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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 2016)
MUSIC BY BRETT CAMPBELL SUMMER SIZZLE Here’s some musical hair of the dog for that Bach Festival hangover L et’s assume you love classical music and you’re having a hangover now that the Bach Festival is over and the symphony and other classical seasons don’t get going for some weeks. Let us further assume that you are not among the fortunate many who found out about the Eugene Symphony’s eighth annual Symphony in the Park concert at Cuthbert Amphitheater on Saturday, July 16, before all the free tickets were snapped up by the savvy. You are therefore lamenting what you imagine is a missed opportunity to experience — in a setting more sylvan than Silva Concert Hall — orchestral bonbons from Dvorak (one of his Slavonic dances), Tchaikovsky (a waltz from his ballet Swan Lake, the ever-popular Variations on a Rococo Theme and — bang! — the inevitable closing explosive 1812 Overture), Suppé, Weber, Sousa, John Williams’s Star Wars theme and even a dash of Cole Porter. You’ll also miss the Eugene Symphonic Band playing more Star Wars music, more Sousa (and Monty Python), an Irving Berlin tribute, a sing-along, Elmer Bernstein’s glorious theme from The Magnificent Seven and more American tunes. LAKOU MIZIK But there’s still hope! Hie yourself over to Cottage Grove’s Bohemia Park July 18 or down to Roseburg’s Nichols Band Shell July 19 and you won’t even need any stinkin’ tickets to hear the Eugene Symphony perform outside its usual confines in the Hult Center. If you did miss out on the Cuthbert festivities, you have a couple other appealing July 16 choices. You might head over to the WOW Hall to catch French- Vermonter chanteuse Francesca Blanchard croon her original bilingual ballads, influenced by folk and song traditions from both her homelands. Another July 16 option: Cozmic Productions/ Whirled Pies, where Bill and Michael Keale — scions of a long Hawaiian music family tradition — play and sing island music on ukulele and guitars. The show opens with one of Hawaii’s greatest contributions to world music: Maggie Matoba and Matthew Riley playing dreamy slack-key guitar instrumentals. There’s more island music at one of the summer’s top world music shows: The July 21 appearance by Lakou Mizik at the WOW Hall. The three-generation collective of Haitian musicians mixes rising young stars with venerated masters such as Vodou drummer Sanba Zao. Haiti is a Caribbean crossroads of cultures, and the Port-Au-Prince nonet’s music blends influences that span the decades and the oceans, including French chanson-style accordion, jazzy horns and intensive doses of Afro pop. If you’re a fan of global rhythms, check them out. The balmy sounds make a suitably sizzling summer soundtrack. DAME D.O.L.L.A. B BACK B BEAT MUSIC NEWS & NOTES FROM DOWN IN THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY Local blues veteran Eagle Park Slim (né Autry McNeace), who has a history of heart failure, is recovering from the implantation of a new wireless heart-monitoring system. A press release states: “He gets short of breath sometimes, but he is still playing guitar and writing music every day. When asked how he feels, he responds with a smile, ‘Well, you know some days are diamond and some days are gold.’” Slim, 74, will play with his All Star Blues Band 3:30 pm July 23 at the Saturday Market. A master of self-deprecation, with a tendency to bill itself as “The World’s Worst Band,” comedy-rock outfit Green Jellÿ returns 9 pm Thursday, July 14, to Old Nick’s Pub (211 Washington Street), with Headless Pez, Wade Graham and Deathbed Confessions. By the way, so you don’t come off as a rube, that “Jellÿ” with the umlaut is pronounced “Jello,” which was the original spelling until our friends at Kraft Foods claimed the band was stomping all over its wholesome Jell-O trademark (ahem, see: Bill Cosby). To get in the mood, check out the early ’90s video album Cereal Killer on the interwebs. Old Nick’s also hosts the inaugural Clash of the Titans, “an all-reggae 45 (7” records; no CDs, no DJ controllers, no computers)” battle with five sound systems, noon to 8 pm Saturday, July 16. Mark your calendars: Soundgarden frontman and nearly four-octave vocalist Chris Cornell visits with his solo singer-songwriter act, accompanied by the fantastic punk-blues project Fantastic Negrito (aka Oakland’s Xavier Dphrepaulezz), 8 pm Sunday, July 17, at the Hult; Milwaukee metalcore band Misery Signals smashes into Eugene 7 pm Thursday, July 21, at The Boreal, 450 W. 3rd Ave. Portland envy: Superstar Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has some extra-curricular activities this summer — working on his rap game. The Oaklander turned Portlander celebrates his 26th birthday with his first official concert as rapper Dame D.O.L.L.A. July 15 at the Crystal Ballroom; SOLD OUT. Lillard has the promise to be as nimble at the mic as he is on the court. He released “Bigger Than Us,” featuring Paul Rey at the end of 2015, and it has touched a nerve in an era thick with police brutality targeting black communities nationwide. On it, Lillard raps: “When I get pulled over should I be afraid?/ Because lately the badge get in the way/ If my attitude were bad because of the day/ Would I threaten them enough where maybe I could catch a stray?” The music video starts with a “Breaking News” broadcast of protesters and cops in riot gear from Ferguson, Missouri, where police officer Darren Wilson shot 18-year-old Michael Brown Aug. 9, 2014. In light of this past week’s events, the video is even more heartbreaking. Watch it here: youtu.be/0mM527yJ3K8. eugeneweekly.com • July 14, 2016 25
