Local band and hometown heroes Larry and His Flask recently had their van and trailer stolen while they were on a national tour in Cayce, SC. Suck. Major suck. The guys are still on the road trying to finish out their tour with Foxy Shazam with borrowed, donated and replaced equipment, but the situation is far from ideal. However, YOU […]
Volcanic Theatre Pub
Posted inMusic
The Art of Growing Up
Creative Phoenix group Emby Alexander has serious-ish charm
If the meticulously crafted sound of art rock maven St. Vincent is the equivalent of a measured stroll through the Louvre in Paris, then the wildly aggressive baroque music of Phoenix band Emby Alexander sounds more like an ill-supervised field trip of feral urchins scattered through the museum’s halls with abandoned wonder. And, in much […]
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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Young band Patrimony shows promise, not age
I want those pants. I want the pair of paisley-splattered blue bellbottoms that Trevor Martell—the singer and lead guitarist for local throwback rock collective Patrimony—wore as he sauntered onto stage at Volcanic Theatre Pub. The three-piece, young in years but not experience, played opening fiddle to one of the its many role model groups, Hopeless […]
Posted inCulture
That’s Some Funny Business
Last Comedian Standing takes a victory lap in Bend
The Last Comedian Standing competition started five years ago in Bend, and has grown into a state-wide affair that, this year, screened more than 100 comics in six Oregon cities. The touring showcase of winners is a localized version of The Comedians of Comedy Tour, with the four top competitors from the 2014 face-off traveling […]
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What’s My Name?
Lisa Doll and her California dreaming
Lisa Doll is a caricature of a punk front-woman. Constantly suited in either a cut-off jean vest or a black leather jacket, adorned with patches and buttons, Doll is also slightly mysterious, and totally punk; she’s the kind of girl who puts on crimson red lipstick and Doc Martins without blinking. “Most people don’t know […]
Posted inCulture
When it’s Good, it’s Good
World champion slam poet Buddy Wakefield delivers
The first time I call Buddy Wakefield, I get his voicemail. “This is Buddy,” says the familiar, melodic baritone I’ve heard deliver devastating poems that twist from hilarious to downright tragic. A week earlier, I had received a to-the-point email in a response to an interview request: “Just call,” it read, in its entirety. And, […]
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Think and Drink
Geeks Who Drink kicks off two local trivia nights
Geek borders on a dirty word in Bend, where the athletic mindset drives folks to care more about their recreation and their after-workout beers than their brains. But that’s not the case across the board, and a new pub-quiz-style trivia game is out to prove that Bend has its share of brainiacs, as well as […]
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Demon Barbers of Punk
Any way you slice it, Portland’s Back Alley Barbers are a bloody good rock band
Somewhere, Stephen Sondheim is kicking himself for not crafting his murderous musical Sweeney Todd as a gothic rock production featuring the Portland death punk band Back Alley Barbers. With a website spattered in blood from straight edged razors, and press shots of the members in an actual barbershop featuring alluring yet deadly grins, the costumed […]
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Band of Brothers
San Diego rockers Western Settings benefit from a relationship with La Escalera Records
When opportunity knocks, sometimes it’s a chance to help someone out. That is literally always the case when label mates of San Diego’s La Escalera Records show up at each other’s doorsteps looking for a place to crash while on tour. “The label’s motto is: without each other, we have nothing,” explained Will Castro, label […]
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Jewelry Box Guitar
Sassparilla takes an unconventional approach to the blues and beyond
Sassparilla never intended to play on a stage. Seven years ago, the band was busking on the streets of Portland, and it is still that intimacy they prefer, ending each show by crawling into the crowd, accordion wincing inches from listeners, harmonica solos unplugged but still wailing, and a cigar box guitar chugging through stumbling […]