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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2017)
THURSDAY 3/30 755 RIVER RD Kathyrn Claire & The Lasses—7:30pm; celtic, $15 AXE & FIDDLE DJ Rock n Roll Damnation—8pm, n/c B&B LOUNGE Karaoke— 9:30pm; n/c THE BARNLIGHT Karaoke w/ Breezy Bee—9pm; n/c BEERGARDEN Cross Current— 7:30pm; rock, n/c BLACK FOREST White Wail, Mammoth Salmon, Coyote— 10pm; n/c BREW & CUE WDYK Trivia— 7pm; n/c COWFISH DJ Diemos—9pm; bass, house, n/c DEXTER LAKE CLUB Karaoke w/ Jared—9pm; n/c HAPPY HOURS Crystal Harmony Karaoke—8:30pm; n/c HI-FI LOUNGE Hyding Jekyll w/ Ekko Base—10pm; $5 JAZZ STATION Chance Hayden—7:30pm; jazz, $12 LUCKEY'S Grateful Dead Family Jam—10pm; dead covers, $3 MAX’S DJ Victor—10pm; Hits, old standards, requests, n/c MCSHANE'S Acoustic Underground Open Mic— 7:30pm; n/c OAKSHIRE PUBLIC HOUSE Jerry Zybach—6pm; blues, n/c OLD NICK'S Eugene Order of Steel Happy Hour Bout—6pm; n/c. Potbelly, Not A Part Of It, Beast Of Eden, Davey Jones' Locker Combo, Pacifico—9pm; punk, $5 POKER LOUNGE Karaoke w/ Sassy Patty—7pm; n/c SAM BOND'S GARAGE Elle Carpenter, Caitlin Jemma, Malachi Graham—9pm; folk, acoustic, $5 SHADOWFOX Open Mic—8pm; n/c TERRITORIAL VINEYARDS love music—7pm; n/c WILDCRAFT CIDER WORKS hay- lo—6pm; R&B, n/c WHIRLED PIES Molly Venter & Goodnight Moonshine—8pm; folk, $10-$12 WOW HALL Rebel SoulJahz w/ Eli-Mac—7:30pm; reggae, $17- $20 FRIDAY 3/31 5TH ST CORNUCOPIA Bajuana Tea—9:30pm; n/c AXE & FIDDLE Because Carlito— 8:30pm; n/c EUGENE ART TALK BLACK FOREST Black Delany, Summer Eyes, Archway, Novacane—10pm; n/c BLAIRALLY Church of the 80s w/Chris, Jen & John—8pm; 80s vinyl, $3 THE BOREAL Impulse Control— 7pm; pop, $5 BREWSTATION Men from Surf— 7:30pm; surf rock, n/c BRONCO SALOON Karaoke w/ Lindsey—9pm; n/c COWFISH SPOC-3PO—9pm; dance-pop, underground, $5 CRESWELL COFFEE The Hank Shreve Band—7pm; $5 THE DAVIS DJ Crown—10:30pm; hip-hop, dance, $5 DOC'S PAD Karaoke w/KJ Power—9pm; n/c DUCK BAR Karaoke w/Breezy Bee—9pm; n/c DRIFTWOOD BAR Karaoke w/ Slick Nick—9pm; n/c EL TAPATIO CANTINA Karaoke w/ KJ Rick—9pm; n/c FRIENDLY ST MARKET Meadow Rue Acoustic Trio—6pm; n/c HI-FI LOUNGE Dirty Revival & Tripolee—10pm; funk, soul, $7 FRANCESCO LECCECHONG CONDUCTS THE EUGENE SYMPHONY IN HIS TRYOUT. BY B O B K E E F E R WHO GETS THE BATON? We handicap the race among three musicians who want to lead the Eugene Symphony I t’s all over now except for the hiring. Eugene Sympho- ny’s yearlong music director search has all but ended, once more attracting national attention as the orchestra seeks to replace Danail Rachev when he leaves at the end of this season. Many of you know why this job is so hot. In case you haven’t been paying attention, it’s because three of the last four music directors went on from Eugene to play in the musical big leagues. Marin Alsop (in Eugene 1989-1996) is now music director at Baltimore Symphony, the fi rst woman ever to lead a top U.S. orchestra. Miguel Harth- Bedoya (1996-2002) leads the Fort Worth Symphony, and Giancarlo Guerrero (2002-2009) conducts the Nashville Symphony. That’s like having your community college football 20 March 30, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com quarterback drafted into the NFL three seasons in a row. Here’s a quick look at the three fi nalists who want Rachev’s job. Each visited Eugene in recent months to conduct the orchestra in concert. Dina Gilbert (“Jeel-BAIR”), a French Canadian from Montreal, was the fi rst to come to town; she just fi nished a three-year stint as assistant conductor at the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Energetic as a hummingbird hopped up on nectar — and sometimes as fl ighty — Gil- bert charmed musicians, staff, board members and the audience alike with her youth and energy. She conducted a program of Mozart, Korngold, Stravinsky and Dukas in December. An advocate for new music, she likes to conduct soundtracks for video games and fi lm; she talked with me JAZZ STATION Butch Pereira & the Gin Joints—7:30pm; jazz, $12 JERSEY'S Karaoke w/Sassy Patty—9pm; n/c KEG TAVERN Karaoke w/J'Lynn—9pm; n/c LUCKEY'S Ready Steady Soul Club Whole Lotta Soul Dance Party!— 10pm; rare soul DJs, $3 MOHAWK TAVERN Piksix—9pm; n/c NOBLE ESTATES Scott Austin— 6pm; pop, americana, n/c OAKSHIRE PUBLIC HOUSE Fiddlin' Sue Band—4:30pm; bluegrass, folk, n/c O BAR Karaoke w/Jared—9pm; n/c OLD NICK'S Pillorian, Felled, An Empty Room, Randall Collier- Ford—9pm; doom, metal, $8 OREGON WINE LAB Gumbo Groove—7pm; n/c SAGINAW VINEYARD Mike Davis—6pm; acoustic guitar, n/c SAM BOND'S GARAGE Major Powers & The Lo-Fi Symphony—9:30pm; $5 TERRITORIAL VINEYARDS live music—7pm; n/c WILDCRAFT CIDER WORKS The Singer & The Songwriter—6pm; jazz, folk, n/c WHIRLED PIES Dan Cioper— 6pm; singer-songwriter, n/c WHITE HORSE SALOON Karaoke w/KJ Mike—9pm; n/c WOW HALL Leftover Crack, Starving Wolves, Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Not A Part of It—9pm; $15- $18 SATURDAY 4/1 5TH ST CORNUCOPIA IRooster & His Barnyard Bucketeers— 9:30pm; n/c AXE & FIDDLE BriCauz— 8:30pm; n/c BEERGARDEN Fiddlin' Big Sue Band—7:30pm; old-time, n/c BLACK FOREST Racetrack Romeos, The Slants—9pm; n/c BREWSTATION Steel Wool— 7:30pm; soft rock, n/c in a short interview about the preparation involved in con- ducting an orchestra. “Our job is 99-percent done when the concert starts,” she said. “I spend 70 percent of my time reading scores. The public doesn’t see all the preparation we need to do before getting there.” Ryan McAdams led the orchestra in January, just a week after the presidential inauguration, in a program that included works by Mozart, Barber and Brahms. Confi dent and articulate, he spoke at length in our interview about performing familiar works in unfamiliar ways. “We did this Don Giovanni on the Lower East Side in a dilapidated synagogue with no sets,” he said. “The cos- tumes were simple, large pieces of fabric. And the audi- ence felt this was new, cutting-edge material.” Opera News called the unusual production “by far the most enjoyable and thought-provoking Don Giovanni New York has heard in many a year.” Then, earlier this month, Francesco Lecce-Chong showed up and led the orchestra in a program of Liszt, Bartók, Mozart and Ricard Strauss. The 29-year-old con- ductor, who fi rst took the podium at age 16 to conduct a middle-school youth orchestra, initially struck me as the Goldilocks choice, positioned between Gilbert’s manic en- ergy and McAdams’ corporate suave. Lecce-Chong came across in an interview as talented and genuine, and his ideas for attracting a younger audi- ence — that Holy Grail of orchestras around the world — had more to do with better performances and less with Millennial-baiting gimmickry. At that point I fi gured the race was an even match be- tween Lecce-Chong and McAdams, Gilbert having fallen behind due to nerves and inexperience. The symphony would do fi ne, I fi gured, with either one in charge. Then I showed up at the Hult Center for Lecce-Chong’s concert. From the moment the music began — the program was pieces from Liszt, Bartók, Mozart and Ricard Strauss — you could hear something fundamentally new and dif- ferent going on in the concert hall. Lecce-Chong’s music was, well, music! He seemed to give the orchestra its voice in a way I haven’t heard in some time. And by the time he got to the Strauss — the suite from Der Rosenkavalier — my mind was fl oating somewhere in a dream of post-war Vienna. My take: Lecce-Chong’s our guy, no doubt about it. He’s got the resume, he’s got the manner, but most of all he’s got the music. I’m not the only one to be so impressed. Former NPR music critic Tom Manoff, who was at the concert, summed things up in a blog post: “Gilbert is a rookie; McAdams is a talent; but Lecce-Chong has the real gift. He’s going to be a fast-rising talent in the music world. He’s the obvious choice for Eugene right now.” The symphony expects to announce its selection in early May. Send comments, ideas, complaints and suggestions to bob@eugeneweekly.com.
