Thursday, September 8, 2011

The start of a big weekend of music in Portland

Like the finale of a fireworks display, this almost-the-end-of-summer weekend showers Portland music-goers with brilliant sparks and sunbursts... the options are numerous and it's going to be tough to pick ... but don't sit home - there's just too many really fine choices ...

Portland's biggest music festival of the year kicked off last night  - MusicFestNW runs through Sunday and provides some of the best of the weekend - check out the schedule, decide whether you want a wristband or individual event tickets, and get going. The lineup includes local and touring artists from multiple genres. I'm not going to single out any particular show or artist, but Oregon Music News has a good preview and recommendations ....

Another festival going on this weekend is the annual Muddy Boot Festival in SE Portland .... the focus is on sustainability, but there's always a solid lineup of bands playing on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.  Admission is $5 per day in advance or $7 at door.  This year's include Tapwater, Colleen Raney, Casey Neill, Brethren Thread, the Freak Mt Ramblers, and more ... check it out!

If you're in the mood to head out of town this weekend, the always wonderful and nationally-respected Sisters Folk Festival starts Friday.

This weekend there's also LiveWire Radio at the Alberta Rose, Widmer Octoberfest, John Prine and Ani Defranco at Edgefield, Mary Flower's CD release at the Secret Society ...

But first, what's notable tonight?  Here's my trifecta pick:

The Secret Society Ballroom celebrates it's Three and a Third Anniversary tonight with Pete Krebs & the Portland Playboys, and the Stolen Sweets .... music from 6 pm until midnight ... no cover.

Vocalist Kelly Shannon celebrates the release of her new CD, Temptation, at Touche. Story and review at OMN .... 8 pm, $5

Two outstanding singer/songwriters make a great double-bill at the Alberta Rose - Mary Gauthier and Slaid Cleaves. Gauthier will also be at Sisters this weekend and is touring to support her latest critically-acclaimed CD, The Foundling. Cleaves is one of my favorite Austin-based tunesmiths.  With both, it's songwriting of the highest caliber. Highly recommend this one!  ... 8 pm, $18

I'll follow up about the rest of the weekend in my next post ....



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