleased” tracks from the ageless pure popster. The album is an eclectic collection of songs that didn’t make it onto any of Vincent’s previous albums. Included are the original demo versions of several favorites, some solid covers, including a Tommy James classic, and a duet with British singer Sonia. Vincent also covers the Goo Goo Dolls, and INXS.
DEFTONES AUTOGRAPH SIGNING SATURDAY 4/16 @ 2-3PM
Starting at 8 AM, the first 100 customers to purchase Deftones’ limited RSD vinyl release, ‘Covers,’ will get a wristband guaranteeing a place in line for the signing! (while supplies last/time permitting/limit one per person) To commemorate Record Store Day, Deftones will be releasing a special edition ‘Covers’ LP. This LP is a collection of classic Deftones cover tracks, pressed together on limited edition vinyl for the first time ever. The set spans a wide range of genres, including covers from artists The Cure, Drive Like Jehu, The Cars, The Smiths, Lynyrd Skynrd and Duran Duran.
EDDIE SPAGHETTI • FRIDAY 4/22 @7PM
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PERFORMING LIVE APRIL 21 @ ASH STREET SALOON Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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Present that night’s show ticket and get $3 off any menu item Sun - Thur in the dining room
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AN EVENING OF ROCKING AMERICANA WITH PDX SONGSMITHS
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CHRIS MARSHALL (ALBUM RELEASE) +THE LOW BONES
THURSDAY APRIL 14 •
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DOUG FIR & SMOKE SIGNALS PRESENT A SHOWCASE OF INCREDIBLE PDX TALENTS
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WEDNESDAY APRIL 13 •
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WORLD’S GREATEST GHOSTS JARED MEES & THE GROWN CHILDREN +LIGHT FOR FIRE
FRIDAY APRIL 15
•
$10 ADVANCE
A CD RELEASE CELEBRATION WITH FAVORED PDX ROCKERS
SWAMP SURFER
SATURDAY!
ROWDY PUNK-GRASS FROM MID-OREGON ROUSTABOUTS
CHRIS MARGOLIN & THE DREGS +STONE THE MURDER
SATURDAY APRIL 16
•
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TIMELESS SONGWRITING FROM PROLIFIC BAY AREA MASTER
JOHN
+MCDOUGALL
SUNDAY APRIL 17
MONDAY APRIL 18
•
$8 ADVANCE
IN MUSIC WE TRUST PRESENTS THEIR MONTHLY THROW-DOWN
VANDERSLICE +IVAN & ALYOSHA
•
GLASS BONES SEXHAWK
+LITTLE VOLCANO
TUESDAY APRIL 19 •
$5 AT THE DOOR
$12 ADVANCE SHOEGAzE DRENCHED INDIE POP FROM NYC qUARTET
PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
AN EVENING WITH THE MIND-MELTING ALL-STAR qUARTET
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TWIN SHADOW CATWALK
+DJ IzM SPINNING THROUGH THE EVENING $15 ADVANCE
THURSDAY APRIL 21
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BACKWOODS CAMPFIRE SONGS FROM SEATTLE TRIO
WEDNESDAY APRIL 20 •
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THE
CAVE SINGERS
AN EVENING WITH FORMER MINUTEMAN/FIREHOSE BASSIST
MIKE WATT
+THE YOUNG EVILS
& THE MISSINGMEN
FRIDAY APRIL 22
•
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+CHARMING BIRDS
MONDAY APRIL 25
•
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GENRE-BUSTING ROOTS ROCK FROM AUSTIN TX COMBO
THE
GOURDS
THURSDAY APRIL 26
+PAT SWEANY
•
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EMILY WELLS 5/17 BIFFY CLYRO 5/30 WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS 6/11 BLONDE REDHEAD 6/27 OBITS 8/20 on sale 4/15 All of these shows on sale at Ticketfly.com
THE ASCETIC JUNKIES 4/23 • LOST IN THE TREES 4/24 • FAKE PROBLEMS 4/27 • TUNE-YARDS 4/28 STARFUCKER 4/29 • THE PIPETTES 4/30 • LESSER SAINTS 5/1 • MENOMENA 5/2 & 5/3 BATTLES 5/4 • JOE PURDY 5/5 • THE DIMES 5/6 • DAVE DEPPER PRESENTS THE RAM PROJECT 5/7 ADVANCE TICKETS AT TICKETSWEST 503-224-TIXX - www.ticketswest.com, MUSIC MILLENNIUM, JACKPOT RECORDS • SUBJECT TO SERVICE CHARGE &/OR USER FEE ALL SHOWS: 8PM DOORS / 9PM SHOW • 21+ UNLESS NOTED • BOX OFFICE OPENS 1/2 HOUR BEFORE DOORS • ROOM PACKAGES AVAILABLE AT www.jupiterhotel.com
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Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
PAGE 39
Food & Drink pg. 25
Music
MAKE IT A NIGHT
MUSIC MAREIKE FOECKING
MONDAY - TUESDAY
DATES HERE
WIN TICKETS TO
5.29 @ ALADDIN THEATER GO TO WWEEK.COM/PROMOTIONS
A SERIOUS MAN: Hauschka plays Holocene on Tuesday. bomb’ in Swedish?” It’s hard not to crack jokes about three pale dudes dressed in tuxedos and thick, blackrimmed glasses, but somewhere between trips to IKEA the group figured out a way to combine Cab Calloway-style vintage swing and sing-songy rap music into a sound that both kids and their parents can break dance to. Though debut album Äppelknyckarjazz (which translates to something like “apple swiper jazz”) came out in 2008, it’s just catching on over on these shores as the follow-up Ut Ur Min Skalle and the silly single “Sammy Davis Jr” are seeing the light of day. Movits! pushes a shtick, for sure, but at least it’s got some swing to it. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 8:30 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
TUESDAY, APRIL 19 Robert Plant & the Band of Joy, North Mississippi Allstars
[IN THROUGH THE BARN DOOR] Old-golden god Robert Plant declined the redonkulous payday of a widely desired (not least by his erstwhile bandmates) Led Zeppelin reunion tour in favor of further hoeing the rustic row he sowed with Alison Krauss on surprise 2008 sensation Raising Sand. After follow-up sessions with Krauss failed to spark, Plant actually traded up to super-siren Patty Griffin. With similarly reedy pipes but roughly 10 times the passion of the demure Krauss, not to mention staggering songwriting talent as yet untapped by the new boss, Griffin richly deserves the profile boost of membership in the Band of Joy (named after Plant’s pre-Zep group). Dependable Americana utility man Buddy Miller bolsters the Joy-ous sound, and Plant impeccably delivers tunes by Los Lobos, Richard Thompson, Townes Van Zandt, and the ever-popular traditional plus rootsy remakes of Zep classics. JEFF ROSENBERG. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 8 pm. $40-$85. All ages.
Hauschka, Goodnight Billygoat, DJ Committee
[FUTURE CLASSICAL] Electronic shows at Holocene usually erupt into sweaty dance parties recalling the orgy scene from the shitty Matrix sequel. Hauschka offers something completely different that, while it may not get booties dropping, will stimulate the brain nonetheless. Hauschka—also known as Düsseldorfian pianist and composer Volker Bertelmann—shells out complex, dreamy instrumental compositions on his records (including 2011’s Salon de Amateurs) that allow the listener to sway along and project images in the mind’s eye. A marriage of modern experimentation, electronic ingenuity, classical mentality, New Age pretension and serene psychedelia, it’s a truly immersive experience that belies its seemingly adult-contemporary vibe. AP KRYZA. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 8:30 pm. $10. 21+.
Amon Amarth
[WAR-METAL MUSICAL] What does it say about our culture that a death-metal band from the suburbs of Stockholm can present two sets in “An Evening With...” at the Wonder Ballroom? Has the world gone mad? Or are teenagers still obsessed with giant fire Gods that wield flaming swords set to the beat of double bass drums? Amon Amarth has been waving the flag (and battle ax) for Viking-themed war metal since 1992. Eighth and latest album Surtur Rising was released just a few weeks ago and will be performed in its entirety in one of two sets tonight. The gruff and demonic vocals will turn off all parents and casual listeners. But those with an ear for extreme metal will hear a melodic, hookoriented consistency that does for Swedish death metal what clones of AC/DC and Motörhead do for more classic heavy styles. NATHAN CARSON. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 8 pm. $18 advance, $23 day of show. All ages.
$29.95 $19.45
box 200 smokes box 100 smokes
Menthol and specialty tubes extra
3738 NE Sandy Blvd Inside Hollywood Liquor (503) 284-0987 www.hollywoodsmokes.net
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
37
RECORD STORE DAY AT MUSIC MILLENNIUM
SATURDAY APRIL 16TH - 8AM - 10PM
SPECIAL STORE HOURS 8AM – 10PM • OVER 200 LIMITED EDITION RELEASES FREE GIFT BAGS WHILE THEY LAST INCLUDING MUSIC & COUPON BOOK COMPLIMENTARY SNACKS & BEVERAGES 7AM – 8AM BOB DYLAN
BOB DYLAN IN CONCERT: BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY 1963 ON SALE $7.99 CD ‘Bob Dylan In Concert: Brandeis University 1963’ is a previously unknown live recording of a 21-year old Bob Dylan taped at the Brandeis First Annual Folk Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts on May 10, 1963. The album captures the rollicking wit, deadpan delivery and driving intensity of the young artist’s on-stage persona in an assortment of end-of-the-world songs -- none of them commercially available at the time.
THE HEAD AND THE HEART
THE HEAD AND THE HEART AVAILABLE 4/16 ON SALE $10.99 CD LP ALSO AVAILABLE
With Americana roots and strong vocal harmonics, Seattle’s The Head and the Heart finds its anchor in solid songwriting that has even the jaded humming along by the second listen.
A NATION OF ACTORS ON SALE $9.99 CD
AWOLNATION
MEGALITHIC SYMPHONY ON SALE $8.99 CD
As heard on KNRK ‘Megalithic Symphony’ is the debut album from the LA-based Alt Rock/Hip Hop crew Awolnation, the musical brainchild of main man Aaron Bruno.
AMON AMARTH SURTUR RISING ON SALE $12.99 CD/DVD LP ALSO AVAILABLE
APPEARING 4/19 @ WONDER BALLROOM Amon Amarth, founded in Sweden 1988, is named for Tolkien’s middle earth mountain, Mount Doom. Amon Amarth is both melodic and death metal at the same time. The bonus DVD contains over four hours of live concert footage.
DIFFERENT GEAR, STILL SPEEDING ON SALE $12.99 CD / $13.99 CD/DVD DELUXE LP ALSO AVAILABLE The debut album from this band made up of Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer and Andy Bell from Oasis. ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’ features 13 brand new songs written by the band and recorded at RAK Studios in autumn 2010 with producer Steve Lillywhite.
DEFTONES
SYSTEM AND STATION
Principle songwriter and anchor of the band, RFK Heise, introduces elements of the gentle—at times plaintive— ambiance formerly reserved for the quasi side project Protest Hill, and the effort pays big. ‘A Nation Of Actors’ rides through poppier terrain than its predecessor, ‘Here Is Now,’ yet doesn’t sacrifice the angular guitar work or the twoton rhythm section.
BEADY EYE
AUTOGRAPH SIGNING SATURDAY 4/16 @ 2-3PM
Starting at 8 AM, the first 100 customers to purchase Deftones’ limited RSD vinyl release, ‘Covers,’ will get a wristband guaranteeing a place in line for the signing! (while supplies last/time permitting/limit one per person) ROYAL BANGS FLUX OUTSIDE ON SALE $9.99 CD
APPEARING 4/26 @ HOLOCENE Comprised of front man Ryan Schaefer, drummer Chris Rusk, and guitarist Sam Stratton, Royal Bangs combine catchy hooks with heavy synths to create a sound that SPIN Magazine described as a mix of LCD Soundsystem’s pulsing electro-punk and the new wave-y shimmer of The Strokes.
TRAMPLED BY TURTLES PALOMINO ON SALE $9.99 CD LP ALSO AVAILABLE
APPEARING 5/13 @ WONDER BALLROOM
With a word-of-mouth reputation that draws legions of diehard fans to their must-see-to-believe live shows, Trampled by Turtles has released ‘Palomino.’ With a sound that’s a bracing hybrid of classic American songwriting, bluegrass and folk, this is forceful acoustic music delivered at breakneck pace with the fervor of religion.
BLACKGUARD FIREFIGHT ON SALE $10.99 CD
APPEARING 5/7 @ HAWTHORNE THEATRE Canadian metal lords, Blackguard, are here to incinerate the current extreme music scene with their astonishing new album, ‘Firefight.’ It packs an authoritative punch of galloping double bass, blazing guitar solos, soaring orchestral arrangements, and raw vocals.
HOLY GRAIL
CRISIS IN UTOPIA ON SALE $10.99 CD • LP ALSO AVAILABLE
APPEARING 4/17 @ DANTE’S Originally known as Sorcerer, Holy Grail formed when three members of the band White Wizzard decided to go out on their own. ‘Crisis In Utopia’ features two original tracks alongside Accept and Judas Priest covers.
BRUCE COCKBURN
SMALL SOURCE OF COMFORT ON SALE $12.99 CD
SEE BRUCE 6/3 @ THE ALADDIN THEATER
Cockburn’s first studio album in six years - inspired by his renowned unusual and diverse muse - recent trips to Afghanistan and ponderings on the re-incarnation of Richard Nixon, to road trips and unreturned phone calls. Guests include violinist Jenny Scheinman, former Wailin’ Jenny Annabelle Chvostek, and long time collaborators Gary Craig, Jon Dymond and producer Colin Linden
LYNN MILES FALL FOR BEAUTY ON SALE $12.99 CD
Over the past two decades, Lynn Miles has been revered for her unflinchingly honest lyrics and emotionally charged body of work which has garnered thousands of records sold, airplay on over 100 radio stations across North America, and a mass of critical acclaim from reviewers.
MURRAY GOLD DR. WHO – SERIES 5 ORIGINAL TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK ON SALE $17.99 2CD
Murray Gold has completed music for over 50 episodes of Dr. Who in a prolific 5 years. This release features music from all 13 episodes of Series 5 and includes the new arrangement of the classic Doctor Who theme plus new themes for the Doctor and his assistant Amy Pond.
SPECIAL RSD SPECIALS! PEARL JAM
LIVE ON 10 LEGS REG. $18.99 CD • RSD $9.99 CD!
METALLICA
LIVE AT GRIMEY’S RSD $5.99 CD!
ALSO ON SALE: BOMBA ESTEREO – BLOW UP $9.99 CD APPEARING 4/21 @ MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS • BUDDY MILLER – THE MAJESTIC SILVER STRINGS $14.99 CD TWIN SHADOW – FORGET $8.99 CD • LP ALSO AVAILABLE • APPEARING 4/20 @ DOUG FIR • YUCK – YUCK $9.99 CD • LP ALSO AVAILABLE • APPEARING 4/20 @ WONDER BALLROOM
CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF RELEASES
38
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
OFFER GOOD THRU: 4/26/11
MUSIC CALENDAR = WW Pick. Highly recommended. Editor: Michael Mannheimer. TO HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED, send show information at least two weeks in advance on the web at wweek.com/submitevents or (if you book a specific venue) enter your events at dbmonkey.com/wweek. Press kits, CDs and especially vinyl can be sent to Music Desk, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. lease include show or release date information with all physical mailings. Email: mmannheimer@wweek.com. Find more music: reviews 29 For more listings, check out wweek.com/music_calendar
[APRIL 13 - 19] WED. APR. 13 Alberta Street Public House
1036 NE Alberta St. Suck My Open Mic With Tamara J. Brown
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Toshi Onizuka
Ash Street Saloon ADAM KRUEGER
225 SW Ash St. Notes From Underground, Alaska Thunder Funk, Explorers of the Dreamworld
Biddy McGraw’s
6000 NE Glisan St. Little Sue (6:00 pm)
Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Arabsque Bellydance
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. Das Racist, Holy Ghost!, Reporter, Rude Dudes
Buffalo Gap Saloon
6835 SW Macadam Ave. Whitney Myer Band
Camellia Lounge 510 NW 11th Ave. Amy Bleu
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Ani DiFranco, Animal Prufrock
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Jedi Mindf*ck
Doug Fir Lounge
SWEDISH B-BOYS: Movits! play Monday, April 18, at Holocene.
830 E Burnside St. Ellie Goulding, The Knocks
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Suburban Slim’s Blues Jam (9:30 pm), Chris Olson’s High Flyers (6 pm)
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Piano Throwers
Billy Kennedy
Plan B
McMenamins Edgefield Blackberry Hall
1305 SE 8th Ave. Absence of Light, Let the Night Roar, Tenspeed Warlock, Rolling Through the Universe
714 SW 20th Place Bryan Minus and the Disconnect, The Indigo Art Tribe, Kowloon, Annie and the Rooftops
McMenamins Edgefield Winery
Pub at the End of the Universe
Good Neighbor Pizzeria
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
Someday Lounge
Ella Street Social Club
800 NE Dekum St. Open Mic
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. Future Beats With Ryan Organ
Gypsy Restaurant & Lounge 625 NW 21st Ave. Laura Ivancie
2126 SW Halsey St. Paleface
2126 SW Halsey St. Lynn Conover and Jimmy Boyer
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road Redwood Son
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Kory Quinn & the Comrades
Mississippi Studios
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Deep Dark Robot feat. Linda Perry, The Hugs, Palo Verde
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd Musty’s 420 Funny
Jade Lounge
801 NE Broadway Vox Populi Karaoke
4107 SE 28th Ave. Music on Mars Showcase: Driftwood, Da La Warr, Years and Years 125 NW 5th Ave. The Cute Lepers, Welcome Home Walker, The Perfect Look, DJ A Train, DJ Krinkles
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. Tensions, Loose Values
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar 1001 SW Broadway Bill Beach
Mt. Tabor Theater Lounge
The Knife Shop at Kelly’s Olympian
Mudai
The Woods
2346 SE Ankeny St. Matty Rue (8:30 PM); Patrick Meyer (7:00 pm); Justin Rayfield (7:00 pm)
Muddy Rudder Public House
Twilight Café and Bar
Jimmy Mak’s
O’Connor’s Vault
1503 SE 39th Ave. New Noise Family
1503 SE 39th Ave. Rockstar Karaoke
221 NW 10th Ave. Mel Brown Quartet
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Norman, Hungry Birds
8105 SE 7th Ave. Stumbleweed
7850 SW Capitol Highway Kit Garoutte on guitar
Papa G’s Vegan Organic Deli
2314 SE Division St.
426 SW Washington St. Kamp Camille, O Horizon 6637 SE Milwaukie Ave. Frontier Ruckus, Joseph Giant, Brooke Parrott 1420 SE Powell Blvd. RansackRadio.com Live
Vino Vixens Wine Shop & Bar 2929 SE Powell Blvd. 6bq9
CONT. on page 40
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
39
SPOTLIGHT
THOMAS OLIVER
MUSIC
Alberta Street Public House
McMenamins Grand Lodge
Andina
McMenamins Hotel Oregon
1036 NE Alberta St. Mikey’s Irish Jam 1314 NW Glisan St. Na Mesa
Ash Street Saloon
836 N Russell St. Left Coast Country
THURS. APRIL 14 Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Red Horse
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Greg Wolfe Trio
Ash Street Saloon 225 SW Ash St. Sucker for Lights
Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave. Jacob Thomas
Biddy McGraw’s
6000 NE Glisan St. Redwood Son (9 pm); The Old Yellers (6 pm)
Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Alan Jones Quintet
Buffalo Gap Saloon
6835 SW Macadam Ave. Stephen Baker and the Vegas Car Chasers
Camellia Lounge 510 NW 11th Ave. Maya Rose
Chapel Pub
430 N Killingsworth St. Steve Kerin
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Noir City
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Richmond Fontaine, Chris Marshall, The Low Bones
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Arlie Conner and the Bathtub Toasters, Portland Playboys
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. Asher Fulero’s Keyboard Summit
Gypsy Restaurant & Lounge 625 NW 21st Ave. Karaoke Kings
Hawthorne Hophouse 4111 SE Hawthorne Dismal Niche Orchestra
40
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
1503 SE 39th Ave. Savoir Faire Burlesque
Hawthorne Theatre
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Krizz Kaliko, Johnny Richter, Kutt Calhoun, Saigon, Potluck, J Hornay, Tragedy
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. El Ten Eleven, Lynx, Girlfriends
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Nilika Remi
Jimmy Mak’s
Mt. Tabor Theater
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. KBOO Square Dance: Old Time Highway
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Greg Clarke
Papa G’s Vegan Organic Deli
2314 SE Division St. Andrew Orr, Jen Howard
Saratoga
6910 N Interstate Ave. Aranya, When The Broken Bow
Slabtown
221 NW 10th Ave. Mel Brown B3 Organ Group
1033 NW 16th Ave. Liquid Sky Night: The Cheap Meats, DJ Baby Lemonade
LaurelThirst
Slim’s Cocktail Bar
2958 NE Glisan St. Lewi Longmire Band
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Cats Under the Stars
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St. Hanz Araki
McMenamins Grand Lodge 3505 Pacific Ave. Billy D
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road Mexican Gunfight
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Mo Phillips, Johnny & Jason
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. The Tower of Dudes
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Dr. Lonnie Smith
Mock Crest Tavern
3435 N Lombard St. Claes of Blueprints and Friends
Mt. Tabor Theater Lounge
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd Jokers and Jacks, Bilsses B, Gabby Holt
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
8635 N Lombard St. Renegade Minstrels, River Twain
The Crown Room 205 NW 4th Ave. Graffiti Rock
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar 1001 SW Broadway Johnny Martin
The Knife Shop at Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Wester Daywick, Tigress, Holy Tentacles
The Woods
6637 SE Milwaukie Ave. Ólöf Arnalds, The Ocean Floor, Jordan O’ Jordan
Twilight Café and Bar
1420 SE Powell Blvd. Adam and the Molecules, The Illuminucci, Trampoline
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Poncho Luxurio (8:30 pm); Wild West Friendly Cover Up (5:30 pm)
Wonder Ballroom
128 NE Russell St. Hot Buttered Rum, Danny Barnes
FRI. APRIL 15 Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Randy Newman
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road SLA
Mississippi Pizza
Twilight Room
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road Garcia Birthday Band
White Eagle Saloon
1624 NW Glisan St. Miz Kitty’s Parlour
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Boy and Bean
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Melao de Cuba
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. David Lindley
Mock Crest Tavern
Blue Monk
Mt. Tabor Theater
3341 SE Belmont St. Off Beat Belly Dance
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. The Restarts, Dreadful Children, Rum Rebellion, The Show
Brasserie Montmartre 626 SW Park Ave. Linda Lee Michelet Duo
Camellia Lounge
510 NW 11th Ave. The Bumpin Nastys
Canvas Art Bar & Bistro
1800 NW Upshur St. Acoustic Open Mic with host Steve Huber
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Deftones, Dillinger Escape Plan, Funeral Party
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Breakestra
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Monarques, World’s Greatest Ghosts, Jared Mees & The Grown Children, Light For Fire
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Second Annual Muddy Waters Tribute (9 pm), Joy and Her Sentimental Gentlemen (6 pm)
East Burn
1800 E Burnside St. Megafauna
Gypsy Restaurant & Lounge 625 NW 21st Ave. Karaoke
Gypsy Restaurant & Lounge
625 NW 21st Ave. The Ken Hanson Band
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge 1503 SE 39th Ave. Rockstar Karaoke
Hawthorne Theatre
3435 N Lombard St. Sneakin’ Out
2958 NE Glisan St. Sassparilla
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Pagan Jug Band
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St. Muriel Stanton
Aladdin Theater
Andina
801 NE Broadway Gaytheist, Wax Edison, The Chair Project
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Lewi Longmire and Bill Rudolf
Music Millennium
3158 E Burnside St. Kyle Vincent
Papa G’s Vegan Organic Deli
2314 SE Division St. Lynn Conover
Plan B
1305 SE 8th Ave. Koffin Kats, The Viggs, Hopeless Jack & the Handsome Devils, Ghost Town Hangmen
Proper Eats Market and Cafe 8638 N Lombard St. Stumptown Jug Thumpers
Rotture
315 SE 3rd Ave. Supernature: Guidance Counselor, Swahili, DJ E*Rock, DJ Copy, DJ BJ
Saratoga
6910 N Interstate Ave. Something Fierce, Perfect Look
Secret Society Lounge 116 NE Russell St. Jackstraw (9 pm); Mary Flower Trio (6 pm)
Sellwood Public House 8132 SE 13th Ave. Charles Robertson
Slabtown
1033 NW 16th Ave. The Purrs, Redcoat Turncoat, Just People
Slim’s Cocktail Bar 8635 N Lombard St. Basketball Jones
Someday Lounge
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar
LaurelThirst
SAT. APRIL 16
Mudai
Jade Lounge
221 NW 10th Ave. Curtis Salgado Band
836 N Russell St. The Tomorrow People, Welsh Bowmen, Bison Bison (9:30 pm); Reverb Brothers (5:30 pm)
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The Motet, Excellent Gentlemen
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The Word Alive, Upon a Burning Body, Abandon All Ships, The Color Morale, For All Those Sleeping
Jimmy Mak’s
5242 N Lombard St. Forever Growing
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Ellis Marsalis featuring Jason Marsalis, with Devin Phillips
125 NW 5th Ave. 1776, El Rey, Dustin Ruth, Silent Numbers
2346 SE Ankeny St. Adolfo Angel Cuellar IV (8:00 pm); Ahmond (6:00 pm)
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Tuesdays Project, Veio
3505 Pacific Ave. Mark Alan
1420 SE Powell Blvd. Horse Eats Horse, Samvega, The Mangeled Bohemians
Bipartisan Cafe
7901 SE Stark St. Pork Belly Futures
Tonic Lounge
McMenamins Hotel Oregon
2025 N Kilpatrick St. Lloyd Mitchell Canyon, Gentle Surprise, Dave
Twilight Café and Bar
Backspace
6000 NE Glisan St. The McGillicuddys (9 pm); Billy Kennedy and Jimmy Boyer (6 pm)
McMenamins Grand Lodge
310 Northeast Evans St. Lynn Conover and John Mitchell
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
Biddy McGraw’s
White Eagle Saloon
310 Northeast Evans St. Crown Point
225 SW Ash St. Leadface, Livid Minds, The Couch, The Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers 115 NW 5th Ave. Adventures With Might, Spesus Christ, Pocket Knife
NICE CANS: It’s a well-known fact Portlanders get downright teary eyed over a perfectly poured pint. I’d imagine most of those hopheads would have the same reaction standing in the glow of Bottles’ (5015 NE Fremont St., 287-7022, bottlesnw.com) humming rows of stacked coolers. Whether you’re looking for imported stouts, local lagers or specialty fare—there’s even soda from the Insane Clown Posse-approved Faygo—Bottles has got you covered. And while the selection doesn’t quite measure up to that of like-minded crosstown beer market Belmont Station, Bottles distinguishes itself with later hours, a big patio and some very sloppy, delicious barbecue—for $10 one can gorge oneself on six gigantic ribs and potato salad; we paired ours with Timmermans strawberry beer and Two Rivers huckleberry hard cider, which tastes kind of like Big Red soda. CASEY JARMAN.
3505 Pacific Ave. John Bunzow
The World Famous Kenton Club
Spare Room
4830 NE 42nd Ave. Party of Four
1001 SW Broadway Bobby Torres Trio
The Knife Shop at Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Mr. Howl, Stan McMahon Band, The Carnabetian Army
The Know
2026 NE Alberta St. Rabbits, Drunk Dad, DJ Blackhawk
The Woods
6637 SE Milwaukie Ave. Gregory Alan Isakov, Fairchildren
1314 NW Glisan St. Toshi Onizuka
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Rendered Useless, Shock Troops, McGillicuddys, Bridge City Bastards
Biddy McGraw’s
6000 NE Glisan St. Rich Landar, Drunken Prayer (9:30 pm); Twisted Whistle (5 pm)
Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Fez Fatale
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. Mad Rad, Serious Business, Rafael Vigilantics, Hurtbird
Camellia Lounge
510 NW 11th Ave. Tom Wakeling, Steve Christofferson Quartet
Crystal Ballroom
1332 W Burnside St. Deftones, Dillinger Escape Plan, Funeral Party
Doug Fir Lounge
830 E Burnside St. Swamp Surfer, Chris Margolin and the Dregs, Stone the Murder
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. DK Stewart Sextet
East Burn
1800 E Burnside St. Andrew’s Ave
Goodfoot Lounge 2845 SE Stark St. McTuff
Gypsy Restaurant & Lounge 625 NW 21st Ave. Karaoke
Hawthorne Hophouse 4111 SE Hawthorne Wy’East
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge
1503 SE 39th Ave. Wendy and the Lost Boys
Hawthorne Theatre
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Cold, Egypt Central, Kopek, Oceans Divide, American Bastard
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Car, Audrey Ebbs Anna Spackman, Suzanne Tufan (8:00 pm); Becky Miller (6:00 pm)
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. Patrick Lamb Band
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Tree Frogs
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Fruition, The Student Loan
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
Mission Theater
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Pagan Jug Band
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Loveness Wesa & the Bantus
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Lady Sings The Blues: A Tribute to Billie Holiday
Mock Crest Tavern 3435 N Lombard St. Rollie Tussing
Mt. Tabor Theater Lounge
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd Eddie Valiant, Serge Severe, L Pro
Mt. Tabor Theater
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The Motet Plays Earth, WInd and FIre; Excellent Gentleman
Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Dan McCoy
Papa G’s Vegan Organic Deli
2314 SE Division St. Michael Hurley
Press Club
2621 SE Clinton St. Dave Camp and Sarah King
Secret Society Lounge
116 NE Russell St. Rich Layton and the Troublemakers, Ron Rogers and the Wailing Wind (9 pm); The Portland Playboys (6 pm)
Sellwood Public House 8132 SE 13th Ave. Arlie Conner and Friends
Slabtown
1033 NW 16th Ave. The Pleasure Kills, The Bloodtypes, The Perfect Look
Slim’s Cocktail Bar 8635 N Lombard St. The Caps
Someday Lounge 125 NW 5th Ave. Throwing Stones
Spare Room
4830 NE 42nd Ave. Cool Breeze
TaborSpace
5441 SE Belmont St. Autoharp concert featuring Cathy Britell, William Limbach and Friends
The Analog Room
3954 N Williams Ave. Dwight Rundle - Human Voices
Sinead O’Covers “Nothing Compares 2 U” with Sweet Flowin’ Love, Lez Phair
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. The Band Who Fell to Earth, Gear Drivven
Twilight Café and Bar 1420 SE Powell Blvd. Tall as Rasputin, Metropolitan Farms, Travelers and Thieves, Til Willis
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. Tango Alpha Tango, Tiger House, Mercy Graves (9:30 pm); The Student Loan (4:30 pm)
SUN. APRIL 17 Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Ethos.org/Paul deLay Scholorship Benefit Concert featuring Marcia Ball
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Pete Krebs
Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St. Starving Daughters, No More Parachutes, Fiercebeard
Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave. Get Out for Gay & Grey, Ashleigh Flynn, Megan Cole, DJ El Rubio, Darcelle XV, Meet Your Monster
Biddy McGraw’s
6000 NE Glisan St. Paddy Keenan
Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Groove Revelation
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave. Tragedy, Thrones, Ealdath, Bi-Marks
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Holy Grail, Cauldron, Dark Black
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. Sinferno Cabaret
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge 1503 SE 39th Ave. Danie Park, K Jensen
Hawthorne Theatre
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The Deja Vu, Stellar, Corey Gonzalez, Alex Taimano, Debra Giannini, V & Her Dirty Pretty Secret, Detention Room
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. David Walker (8:30 pm); Maya Ayam (7:00 pm); Allen Bennett (7:00 pm)
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Billy Kennedy & Tim Acott
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Freak Mountain Ramblers
Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom 1332 W Burnside St. Paleface
The Heathman Restaurant and Bar
McMenamins Edgefield Winery
The Knife Shop at Kelly’s Olympian
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
The Know
Mississippi Pizza
1001 SW Broadway Mitzi Zilka
426 SW Washington St. Wizard Boots, The Holy Children, Foolproof Four 2026 NE Alberta St. Shimmering Stars, Youthbitch, Have You Seen Julian, The Shivas
The P Club
5262 N Lombard St. The Instigators Presents: - Divers, Otis Heat, Bison Bison
The Woods
6637 SE Milwaukie Ave.
2126 SW Halsey St. Mary Flower
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road Colleen Raney 3552 N Mississippi Ave. Succotash
Mississippi Pizza
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Red Ships of Spain, Heaven Generation
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Shelley Short, Darren Hanlon, White Lighter
CALENDAR Muddy Rudder Public House 8105 SE 7th Ave. Irish
AxCx, Stong Intention, Compulsive Slasher, Profits, Cursebreaker
Dante’s
Secret Society Lounge
350 W Burnside St. Karaoke From Hell
Slim’s Cocktail Bar
830 E Burnside St. John Vanderslice, Ivan & Alyosha
116 NE Russell St. Hanz Araki and Cary Novotny 8635 N Lombard St. NoPoMoJo
Someday Lounge 125 NW 5th Ave. Throwing Stones
Tonic Lounge
3100 NE Sandy Blvd. Super Sonic Tonic Sunday: The Book Jays, Nucular Aminals, Swamp Buck, Special Guests
White Eagle Saloon 836 N Russell St. Open Mic
Wonder Ballroom
128 NE Russell St. All Time Low, Yellowcard, Hey Monday, The Summer Set
MON. APRIL 18 Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Scott Head
Backspace
115 NW 5th Ave. Battery Powered Music
Biddy McGraw’s
6000 NE Glisan St. Eric Tonsfeldt (8:30 pm); Nicole Campbell (6 pm)
Blue Monk
3341 SE Belmont St. Renato Caranto’s Funk Band
Branx
320 SE 2nd Ave.
Doug Fir Lounge
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Julian’s Ride
East End
203 SE Grand Ave. Heavy Metal Ladies Night: Rabbits, Gone to Croatoan, DJ Nate C
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. Sonic Forum Open Mic Night
Hawthorne Theatre Lounge 1503 SE 39th Ave. Rockstar Karaoke
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St. Movits!
Jade Lounge
2346 SE Ankeny St. Open Mic with Dingo Dizmal
Jimmy Mak’s
221 NW 10th Ave. Dan Balmer Band
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Little Sue & Lynn Conover
LaurelThirst
2958 NE Glisan St. Kung Pao Chickens
McMenamins Edgefield Winery 2126 SW Halsey St. My Three Travellers
McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern
10000 Old Cornelius Pass Road Bob Shoemaker
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Mississippi Studios
1037 SW Broadway Robert Plant & Band of Joy, North Mississippi Allstars
Mt. Tabor Theater
225 SW Ash St. Datura Blues, Parents, Glass Elevator
3939 N Mississippi Ave. Maserati, We’re From Japan, Vanimal
Ash Street Saloon
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Keegan Smith & the Fam
Bunk Bar
Muddy Rudder Public House
510 NW 11th Ave. Weekly Jazz Jam
8105 SE 7th Ave. Lloyd Jones
Rotture
315 SE 3rd Ave. AxCx, Strong Intention, Compulsive Slasher, Profits, Cursebreaker
Secret Society Lounge
116 NE Russell St. Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band
The Knife Shop at Kelly’s Olympian
426 SW Washington St. Free Monday: Tullis, Driftwood
Twilight Café and Bar 1420 SE Powell Blvd. SIN Night
White Eagle Saloon
836 N Russell St. NIAYH Family Residency: Worth, Nuestro, Krista Herring
TUES. APRIL 19 Aladdin Theater
3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. Willie and Lobo “Playing Hard” Reunion Tour
Andina
1314 NW Glisan St. Neftali Rivera
1028 SE Water Ave. Pete Intl Airport
Camellia Lounge
Dante’s
350 W Burnside St. The Ed Forman Show, DSL Open Mic Comedy
Doug Fir Lounge 830 E Burnside St. Glassbones, Little Volcano, Sexhawk
Duff’s Garage
1635 SE 7th Ave. Dover Weinberg Quartet (9:30 pm), Trio Bravo (6 pm)
Ella Street Social Club 714 SW 20th Place Lazy Son, Ghastly Wave, Boyscout Discovery
Goodfoot Lounge
2845 SE Stark St. Scott Pemberton Trio
LaurelThirst
McMenamins Edgefield Winery
2126 SW Halsey St. Rindy and Marv Ross
Holocene
Mississippi Pizza
205 NW 4th Ave. Crush Drum and Bass
Mock Crest Tavern
18 NW 3rd Ave. DJ Freaky Outy
3552 N Mississippi Ave. Baby Ketten Karaoke 3552 N Mississippi Ave. Sarah Jackson-Holman 3435 N Lombard St. Jeff Jensen Band
Mt. Tabor Theater
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. The Family Funktion: Average Leftovers
Secret Society Lounge
116 NE Russell St. Dominic Castillo
The Crown Room
Tube
Yes and No
20 NW 3rd Ave. DJ Ill Camino, DJ Vjestica
THURS. APRIL 14 Fez Ballroom
316 SW 11th Ave. Shadowplay
Slim’s Cocktail Bar
Langano Lounge
8635 N Lombard St. Open Mic with host Derek W
1435 SE Hawthorne Blvd. New Jack City
The Knife Shop at Kelly’s Olympian
Rotture
426 SW Washington St. Red Ships of Spain, Johannin, Leafeater
Hawthorne Theatre
White Eagle Saloon
Holocene
Wonder Ballroom
1001 SE Morrison St. Hauschka, Goodnight Billygoat, DJ Committee
WED. APRIL 13
Mississippi Pizza
Twilight Café and Bar
3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Hugo, Damato, Violet Isle
SUN. APRIL 17
1001 SE Morrison St. Kode9, Ryan Organ, Lincolnup, Ben Tactic
Gypsy Restaurant & Lounge 625 NW 21st Ave. Kent Smith
18 NW 3rd Ave. Freaky Outy
221 NW 10th Ave. Mel Brown Septet (8 pm), TBA (6 pm) 2958 NE Glisan St. Jackstraw
1420 SE Powell Blvd. Open Mic Night: The Roaming
836 N Russell St. Brad Creel and the Reel Deel
128 NE Russell St. Amon Amarth
MUSIC
Tube
Jimmy Mak’s
315 SE 3rd Ave. I’ve Got a Hole in My Soul: DJ Beyondadoubt
Someday Lounge
125 NW 5th Ave. The Fix: Rev. Shines, KEZ, Dundiggy
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. DJ Maxx Bass, DJ Musique Plastique
FRI. APRIL 15 Beauty Bar
111 SW Ash St. Legendary Fridays: Slimkid3
Fez Ballroom
316 SW 11th Ave. Decadent 80s
Gilmore’s Meadows
5823 SE Johnson Creek Blvd. DJ Ozrock, Halfmanhalf
Goodfoot Lounge 2845 SE Stark St. DJ Aquaman’s Soul Stew
Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. DJ Paultimore
The Crown Room
205 NW 4th Ave. Tyler Tastemaker presents: Wildlife
Tube
18 NW 3rd Ave. Doc Adam, Lionsden
SAT. APRIL 16 Cruzroom
2338 NE Alberta St. DJ Drew Groove
Matador
1967 W Burnside St DJ Donny Don’t
Matador
1967 W Burnside St Next Big Thing: DJ Donny Don’t
Plan B
1305 SE 8th Ave. Hive: DJ Owen
The World Famous Kenton Club 2025 N Kilpatrick St. DJ F. Star
Tube
18 NW 3rd Ave. DJ Flowers, DJ Dungeonmaster
MON. APRIL 18 Star Bar
639 SE Morrison St. Into the Void: DJ Blackhawk
Yes and No
20 NW 3rd Ave. DJ Wiggle
Fez Ballroom
316 SW 11th Ave. Twice As Nice
TUES. APRIL 19
Gilmore’s Meadows
Star Bar
Star Bar
The Crown Room
5823 SE Johnson Creek Blvd. DJ Spark, Pele Won 639 SE Morrison St. British Backlash: DJ Tiny Corrupter
639 SE Morrison St. Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle: DJ JD Star 205 NW 4th Ave. See You Next Tuesday: Kellan, Avery
Tube
8 NW 3rd Ave. DJ Nature
Yes and No
20 NW 3rd Ave. DJ Black Dog
©2011 COORS BREWING COMPANY, GOLDEN, CO Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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APRIL 13-19
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. Most prices listed are for advance ticket sales. At-the-door increases and so-called convenience charges may apply, so it’s best to call ahead. Editor: BEN WATERHOUSE. Stage: BEN WATERHOUSE (bwaterhouse@wweek. com). Classical: BRETT CAMPBELL (bcampbell@wweek.com). Dance: HEATHER WISNER (dance@wweek.com). TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit information at least two weeks in advance to: bwaterhouse@wweek.com.
THEATER The Adding Machine
Do you feel oppressed by technology? Do you worry that your ceaseless toil will never be rewarded by your employer? These may seem like prompts from the writer’s room at The Office, but Elmer Rice addressed them all in 1923. Jane Bement Geesman has dusted off this classic expressionist comedy and given it a Fritz Langesque masque-theater production for the final show of Theatre Vertigo’s season. Despite its age, the show feels unsettling contemporary; but for the Jazz Age slang, it could have been written by Sarah Ruhl. Gary Norman, with all his usual hangdog charm, plays Mr. Zero, a colorless functionary at a department store who spends his days doing endless sums and lusting after his assistant (Jenn Hunter). When his boss informs him he’ll be laid off after 25 years of labor and replaced by an adding machine, Zero murders him. He is executed, and mopes his way through undeath, the Elysian Fields and some kind of mechanical hell. If you think of the expressionists as a humorless bunch, The Adding Machine will surprise you. Rice wraps his message (“don’t be a tool”) in bizarre deadpan humor, and you’ll chuckle right through the downer finale. BEN WATERHOUSE. Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 306-0870. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays. Closes May 7. $15. Thursdays are “pay what you will.”
Big River
While you may have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, you haven’t heard it like this. Staged!’s student production of Roger Miller and William Hauptman’s musical adaptation of Twain’s classic is infused with old-timey orchestra. The music is funny, wide-ranging and impressive. Alice’s (Lauren Steele) soulful solos bring a melancholy beauty to the plight of a slave. Marzell Reuben Sampson (Jim) is one of the mentor actors that added some grounding to the cast by escorting Huck (Jackson Walker) through duets like a winsome, foxy father figure. Another standout is Catherine Olson as the chaste Widow Douglas, Huck’s temporary love interest. The Duke and the King (Tony Zilka and Chris Porter) provide comedic relief from this emotionally charged tale. Zilka is an ostentatious actor and Porter is the villain you love to hate, a selfish man who doesn’t care whom he hurts in the process of stealing his fortune. ASHLEY GOSSMAN. World Trade Center Theater, 121 SW Salmon St., 971-322-5723. 8 pm FridaysSaturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes April 24. $21-$25.
Billy Elliot the Musical
Based on that British ballet movie! With music by Elton John! It has dancing kids! It’s also a confused mess of a production, overloaded with eye candy and marred by baffling ignorance of tone. The story, by Lee Hall, hews closely to his script for the 2000 film: Billy, a coal town kid whose mum is dead and da is busy running the 1984 miners’ strike, stumbles into a ballet class and discovers his true calling. It’s a socially conscious schmaltzfest in the great British tradition, but Hall’s stage script swings between moving, abstract scenes and broad comedy. One moment we’re watching lyrical violence as striking miners singing “solidarity forever” clash with cops; the next, we get a long and loud tribute to Fame. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether the moments of beauty are worth sitting through the crap in between. BEN WATERHOUSE. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 241-1802. 7:30 pm Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday, 1 and 6:30 pm Sunday, April 13-17. $29.50-$90.
Bugged
Simple Machines Theatre reprises its 2010 show, in which bugs, annoyance and electronic surveillance are explored through the lives of three insects portrayed by shadow puppets. Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 917-292-9121. 10:30 pm ThursdaysSaturdays and 2 pm Sunday, April 17. Closes April 23. $10, “pay what you will” Thursdays.
Don Juan in Hell
Cerimon House presents a reading of George Bernard Shaw’s 60-minute third act of Man and Superman, which is often cut from productions of that play. Stonehenge Studios, 3508 SW Corbett Ave., 224-3640. 7:30 pm Saturday, April 16. $10.
I Left My Heart
Broadway Rose Theatre Company presents “a musical salute to the music of Tony Bennett.” Broadway Rose New Stage Theatre, 12850 SW Grant Ave., Tigard, 620-5262. 7:30 pm ThursdaysSaturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes May 8. $20-$35.
Jack Goes Boating
Jack (Todd Van Voris ) is a stoner with his hair twisted into halfhearted nascent dreads, who plays the Melodians’ “Rivers of Babylon” so often that the cassette has stretched and the music warbles ominously. He courts morbid and mousy Connie (Emily Sahler Beleele). She wants to go boating, so he learns to swim. She’d like to be cooked for, so he braises and chops. BEN WATERHOUSE. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 241-1278. 7:30 pm TuesdaysSaturdays, 2 and 7:30 pm Sundays. Closes April 15. $20-$42.
Lend Me a Tenor
Lakewood Theatre Company presents Ken Ludwig’s farce. Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 635-3901. 7:30 pm ThursdaySaturday, 7 pm Sunday April 14-17. $24-$27.
Opus
Portland Center Stage presents a play by Michael Hollinger about an elite string quartet going through some serious drama on the eve of a performance at the White House. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 7:30 pm Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturdays-Sundays, 12 and 7:30 pm Thursdays. Closes May 8. $33-$58.
Passion Play
Portland Actors Conservatory students perform Sarah Ruhl’s study of backstage politics of actors in passion plays from 16th-century England through Nazi Germany to 1970s South Dakota. Portland Actors Conservatory, 1436 SW Montgomery St., 274-1717. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes May 1. $15-$25.
Playwrights of the Pacific Northwest
Readers Theatre Rep reads works by writers reared in the dark and damp: Entering a Mindfield and The Scottish Client by John A. Donnelly, Little Moscow by Aleks Merilo, Our Song and The Gubmint by Mark Saunders, and Six Dead Bodies Duct Taped to a Merry-Go-Round by Lindsay Marianna Walker and Dawson L. Moore. Blackfish Gallery, 420 NW 9th Ave., 295-4997. 8 pm Thursday-Friday, April 14-15. $8.
Same Time, Next Year
The Public House Theatre takes on Bernard Slade’s play about a couple (Leif Norby and Melissa Kaiser ) who meet for a tryst once a year. The CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 9220532. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes April 30. $19-$24, $14 Thursdays.
The Ugliest Duckling
The next time you’re griping about a tough upbringing that left scars requiring years of psychotherapy, imagine the plight of a platypus named “Yuckay” born to a family of ducks in the Australian outback. Yes, life gets off to a rough start for the platypus in this charming Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre reset of the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale. And yet, Yuckay proves resilient enough to save his family from a hungry crocodile (alert for parents of skittish youngsters: Kurreah the crocodile, and the ominous music accompanying his presence, might be scary for a moment) amid his adventures. This 45-minute production shows kids that being different is OK, and does so without ham-handed lectures. Instead, puppeteers Aaron Lathrop and Gina Leigh both keep the action moving for a target audience that’s 3 and up (the age of diminishing returns for kids in this show is probably around 8) with performances that have both adults and children giggling. HENRY and BEN STERN. Winningstad Theatre, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-0557. 11 am Saturday, 2 and 4 pm Sunday, April 16-17. $15-$18.
Oregon Symphony
Choral Arts Ensemble
The choir continues its interesting programming with Eric Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine; Renaissance masterpieces by Monteverdi, Josquin and Ockeghem; and Shakespeare settings by P.D.Q. Bach, David Dickau and Amy Beach. First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th Ave., 488-3834. 7:30 pm Saturday, 3 pm Sunday, April 16-17. $10-$15.
Dan Balmer, John Stowell and Mike Pardew
Three Northwest guitarists pay homage to the great living guitarist Jim Hall, who’s been quietly turning out jazz for more than half a century. Accomplished bassist Scott Steed will hold down the foundation. Hotel Modera, 515 SW Clay St., 484-1099. 3 pm Sunday, April 17. $20.
Violinist James Ehnes solos in Bruch’s first Violin Concerto, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and William Walton’s Partita for Orchestra. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 2281353. 7:30 pm Saturday-Sunday, 8 pm Monday, April 16-18. $20-$90.
Tetzlaff String Quartet
Dark, smaller-scale music from composers known for symphonic works. Haydn’s Op. 20 No. 3 quartet is one of the composer’s so-called “storm and stress” works that trades his usual geniality for minor-key shadows. The program also includes a passionate Mendelssohn quartet (Op. 13) and the D-minor quartet by Jean Sibelius. Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., 294-6400. 7:30 pm Wednesday, April 13. $12-$45.
CONT. on page 44
REVIEW P O R T L A N D P L AY H O U S E
PERFORMANCE
A Walk in the Woods
Profile Theatre continues its season of Lee Blessing plays with a reading of his arms-negotiation drama. Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 2420080. 7:30 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes April 24. $15.
COMEDY Brainwaves
The improvisers poke fun at Portland history. Shoe Box Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 520-8928. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, April 15-16. $10.
Dana Gould
The former writer for The Simpsons comes to town for four shows. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888643-8669. 7:30 and 10 pm FridaySaturday, April 15-16. $20-$25. 21+.
Fly Ass Jokes
Ian Karmel’s comedy showcase goes on a pre-Bridgetown bender with two nights of local comics. Friday: Nick Walker, Jessie McCoy, Christian Ricketts, Anthony Lopez, Shane Torres, Don Frost and Timmy Williams. Saturday: Whitney Streed, Phil Schallberger, Sean Jordan, Richard Bain, Ian Karmel, Solomon Georgio and Mike Drucker. Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, 224-2227. 10:15 pm Friday, 8 pm Saturday, April 15-16. $8-10.
The Uninvited
The Unscriptables improvise a Tennessee Williams-esque drama—with zombies. The Unscriptables Studio, 1121 N Loring St., theunscriptables.com. 8 pm Saturdays through April 30. “Pay what you want.”
Unexpectations
Curious Comedy founder Stacey Hallal in “a one-person comedy show that may or may not have more than one person in it.” Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 8 pm FridaysSaturdays. Closes April 23. $12-$15.
CLASSICAL Bravo! Vancouver Chorale, Washington Chamber Orchestra
The 60-voice choir sings John Rutter’s Requiem and Francis Poulenc’s great Gloria, along with the Croatian composer Pero Sisa’s Pie Jesu. St. Joseph Church, 400 S Andresen Road, Vancouver, 360-906-0441. 2 pm Sunday, April 17. $20.
Cantores in Ecclesia
Holy Week music from four centuries, including works by Tomas Luis de Victoria, Carlo Gesualdo, William Byrd and Francis Poulenc’s Four Motets for the Time of Penitence. St. Stephen’s Church, 1112 SE 41st Ave., 800-8383006. 7 pm Sunday, April 17. $15-$20.
VICTOR MACK AND JULIANNE JOHNSON
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE) Don’t step on Levee’s shoes.
Having enjoyed great success with Brian Weaver’s 2010 production of August Wilson’s final play, Radio Golf, Portland Playhouse now returns to the playwright’s work to end its season with his first. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a better play than Radio Golf, its language more lyrical and characters better formed, but this production (directed by Kevin Jones), while good, doesn’t match the taut excitement of last year’s hit. The fascinations with music, family and insecurity that appear throughout Wilson’s work are already evident here: The entire play takes place in 1923 in three rooms of a Chicago recording studio (neatly stacked back to front in Daniel Meeker’s set), where white record producer Studyvant (Bruce Burkhartsmeier) is preparing for a session with blues singer Ma Rainey (alternately Julianne Johnson and Marilyn Keller). The problem: Ma Rainey has not shown up. And Rainey’s white agent (Duffy Epstein) runs himself ragged while Rainey’s band arrives without her. The musicians, who gather in the studio’s rehearsal room but manage very little rehearsing between a lot of first-rate bullshitting, are the focus of Wilson’s and Jones’ interest: Cutler, the illiterate bandleader (Wendell Wright); Slow Drag, the apparently dim bass player (Jerry Foster); Toledo, the well-read piano player (Wrick Jones); and Levee, the young, bitter, dangerous trumpeter whose musical brilliance and ambition are mocked by his more sedate bandmates (Victor Mack, in his best performance I’ve yet seen). These are characters you can chew on for hours. Jones does; the band’s scenes are the show’s best. When Rainey does show up, in stunning regalia, things begin to falter. Johnson gave an excellent performance on opening night—much better than her turn in Dreamgirls two years ago—but Jones can’t seem to figure out what to do with Rainey’s stuttering nephew or vamping flapper girlfriend. I can’t either—the characters are superfluous. Jones recovers from the midshow lag powerfully, though: Levee’s reaction to Studyvant’s rejection of his music is terrifying. BEN WATERHOUSE. SEE IT: Portland Playhouse, 602 NE Prescott St., 205-0715, portlandplayhouse.org. 8 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes May 1. $20-$25. Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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APRIL 13-19 M AT T H I A S C R E U T Z I G E R
PERFORMANCE featuring stacey hallal
YOSSI BERG / ODED GRAF
a one-person comedy show FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS 8:00pm APRIL 1- 23 $15/$12 advance online CURIOUS STAND UP SHOWCASE BEST IN LOCAL COMEDY SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 10PM, $5
Wildwood Consort
Once scorned by purists, French Baroque music has been reinvigorated by recent discoveries of how the skimpy scores were interpreted by musicians of the period. This program of spring-themed sounds for flute, voice and theorbo (lute) features a pastoral seasonal cantata by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, plus music by JeanBaptiste Besard, Pierre Guédron, Gilles Durant de la Bergerie, Michel Lambert and other 17thand 18th-century French composers. Stonehenge Studios, 3508 SW Corbett Ave., 224-3640. 7:30 pm Friday, April 15. $10-$15.
DANCE A-WOL Dance Collective
A-WOL Dance Collective timed its Zip Zap Doom show well—April is Comic Book Month in Portland. A sequel to last year’s superhero show, Zip Zap Zoom, the story picks up as evil sisters Zip and Zap and their posse of villains kidnap their good sister Zoom’s pet unicorn. It’s a kid-friendly tale told through aerial dance and acrobatics. A-WOL Studio, 920 NE Flanders St., 201-9798. 8 pm Fridays, 5 and 8 pm Saturdays through April 23. $10-$20, tickets at awoldance.org.
An Evening with Jacques d’Amboise
Jacques d’Amboise’s glory days with the New York City Ballet are long finished, yet he remains one of the company’s most-loved dancers. D’Amboise joined the company at 15, became a principal dancer at 17 and stayed on for 35 years. In addition, he’s been a movie star, a father of four children and a teacher with the National Dance Institute, a kids’ arts education program. D’Amboise shares stories from his autobiography, I Was a Dancer, during the event. Portland Ballet Studio, 6250 SW Capitol Highway, 452-8448. 7:30 pm Thursday, April 14. $20.
NW Fusion Dance Company
The dancers of this Tigard company might be young (ages range from 14 to 18), but they’re tackling some ambitious work. The company’s spring concert will feature pieces by the Trey McIntyre Project’s Lauren Edson, company founder Brad Hampton and Ronnie Todorowski, an alum of Broadway’s Wicked. BodyVox Dance Center, 1201 NW 17th Ave., 229-0627. 2 and 6:30 pm Saturday, April 16. $15.
Noru Ka Soru Ka
Jazz, electronica, folk and theater tradition—from both East and West—have influenced Noru Ka Soru Ka, a Japanese dance and music ensemble hosted by Reed College’s dance department. The company’s performances tend toward the improvisational; this show features Japanese dancers Makoto Matsushima and Mao Arata, Swiss percussionist Georg Hofmann and Mike Nord perform-
44
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
ing on guitar and laptop electronics. Reed College Dance Gym, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd. 8 pm Friday, April 15. $2-$5.
PDX Dance Collective
“We shall overcome” might as well be the theme of the new PDX Dance Collective work, Inspired Transcendence, the contemporary company’s second full-length show. The choreography draws from disruptions in our personal lives and how we cope with them. Local electro/indie band Ilima Considine and the Sexbots will play live. Conduit Dance , 918 SW Yamhill St., Suite 401, 221-5857. 8 pm FridaySaturday, April 15-16. $13 suggested donation.
Portland Metro Dancers
Kids coming down from their Nutcracker high? Take ’em to see the Portland Metro Dancers’ balletic adaptations of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The company is composed of dancers whose past productions have included the ballet classics Coppélia and La Fille Mal Gardée. Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, MetroDancers@ PDXMetroArts.org. 2 pm Saturday, April 16. $13-$20.
TriptheDark
Dancing to a band’s entire album has been done. But dancing in a bar to an album by a band (unnamed for copyright reasons) that wsold another of its albums online by asking fans to name their price, may be a first. New Portlandbased company TriptheDark—six dancers trained in contemporary, tap, ballet, lyrical and jazz styles, plus acrobatics—will perform 11 pieces in total, accompanied by a puppeteer and live singer. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030. 7:30 pm SaturdaySunday, April 16-17. $9-$12.
Yossi Berg / Oded Graf
Hot on the heels of South Korea’s all-male Laboratory Dance Project comes the all-male ensemble of Israeli choreographers Yossi Berg and Oded Graf. The company makes its debut in the Northwest with 4Men, Alice and Bach and the Deer, an evening-length contemporary-movement drama laced with chant and song. The whole thing feels like a camping trip gone wrong. Wearing suits (and, occasionally, lucha libre masks), the men appear overly familiar with one another living alone in the woods, sustained only by meat, beer, porn and longing for a girl named Alice. The mood changes from hostile to comic to wistful; the dancing from a genteel mambo to chokeholds, spanking, body slamming, swooning and rutting. It’s strange, interesting and lingers in the mind long after it’s over. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 719-6055. 8 pm Wednesday-Friday, 7 and 9:30 pm Saturday, April 13-16. $18-$28.
For more Performance listings, visit
VISUAL ARTS
APRIL 13-19
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. By RICHARD SPEER. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit show information—including opening and closing dates, gallery address and phone number—at least two weeks in advance to: Visual Arts, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: rspeer@wweek.com. Fax: 2431115. Emailed press releases must be backed up by a faxed or printed copy.
APR
13 PETER ORULLIAN / The Unremembered (Tor) A struggle for balance between gods, mortals, and hellish creatures in the world of Aeshau Vaal. WED / 13TH / 7P CEDAR HILLS
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA / The Origins of Political Order (Farrar Straus & Giroux) A sweeping account of how todayís basic political institutions developed. WED / 13TH / 7:30P DOWNTOWN
ANA MARIA SPAGNA / Potluck: Community on the Edge of Wilderness (Oregon State Univ. Press) Spagna journeys from Tijuana to a California to Utah to discover the gift of community. THU / 14TH / 7:30P HAWTHORNE
ANNE LAMOTT / Imperfect Birds (Riverhead)
Bestselling author Lamott explores the human quest for connection and salvation. Tickets: $15 (admission and paperback copy of Imperfect Birds). Available at the Bagdad Theater, the Crystal Ballroom, CascadeTickets.com, or by phone at 855-227-8499. FRI / 15TH / 7P BAGDAD THEATER
(UNTITLED) BY TJ NORRIS AT ANKA GALLERY
NOW SHOWING TJ Norris
TJ Norris is a local treasure, but he also exhibits his work out of town— far out of town, as in, like, Europe. So when he shows his work in Portland, which he is this month at Anka, it’s cause to take notice. Norris wears two of his many hats this outing. In B/W, he presents black-and-white photographs of dilapidated advertising signs seen on a cross-country road trip. The compositions have the blend of immaculate composition and eerie sterility that have become the artist’s signature. As curator, Norris teams up with Anna Solcaniova King for PXL, a group show with work themed around pixels. The works, spanning diverse media, come courtesy of artists from Oregon, Washington, California, Illinois, New York and England. This is the strongest double bill Anka has mounted in a long time—possibly ever. Anka Gallery, 325 NW 6th Ave., 224-5721. Closes April 29.
Katherine Treffinger
For vivid, saturated color and an intuitive mastery of composition and surface, it’s hard to beat painter Katherine Treffinger. Her current show is an ode to chartreuse, turquoise and orange-red, interwoven with sinuous, meandering lines and circles that unify the picture plane and lend a jaunty visual syncopation. In Coltrane, circles cluster like grapes, while in The Grotto, turquoise drips seep downward into pink drips rising upward against gravity. Deep Sea Diving, a riot of scratch-work, flecks, drips and miasmas, encapsulates this artist’s adeptness at simultaneously balming and piquing the eye. Guardino Gallery, 2939 NE Alberta St., 281-9048. Closes April 26.
Michael Kessler
Prolific Santa Fe-based painter Michael Kessler takes a more chromatically subdued approach in his latest exhibition than in shows past. While there are several works in his customary mint green and rusty red, there are also paintings such as Dalton, Saburra and Wergild, which explore grayscale tones. This chromatic restraint
focuses more attention on the compositions themselves, which, as always, are thoughtful dialogues between architectonic rigor and loosey-goosey gesture. Kessler excels in extreme aspect ratios, both vertical and horizontal. Butters Gallery, 520 NW Davis St., 248-9378. Closes April 30.
Sean Healy
Pristine is not a word that comes to mind in association with devastated Northeastern manufacturing towns (“sooty,” “grungy,” and “derelict” are more like it), but in Sean Healy’s dramatic Upstate, the oncethriving industrial hub of Brasher Falls, N.Y., becomes a spotless and abstracted metaphor for everything from urban decay to the psychic ravages of middle age. The cigarette butts and filters deployed in works such as Smoke Breakers, Ember, and Male Pattern Midlife I, are placed with such O.C.D. precision and chromatic exactitude, they turn a quotidian material into the stuff of transubstantiation. Judiciously, Healy throws us bones of color in a largely monochromatic show—the gorgeous, saturated cerulean in Smoke Breakers and Surrender Dorothy—but largely keeps the palette and thematic concerns muted but impactful. This feels like a new, more minimalist direction for the artist, but upon reflection, reveals itself as a refinement of trends he has been moving toward for several years. Elizabeth Leach Gallery, 417 NW 9th Ave., 224-0521. Closes May 28.
Aaron Voronoff Trotter
In recent years, painter and performance artist Aaron Voronoff Trotter has put his energies into drawing, chronicling his peripatetic amblings around Portland in etchings. This switch in emphasis— from live painting performances and splattery, collage-heavy abstraction to intricate prints— seems to suit the 30-something artist, who has long had a taste for recording his journeys around the world, in highly detailed works on paper. Utrecht Art Supply, 1122 NW Everett St., 417-8024. Closes April 30.
For more Visual Arts listings, visit
TRACY PRINCE / Portland’s Goose Hollow (Arcadia) Uncovers the little-known history of one of Portlandís oldest and most- loved neighborhoods. FRI / 15TH / 7:30P DOWNTOWN
NIC SHEFF / We All Fall Down (Little Brown Books for Young Readers)
Hard-won realizations about what it means to be a young person living with addiction. SAT / 16TH / 2P CEDAR HILLS
RENEE WILKINSON / Modern Homestead: Grow, Raise, Create (Fulcrum)
Something for everyone interested in getting their hands dirty in their own homesteads. SUN / 17TH / 4P DOWNTOWN
RIVER JORDAN / Praying for Strangers (Berkley) Jordanís account of praying for a complete stranger every single day for a year. MON / 18TH / 7P CEDAR HILLS
MARCUS BORG / Speaking Christian (Harper One) Calls for a radical change to the language used to invoke Christian beliefs. MON / 18TH / 7:30P DOWNTOWN
RYE BARCOTT / It Happened on the Way to War (Bloomsbury) The true story of Barcottís dual service as Marine and idealistic humanitarian. MON / 18TH / 7:30P HAWTHORNE
JOYCE CAROL OATES / A Widow’s Story (Ecco) An intimate memoir about the unexpected death of Oatesís husband of 46 years. TUE / 19TH / 7P CEDAR HILLS
JEAN AUEL / The Land of the Painted Caves (Crown) The highly anticipated sixth book in Jean Auel's Earthís Children series. TUE / 19TH / 7:30P DOWNTOWN
DONOVAN HOHN / Moby-Duck (Viking)
A journey through science, myth, the global economy ó and some of the worst weather imaginable. WED / 20TH / 7P CEDAR HILLS
JOHN ELDER ROBISON / Be Different (Crown Archetype) A window into the minds of those afflicted with Aspergerís syndrome. WED / 20TH / 7:30P DOWNTOWN
Visit POWELLS.COM/CALENDAR for further details and to sign up for our EVENTS NEWSLETTER. Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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BOOKS
APRIL 13-19 FEATURE
= WW Pick. Highly recommended. By ASHLEY GOSSMAN. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, submit lecture or reading information at least two weeks in advance to: WORDS, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: words@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14 Heidi Durrow
This year’s PCC Reads book is The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow. The program is designed to promote books to the Portland Community College community that have themes of diversity and social justice. Durrow’s main character is a biracial woman in an environment where everyone wants her to pick one race to identify herself. Durrow answers questions and signs copies of the book at the Cascade campus. Moriarty Fine Arts Center at PCC, 705 N Killingsworth St., 971-722-4265. 9-10:30 am, and PCC Sylvania campus, 12000 SW 49th Ave., 971-722-4265. 1-2:30 pm. All ages.
Jacques d’Amboise
Jacques d’Amboise, accomplished dancer and founder of the National Dance Institute, signs his second book, I Was a Dancer. There will also be a presentation of video and photographs moderated by Martha Ullman West. In a detailed, poignant memoir, D’Amboise tells of the development of his career, how he met the love of his life, and his inspiration for creating a school for children to learn dance. Portland Ballet Studio, 6250 SW Capitol Highway, 452-8448. 7:30 pm. $20.
Alexi Zentner
Travel through Alexi Zentner’s debut novel Touch, a fable-infused yet realistic tale of overcoming family tragedy, and experience the surprising warmth he infuses into a cold climate. You’ll want to settle by a fire with a cup of hot cocoa and call your family when you’re done hearing Zentner read from this ethereal story. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15 Anne Lamott
Imperfect Birds, the new novel by bestselling author Anne Lamott, tells the story of a teenager pretending her life is perfect, only to have her parents find out she has been deceiving them all along. Enough to make breeders reconsider. Do all parents inevitably mess up their kids, or is it just the luck of the draw? Find out Lamott’s take at this reading. Bagdad Theater &Pub, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 855227-8499. 7 pm. $15, includes copy of book.
SATURDAY, APRIL 16 Willa Schneberg
Writer and artist Willa Schneberg reads from her poetry collection In the Margins of the World and her latest book Storytelling in Cambodia. Schneberg will also preview some material from her manuscript A Good Time to Die. You can check out her ceramic show, Objects of the Sacred & Profane, through April 24. Guardino Gallery, 2939 NE Alberta St., 281-9048. 3-4 pm. Free.
SUNDAY, APRIL 17 Carl Adamshick
Carl Adamshick’s book release party/ block party combines readings from his first book of poetry, Curses and Wishes, along with “poet-themed cocktails” and beer. Adamshick is founder of Tavern Books and winner of the 2010 Walt Whitman Award. Spints Alehouse, 401 NE 28th Ave., 503-8472534. Doors open at 3 pm, authors begin presenting at 6:30 pm. Free. 21+.
MONDAY, APRIL 18 River Jordan
Something about River Jordan’s Praying for Strangers: An Adventure of the Human Spirit—which is literally about Jordan’s resolution to pray for a stranger every day for a year while her two sons are off at war—is pure and hopeful in a way that protects it from mockery, whether you are religious/spiritual or not. The book is filled with stories of the strangers’ reactions and how Jordan feels she benefited from the resolution as much, if not more, than the recipients of the prayers. Powell’s on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 228-4651. 7 pm. Free.
TUESDAY, APRIL 19 Jim Moore
Want to read a book of poetry that deals with something you might be thinking to yourself on a daily basis? As you ride the MAX or sip your coffee in the rain while contemplating death, eventual divorce or consciousness, you should add Jim Moore’s take to your musings. Invisible Strings is for you, realistic-poetry consumer. It’s his seventh book, so you aren’t taking a big risk or anything. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, 284-1726. 7 pm. Free.
For more Words listings, visit
STAND-UP COMICS The Stumptown Comics Fest is a great place to meet folks who make comics in the mainstream (Spider-Man’s Randy Emberlin) and the underground (the prolific and adorable Jeffrey Brown). It’s a good place to get autographs signed or to try and pitch your own book. But most of all, the Stumptown Comics Fest is a great place to blow a bunch of cash. We went ahead and made some suggestions in that department.
Flipping through the pages of the Stumptown Comics Fest.
FOR PORTLAND GIRLS Gingerbread Girl (Top Shelf ) Part Archie Comics drama and part science-fiction pulp novel, the new book from the Portland power couple of writer Paul Tobin and cartoonist Colleen Coover will charm even folks who aren’t fans of either trope. The book’s dual protagonists, Annah and Chili, deliver frequent soliloquies—actually, all the book’s characters, including a handful of animals, give long-winded soliloquies—as they solve mysteries both romantic and scientific in nature. The book, set in Portland, is gorgeous and a hell of a lot of fun to read—largely because Tobin and Coover seem to have had a blast putting it together. Alternates: Ivy (Oni Press), Stumptown Vol. 1 (Oni Press). FOR THE COLLEGE-BOUND IDEALISTS The Adventures of Unemployed Man (Little Books) Unemployed Man attempts to explain the state of the U.S. economy—everything from outsourcing to bailouts, Social Security to deregulation—by creating superheroes and villains who represent various economic and social phenomena. Yup. Characters like White Rage, Alien Greenspan and the Invisible Hand all make appearances. Think this conceit is a little too tenuous and collegiate to hold your interest? It might be, but it’d be good reading for a high-school senior or a college freshman. It’s also beautifully drawn (by committee) with plenty of
visual homages to guys like Jack Kirby and Joe Kubert. So even when the metaphors grow too long, Unemployed Man is something to see. Alternates: Twilight of the Assholes (Fantagraphics), Supersized: Strange Tales From a Fast-Food Culture (Dark Horse). FOR THE PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE, RECENTLY OVER-THE-HILL TYPES Mid-Life (Drawn and Quarterly) Who knew that traumatizing stories about dead cats, porn, problem drinking, office drama and the post40 dating scene could be this fun? Shades of Office Space color Canadian cartoonist Joe Ollmann’s Mid-Life, but it’s a deeper effort than his one-liners and cluttered Sunday strip-style artwork would suggest. Especially for middle-aged dudes and those of us who are terrified of getting there, Mid-Life is an entertaining—and terrifying—primer. Alternates: Wilson (Drawn and Quarterly), The Book of Mr. Natural (Fantagraphics). FOR THE BIG GEEKS WITH AESTHETIC TASTE The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec Volume 1 (Fantagraphics) Fantagraphics has done English-speaking comics fans a huge service by publishing the works of famed French cartoonist Jacques Tardi. The stories in this first volume of Adèle Blanc-Sec books are quirky, genuinely suspenseful and—as with all of Tardi’s work—beautifully drawn. Vol. 2 is due out in November, and the first in a series of Luc Besson movie adaptations, released to most worldly audiences last year, is bound to make an appearance in Portland sooner or later. Alternates: The Littlest Pirate King (Fantagraphics), Night Animals (Top Shelf ). CASEY JARMAN. COLLECT ’EM ALL: The Stumptown Comics Festival is April 16-17 at the Oregon Convention Center. $5 students, $7 adults. Two-day passes also available. See stumptowncomics.com for a full exhibitor list.
VOTED
BEST DOG GIE DAY CAR E
WWEEKDOTCOM 46
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
www.wagportland.com
BY WW REA DER S
2410 SE 50th Avenue Portland 503.238.0737 7am-7pm weekdays 8am-5pm weekends Daycare • Boarding Behavioral Counseling
APRIL 13-19 REVIEW
= WW Pick. Highly recommended.
MAGNET RELEASING
MOVIES
Editor: AARON MESH. TO BE CONSIDERED FOR LISTINGS, send screening information at least two weeks in advance to Screen, WW, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210. Email: amesh@wweek.com. Fax: 243-1115.
Arthur
32 Russell Brand, who is either a
Kaufman-esque bluff of anti-humor perpetrated by Jim Carrey or some sick form of viral marketing for the world’s finest purveyor of nearly lifelike latex masks, attempts to squeeze into Dudley Moore’s tiny shoes in this misbegotten remake of 1981’s unapologetic ode to crapulent dandyism, and it’s as sad and exhausting as a threeday bender’s blighted home stretch. Arthur drives a Batmobile! Arthur fucks in a floating bed! Arthur wears Abe Lincoln’s hat! Arthur dresses up as a gummy bear and falls down stairs! Lop off the third act’s endorsement of teetotaling clarity and what you have here is a brightly colored Saturday morning advertisement for Maker’s Mark. Hey kids: It goes great with Frosted Flakes. PG-13. CHRIS STAMM. Clackamas, Eastport, Cinetopia, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville. NEW
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
A new drama extolling the virtues of free enterprise and corporate railroads. Based on a book by Ayn Rand. Opening on tax day. We’re mentioning this convergence not as a recommendation so much as a warning that you may want to avoid Fox Tower on Friday. Look for a review on wweek. com. PG-13. Fox Tower, Bridgeport.
Battle: Los Angeles
40 Lonely and dreaming of the West Coast, spacemen storm Santa Monica like it’s Normandy, and we endure the invasion from the POV of an Aaron Eckhart-led Marine platoon that firefights from beach house to beach house. Yeah, watch the world die! PG-13. AARON MESH. Clackamas, Eastport.
Cedar Rapids
50 Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, Youth in Revolt) hosts a Midwestern potluck of current indie-comedy talent, which means Cedar Rapids is not very ambitious, and only superficially funny. Daily Show alum and Office a cappella specialist Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe, an insurance salesman for a Wisconsin firm called Brown Star—that’s an early sign of the movie’s insistently blue material. R. AARON MESH. Hollywood Theatre.
NEW
Ceremony
48 Why, look at you, young buck! You
couldn’t be a more threadbare Wes Anderson knockoff if you tried—and you’re trying very hard, what with the preppy blazers, fishbowl cinematography, hand-drawn children’s books and British Invasion montages. To be fair, Ceremony shares the same influences as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, and will tell you all about them: Fitzgerald and Salinger paperbacks crop up in the first 10 minutes. The only real satisfaction, though, is seeing Michael Angarano (Snow Angels, Gentlemen Broncos) try on his best Max Fischer. (Also, it must be acknowledged, he sports an amazing suit the color of a red fox. Nice find, wardrobe.) Angarano, who is going to be an actor to watch as soon as he gives up lost-puppy eyes as a crutch, resembles a snack-sized Sam Rockwell: As he runs about, franticly trying to break up Uma Thurman’s beach wedding with dissembling repartee, you can see in his faux sophistication what Max Winkler (son of the Fonz) thought would make this retread sing. “You’re not Holden Crawford!” shouts Angarano’s best friend Reece Thompson, but he’s no Charlie Bartlett, either—Ceremony isn’t some cynical Hot Topic commodification of Rushmore. It’s sincerely meant. But it puts the lie to the conceit that indie cinema is any less reliant on remakes and safe bets than the big studios. AARON MESH. Living Room Theaters.
Certified Copy
77 Juliette Binoche’s filmography
already reads like a Bazin-quoting video store geek’s wet dream—Godard, Haneke, Kieslowski, Assayas and Hou have all harnessed her radiance— and with Certified Copy, she adds an Abbas Kiarostami film to the CV. Although it’s his first narrative feature made outside of Iran, Certified Copy is classic Kiarostami: People drive and talk and then park and walk and talk some more. It’s middling Kiarostami, but it also might be Binoche’s greatest achievement. CHRIS STAMM. Living Room Theaters.
Cold Weather
88 Cold Weather, an unusually obser-
vant picture, thinks about details. You might say director Aaron Katz and his protagonist share an affinity for clues. AARON MESH. Living Room Theaters. NEW
The Conspirator
68 It’s set in 1865, but make no
mistake: Robert Redford’s The Conspirator is a post-9/11 movie. This isn’t a particularly difficult conclusion to reach. Although the film is ostensibly a re-enactment of the trial of Mary Surratt, the sole woman accused of partaking in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, Redford’s intentions are clear the moment the other alleged co-conspirators are dragged in front of a military tribunal wearing Guantánamo-style hoods. It only gets more obvious from there, as Surratt (Robin Wright) is railroaded by the government—unable to apprehend her son Osama…er, John, they settled for her instead—and her Civil War heroturned-lawyer (James McAvoy) makes impassioned declarations about the sanctity of the Constitution and the danger of confusing vengeance for justice. Kevin Kline, as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, stands in for Dick Cheney, arguing that the only way for the nation to heal after a tragedy is to kill somebody. Redford presents the story as an archetypal courtroom drama, all tropes included, but it still manages some intrigue as an oftforgotten piece of American history. As for its connection to more recent American history, the message seems to be that anyone concerned about the desecration of the country’s founding ideals since September 2001 needn’t worry: We were fucked long before then. PG-13. MATTHEW SINGER. Fox Tower, Eastport, Bridgeport, Lloyd Center, Cedar Hills, Movies on TV.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules 29 Love Ramona Quimby but hate
all that pesky imagination? Would you rather see a kid lip-sync to Ke$ha on YouTube? Have I got a movie for you! PG. AP KRYZA. Clackamas, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood. NEW
Fast Break
82 [ONE NIGHT ONLY, REVIVAL]
Amateur psychedelic soundtrack over grainy, slo-mo basketball footage makes the ’70s seem like an ancient, foreign world, but this vintage documentary of the Blazers’ 1977 championship season was never a conventional, sporty sports movie, even in its own time. The film’s backbone (and its most interesting thread) is director Don Zavin’s postseason bicycle ride down the Oregon coast with superstar center Bill Walton, the 7-foot, red-bearded hippie credited for the young team’s first (and only) championship season. Walton seems equally at peace dominating a packed stadium and pedaling his 10-speed along the lonely highway. TONY PIFF. Clinton Street Theater. 7 and 9 pm Monday, April 18. NEW
Filmed by Bike
40 [THREE NIGHTS ONLY] This year,
the dedicated people behind Filmed by Bike asked me to serve on the selec-
CONT. on page 48
TIRELESS: His name is Robert.
GOODYEAR HUNTING RUBBER INTRODUCES THE LITTLE TIRE THAT COULD...BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF. BY A P KRYZA
243-2122
If you’re going to base an entire film around a ridiculous practical joke on audience expectations, it’s simple courtesy to let viewers in on the gag. Director Quentin Dupieux does us one better, opening Rubber by smashing the fourth wall with a sledgehammer in the form of Stephen Spinella, whose Arizona sheriff emerges from the trunk of a car like a peyote-infused cross between Gary Busey and David Carradine and, looking dead-eyed into the camera, goes on a tirade about the importance of senseless details in movies. Why was E.T. brown? No reason. Why did a stranger decide to shoot the president in JFK? No reason. “The film you are about to see is an homage to the ‘no reason,’ that most powerful element of style,” he concludes in one of the most bizarre and hysterically funny monologues in memory. Right off the bat, Dupieux establishes the knowingly ridiculous story that is to follow, the tale of a tire that rises from the sand and, after a quick voyage of self-discovery, realizes it has the ability to telekinetically make things explode, especially people’s heads. What unfolds is a thrill-kill road flick akin to The Devil’s Rejects or Natural Born Killers. Except the killer is a tire. For no reason. For whatever reason, it’s an absolute blast, thanks in large part to the soundtrack, crafted by Dupieux’s alter ego, Euro house musician Mr. Oizo. As Robert—as the final credits reveal the tire’s name to be—learns to navigate the dusty landscape, he’s prodded along by a playful score of electronica-infused world sounds. Initially unable to roll without teetering like an infant, Robert cruises to music seemingly drawn from the documentary Babies. When he becomes infatuated with a sexy French traveler (Kaboom beauty Roxane Mesquida) he rolls along to Ronnie Dyson’s soul classic “Just Don’t Wanna Be Lonely,” and when he fixates his explosive abilities on an unsuspecting cranium, the soundtrack explodes into a cacophonous symphony of chaos.
The musical choices, and Dupieux’s commitment to presenting a grindhouse riff with tongue practically impaling cheek, make Rubber an instant gonzo classic. With redneck cops in full pursuit (“Is he black?” one even asks), he becomes rather sympathetic. Like any desert traveler, all the tire really wants is to relax in a hotel room and watch NASCAR—and if anyone interrupts his R&R, it’s their brain matter at stake. That Dupieux’s arthouse-grindhouse-funhouse mashup manages to make the most inanimate of objects sympathetic is a minor triumph that yanks the rug with sinister abandon. It is 50 minutes of pure, senseless bliss. Alas, Rubber clocks in at nearly 90 minutes, and in trying to fill time, Dupieux blows a flat, taking
ALL THE TIRE REALLY WANTS IS TO RELAX IN A HOTEL ROOM AND WATCH NASCAR. his “no reason” thesis and rubbing it in viewers’ faces with seeming scorn for the audience. Not content to let his brilliant opening monologue stand as the explanation of the absurdity, we’re also introduced to a gaggle of spectators, who watch the events from a distance and provide dumbass analysis throughout. The device is, intentionally, the equivalent of watching a film in a theater full of knuckle-dragging nincompoops. When Robert takes on human qualities, someone voices sympathy. Whenever something bizarre happens—and something bizarre happens nearly every minute— someone tells you it’s bizarre. It’s in this expressed contempt for audiences seeking meaning in ballyhoo that Rubber stumbles, becoming a solid piece of lunacy rather than a brilliant avant-garde horror-comedy. Every time Rubber borders on brilliance, the director’s elbow slams into your ribs so forcibly it comes off as snobbishly arrogant. There’s a reason for the condescension. Dupieux doesn’t trust us to understand that a movie about a horny, murderous tire is firm in its commitment to lacking reason—even after he tells us so repeatedly. 79 SEE IT: Rubber is not rated and opens Friday at the Hollywood Theatre.
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
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.”
– Jarett Wieselman, NY POST
A FANTASTIC DEBUT.”
“
– Peter Sciretta, SLASHFILM
“AN OFTEN-HILARIOUS, WELL-OBSERVED MARVEL.” – Drew McWeeny, HITFIX.COM
He’s the love of her life. She just doesn’t know it yet.
MICHAEL ANGARANO
UMA THURMAN
EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT
LIVING ROOM THEATRES
STARTS FRIDAY, APRIL 15
page 23
Portland (971) 222-2010
CEREMONYFILM.COM • FACEBOOK.COM/CEREMONYFILM
We’re all from the same mold.
THA – SF
Culture pg. 22
APRIL 13-19
tion panel—and, as I did, I learned a couple of things about the annual festival. First, the organizers are passionate and optimistic in a way that speaks well for the city. Second, the festival is more an expression of that urban utopian hope than it is any kind of showcase for innovative or high-quality moviemaking. Do you like bicycles? You will find a lot to like here. Do you like cinema? You will find a lot of bicycles here. There are moments, however: The Denver-based video All You Haters (Suck My Balls), which screens in the first program (7, 9 and 11 pm Friday, April 15), is a delightful display of ridiculous braggadocio, with several chic young people sing-shouting the titular concept in incongruous settings. In the same show, there’s Cyclocross on Kodachrome, which Lars C. Larsen (nope, not that one) managed to get processed before the last development lab shuttered; the images are ghostly and impeccably Northwestern. They put to shame much of the the fest’s hi-def video, which looks like an audition for a job at Wieden & Kennedy, and much of the lo-def video, which looks like home movies. Again, this shouldn’t discourage you from celebrating bicycles, which look like good exercise in any format. But fetish ain’t always art. AARON MESH. Clinton Street Theater. FridaySunday, April 15-17.
Hanna
Publication
Size
WILLAMETTE WEEK
Run Date(s)
3.772 X 6.052
WED 4.13
From the Director of Super Size Me.
INGENIOUS ! DEVILISHLY ENTERTAINING!
“
”
-Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
MAGNOLIA WILLAMETTE WEEK WED 4.13 ALL.CER-A1.0413.WI jm
col. (1.816”) x 4” ONE OF 1THE FUNNIEST DOCUMENTARIES YOU’LL EVER SEE!”
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-Kirk Honeycutt, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
ABSOLUTELY ” RT RT HILARIOUS!
“ jm
-Edward Douglas, COMING SOON
GROUNDBREAKING!
“
BALLSY!” -Kim Voynar, MOVIE CITY NEWS
He’s not selling out, he’s buying in. WRITTEN BY JEREMY CHILNICK & MORGAN SPURLOCK DIRECTED BY MORGAN SPURLOCK WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM
Special Advance Screening Monday, April 25 @ 7:00 PM ~ Portland To enter for your chance to win tickets send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: PWPTGMES - Willamette Week Promo 200 W Thomas Street, Suite 101 Seattle, WA 98119
LUCKY GUESTS AT RANDOM WILL WIN THE GREATEST GIFT BAG! featuring THE GREATEST PRODUCTS from POM WONDERFUL, AMY’S KITCHEN, BAN, CARRERA, MANE N TAIL, MERRELL, SEVENTH GENERATION, OLD NAVY AND MORE!
No phone calls please. No purchase necessary to enter. Limit one admit-two pass per person. There are a limited number of tickets for this contest. Not everyone will receive a pass. Winners will be chosen and tickets mailed on or about Monday, April 18, 2011. Late and/or duplicate entries will not be considered. THEATRE IS OVERBOOKED TO ENSURE A FULL HOUSE. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Passes cannot be redeemed for cash & merchandise may not be substituted. Seattle Weekly is only responsible for contest promotional advertisement. Employees of SPC, Willamette Week & their affiliated agencies are not eligible. Void where prohibited by law. This film is rated PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material. Must enter by 12 p.m. on Friday, April 15!
IN SELECT THEATRES FRIDAY, APRIL 29 VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.THEGREATESTMOVIEEVERSOLD.COM
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MOVIES
Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
65 Best things first: I see no reason why every movie shouldn’t be filmed in a rusting, abandoned German amusement park. East Berlin’s Spreepark does wonders for the final act of director Joe Wright’s Hanna, which includes some jawdropping visuals—including Cate Blanchett walking down train tracks Initial Time that emerge from the moldering jaw of a giant wolf. If there were an Oscar for location scouting, Hanna would be the 2011 front-runner; as it is, the eerie moonscapes throughout the film (Finnish ice floes, orange-tiled Berlin subway stations, granite military compounds under the Moroccan desert) help compensate for a script that feels a little too eager to be a punky parable. It’s an empty fun park. PG-13. AARON MESH. Clackamas, Eastport, CineMagic, Cinetopia, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Lake Twin, Fox Tower, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville, St. Johns Twin Cinema-Pub.
Hop
38 Unlike his homeboy and fellow childhood-greed enthusiast Kris Kringle (who has had to deal with everything from Martians to Vince Vaughn), the Easter Bunny has remained relatively untouched on the silver screen. With Hop, the rabbit is front and center in the form of E.B., the heir to the Easter Bunny dynasty. This being a big studio project, E.B. is a flannel-sporting, jellybean-crapping slacker voiced by Russell Brand. At least Hop doesn’t teach us the “true meaning” of Easter—a CGI zombie messiah would really scare the shit out of the kids. PG. AP KRYZA. 99 West Drive-In, Clackamas, Eastport, Cinetopia, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
I Am
After Hollywood director Tom Shadyac developed suicidal leanings while suffering from “post concussion syndrome,” he set out to heal himself and simultaneously figure out the fundamental problems of the entire world. Good for him. Now will he please get back to making Jim Carrey talk through his ass cheeks again? KELLY CLARKE. Broadway.
Insidious
30 If you cast your eyes downward, you should see letters P and G and number 13 all bolded there. That should probably tell you everything you need to know about how “horrific” the latest horror flick from
the Aussie duo behind Saw, Leigh Whannell and James Wan, really is. Allegedly, they were trying to create Poltergeist for a new generation. If I—a fully grown adult—had trouble understanding the flimsy and nonsensical internal logic of Insidious (even with 100 excruciatingly plod-
ding minutes to figure it out), I can only imagine how today’s generation of Ritalin-popping instant-gratification-seeking teens would fare. PG-13. RUTH BROWN. Clackamas, Eastport, Cornelius, Broadway, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Tigard.
REVIEW STEVE DIETL
HEADOUT
ONE OF THE YEAR’S MOST SURPRISINGLY CHARMING AND UTTERLY INGENIOUS FILMS “
BEET IT: Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson.
SUPER God’s lonely man in a unitard.
“I wonder all the time why no one’s ever stepped up and become a real superhero,” says overenthusiastic comic-book clerk Ellen Page midway through James Gunn’s Super. The answer is that plenty of people have—regular-folk antecedents to Rainn Wilson’s Crimson Bolt include (off the top of my head) Woody Harrelson in Defendor, that kid in Kick-Ass, much of the cast of Watchmen, and Portland’s own caped crusader Zetaman—though the vigilante ancestor Gunn really wants to summon is Travis Bickle. Super plays like a geek-chic Taxi Driver, if Martin Scorsese couldn’t decide whether the Schrader script was some kind of sick joke, and if he superimposed the killing of Sport with cartoon balloons reading “BANG!” and “POW!” Like Travis, Wilson’s Frank is lonely, insomniac and paranoid, with a fixation on saving a woman from predators she may prefer to him. Unlike Travis, Frank wears a bright-red jumpsuit and a mask. “Other people stare at me, God, I can tell,” he prays, weeping uncontrollably beside his bed. Of course they do: He’s the only one here. That scene of self-loathing prayer is truly distressed and affecting—probably the best work Wilson has ever done, including The Office. In between that and Super’s climax, however, there’s about an hour of patience-testing, smug and ugly filler, the kind of superior comedy that asks us to laugh at the Crimson Bolt driving around in a Buick beater and thwacking miscreants (a weed dealer, a pedophile, a guy who cuts in line at the movies) over the head with a giant wrench. Mourning the departure of his wife (Liv Tyler) into the arms of a vice peddler (a marvelously sleazy Kevin Bacon), he can’t distinguish between crime and personal affront, a problem only exacerbated when he takes on Page as a sidekick. This terrifying imp, who dubs herself Boltie, commits vehicular homicide, then taunts her victims with the laugh of an overcaffeinated hyena. (She also initiates a costumed sex scene even creepier than the one in Watchmen.) Super expects us to find this stuff unsettling but funny—because these protagonists, while sociopaths, live in a small town and believe in Jesus and don’t know anything about Batman and tee hee hee. But in its final 15 minutes, Super makes a leap from violence into ultraviolence—and becomes harder to dismiss. As in 2006’s overlooked Slither, Gunn proves himself adroit with gore, and applies it liberally. We’re talking about the kind of staved-in heads and spilled innards most associated with ’70s exploitation reels; I really can’t remember a recent mainstream picture with such a queasy-making level of brutality. At the same time, Gunn starts taking Frank’s moral position—it’s something like George Costanza’s old cry, “We’re living in a society!”—fairly seriously, at least as a perverse thought experiment. It isn’t enough to make me admire the movie, exactly, but it is evidence that something is redeemed through bloodshed, anyway. AARON MESH. 58
SEE IT: Super opens Friday at Cinema 21.
APRIL 13-19
sweeping period romances: This is not the Jane Eyre you are looking for. Young director Cary Fukunaga and screenwriter Moira Buffini pull everything dark out of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel and unleash it in all its gothic glory on the big screen. Although this version chops vast swaths of the original text, it is, in many ways, a much truer adaptation than most of the 5 trillion others, which have tended to polish away the characters’ rough edges— including casting inordinately goodlooking stars to play characters who repeatedly talk about how ugly they are. Really, most of the characters in the original novel are assholes—ugly assholes—and Fukunaga doesn’t shy away from that. PG-13. RUTH BROWN. Fox Tower. NEW
King of Kings
[ONE DAY ONLY, REVIVAL] Cecil B. DeMille’s 1927 Technicolor Resurrection, with live organ soundtrack. Hollywood Theatre. 2 pm Sunday, April 17. NEW
NEW
Portland Jewish Film Festival
[FOUR NIGHTS LEFT] The 19th annual iteration, which opened with La Rafle, a drama about Parisian Jews held in stadiums before being sent to death camps, closes with Sarah’s Key (8 pm Saturday, April 16), a drama about Parisian Jews held in stadiums before being sent to death camps. NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. WednesdaySunday, April 13-17.
NEW
Q Center Film Screening Series
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] Three short films on body image, women’s rights and poetry. Q Center, 4115 N Mississippi Ave., 234-7837. 7 pm Friday, April 15.
– PETER TRAVERS
82 If there’s a criticism to lob at
Gore Verbinski’s wildly entertaining existentialist cartoon Western, it’s that he made an existentialist cartoon Western aimed at kids. Verbinski’s enthusiasm for what is essentially a pastiche love letter to
CONT. on page 50
REVIEW
L.A. Paranormal
The Lincoln Lawyer
lawyer who rides around in the back of a black Lincoln Continental with the custom license plate “NTGUILTY.” The movie is NTGOOD, exactly, but it’s NTBAD, either. R. AARON MESH. Clackamas, Eastport, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Fox Tower, Tigard. NEW
Manufactured Landscapes
80 [THREE NIGHTS ONLY] What
a lovely mess. Canadian doc-maker Jennifer Baichwal follows photographer Edward Burtynsky as he globe-hops from one environmental disaster to the next, making a persuasive case that at some of the seven wonders of our world are heaps of trash. It’s hard to decide which images are most astonishing in scale: Landscapes opens with an eight-minute unbroken pan through a Chinese factory, and goes outside to find even bigger industrial footprints. There are slopes of tires, ridges of rotary telephones and canyons of coal dust. The gargantuan dumps have a sinister enchantment, and I was particularly taken with the Chittagong ship-breaking beach in Bangladesh, where workers wait for high tide to strand oil tankers so they can tear them to shreds. AARON MESH. 5th Avenue Cinema. 7 and 9 pm Friday-Saturday, April 15-16. 3 pm Sunday, April 17.
Of Gods and Men
87 A deeply serious study of devotion and doubt as experienced by a brotherhood of French monks whose quiet lives of prayer and community service (and a whole lot of puttering in the garden) are threatened by the Algerian Civil War. Beauvois evinces a deep and abiding reverence for the deliberate rhythms of ritual—the film is, at times, as slow as a Communion line at Lourdes—and although I don’t think I’ll be buying any of the Lord’s bullpucky anytime soon, Of Gods and Men builds to an affirmation of faith so stunningly transcendent that I emerged from the theater with
SAOIRSE RONAN ERIC BANA
and
CATE BLANCHETT
DIRECTED BY JOE WRIGHT ORIGINAL SCORE BY THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
Limitless
67 Matthew McConaughey is a
A KNOCKOUT!
“
A fairy tale of lightning speed and gritty action!”
Rango
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] Ghostbusters in Los Angeles. Hollywood Theatre. 6 pm Monday, April 18.
71 Limitless is a Hollywood writer’s fantasy—you can tell because as soon as the hero (Bradley Cooper) gains extraordinary powers, he quits being a writer. But of course the director has the last word: While Leslie Dixon’s script is often cynical and glib (not to mention over-reliant on voice-over narration), Neil Burger’s surge of images and sound vaults the movie into the “more interesting than it has any right to be” canon. PG-13. AARON MESH. Clackamas, Cinetopia, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood, Tigard.
RAVES:
LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN!
C O U R T E S Y VA R I A N C E F I L M S
77 A word of warning for fans of
some understanding of how grace might feel, and I liked it. PG-13. CHRIS STAMM. Hollywood Theatre, Living Room Theaters.
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WILLIAM, THEY ARE: Cunningham, left. Hicks, right.
BILLS, BILLS, BILLS Bill Cunningham New York 82 Arriving with the prized imprimatur (and fonts) of the Sulzberger Times, director Richard Press’ graceful documentary is deceptively spontaneous—a quality it shares with fashion photographer Cunningham’s “On the Street” column. It requires real concentration to find the patterns and connections between haute Paris runways and harried Manhattan commuters, just as it surely took effort to get Cunningham to reveal any detail of his personal life—or even to sit still long enough to take questions. As the octogenarian cyclist pedals through Times Square in search of great jackets and better legs, it’s clear that the movie, while belonging to the milieu that gave us profiles of Anna Wintour and Valentino, is also one of the great recent New York street-life films; it does for newspaper photography what I Like Killing Flies did for diner cuisine. Himself darting along the sidewalk like a Kennedy-accented lightning bug with a handheld flash, Cunningham eventually begins to seem a frail bulwark of civilization. “He who seeks beauty will find it,” he declares, and his work is a natural subject for the movies: the physical ecstasy of truly and uniquely seeing a thing, and immortalizing a glimpse of it. AARON MESH. Opens Friday at Living Room Theaters. The New Yorker and the Hicks.
American: The Bill Hicks Story 64 Though he hailed from Bush I-era Texas, the scabrous comedian’s blistering fusillades against know-nothingism—including a spectacularly vengeful impression of a Waffle House waitress asking, “What you readin’ fer?”—couldn’t be more current. The drawback of Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas’ affectionate and visually inventive retrospective on the late Hicks is that it doesn’t serve up a thick enough slice of that stand-up: The most compelling moments in the movie can all be found on YouTube. American favors the life over the work (since Hicks’ surviving relatives control his estate, this was perhaps inevitable), but the man’s journey—creative kid chafes at religious upbringing, becomes a phenom but eddies into “drinking suicidally,” gets sober, finds his subject and second wind—is standard for talented people. The film is more interesting when it addresses Hicks’ anti-capitalist rage and his belief in the consciousness-expanding potential of psychedelics—American is the rare movie about comedy that features a sincere montage of cosmic tripping. Though Hicks suspected that death was no permanent end, the main takeaway from his terminal pancreatic cancer is a sense of continuing loss: He just was made for these times. AARON MESH. Opens Friday at the Hollywood Theatre.
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SEND YOUR ANSWER AND A SELF-ADDRESSED, STAMPED ENVELOPE TO THE ADDRESS BELOW. Attn: FAST FIVE Janet W ainwright PR, Inc. P.O. Box 47087 Seattle, WA 98146 ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2011. FAST FIVE is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, sexual content and lanuage. Seats are first-come, first-served. W hile supplies last. Only a limited number of passes available. Limit 1 pass per person. Each pass admits 2. Seating is not guaranteed. Arrive early. Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Screening will be monitored for unauthorized recording. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. NO PHONE CALLS!
IN THEATERS APRIL 29 Willamette Week APRIL 13, 2011 wweek.com
49
MOVIES
#!%
“BAT $
APRIL 13-19
classic cinema bursts through the clutter. PG. MATTHEW SINGER. Clackamas, 99 Indoor Twin, Eastport, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Tigard.
WONDERFUL.”
- Karina Longworth, LA WEEKLY
NEW
“CHOCK FULL ‘O SCANNERS-
Rio
Jesse Eisenberg voices a macaw: “Did I adequately answer your condescending question? AWK! Did I adequately answer your condescending question?” Look for a review on wweek.com. G. Clackamas, Eastport, Roseway, St. Johns Twin Cinema-Pub, Cinetopia, Cornelius, Lake Twin, Oak Grove, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
STYLE ERUPTING CRANIUMS AND MIND #$ !@?%* GALORE. YOU’VE NEVER EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.” - Marc Savlov, AUSTIN CHRONICLE
NEW
STARTS FRIDAY, APRIL 15
Scream 4
Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette are back, possibly because they have nothing else to do. Not screened for critics, and we’re probably not going to bother. R. Clackamas, Eastport, Cinetopia, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
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Soul Surfer
WWEEKDOTCOM WWEEKDOTCOM WWEEKDOTCOM WWEEKDOTCOM Magnolia
25 The true story of Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb) is basically a gender-switched 127 Hours, except she gets her arm stuck in a shark. Soul Surfer is also Dennis Quaid quoting Bible verses and Carrie Underwood trying to explain the mysterious ways of God—schmaltz for Jesus. When the shark attack occurs, it’s absurdly abrupt and somehow funny. But what comes after, complete with unpersuasive hide-the-limb CGI, is the comedy of the year. There’s a scene in which the family is about to eat dinner, but Bethany reminds them they need to say grace first, but when they start to hold hands, she can’t hold hands, because she doesn’t have a hand. That sort of thing. PG. AARON MESH. Clackamas, Eastport, Cornelius, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood, Wilsonville.
3.772" x 3.5"
WILLAMETTE WEEK WED 04.13
ALL.RUB-A1.0413.WI JL
JL
RT
“PROVOCATIVE. PULSES WITH THE THRILL OF DISCOVERY.” - Richard Corliss, TIME
“MESMERIZING. A largely untold story of American justice.” - Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
“BRILLIANT! RIVETING and suspenseful. Robert Redford has crafted a revealing look into our history that you only thought you knew.” - Pete Hammond, BOXOFFICE
JAMES McAVOY ROBIN WRIGHT
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Source Code
93 Lightning has struck twice for
director Duncan Jones: Source Code is the best science-fiction film since Moon, and may prove the finest picture of this year. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a soldier transported, via some mysterious computer program, into a sensory recording of the final eight minutes before a blast ripped apart a Chicago commuter line. While Hitchcock famously defined suspense as a conversation in which the audience knows a bomb is under the table, Source Code’s adrenaline rush of slightly comic dread is one man knowing the bomb is there, and not being able to defuse it, because it already went off. It’s Groundhog Day, except instead of every day ending with a blizzard, they all end with everybody exploding. PG-13. AARON MESH. Clackamas, Eastport, Cinetopia, Forest, Oak Grove, Fox Tower, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.
Sucker Punch
29 In promoting Sucker Punch, Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) insisted we should prepare to have our minds blown. But goddamn, did Snyder need to take himself so seriously while presenting what’s basically a video-game combination of Girl, Interrupted, The Matrix, Hellboy, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings and a teenager’s wet dream? PG-13. AP KRYZA. Clackamas, Eastport, Broadway, Bridgeport.
NEW
Wild Salmon Rising
[ONE NIGHT ONLY] Two films about salmon: Russian salmon in Eastern Rising, and Columbia River salmon in The Greatest Migration. Boothster, 521 NE Davis St. 7:30 pm Thursday, April 14.
BONDSPLOITATION: He’s no patch on Sean Connery, but Roger Moore’s rigid, dutifully hedonist James Bond may be closer to the original Fleming conception. You’ll have plenty of chances to compare, as Beer and Movie closes its spring run with three Moore appearances: Live and Let Die, The Man With the Golden Gun and Octopussy. He gets more comfortable as he settles into the suits and sheets, but Moore’s initial image (an alarmed Ken doll, basically) is a perfect contrast for Live and Let Die, which plops Bond into Harlem and the Caribbean; he gets called “honky” a lot. Bond gets to perform some neat tricks— turning aftershave and a cigar into a blowtorch, having interracial sex—but much of the appeal can be found in a line from one of his Harlem tails: “You can’t miss him—it’s like following a cue ball.” The ethnic relations are, in short, almost as enlightened as Flashman and the Redskins. AARON MESH. Laurelhurst. Best paired with: BridgePort coffee porter. Also showing: Barney’s Version (Laurelhurst), The King’s Speech (Academy, Kennedy School, Laurelhurst, Mission, St. Johns, Valley).
Win Win
81 In Tom McCarthy’s redoubtable indie film, Paul Giamatti plays Mike, a New Jersey elder law attorney who takes in a runaway (Alex Shaffer) who turns out to be a champion high-school wrestler. This is perhaps one coincidence too many for the movie to bear, but Shaffer’s presence redeems a lot: His blond shag of hair, long face and collected indifference recall Sean Penn’s Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. That may seem a lowbrow connection, but I suspect McCarthy’s aware of it: Ridgemont was a very populist comedy that secretly cared about disappointment and failure, and Win Win is a drama about disappointment and failure that secretly wants to be a very populist comedy. R. AARON MESH. Clackamas, Bridgeport, Evergreen, Fox Tower, Lloyd Center.
NEW
Winter in Wartime
52 While most teens studiously
eye second base in coming-ofage films, Winter in Wartime’s protagonist finds his allegiance torn between family members and aiding the Resistance in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands of 1945. Said Nazis are what we’ve come to expect in cinema: high-cheekboned caricatures of jackals, vultures and various other scavengers. Unfortunately, much of the film is just as routine and clichéd. Koolhoven is illustrating the process of youth awakening to discover a world of muddled grays where it had previously perceived only a stark black and white. We know when we embark on this journey that it will inevitably end in a loss of innocence. His metaphor for traversing dangerous and uncertain ground is literal, resulting in broken wagon wheels and horse legs. The repetition of these blatant touches, meant to
inject tension and action into what could otherwise be a Dutch Lifetime TV movie (as Koolhoven’s filmography reflects), inspire laughter where none is intended. Winter can only be partially redeemed by its cinematography, performances by Dan van Husen and Yorick van Wageningen, and one unexpected plot twist. Otherwise, it’s as workmanlike as a long bike ride in the snow—of which we witness many. R. JUDGE BEAN. Fox Tower.
Your Highness
28 “Kenny Powers goes medieval.” That’s probably how Your Highness star and co-writer Danny McBride pitched this stoner fairytale, which essentially transplants his foul-mouthed dickhead ballplayer from HBO’s Eastbound & Down into Middle Earth. Alongside James Franco and the tightly corseted bosoms of Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel, it sounds like a can’t-lose proposition. But even with David Gordon Green—who last directed McBride and Franco together in the hilarious Pineapple Express—behind the camera, Highness whiffs on what should’ve been an easy hit. What gives? Not a lot of effort, that’s for sure. No one involved seems willing to expend much energy toward actually making the film worthwhile. Three-fourths of the jokes are rooted in what I can only assume is an old improv comedy axiom: “If you can’t think of anything funny to say, just say ‘fuck.’” And the other 25 percent involve a severed Minotaur cock. R. MATTHEW SINGER. Clackamas, Eastport, Cinetopia, Cornelius, Oak Grove, Pioneer Place, Cinema 99, Bridgeport, Division, Evergreen, Lloyd Center, Lloyd Mall, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville.