SAGINAW VINEYARD Big
Mountain Country—1pm;
Classic country, n/c
SAM BOND’S GARAGE Farewell
to Cindy w/Juice, Rosannas, The
Whiskey Chasers—8pm;
Variety, $5
SAM’S Open Mic Night—7pm;
n/c
SPRINGFIELD VFW Mckenzie
Express—7pm; n/c
TRAVELER’S COVE Paul Biondi
Quartet—6pm; Variety, n/c
TSUNAMI BOOKS Amy Speace &
Kenny White—7pm; Singer/
songwriter, $16
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
CHURCH Eugene Gleeman:
“Songs of the Sea”—2:30pm;
Choral, $15
VILLAGE GREEN Dave Boch—
7pm; Guitar, n/c
THE WEBFOOT Karaoke—9pm
WOW HALL Head for the Hills,
Water Tower—8pm; Bluegrass,
$12 adv., $15 door
MONDAY
11/17
AASEN-HULL HALL Denis
Tryon—7pm; Horn master class,
n/c
BEALL HALL Eugene Symphonic
Band—7:30pm; $5-$8
BLACK FOREST Karaoke—9pm
BUGSY’S MondayBug—7pm;
Acoustic, n/c
COWFISH Inclusion w/Aaron
Jackson & Guests—9pm;
House, EDM, n/c
MAC’S Hank Shreve & Friends—
7pm; Blues, n/c
PORKY’S PALACE Karaoke—
8pm
SAM BOND’S GARAGE Bingo—
9pm; n/c
VILLAGE GREEN Neil Johnson—
7pm; Solo guitar, n/c
THE
MILKMEN DELIVER, AGAIN
“Everyone loved The Milkmen in the early ’80s — the blues-ers, the punkers” says Dan Schmid, bass
player for legendary Eugene band the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. On Nov. 15, The Milkmen are reuniting for a one-
night-only performance at Mac’s Restaurant at the Vet’s Club in Eugene. “It’d be nostalgic for sure,” Schmid
continues. “[The Milkmen] were great. They rocked!”
The band was active in Eugene from ’82 to ’84. They brought their new wave twist on groove-oriented
blues-rock to venues such as Taylor’s, Max’s Tavern, B.J. Kelley’s and the EMU Beer Garden. “There was less a
line drawn between genres,” Schmid explains, “because everyone played in everyone else’s bands — no
matter the style.” Milkmen guitarist Henry Cooper notes that “Eugene in the early ’80s still had a good bar-
tavern music scene.”
The men of Milkmen describe their sound as “fast dance versions of roots-blues standards.”
“We were a bar band and proud of it,” Cooper says. But watch old footage of The Milkmen (there are some
gems on YouTube) and see a definite ’80s edge combined with 12-bar blues structure and impressive, blues-
informed guitar playing from Cooper and Randy Haines (Haines still performs in Eugene as Lonesome Randall).
“Our sound was a blend of blues garage rock and rockabilly with some R&B thrown in,” Cooper says. But
there’s also a sense of Zappa-esque prankster-dom and post-punk agitation.
Since breaking up, members of The Milkmen have gone on to perform in Screamin’ Jay Hawkins back-up
band, alongside Northwest blues legend Duffy Bishop and, in 1993, drummer Boyd Small was inducted into
the Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame.
The Milkmen Reunion with Van Wenda kicks off at 8 pm Saturday, Nov. 15, at Mac’s Restaurant and Night
Club, Veterans Memorial Building; $5. 21-plus. — William Kennedy
TUESDAY
11/18
5TH ST. CORNUCOPIA Jesse
Meade w/Jeremy Pruitt—
9:30pm; n/c
AXE & FIDDLE Poetry Night—
7pm; n/c
THE BOREAL Run with the
Hunted, Hollow Earth, Exalt,
Unrestrained, Weather—8pm;
Metal, hardcore, punk, $8 adv.,
$10 door
THE CITY iPod Night—6pm; n/c
COWFISH Work-Nite Vibin’ w/
Stephen Rose & Derek
Trackback & Guests—9pm;
House, electro, n/c
COZMIC Fortunate Youth, The
Expanders, Thrive—8pm;
Reggae, $10 adv., $12 door
EMBERS Ladies’ Night Dance
Party w/DJ Victor—8pm; n/c
THE GREEN ROOM Karaoke—
9pm
GOODFELLA’S Karaoke—9pm;
n/c
HOP VALLEY TASTING ROOM
Blue Grass Jam—7pm; n/c
HOT MAMA’S WINGS Open Mic—
8pm; n/c
LEVEL UP Ninkasi Karaoke
Night w/KJ B-Ross—9pm; n/c
MAC’S Roosters Blues Jam—
7pm; n/c
THE O BAR Karaoke—9pm
SAM BOND’S BREWING CO.
Ashleigh Flynn—6pm; Folk, n/c
SAM BOND’S GARAGE Bluegrass
Jam—9pm; n/c
VILLAGE GREEN Neil Johnson—
7pm; Solo guitar; n/c
WANDERING GOAT Like a Villain,
Tree Branch Twig, Entrail—8pm;
Solo, loops, experimental, don.
WOW HALL Busdriver, Milo—
9pm; Hip hop, $12 adv., $14
door
WEDNESDAY
11/19
5TH ST. CORNUCOPIA
Karaoke—9pm
AXE & FIDDLE Stringtown
Ambassadors—8:30pm;
Mandolin-fiddle duo, n/c
BEALL HALL UO Symphonic &
Campus Bands—7:30pm; n/c
BLACK FOREST Karaoke—9pm
THE BLIND PIG Karaoke w/Jim
Jim—9pm
THE BOREAL Vain & Valor,
Goodtime Boys, Novellas—
8pm; Punk, hardcore, $5
THE CANNERY Jeremy Clark
Pruitt—7:30pm; Acoustic, n/c
THE COOLER Hump Night Trivia
w/DR Dumass—7pm; n/c
COWFISH “Hump Night” w/
Connor J, Club Bangers—9pm;
n/c
DEXTER LAKE CLUB Acoustic
Sessions w/Morin, Sorseth &
Peter Giri—7pm; Acoustic, n/c
GRANARY Mama Jan’s Blues
Jam w/Brian Chevalier—8pm;
n/c
THE GREEN ROOM Karaoke—
9pm; n/c
JERSEY’S Karaoke—8pm
LUCKEYS KI & the Architex—
9pm; Hip hop, $2
MAC’S 2nd Annual Chuck
Nathan Memorial Jazz Jam
Session—6pm; Variety, n/c
MAX’S Lonesome Randall—
7pm; Rock & roll historian, n/c
MULLIGAN’S Open Mic—
8:30pm; Variety, n/c
OLD PAD Trivia Night—9pm; n/c
POUR HOUSE Karaoke—9pm
SAM BOND’S GARAGE
Champagne Charlie—9pm; $5
TAYLOR’S BAR & GRILLE DJ
Crown—10:30pm; Hip hop, top
40, dance, n/c
TINY TAVERN Comedy Night w/
Mac Chase—9pm; n/c
WOW HALL Vance Joy, Jaymes
Young—8pm; SOLD OUT
CORVALLIS
(AND SURROUNDING AREAS)
FIREWORKS RESTAURANT
MO Southtown Open Mic—9pm;
n/c
NUCLEAR
FUSION
The music oozed by Radiation City is so warm and romantic that it’s a bit
tedious to see the Portland band categorized time and again as indie rock, a genre
that at times feels like it’s been hijacked by aloof, sullen drones.
“When I see that, it’s kinda — it’s a little bit baffling,” says Cameron Spies,
guitarist and a vocalist for the band. “For one, indie rock is such a broad, general-
ass word. The roots of our music are more in older styles of music, vintage
styles if you will.” He adds, “The fact that we got lumped in there is more of an
aesthetic.”
Yes, on appearances alone, the svelte all-white band with a pinch of retro
styling looks like your average indie darling, but the similarities stop there.
Radiation City’s waterfall of vocals — everyone in the band sings (Elisabeth
Ellison, Randy Bemrose, Matt Rafferty, Patti King) — meshed with fuzzed-out
guitar and drums is more Mad Men pool party than Portland hipster slouch.
Perhaps that’s because the band tries to reimagine old sounds. “The
initial inspiration for this band was a couple of bossa nova records that
we love and were playing all the time,” Spies says. He notes that Frank
Sinatra and Dusty Springfield have also been inspirations, which can
be heard on the sparkly 2013 album, Animals in The Median (also
see their cover of “Fly Me to the Moon”).
The band’s fourth album will be out in early 2015. “It’s taken the
longest of any of our records to make,” Spies says.
Portland pop outfit Wild Ones and Eugene’s alt-pop Pluto The
Planet join Radiation City at 8 pm Saturday, Nov. 15, at WOW
Hall; $5 adv., $7 door, student discounts available. All ages.
— Alex V. Cipolle
eugeneweekly.com • November 13, 2014
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