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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2012)
music BAND OF HEATHENS W/ COLIN BROOKS Evolving Heathens One of the most fun things about Sam Bond’s is how, from time to time, acts that usually play the likes of SXSW or Austin City Limits swoop in, and Eugeneans get a taste of what it is to live in a live music mecca. That’s what will happen Sunday when Band of Heathens returns to the Whiteaker bar that’s small in scale but big at heart. Band of Heathens’ most recent studio album, Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son, makes clear just how wide a range of influences and energy levels the band can draw from. Tracks like opener “Medicine Man” thump with a strong dose of blues and jam band, but ballads such as “Gris Gris Satchel” show how the Heathens shine when stripped down. It’s the same strength of lyrics and artistic skill that made 2009’s One Foot in the Ether a breakout success. Since Band of Heathens last swung through Eugene in September 2011, the rootsy country rock act has undergone a major change. After the release of the band’s latest album, The Double Down — Live in Denver, founding member Colin Brooks left the band. While the loss of a principle singer-songwriter might crush a band with less depth, Band of Heathens was founded when Brooks and singer-songwriters Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist started collaborating in 2006, so the Heathens still have vocal and songwriting talent to spare. Almost a year later, what will be most interesting is how the band is evolving without Brooks. Earlier albums and performances thrived on more than singing and songwriting talent. What made the band’s earlier incarnation especially distinctive was how it could pull from so many traditions, from country to rock to blues to funk, simultaneously, emphasizing different sounds at different moments. No doubt veteran performers Jurdi and Quist, together with bandmates Richard Millsap (drums), Ryan Bowman (bass) and Trevor Nealon (keyboards), will continue to create stellar material, but it will be interesting to see how the formula of different genres changes with the different formula of songwriters and band members. Band of Heathens plays 8:30 pm Sunday, Aug. 26, at Sam Bond’s, 407 Blair Blvd., www. sambonds.com; $5. — Shannon Finnell Hell’s Comin’ with Them A red Texas-emblazoned, self-proclaimed pirate vehicle bears down on Eugene, laden with instruments (musical and otherwise) and the talented rogues who know how to use them. The Hellzapoppin’ Sideshow is a carnival of the grotesque, a touring troupe of human oddities performing feats of pain and handling it without batting a wing, like professionals of the underworld. Organized, produced and emceed by Bryce “The Govna” Graves, Hellzapoppin’ has blazed across the country and in Sweden since late 2008, through numerous tours and festivals oriented to the heavy rock and metal crowds. The classic revue-style variety show is punctuated by muscle- puncturing, fire-eating, sword-swallowing, body- contorting, glass-jumping, bullwhip-wielding and voluntary electrocution. In addition to Graves, the tour also features Zamora the Torture King, a two-decade veteran of physical art who has toured as a sideshow performer since Lollapalooza in 1992, including a 15-year run at Knott’s Scary Farm, the largest Halloween event in the world. Zamora’s extreme pain tolerance, a highlight of his act, is a result of extensive studies in the fields of martial arts, hypnosis, Middle Eastern philosophies and the science of anatomy. “This is like real magic,” Zamora says of his seemingly impossible feats. “There are no tricks or illusions.” Watching this stuff on TV (Zamora has been featured on Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Guinness World Records) is no substitute to the live performance. “Nothing compares to seeing this up close and in intimate real life,” he says. Also on the bill, Ms. Maryann Magdalen, a beautiful Swedish sword-swallower (one of only 15 women in the world to publicly perform the feat), tours with Hellzapoppin’. Blades are involved in some of her other feats, as is a bed of nails. Of course, no circus would be complete without a mascot, and Mr. Buggles, the wonder dog from Kentucky, also performs. Hellzapoppin’ Sideshow ignites 10 pm Friday, Aug. 24, at Cozmic, 199 W. 8th St., www. cozmicpresents.com; $10, $5 with Eugene Celebration Wristband. 18 and over. — Patrick Newson WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM B uckethea D live at the mcdonald theatre w/ Samples (aka Ben Samples) opening September 13, 2012 7pm Doors EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 23, 2012 25
