Love a good storm? Here it comes. Dig out your rain gear and get out anyway. As we get the new year underway, it just keeps getting more and more interesting. Includes a New Year’s celebration if you didn’t get enough.
A stormy w-end in the works, yes. Sounds like the serious storm arrives overnight into Saturday. Enjoy the calm before the storm at Jimmy Mak’s Friday night.
Sweet music guaranteed tonight at Jimmy Mak’s as Naomi LaViolette teams up again with Matt Brown. Your chance to catch Matt before he heads back to Nashville. Check out the info HERE.
SATURDAY
Lan Su Chinese Garden Begins 2014 with Free Admission for All Visitors. Lan Su Chinese Garden will offer a free admission for each donation of a non-perishable food item, from Saturday, January 4 through Saturday, January 11, 2014 as part of Great Eight Free Days. (General admission is regularly $9.50.) All food donated at this community event will benefit Lan Su neighbor Transition Projects.
During the event, traditional Chinese scroll art and folk paintings will grace pavilion walls, and the Garden Shop overflows into the garden with a dazzling display of Chinese New Year essentials. The Year of the Horse begins on Friday, January 31 and continues for 15 days.
…and speaking of a new year…….here’s an epic way to continue the celebration as you hop from one culture to another. Cheaper than a roundtrip ticket Moscow! Chervona’s Annual Epic Celebration, A New Portland Tradition January 11 – Star Theater
Old Russian New Year is a tradition that harkens back to the time the Orthodox Church still used the Julian calendar, which means the new year starts on January 13 per the Gregorian calendar. In Russia, where they know a bit about partying, the date was embraced as a second round of celebration and Chervona’s annual event keeps that spirit alive. Along with the high-energy Balkan-punk beats, there’s menu of Russian food, caviar, flowing vodka, hilarious contests, prizes, lots of audience participation, the magical materializations of Baba Yaga (the traditional witch of Russian folklore) and Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden daughter of Spring and Frost) and the satirical “Golden Ivan” awards ceremony which recognizes absurd Russian news events from the past year. Also performing this year will be Ukranian chanteuse Darka Dusty and husband Miri Stebivka along with DJ Zhena spinning late-night tunes. January 11 / Doors 8pm / Show 9pm / 21+ / $20 adv, $25 door / Tickets
Thomas M. Lauderdale, founder and bandleader of Pink Martini, remarked, “In the last 5 years, my favorite new band, hands down, is Chervona! Who could ever imagine that Portland, Oregon would breed the most excellent, musically breathtaking and jaw-dropping outlandishly fabulous Russian party band??!! But then again, Portland has always been a place where the unlikely underdog can win big, and far exceed anyone’s reasonable expectations! Whenever a party needs bumping up 25 notches, I call Chervona! I am never disappointed!”
‘INDUSTRIAL ART DECO”
Head for The Doug Fir, where it’s 1939 Ensemble, a group Pitchfork describes as “industrial art deco”.
1939 Ensemble are an instrumental duo from Portland, OR. Metal and wood. Drums and vibes. Beats and melody. Jose Medeles and David Coniglio. Random precision through noise, 1939 Ensemble doesn’t just cross genres, they both embrace and exploit them, inviting each listener in through the familiar, and leaving them with something new to explore.
Drawing influences from Krautrock, jazz & no wave. 1939 Ensemble moves between ominous dissonance noise to sharp bombastic beats with a live show that has shared the stage with the likes of BATTLES and MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD.
1939 Ensemble – “Sabotage” (Official Music Video) from Jeff Rowles on Vimeo.
A winter’s eve smorgasbord of serious PDX talents
Doors: 8:00 pm / Show: 9:00 pm
This event is 21 and over
SUNDAY
A film choice for the w-end? Spike Jonze’s sorta-sci-fi-ee Her with Joaquin Pheonix and Scarlett Johansson.
Feel like hunkering down? A couple of good excuses to do so in front of the Tee-Vee. Not only is there that Downton Abbey thing, but MY favorite returns with a season premier. Girls on HBO.
As always our friends at Oregon Music News have great ideas for getting out.
And on the Portland Radio Project stream, Portland Blues/Soul legend Lloyd Jones, acoustic guitar in hand, will be joining PRP’s Tom D’Antoni during the 8pm hour of “On the One,” Tom’s weekly show. He’ll be singing, playing and telling tall tales of the life. “On the One” is heard every Saturday night from 8pm-midnight. And archived here. On the One.
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