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
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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