Mike Bookey

mike@tsweekly.com
Posted inMusic

Grades, Stomps and Rhodes

That ain’t the real axl.We’re still icing our eardrums after a busy weekend of live music and figured we would have recovered by now. But
Mike Bookey

That ain’t the real axl.

We’re still icing our eardrums after a busy weekend of live music and figured we would have recovered by now. But hey, it’s a good sort of hurt, you know? The sort of pain that you can put up with if it means you get to see the sort of bomb-diggity shows we did since last week’s riotously awesome and overtly self-aggrandizing edition of this column.
Thursday night we made a stop at Boondocks for a completely costumed set by Appetite for Deception, a, you guessed it, Guns N’ Roses tribute band that we graded as such. Dress: B+…Excellent pant tightness, great bandana usage, only knock was the gratuitous Axl costume change – into polka-dotted tights nonetheless. Vocals: A…that dude really sounded like Axl. Arrogance: C-…when we go to see a GNR tribute, we, as an audience, expect to be treated with little, if any, respect. These Appetite guys were like friendly crossing guards.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 6/25-7/1

Mike Bookey

 
Bend Pride '09
through saturday 27
The fifth annual celebration of cultural tolerance is well underway with an Open Mic for Rights on Wednesday 6/24 (7pm) at the Silver Moon Brewing Co. On Thursday 6/25, the whole family is invited to an evening of outdoor, old-fashioned "Gaymes" at Juniper Park (5-8pm). The all-ages Queer Prom is Friday night (8pm), and you're welcome to don your sweetest prom attire (which is required) and get down to DJs Babylove and Lucius to support the Human Dignity Coalition's Queer and Allied Youth Program. The big event is Saturday for the Pride Festival on Troy Field (1pm) where you can meet up at Troy Field and decorate your bike before riding through downtown. If you need more details, visit humandignitycoalition.org.
Rainn Wilson: Art and Faith
thursday 25
Check out our interview with Mr. Wilson (better known as Dwight from The Office) in the Culture section and then head to the Old Stone this Thursday night and see Wilson's discussion regarding faith and creativity. 7:30pm. Spiritual Awareness Community at Old Stone Church, 157 NW Franklin Ave.

Posted inNews

On the (Fun) Bus: How a Panda Made Me Realize I Might Like Gambling

It’s 10:20 – precisely – on a Wednesday morning and I’m running at what in the post-athletic phase of my life passes for a sprint
Mike Bookey

It’s 10:20 – precisely – on a Wednesday morning and I’m running at what in the post-athletic phase of my life passes for a sprint across the Target parking lot, chasing a 40-foot charter bus with the word “Classy” written in cursive on its side. For the first time in my life I am (without irony) about to miss a bus. And I should mention that this isn’t just a bus, but a “Casino Fun Bus.”
Then, the air brakes hiss on the behemoth and it comes to a halt, a pair of spectacled eyes peering back at me through a massive side mirror. The door opens and I sheepishly board, hurriedly saying something mostly apologetic but slightly embarrassed and take a seat with eight pairs of eyes taking a quizzical look at the out-of-breath and slightly sweaty man 40 years their junior sitting in the third row. Again, this is the Fun Bus, a free shuttle that twice a week busses Central Oregon residents up to Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Casino on the Warm Springs reservation for about four solid hours of fun, or gambling, or both.

Posted inOutside

Celebratory Destruction?

Mike Bookey

How do you celebrate when your city wins a major professional title? By destroying a small part of it, of course!
And that's exactly what Lakers fans did in downtown Los Angeles Sunday night after Kobe and company dismissed the Magic in the fifth game of the NBA Finals. Store fronts were smashed, leading to some looting - what says "Congratulations Lakers" more than an armful of stolen Nikes? There was also, of course, the obligatory middle-of-the-street bonfire. Come on now, an impromptu bonfire? That's so '94 Vancouver Canucks. You'd think Laker fans could at least employ some originality in their destructive assholery.
Also, for a franchise with 15 NBA titles under its belt, you'd think these fans would be accustomed to winning and wouldn't be so surprised by Sunday's championship that they'd suddenly find it necessary to toss a garbage can through a cop's windshield. But then again, these are Lakers fans, the majority of which don't even watch a game until the playoffs, at which point they dig out that Derek Fisher jersey, flip on TNT and notice that at some point during the season that they ignored in favor of standing in line at nightclubs that the team acquired Adam Morrison. If you don't know how to be a fan, chances are you won't know how to react should the bandwagon you've boarded roll all the way to a championship.

Posted inCulture

A Cycle-Centric Society: Veer digs deep into Portland’s love of all things bike

Bike Chariot wars: Coming soon to Drake Park…please.Bicycling. It seems simple enough - two wheels, gears, cables, and of course someone to ride it. But
Mike Bookey

Bike Chariot wars: Coming soon to Drake Park…please.Bicycling. It seems simple enough - two wheels, gears, cables, and of course someone to ride it. But anyone even remotely connected to cycling, especially in this part of the country, knows that it's not that straightforward. In fact, past Webcyclery movie nights at McMenamins have always looked into a specific aspect of the bicycle world. But this time around, the chosen film is one called Veer, and it attempts to tackle cycling culture in one fell swoop by taking a wide-angle look at Portland's culture more or less as a whole.
The film, directed by Greg Fredette, introduces us to a range of characters including the Zoobombers, an increasingly well-known group of cyclists that bombs down Portland hillsides on children's bikes as well as a cycling advocate battling to pass bills on the floor of the state legislature. There's also a group of bike dancers, cycling non-profits and stories of cyclists who've been killed in traffic. All in all, it's a look at Portland's urban cycling culture from a variety of angles. But there's very little by way of facts or statistics to discuss or explain the cycling boom, it's not that kind of documentary. Rather, the film is strictly observational in its approach.

Posted inMusic

Rain, Rock and Rodeo

reed thomas lawrence stayin’ dry.It was a bit of a wild week for Sound Check, given that we dodged thunderstorms, screaming cougars and bucking broncos
Mike Bookey

It was a bit of a wild week for Sound Check, given that we dodged thunderstorms, screaming cougars and bucking broncos and lived to write about it.
We started the production cycle by charging through flooded streets to see Brandi Carlile and Gregory Alan Isakov play to a sold out Tower Theatre. We arrived in time to see the bulk of Isakov’s set and it reinforced our belief that everyone should check out his Iron and Wine style of folk.
Carlile then took the stage, accompanied by her acoustic band and launched into a set that included plenty of new material and radio hits, as well as a pair of Beatles covers. Carlile didn’t refrain from unleashing her gritty-yet-powerful pipes on the historic Tower as she did on her hit “The Story” near the end of the 90-plus-minute set. The Seattle-area native spent plenty of time storytelling from the stage as the Tower’s resident hoard of cougars engaged in a game of “Which Chardonnay Drenched Woman Can Yell the Wittiest Comment and Embarrass Everyone.” But still, Sound Check gives Carlile two thumbs up and bestows on her endless street cred.

Posted inCulture

Our Picks for the Week of 6/19-6/25

Mike Bookey

Hillstomp, Quick and Easy Boys

friday 19
If you think there is another Northwest band as loved in Bend as Hillstomp, you deserve a slap in the face, because you're wrong, my friend. The junkyard blues-rock outfit is back in town and ready to kick off Bite of Bend with what's sure to be a raucous show at the Old Stone. Fellow Portlanders Quick and Easy Boys open the show. 8pm door, 9pm show. $10. Old Stone Church, 157 NW Franklin Ave.
Voodoo Fix
friday 19
This Los Angeles-based band blends blues, rock and funk for a quintessentially rootsy blend. The quartet formed at Whittier College as the school's blues band and has since cultivated their sound in LA clubs and bars, but are now on the road for a show at Seven on Friday night and out at Scoots in Sisters come Saturday. 8pm, Seven Nightclub 1033NW Wall St.

Posted inMusic

So Misunderstood: Dusty Rhodes on how to not name your act but make an incredible record

country bands don’t dress like that.Two things to know about Dusty Rhodes and the River Band: 1) There is no one named Dusty Rhodes in
Mike Bookey

country bands don’t dress like that.Two things to know about Dusty Rhodes and the River Band: 1) There is no one named Dusty Rhodes in the band and 2) they are not a country, bluegrass or any other sort of act to which the phrase "River Band" might imply.

Rather, the Fullerton, California-based band is the amalgamation of six music obsessed 20-somethings that have cultivated an indie-rock-meets-Levon Helm-while-everyone-sings-along sound. Dusty Rhodes just released its second record, Palace and Stage, which is gaining positive reviews and helped the band earn headlining shows and festival appearances, but there are plenty of people who still think the band is some sort of country band.
"When we started this band, we thought up this really silly band name and didn't really think it would ever come back to bite us in the butt, but it sure has, man," says guitarist Kyle Divine as he and the band headed toward Chicago last weekend as part of a national tour that brings them to town to headline the Bite of Bend festival this weekend. The name thing has been a problem; more than once unwitting promoters have booked country acts to open for Dusty Rhodes.

Posted inCulture

Fire Walk With Me: How I took a stroll on a field of hot embers and lived to tell about it

Mike Bookey

It's early Saturday morning, and I awake with a start. Throwing back
the covers, I pull off my socks and examine my feet. My socks, which
were soaking wet when I went to sleep, are bone dry and smell like a
campfire. My feet appear normal, except for a small red smudge on the
top of one toe; not quite a blister, this is what is apparently known
as a fire kiss. A hint of gray ashiness is the only other evidence of
what happened the previous night.

I whisper to myself with a grin, "I walked on fire."

For weeks, I had noticed fliers hanging up around the Mandala Yoga
Center announcing a firewalking clinic. The morning of the clinic,
instead of glancing, I paused. In a split second I decided,
matter-of-factly, this is exactly how I should spend my Friday night.

Posted inMusic

On Stage: Guns N’ Poses

Mike Bookey

You're in the jungle, baby. I have a score to settle with Guns N' Roses, which
really has nothing to do with Appetite for Deception, an Oregon band
playing Boondocks on June 18 that looks, sounds and probably drinks
bourbon like the actual band.
The real Guns N' Roses, or at least
the band that Axl Rose likes to call Guns N' Roses, ruined a long list
of bets and/or claims I have made over the years with a number of
friends, acquaintances and ne'er-do-wells. You see, I've been using the
phrase "When Guns N' Roses finally release Chinese Democracy" in place
of the common adage "when pigs fly" for about nine years now. It seemed
like a safe bet as Axl had holed himself up in some clandestine studio
emerging only to make some zany threat to whoever may have leaked an
alleged Democracy song. Then, the damn thing finally came out, forcing
Dr. Pepper to give away a free soft drink to everyone in America
(except for Slash) and me to admit that, in no particular order: I will
someday buy a Creed album, I'll support the removal of the designated
hitter and that actual Chinese democracy will occur.
That effing album turned my world upside down.

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