Bent
Posted inNews

Concert Review: Amos Lee at The Crystal Ballroom

Amos Lee rips it up at Portland’s Crystal Ballroom.
The Source Staff

This past Friday night, Portland’s Crystal Ballroom welcomed the Pacific Northwest return of Philadelphia’s soulful singer/songwriter Amos Lee… and it was a great return!
Known for bringing solo acoustic guitar acts with him as his opening act, Amos stayed true to form and invited South African folk singer, Visu Mahlasela to start the night off. With music and lyrics very intent on sharing a message, Mahlasela talked to the crowd about the meaning behind most of his songs before singing them.
 
Slightly complex guitar rhythms were blended with English and African lyrics that communicated the richness of his emotions and love for his continent. He sang with passion and strength, often times looking physically present,  but as if his heart were somewhere else. He ended with a super lively performance of the title track to his current album Say Africa. A song that plainly spells out the fact that no matter where he may be traveling to, everything about his actions and his heartbeat “Say, Africa”.

Posted inNews

2011 Oscar Nominations Announced

The Source Staff

After months of speculation, the 2011 Oscar nominations were announced this morning. Just like last year Morgan P. Salvo and I will be making our Oscar picks in the issue that comes out the week of the Oscars, which air on ABC Sunday, February 27 at 8pm.
There don’t appear to be too many surprises, with the exception of Christopher Nolan being snubbed for a Best Director nomination for Inception.
I’ll be busy the next couple weeks trying to see as many Oscar nominees as possible. When I go to LA this weekend I’m going to try to see Blue Valentine, as it still haven’t shown up in Bend. Morgan P and I have been crossing our fingers for 127 Hours to come to town, we’re hoping it’s soon!

Posted inNews

Oregon Drug Bust of the Week: Look at all that Meth

Law enforcement breaks up a meth ring in Madras.
The Source Staff

We haven’t heard much about meth arrests in Central Oregon over the last few years, but that changed this week with the announcement of a major bust up in Madras.
A total of six Madras residents were arrested as the result of three different search warrants, according to the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team. Following a traffic stop that yielded 11 ounces of methamphetamine, officers then executed the search warrants, leading to the discovering of another pound of meth, in addition to guns, scales, paraphernalia and, of course, cash.

Posted inNews

Hal Sparks to Perform at The Tower Theatre on Saturday, April 30

Stand-up comedian Hal Sparks to appear in Bend, Oregon in April.
The Source Staff

It seems lately Bend has started to make a name for itself as a comedy hot spot in Oregon. With the success of last fall’s Last Comic Standing contest, comedy has been on Bendites’ minds and with recent additions to the comedy scene like the Saturday Nite Jokers & Jams at the Bend Performing Arts Center it’s no coincidence we’re attracting bigger name comedians to our little mountain town.

Posted inNews

Mickey Avalon On Friday Night: Call Him Mr. Right Out the Door

A brief recap on Mickey Avalon’s Bend debut on Friday night.
The Source Staff

When it comes to picking up ladies, many men lament the fact that “nice guys always finish last.” They defend their logic by explaining that the meaner a guy is to a girl, the more she’ll want him. These guys would hate Mickey Avalon. 
When it comes to picking up the ladies, Avalon knows a thing or two about this paradox. In fact, he’s mastered it. He’s both the nice guy and the bad guy, especially on stage, and he plays the bad guy really, really well.
So it was no surprise that a large portion of the crowd was made up of hyper sexual girls trying to get a piece of Mickey while envious guys took mental notes in between fist pumps. 

Posted inNews

Sasquatch 2011 Wish List

Wish list for the 2011 Sasquatch lineup announcement on February 7th.
The Source Staff

Editor’s note: This is Ethan Maffey’s first post for Bent. He’ll be writing once a week or so about music from the Northwest and beyond, but you can also catch him over at his own website, eightythreemusic.com.
The lineup announcement for the 10th anniversary edition of the Pacific Northwest’s premier outdoor music festival is just around the corner… and I’ve got some pointless wishes. Pointless, because invitations to this year’s Sasquatch Festival are signed-sealed-delivered and mostly accepted by now. Still, a guy can dream. While some of my wish list groups might not make the cut this year, I’m sure I’ll still have a great time (though should an overnight river of irrigation run-off appear under my tent again, having these bands on the bill will make me care about it a lot less).The wish list kicks off with two bands who are *tops* on my list to see in 2011. First up, Los Angeles based, righteous soul group Fitz and The Tantrums, have certainly been getting noticed since their debut album, Pickin’ Up The Pieces released last summer. (Perhaps you caught them on Jimmy Kimmel a few days ago). Riding the popularity wave of artists like Mayer Hawthorne, Aloe Blacc, and John Legend, Fitz and The Tantrums are currently touring and selling out shows. What I find interesting is that their current calendar of concert dates ends mid-February. Could this mean they will take a short break before announcing a summer tour that kicks off with a Sasquatch performance? Let’s hope so!
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb6cBKE3WzQ 480×385]
For now… check out the video for their hit dance groove MoneyGrabber, and here is a link to stream their entire album. Should you find MoneyGrabber as irresistible as I do, there’s also the ability to download it for free!

Posted inNews

Bend’s Police Chief, Sandi Baxter, to Retire

After more than 30 years with the department, Bend Police Chief Sandi Baxter announces retirement.
The Source Staff

After more than two years as the head of the Bend Police Department and 34 years with the department, Police Chief Sandi Baxter announced today that she will be retiring this summer.
Baxter has been with the department since 1977 and retired briefly in 2007 before coming back to the force when she was appointed chief in April of 2008.

Posted inNews

Portlandia, a Comedy all About Portland, Premiers Friday

Portlandia, starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, premiers on IFC Friday night.
The Source Staff

You’ve probably heard about this television show for a while now, but Portlandia, a vignette comedy show about life in Portland, is finally premiering on Friday night on IFC.
The show is the brain child of Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, the Portland resident who was the guitarist for the punk band, Sleater Kinney.

Posted inNews

Enough Already: Tuning out and turning off in the electronic age

Thoughts on Facebook, e-mail, cell phones and our over-connected world.
Bob Woodward

A modern day social outcast has to be anyone who doesn’t text, doesn’t own a smart phone, doesn’t Tweet and more than likely finds, like Betty White, Facebook a colossal waste of time.
So excuse me while I post that last paragraph on the “walls” of my 5,000 Facebook friends. That and I’ll ask them to “like” this blog, which I’m sure at least 3,500 of them will.
What I won’t tell them is how I went totally old school last week and read two magazines. Magazine reading is so tedious.
One magazine was the October 25 issue of The New Yorker, which I hear was once pretty big with the sophisticated crowd. I’m not sophisticated, but I read it anyway.
In an article entitled, “E-Mail Auto-Response” author Martin Marks stated: “ I would like to say that the Internet has become a veritable buzzing, stinging hornet’s nest of pings and pongs and klings and klangs, so please do not e-mail, text message, instant-message, direct-message, Facebook-message (if you’re still on MySpace or Friendster, that’s just plain creepy), Facebook-chat, iChat, tweet, retweet (don’t even mention Twister mentions), StumbleUpon, LinkIn with, zoom into, Goggle Buzz, Plaxify, Jigsaw, Digg, Skype, Spoke, poke, flick or tag me. Don’t boxball, squareball, jingl. Jangl, mingl, mangl, FairShare, Foursquare, twosquare, do-si-do, or swing your laptop round and round. I just want to be left alone.”

Sign up for newsletters

Get the best of The Source - Bend, Oregon directly in your email inbox.

Sending to:

Gift this article