Forget Spring cleaning. April showers bring more than May flowers. Are you a treasure hunter, collector of collectibles, lover of all things second hand? Do you need your cards read or your arm temporarily tattooed or a t-shirt airbrushed with your sweetheart’s name? You just might find that thing you never knew you wanted to find at SPACE Gallery’s first ever Flea Market! We’ll have things to see, stuff to buy, and so much more. Come to SPACE for deals and steals – to bargain, browse, barter. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
5.3.2008 | Sat | The Cave Singers with Brenda and Dominic and the Lucid
Seattle’s The Cave Singers are Matador Records new sweethearts with an astonishingly polished debut record called “Invitation Songs”, lovingly recorded by Black Mountain producer Colin Stewart. Their sound could be out of the Anthology of American Folk Music if it wasn’t crossed with a punk sensibility, most likely because the band has members of Pretty Girls Make Graves and the Murder City Devils. Brenda is the new project of Cult Maze guitarist Joshua Loring, joined on drums by DJ Moore.
Started in 2003 by Klein Dytham Architects, Pecha Kucha (pronounced peh-chak-cha) Night is an opportunity for designers of all stripes to present their work. We welcome a broad mix of participants to present their designs, thoughts and ideas in a format of 20 slides x 20 seconds each. If you’re an architect, graphic designer, illustrator, painter, landscape designer, photographer or some other creative type, then come and tell the world about your ideas in 6 minutes and 40 seconds! Pecha Kucha is a fast-paced, friendly social gathering where you can can see and/or present work while enjoying a beer and meeting other designers and artists. Doors open at 7:00pm, event begins at 8:20pm, $5, all ages
http://www.pechakuchaportland.org/
5.9.2008 | Fri | Dead End Armory CD Release w/ Honey Clouds, South China
At last! Local alt-country troubadours Dead End Armory have completed "Hope You're Good" and it's a masterpiece! Frontman Wesley Hartley's songwriting matures beyond the simple comparisons with Wilco and the Pixies, aided by dense sonic textures provided by Peapod Recordings mastermind, Ron Harrity. Honeyclouds (members of Harpswell Sound) and South China (2/3's of Brown Bird) open. http://deadendarmory.com/ http://www.myspace.com/honeyclouds http://www.myspace.com/southchinamusic
5.10.2008 | Sat | Read/Rock with Eugene Robinson, w/ Conifer and An Evening With
You may have heard Eugene Robinson singing for his San Francisco rock-group-cum-fight-club, Oxbow, but did you know he's a contributing writer for GQ, The Wire, and VICE Magazine? He'll be reading from his new book, "Fight!" a scene-by-scene tour of the bloody but beautiful underworld that is the art of fighting. When he's not talking your ear off about boxing, kenpo karate or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he'll be blowing your eardrums out with local sonic heavyweights, Conifer. An Evening With opens the lineup.
Weaving between vivid backdrops of Osaka, Paris, Seoul and Las Vegas, unforgettable images frame the intimate stories of breakdancers who struggle against being misunderstood by larger society and their own families. An American dancer in Vegas looks for his big break; a Korean son seeks his father's approval; a twelve-year-old boy in France confronts his family's racism – all the b-boys' lives collide in Germany where their skills are put to the ultimate test: the "Battle of the Year" finals, with crews from 18 nations vying for the title of World Champion. http://www.planetbboy.com
5.14.2008 | Wed | Beat Circus with Over a Cardboard Sea and The Gargoylez
Boston's Beat Circus got snowed out from a show here in February and we're glad they get a second shot to support their new record called "Dreamland", frontman Brian Carpenter's bizarre old-time gypsy and carnival exploration of personal songs about family and fatherhood in the tradition of Southern Gospel songwriters and Southern Gothic literature. Carpenter leads a nine-piece band of tuba, viola, guitars, banjo, violin and bass featuring members of Kayo Dot, Xiu Xiu, Karate and Cul De Sac. Over A Cardboard Sea and The Gargoylez are new bands to Portland full of familiar faces, banjos, ukeleles, accordians and theatrics.
5.16.2008 | Fri | Reverb: Presented by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
5pm to 8:30pm, with a live show at 5:30, free, all ages
Have you ever wanted to know more about someone you cross paths with every day? At Salt we search for the extraordinary story in each of us. Thirty students spent the past fifteen weeks exploring the people and places of Maine and documenting their stories. Join us for an evening of unique storytelling in black + white photography, radio documentaries, + nonfiction writing. Enjoy the work on your own at listening + reading stations or come for the live show.
5.17.2008 | Sat | Hometown Heroes and the Portland Phoenix Best Music Poll Festival: The Cambiata with Cougars Kill Cobras and The Rattlesnakes
We're combining our monthly, all-local Hometown Heroes series with the Phoenix BMP Festival. Come check out why these bands are nominees. Local favorites The Cambiata always win big with their intelligent, evolved brand of modern rock. Cougars Kill Cobras haven't been around long enough to be in the music poll but their debut album and smattering of intense live shows have already won everyone's hearts and The Rattlesnakes are just about the coolest indie punk band we could hope to have in Portland.
Selections from The Merchant of Venice and other classic Shakespeare plays, presented as part of Acorn’s Naked Shakespeare series.
5.20.2008 | Tues | Creative Conversations
7:00pm, free
Creative Conversations is a way to connect creative individuals: to each other, to organizations, to information, to opportunities. Sponsored by the Portland Arts & Cultural Alliance this meeting, the first of a two part series focusing on writing and reporting on the arts, will provide an opportunity to meet the writers who cover the arts in our community and gain insight into what drives their choices of coverage. Ken Greenleaf (The Portland Phoenix), Avery Yale Kamila (The Maine Switch) and Bob Keyes (The Portland Press Herald) will join us for our discussion moderated by MECA’s Jessica Tomlinson.
5.22.2008 | Thurs | The First Annual Portland Indie Biz Awards
6:30-10pm, $8 for Buy Local Members and Employees of Buy Local Members,
$10 Advance Tickets, General Public,
$15 Day of Ticket Sales, General Public Buy tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com
The First Annual Portland Indie Biz Awards will recognize the leaders among Portland’s vibrant independent business community and showcase the impact that independently owned businesses have on greater Portland and the state of Maine. The event will include live music, a silent auction, and awesome food and drink from local businesses.
5.24.2008 | Sat | Joe Lally with The Glorytellers and Huak
You’ve most likely enjoyed the sound of Joe Lally’s bass guitar from his days in Fugazi. Since then he’s been releasing solo records on Dischord, but they’re never really solo, instead featuring collaborations with D.C. music scene friends using his bass lines as an anchor. He’s got friends with him for the tour, too. The Glorytellers are a indie supergroup featuring members of Karate, Secret Stars, Cul de Sac, Ida, Him and Mice Parade. How’s that for credentials?
5.28.2008 | Wed | Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family
Like many American outsider-adventurers, Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz set out to realize a utopian dream. Abandoning a successful medical practice, he sought self-fulfillment by taking up the nomadic life of a surfer. But unlike other American searchers like Thoreau or Kerouac, Paskowitz took his wife and nine children along for the ride, all eleven of them living in a 24 foot camper. Together, they lived a life that would be unfathomable to most, but enviable to anyone who ever relinquished their dreams to a straight job. The Paskowitz Family proved that America may be running out of frontiers, but it hasn’t run out of frontiersman. http://www.surfwisefilm.com
5.29.2008 | Thurs | Time-Lag Presents: Kemialliset Ystävät with The Skaters and Cursillistas
Local psych purveyor Time-Lag Records presents a rare opportunity to see a group from waaay across the pond. Finland's Kemialliset Ystävät work in short, spooling instrumentals, building layers and weaving ghosts of noise songs into huge tunnels of etherea with moldy acoustic instruments and almost broken electronics. The Skaters are a cosmic drone unit based in San Francisco and local favorite Cursillistas returns to wave their freak flag. http://www.kemiallisetystavat.com
