GENTLEMAN
BLAG
It’s often said punks and hippies don’t get along.
Nevertheless, Blag Dahlia, vocalist and founding member of
legendary and, in some circles, notorious San Francisco
shock-punk legends Dwarves, would like to extend an olive
branch to the hippie girls of Eugene.
“Hippie girls are fine by me,” Dahlia tells EW. “But please
shower.”
Founded in the mid-1980s, Dwarves became infamous for
extreme live shows mixing hardcore and punk music with
intentionally controversial incidents of onstage sex and self-
mutilation. Dahlia says that, early on, he and his bandmates
were more into ’60s garage rock than punk, but it wasn’t long
before he noticed a common DIY ethos and primitive
aesthetic in the two styles that appealed to him.
“When I was younger I was kind of a music snob,” Dahlia
recalls. “I was really influenced by Frank Zappa. After a while,
trying to play instruments, I realized that wasn’t really me, I
was never going to be that good.”
After hearing The Velvet Underground, Dahlia was
introduced to a different approach. “I couldn’t figure it out,”
Dahlia says. “To me it’s all part of the same thing. I think that
explains the Dwarves' genre-hopping.”
In addition to punk and garage rock, Dahlia cites
everything from Monty Python to Andy Kaufman as
influences on his band’s approach to live performance. He
says Dwarves always try to keep an edge of danger and the
unexpected.
“I remember being fascinated by the bands Fear and The
Germs,” he explains. “You just didn’t know what was gonna
happen. That was the most interesting part of it for me, and
the part where the performance art jumps in.”
Dwarves play with Eugene’s Not A Part of It, Cuntagious,
Brother Husbands and Washington’s Potbelly 8 pm Friday,
Dec. 2, at Old Nick’s Pub, 211 Washington St.; $13 adv., $15
door. 21-Plus. — William Kennedy
3pm; $25-$57.25
JAZZ STATION Sunday Learners
Jam hosted by Olem Alves—
2:30-5pm, Jazz, $5
MCDONALD THEATRE Collie
Buddz—9pm; Raggae artist &
vocalist, $20-$25
MOHAWK TAVERN Karaoke—
8pm; n/c
MULLIGANS Open Mic—
8:30pm; Variety, n/c
OLD NICK'S Irish Jam—6-9pm;
Happy Hour, n/c
RIVER STOP Sunday Jam—5pm;
n/c
SAM BOND'S BREWING
Skinner's Old Time Jam—4-
7pm; n/c
SAM BONDS GARAGE Pretty
Drunk—9pm; Americana, indie,
$5
SPRINGFIELD EAGLES Big Creek
Rendezvous—6pm; Country &
rock, $4
SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
AUDITORIUM Eugene-Springfield
Community Orchestra—7pm;
n/c
TRAVELERS COVE MEXICAN
RESTAURANT—FLORENCE Paul
Biondi Quartet—6-9pm; Jazz,
blues, variety, n/c
WOW HALL The Steel Wheels—
7pm; $15-$18
MONDAY 12/5
BLACK FOREST Karaoke w/
Sarah
EMBERS Karaoke w/Jim Jim &
Sassy Patty—8pm; n/c
FIRST NATIONAL TAPHOUSE
Open Mic—8pm; Rock, n/c
OLD NICK'S Dalembert, Connor
O'shea, Tijuana Ty—9pm;
Acousitic folk, pop, $5
OLD NICK'S Cards Against
Humanity Tournament—6-9pm;
Happy hour, $3
SAM BONDS GARAGE Bingo—
9pm; n/c
WANDERING GOAT Singer
Sonwriter’s Open Mic, original
works only—7pm; n/c
TUESDAY 12/6
CUSH Poetry Open Mic—
7:30pm; n/c
DEXTER LAKE CLUB Acoustic
Night w/Brian Chevalier—
5:30pm; Acousitc Nigh, open
mic, n/c
THE EMBERS DJ Victor Plays
Requests—8pm; n/c
GRANARY Christ Stubbs—6pm;
Piano, n/c
HOT MAMA’S WINGS Open Mic—
8pm; n/c
LUCKEY'S Amusedays w/Seith
Milstein—10pm; n/c
MAC’S RESTAURANT & NIGHT
CLUB Roosters Blues Jam w/
Skip Jones & Byron Case—
7pm; n/c
MULLIGAN’S PUB Steve Ibach—
acoustic, eclectic; n/c
OLD NICK'S Fear Dog, Sacred
Trees, Password: Firebird—9pm;
Stoner rock, n/c
Magic Happy Hour—4-9pm, n/c
SAM BOND'S BREWING
Ronhaar—6-8pm; Indie folk, n/c
SAM BOND'S GARAGE Bluegrass
Jam—9pm; n/c
WOW Over the Rhine—7pm;
$20-$25
WEDNESDAY 12/7
5TH ST. CORNUCOPIA Karaoke
w/Slick Nick—9pm; n/c
AGATE ALLEY BISTRO Lounge
Jams w/Bue Brown & Chilly
Soup—9pm; Jazz, funk, n/c
HAPPY HOURS Mama Jan’s
Blues Jam w/Brian Chevalier—
8pm; n/c
JAZZ STATION A3
Performance—6:30-8:30pm,
Jazz, n/c
LCC BLUE DOOR THEATRE Lane
Jazz Combos—7pm; $3-$10
MAC’S RESTAURANT & NIGHT
CLUB Jazz & variety w/Gus
Russell & Paul Biondi—6pm; n/c
MOHAWK TAVERN Karaoke w/
Caught in the Act—9pm; n/c
MULLIGAN’S Open Mic—
8:30pm; Variety, n/c
OLD NICK'S Year of the Cobra,
Aerial Ruin, Red Cloud—9pm;
Heavy metal, $5
SAM BOND'S GARAGE Machee,
UOS, Doc Suess—9pm; Hip hop,
$5
VILLAGE GREEN Dennis
Calvino—7-9pm; n/c
WHIRLED PIES Acoustic Jams—
7pm; Freesytle jam session, n/c
WILDCRAFT CIDER WORKS Josh
Caraco—6pm; African Kora, n/c
CORVALLIS
& BEYOND
TH LINCOLN CITY CULTURAL
CENTER
Aaron Meyer—violin; $22
FR UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
CONGREGATION
Salem Philharmonia
Orchestra—7pm; $15-$18
SA CHEMEKETA COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
Salem Philharmonia
Orchestra—7pm; $15-$18
SU TRAVELERS COVE MEXICAN
RESTAURANT-FLORENCE
Paul Bionid Quartet—6-9pm;
Jazz, blues, variety, n/c
TUNE
IN, TURN ON, DROP OUT
As a young man, Chris Robinson experienced overnight success with his band
The Black Crowes. The Crowes had a major hit in the late '80s with their album Shake
Your Money Maker, led by the Rolling Stones-esque single “Hard To Handle.”
“I had a lot of people who could say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ about my life,” Robinson explains
to EW. “It’s cool when people say ‘no.’ It’s really dangerous when people say ‘yes.’”
“The Black Crowes didn’t get to have a trajectory,” he continues. “We were shot
out of a cannon.”
These days, Robinson’s focus is on Chris Robinson Brotherhood (CRB), playing
a mellower brand of cosmic California boogie-rock. CRB returns to Eugene behind If
You Live Here, You’d Be Home By Now, a companion EP of sorts to the band’s 2016
full-length Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel.
Robinson says , that at his age, CRB’s contemplative pace and ability to work
outside the corporate, mainstream music business suits him well. “Everyone’s older
now,” he says. “We’ve been through a lot of positive things. We’ve been through a lot
of negative things.”
“Overall,” he adds with a knowing wink, “we have this incredible opportunity to
tune in, turn on and drop out.”
Chris Robinson Brotherhood plays 8 pm Sunday, Dec. 4, at Hi-Fi
Music Hall; $25 adv., $30 door. All ages. — William Kennedy
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December 1, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com