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January 18, 2005
Telegraph Benefit at Holocene — Jan. 13
Okay, so I'm a bit late writing about this show, but I just got the sweet Blogger.com evite to finally work, and I'm STOKED to actually, finally write on a blog, so I'm just going to write about the most recent show I've seen, which was last Thursday. You see, I'm too goddamn lazy to create a blog myself, but have had multiple people offer to a.) create one for me, or b.) let me post on one already existing. But like a dark virus eating at my heart, those people have, one by one, not come through. And with each missed opportunity, the yearning to be a real, bona fide blogger has grown inside me. THANK YOU The Real Matt Wright and Mark Baumgarten for being kind and true, and not pulling me along like an ass to the proverbial carrot, and not yanking the carrot away at the last minute and sticking it up my ass. THANK YOU! GOD BLESS YOU!
So what do I do? Ah yes, the show, the show... As the title indicates, this was a benefit at Holocene for the new nonprofit arts group TELEGRAPH. I went to school at Lewis and Clark with the people behind this group (and also with The Real Matt Wright; Go Pios!), so I'm a little biased, but I think it sounds like a pretty cool thing. They're basically trying to connect artists on a whole new level, offering tons of events like one-minute film fests and this upcoming show called CHROMA (see www.telegrapharts.org for more info) that are specifically designed to bring artists of different mediums together. They're also going to put together this huge artist database where you'll be able to find tons of artists/musicians/filmmakers/anything else artistic and get in touch with them to collaborate, to get advice, or to invite them to your sex party. So yeah: Cool. Keep your eyes out for them in the near future.
And the show was really sweet, too. Again, I'm friends with a lot of these people, but pretty much all of them are genuinely good. The headliners Adelaide are this stunningly gorgeous instrumental group that combine laptop-fueled beats with live instrumentation. The music is hauntingly beautiful, but what takes the group to the next level are their backdrop film projections put together by one of this town's hidden filmmaker gems Ryan Jeffery. The first time I saw them I barely noticed the film footage, but the more I've gone to their shows, the more I've noticed the carefully crafted interplay between the songs and the projections, and it's really something to see. Like all the great bands, Adelaide is a group that gets more interesting every time you hear them/see them. They're going on this pretty huge nationwide tour in late Spring, and I predict will have a pretty strong following by the time they get home again.
Other highlights were Cadence, a three-piece composed of Will Helfrich singing and playing keyboard and guitar, Lisa Bogan (the mother of his children) on drums, and Adam Porterfield (also of Adelaide) on bass. I've been a Helfrich fan for years; the dude has no idea how good his voice is and how far it could take him if he ever got the time to really hone it. He's a great lyrical songwriter, too, and it was nice to hear his songs fleshed out by the drum n' bass. His girlfriend POUNDS those drums.
Then there's John Weinland, who's another singer/songwriter that has benefited from a full band. Weinland writes catchy, beautiful little tunes that are reminiscent of Nick Drake and His Master Elliott Smith. I've seen him before and enjoyed, but on this night the band had jelled like never before, and had added a terrific keyboardist. It wasn't anything to dance to, but it was just really pleasant to listen to. Weinland has some songs that could be bona fide hits Iron and Wine style, but it's a matter of time I reckon.
In between there was some weird ambient stuff from the Matt Marble and the Portland Vampires. Marble I couldn't see very well because I was too busy drinking and talking, but he seemed to be doing something with discmans to produce kind of chirpy electronic noise. The Portland Vampires were a tagteam guy/girl, the guy playing SUPER slow guitar and the gal emitting creepy wails. Again, I was very busy drinking and talking. It was a good night in that regard; I had two people buy me drinks unsolicited and a girl so drunk she could hardly stand pushed her boobs against me.
Drinks Drunk: 4 Pints of Black Butte Porter
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Posted by H & IG at January 18, 2005 1:37 AM
