|
|
  Lavender Mirror Thursday
Lovers benefit show – I love the combination of live music and DJs to begin with but when it’s also a benefit for a community member without healthcare its a triple win. Not to mention the lineup is incredible. Lovers are probably the best Portland queer band at the moment, (their last album was our number 1 of 2010), and Anaturale is some damn good hip hop I haven’t seen around these parts in years. Brittle Bones the q folks behind the decks are also stellar. With such a diverse group how can you not check it out?
Friday
Peep Show hosted by Fannie Mae Darling – The outlandish drag persona of Fannie Mae manages to bridge that drag divide of monstrous and beautiful quite magically. So while it may be sad to lose Peep Show’s usual hosts Darling is the perfect PS insert. Apparently the theme this month is sex, but isn’t always with Fannie? (And with Peep Show for that matter?)
Continue reading »
  Heather Perkins among her many instruments This week a celebration of women in Electronic Music and Art, Electrogals: Gals Gone Wired has already begun. This long running concert series focused on bringing more attention to the scarcity of women in electronic music was started by Heather Perkins over 15 years ago while she studied electronic music at Mills College and is now a staple in the Portland electro scene. We were able to nab her from her busy conference schedule to answer some questions about the festival below. You can visit their website for info on all the participating performers and check out the full schedule in the events calendar.
qPDX: How and why did you get started with Electrogals? Do you have a mission statement or publicly stated goal?
Heather Perkins: Electrogals started in 1995 at Mills College, where I was studying Electronic Music. Although Mills is a women’s college, the grad program is co-ed, and I was surprised at how few women there were. The faculty – also mostly male – would even remark on the imbalance, and ask me for ideas on how to rectify it. And although the guys in our program were all pretty great one on one, in class there was still the pervasive culture where the guys did most of the talking and got most of the critique time for their work. So I put on a concert featuring all female composers. The title “Electrogals” was kind of a light-hearted way to seriously address the imbalance. We were active and presented our work as a group, instead of passively sitting there by ourselves and not being heard. It was also a great show, and a lot of fun.
Continue reading »
  We don't need another hero, we just need Mrs. Beyond Thunderdome Saturday There’s always lots to do on the weekend but only one weekend is bigger than the weeklong celebration of International LGBT film, PLGFF. We’ll have previews all week long so stay tuned.
Thursday
Cafteria‘s Saved By the Bell edition – It’s time to bust out the cuffed acid wash jeans and use that aerosol to make those bangs into a wave. I’ll even lend you my scrunchie if you meet me at the Peach Pit. Ok, so it’s a special moment of fun nostalgia made right for my exact generation. So let’s all recreate the junior high experience we never had k?
Continue reading »
  This isn't the Portland show but it is MEN live Remind me not to stop drinking, because when I fall off the wagon, I fall hard. It was a tough hump day anyway, beginning with a dentist appointment and a long work day…oh, and the death of Elizabeth Taylor. Luckily, I had two of my favorite bands to save me at the end. Lovers and MEN‘s latest albums are both on repeat on my iPod to get me through.
In the vein of an already marginally successful day at best I neglected to check the battery on my camera (and I also left my credit card at the bar) so was unable to get any pictures. But even if I had a day full of FAIL I was soothed by the sweet crooning of Lovers’ Cubbie Berk and energized by the political dance energy of MEN. As for the pre-funk and in between set turntable stylings of DJ Mr. Charming? Just right.
Continue reading »
  Bloc Party's Kele Okereke released his own album this year which landed at number 6 on the qPDX list There was a lot of good music this year and better yet lots of it was local. I may be a little biased, then, in this list, but we’re the queer Northwest…That’s the point. So I don’t apologize for that the musicians in charge of 4 of the top 10 best queer albums call Portland home.
10 – Logan Lynn – I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday
Occasionally a little too retro gay dance party local Logan Lynn’s newest album still commands a danceable pop beat. He puts on a great show with perfectly placed live vocals for an electro show focused on audience excitement. I’m suprised he’s not more internationally known. Maybe he just needs to tour Europe. Oh, and I did I mention proceeds of the album go to charity? Yeah, I appreciate a feel good album for the music and the cause.
Continue reading »
  Dexter Flowers and Cooper Lee Bombardier perform Sunday at Not Enough! Festival Thursday
Bollywood Bike In with Qurbani – Giving Portland a little much needed cultural flavor local DJ Anjiali and Kid Sister are showing classic Bollywood films outside the Q Center (4115 N Mississippi) all month long. This week features Qurbani and I’m excited to see a South Asian take on the 80s…
Ratatat afterparty with Rude Dudes – Ratatat are not a gay band but they’re hipsters and isn’t that about the same thing in Portland these days? Don’t worry, they’ve teamed up with “Rude” homos for a spanktastic dance party and DJ set. This might be the most mellow Thursday I’ve seen in awhile.
Friday
Mendy’s Big Gay Boat Party – Do you need an excuse to bust out those Top-Siders and sailor hat? No, you don’t. But in case you want to fool around with others in sea garb this is your chance.
Forsorcerers with Hooray for Everything and Don’t – Didn’t think Portland could get any weirder? How about a queer fantasy metal band? Despite the schtick, hoever, Forsorcerers are incredibly talented drum and guitar heros that will aurally rock you into remembering why you love the rough stuff.
Continue reading »
  Big Freedia gets the sissies bouncin'! Besides books, bikes and beer Portland, Oregon is also known for its local music. And the space between summer and fall is when we choose to put it center stage with MusicFest NW starting today and running through the 12th. There’s a smorgasboard of both local and out-of-town bands, DJs and performers and no lack of queers among them. Here’s where to find the gays amidst all the action.
Thursday the 9th sees sissy bounce New Orleans based Big Freedia self-dubbed queen diva, dick-eater, and late night creeper. The culturally queer, hot dirty south bounce has been called rap goes drag by Vanity Fair and is one of the most exciting things to happen to dance music disco. PDX could use an infusion of booty and color and I’d personally be excited to have other bounce-able bums at my back. This may be the most exciting performance of the entire fest.
Continue reading »
  Sword and Fern's Mt. Saint Helen's Necklace and Same Dream Necklace Um, so gee, we’re late this week. I hope that doesn’t mean you missed the 2nd installment of the new queer night Cafeteria at my local Vendetta last night. I sure didn’t. While I didn’t see any lunch trays (get on it boys! Atmosphere!) I saw plenty of crunk gays getting down on that tiny dancefloor. The music was a great mix of oldies, 90s, and today…but mixed way more elegantly than an adult contemporary radio station.
But hey neighbors…can we please keep the patio open just one more hour? As soon as everyone arrives just before 11 the doors shut and it becomes a familiar oven. Someone really needs to develop the technology to harness the energy greated from the body heat of club kids. It’ll be cleaner than coal. I promise.
Continue reading »
  La Roux's Elly Jackson I’m going to be absolutely honest that I was a bit of a grump heading in to last night’s La Roux show at the Wonder Ballroom so my complaints may be tainted by that. However, the sound was grnad and it was quite a decent show, despite my ill health and lost sweatshirt.
Opening band The Lovers provided the perfect ethereal intro to get the crowd amped. At once calming and energizing Lovers are similar enough to the headliners to fit in the show while different enough to be interesting.
Continue reading »
 Lady Gaga Many of us have been traumatized by the year 2009, and we are happy to leave the aughts behind in favor of a brand new decade. And this is probably why it has taken me so long to will myself to look back at the good times. So now, in the slow news months of late winter I am finally getting around to profiling some of last year’s best music, movies, and television.
First up, the Top 5 Gay Albums of 2009. Stay tuned for some of the last decade’s bests towards the end of the month.
Continue reading »
|
|
