On Stage

Don’t throw Stuff at Tiger Army, Please.It was two bands, one night, one building - all at once. It was the first full utilization (or perhaps near-full utilization) of the Midtown Music Hall that Sound Check could remember. It was Tiger Army psychobillying it up in the Domino Room and Blue Turtle Seduction holding a jam packed, late-night funk-o-rama/sweatathon in the Annex. And it was finally time for Bendites to get back out on the town and see some live music.

Last Friday night saw the tattooed, slick-haired punks of Tiger Army playing the early, all-ages show down in the Domino Room. A raucously devout throng of mostly young fans gleefully tossed their bodies toward the stage as Nicky 13 and the rest of Tiger Army powered through the opening cut. But in a matter of minutes, Nicky was lecturing the crowd as to the dangers of throwing shit at the band - an unfortunate, yet omnipresent occurrence at all-ages punk shows. Apparently some people love their favorite bands so much that they simply must inflict bodily harm to these musicians by throwing pennies, batteries or small children in the general direction of said artist.

It’s back to the coal mine for Dr. Dog…that’s what a hit record will get ya.Dr. Dog

Fate ★★★★✩

Park the Van Records

Sometimes, the newest music sounds old, and you like it even more just for that express reason. Such is the case with Fate, an 11-track collection of rustically poppy cuts from Philadelphia quintet Dr. Dog that sounds like it needs that fuzzy LP hiss between tracks to sound complete.

Dr. Dog are just now gaining mainstream attention, and it was actually their previous record We All Belong that brought them to the forefront and to stages at festivals all over the country. Fate is the band's fifth studio release and is marked by a quintessentially old stlye that is more or less intentional, at least from a technical standpoint. Like few bands in their generation or the generation above them, for that matter, Dr. Dog still records on actual tape. That's right, they are actually rolling tape as opposed to settling for tossing all their tracks onto a hard drive to be tuned and twisted with space-age technology into pop gold.

Look at those delightfully bright eyes. Thursday 7/31
With the big Alice Cooper show at the fair and string of events lined up for the weekend, the Domino Room didn't do too shabby for a Thursday night. Having seen Oberst in Bright Eyes a year prior, Sound Check walked in with an already expected presentation. He's Conor Oberst for Christ's sake, it was obvious what to expect and who you would see there. A mix of out of towners, scene kids and aging hipsters set the tone for a mellow crowd generally interested in what Oberst had up his sleeve with his Mystic Valley Band. Stereotypes aside, Oberst killed it. Bright Eyes seemed like a distant memory to hardcore fans (Sound Check included) and second place to a more maturely polished and truly better musician.

Oberst arrived on stage dressed in a American Apparel fitted orange T-shirt, members only jacket complete with matching orange golfer logo and fitted stretchy Levi's. The band opened with its single "Sausalito" with Oberst Johnny Cash style strummin' the rhythm steady into his torn worn acoustic. The anger and eccentrics of the past were blatantly constrained in his performance style. He let the music take its place now. People shouted out things like "You're My Golden Boy," " Killer boots!" "God Bless the Midwest" and various Bright Eyes titles, and Mr. Oberst played none of these. And why would he? The new material speaks louder than the past and would have set a different tone from the one he's evolved into.

The reverb coating over the amplified tones on the mellower album's tracks "Lenders in the Temple," "Eagle On A Pole" and "Milk Thistle" set a better encapsulating live sound than the album could ever produce. Unfortunately, this one might land in the "you kinda had to be there" bin. So, if you weren't you missed out on a truly awesome performance, the likes of which this town probably won't see again for a while. Sorry, losers.
 -Tauna Leonardo

Poor Man's Whiskey isn't exactly touted as a headliner of the 4 Peaks Music Festival, but the Bay-Area band has been on the ground floor of the festival since its inception. Look for them to play three sets this weekend while serving as an unofficial "host band" of the event.

Vengeance Creek
 
Vengeance Creek
★★★✩✩
Upon first listen to Vengeance Creek's new self-titled album, an instant image of tribal tattoos or truly rockin' '80s hair may come to mind. It's common for a metal band in a smallish town to hop on stage and rattle off four to five songs in the vein of a half-baked Metallica or Godsmack imitation.

Head for the Hills does just that.This time of year there is a sudden migration from Bend over to North Plains, just outside of Portland, for the Northwest String Summit.

The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies don’t need no Zoot Suits.It's been 10 years since the Cherry Poppin' Daddies blew up the charts with their hit "Zoot Suit Riot," and the band's front man, Steve Perry (make your Journey joke here) says he's been in recovery from the mega stardom ever since.

Guest Artist Jack Daniels not Pictured.Whiskey was the drink of choice last Wednesday at the Midtown
Ballroom. Yes, this is still very much a beer town, but the harder
stuff came out to greet a pair of Southern-flavored acts in Drive-By
Truckers and openers Dead Confederate. The brown stuff made an
appearance on stage as well, but we'll get to that in a moment.

Sound
Check wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Midtown on this warm
Wednesday night - mid-week shows are tough to gauge. It can either be a
total sell-out or a night of chirping crickets, we can never quite
figure it out. But a respectable crowd of seemingly die-hard Truckers
fans filled up about half of the Midtown's concrete floor, creating
what we'll call a "mid-sized" crowd.
Athens Georgia's Dead
Confederate opened the show with a slightly psychedelic,
reverb-intensive set that included a good chunk of the band's
increasingly popular EP as well as some lengthy yet soaring
improvisations.

"We're not going to become a bunch of disco drones, OK?" said Summit Saloon and Stage co-owner Rob London last week.
 
A strange comment, it might seem, but after word got around that the less-than-a-year old venue was going to discontinue its now-familiar stream of bands on weekend nights, some weren't quite sure what was next for the venue.