8.03.2006 | Thurs

Erin McKeown

9p, $10 in advance/$12 day of, 18+

From elegant pop to sweet electronics to witty swing, Erin McKeown has packed a ton of music into her young career.  Her clear mezzo-soprano sounds perpetually optimistic, and so do the syncopated electric guitar parts she picks and plucks through the sparsely arranged but fully realized songs. Winterpills’ intimate male / female vocals, haunting electric guitar, and bold, inventive drumming make for a rare alignment of musicianship. From straight-ahead pop to hushed show-stopping beauty, Winterpills brings you a tender, filigreed sound, delicately fragmented with both warmth and chill. José Ayerve, a dear friend of SPACE who deserves endless credit for all his work with the local music scene, joins us once again.  His stunning vocals and piercing guitar intertwine to create a striking beauty that should not be missed.

8.04.2006 | Fri

First Friday Art Walk

5-8p, free, all ages

Featuring a new group show titled "Ostrich Diaries and Other Stories," the artists in this exhibit translate the accounts of their lives into marks, drips, stitches, and frames. Joanna House’s bejeweled paintings depict transformed bodies. Derek Smith Luke’s video installation shares a tender, honest portrayal of domestic relationships. Lucinda Bliss's anthropomorphic ostriches come alive through their scratches, droplets, and hues. The fabric and armature of Cynthia Atwood’s sculpture speaks desire. Lisa Pixley’s drawing installations articulate beautiful decay in charcoal. Sanjiban Selew’s films relate magical and domestic narratives. Sage Lewis' lines and lace project order in shades of white. These artists peer bravely into the subterranean and respond with work from the gut.

8.05.2006 | Sat

Artist Talks

1:30p, free, all ages

From 1:30 until 3:00, Joanna House, Sage Lewis, and Lisa Pixley will present their work, newly installed at SPACE for our newest gallery exhibit, The Ostrich Diaries and Other Stories.

8.05.2006 | Sat

Purse with Amoroso and Paul Bosse the Beat Mechanic and Cosmic Conflict

9p, $5, 18+

Engaging SPACE Gallery in its entirety, Bob Symth returns with one of his final productions before heading off to sunny California. Music happens in the round—video will fill the walls and surprises will certainly keep you around for the night.  Portland’s own power duo Purse play their loud and eerie rock with dynamic female vocals, textured baritone guitar and some of the best booming drums around. Boston-based Amoroso plays an eclectic blend of psychedelic, soul and experimental songs.  Paul Bosse the Beat Mechanic (Angry Rodent Records) ventures from the talons of Northern Maine to bang maniacally on drums, tuned fire extinguishers, & looped percussion.  He will leave you wondering how one person could create such a cacophonous yet fully coordinated symphony of sound. Cosmic Conflict brings his bass-driven loops that flucuate between wall of sound and sparse melodies.   

8.11.2006 | Fri

Dead End Armory with Orson & Luckless and Phil Smith

9p, $5, 18+

Dead End Armory is new to the Portland music scene and has quickly established titself as a serious creative force encompassing what every music listener wants – driving rhythms, moving melodies, enchanting lyrics, with subtle rhythm shifts and tempo progressions to keep things interesting. The band unites a pop-like coherence with powerful lyricism and backing vocals. Opening the night is Orson & Luckless, a 4 piece rock quartet from Belfast, Maine.  Orson & Luckless weave foot stomping cajun rythyms with poetic everyday experiences inside the framework of catchy pop tunes. And the magic of Phil Smith?  Yup, that’s right!  Phil specializes in sleight of hand tricks providing brilliant, humorous, and refreshingly mystifying magic.

8.13.2006 | Sun

The USA Is A Monster, Visitations, The Twelve Canons

9p, $6, 18+

The USA Is A Monster is a brilliantly fried two-piece guitar and drums band of sun spotters hailing from Brooklyn, NY, taking cues from chariot drivers such as Rush, Magma and Lightning Bolt, but blasting into their own regions of otherwordly rockulation. Visitations is a secretive, improvisational unit drawing back the curtains to reveal a stranger Maine. The Twelve Canons is a convocation of demons, witches, and other angry spirits from Iowa City singing and dancing around a fire with guitars, keyboards and a viola.  One Portlander described them as "Harry Potter after drinking a bad potion." 9p, $6, 18+

8.17.2006 | Thurs

Documentary Film:
"Not a Photograph: The Mission of Burma Story"

7:30p, $6

Film Website: http://www.notaphotograph.com/

MAINE PREMIERE

What happens when the most influential band you never heard reunites after 19 years? Boston's Mission of Burma hit the post-punk scene during their brief 4-year career like a hammer. Becoming what the New Yorker called "the most criminally undersung band of the 1980's," the band parted ways after only two studio releases and a live album, leaving a generation of bands to soak in their influence. Now, after nearly twenty years and inexplicable circumstances, Mission of Burma's reunion — beginning as a handful of performances in 2002, and since mushrooming into an international tour and their first studio album since 1982 — has left many asking: was the band truly ahead of its time, and are they still ahead of their time today?  This question and many others to be explored in the music documentary “This is Not  Photograph.”  Followed by Q&A with the filmmaker. 

8.18.2006 | Fri

Ruler of the Raging Main with Black Helicopter and Peepshow

9p, $5, 18+

Portland's Ruler of the Raging Main is the product of all things rock and roll.  They've branded their own style on a blend of 60's and 70's rock and 80's punk influences.  Just over a year after their inception, RotRM is ready to drop their self-titled full length album,  and tonight's the night.  Come join the CD release party with special guests from Boston, Black Helicopter, as well as legendary Portland rockers Peepshow.  

8.21.2006 | Mon

The Dave Rawlings Machine

8:30pm, $15, 18+

YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS SHOW!

David Rawlings is a professional guitarist best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch. Rawlings incorporates old-time music, string-band music, bluegrass, and early country music, but also diverges from historical models by playing songs that are meticulously arranged and that include influences from rhythm and blues, rockabilly, rock and roll, gospel, folk, jazz, punk, and grunge.

[Editor's note: This was one of the most fantastic shows EVER! Gillian and Ketch from Old Crow joined Dave for most of the TWO sets, for an incredible night of traditional tunes, covers, and the songs they're known for. Next time, when we tell you not to miss it, believe us!]

8.26.2006 | Sat

Pete Kilpatrick CD Release with Alternate Routes

9pm, $8 adv/ $10 dos, 18+

With the new album "Louder Than the Storm" due in stores August 22nd, Pete Kilpatrick reaches even further into the realm of chance, returning with a subtle and contagious string of songs about heartache, uncertainty, and the open air of Maine. In the past five years Pete Kilpatrick has sold over 5,000 albums and recently won the 2006 Portland Phoenix BEST LOCAL ACT and BEST POP/ROCK ACT awards. The Alternate Routes are a dynamic young rock band with a strong emphasis on songwriting and storytelling, playing compact, melodic songs with intensely personal lyrics colored by a dark sarcasm.

8.31.2006 |Thurs

Kayo Dot w/ Ocean and Metempsykrie

9p, $6, 18+

The music of Kayo Dot bridges several genres, from heavy metal to classical music. Their songs powerfully integrate elements of modern classical composition with the layers of guitars and vocals more common to rock and metal, creating an exciting, vastly multi-instrumental convergence of violence and serenity. Ocean bridges the gap between the doom rock greats like Earth and sunnO))), The Melvins and the illuminated post-rockers (Pelican, early Mogwai, Mono) ending up somewhere entirely unique. Although still taking clear pointers from Sabbath, Ocean is a perfect representation of what is great about instrumental rock: their epic compositions never once become boring or a chore, unfolding instead with the gradual, majestic ebb and flow of the band’s namesake.