Music When the Hawthorne Theater hosts its grand re-opening next weekend (see details at the bottom of this post), it will not be as a country bar.
This is good news. The Hawthorne is at the center of Portland's all-ages ecosystem, where it's desperately needed. There are bigger 20-and-under venues (Crystal Ballroom, Roseland, Wonder Ballroom) and house shows may do more to facilitate grassroots...   More

Music Red Fang is making the best music videos in Portland. On this, their third vid in an epic trilogy for Relapse Records, the band shows off a few familiar themes—beer, driving around, watches drawn in sharpie—but also gives a lot of love to its hometown and the legions of air guitarists that live here. This new video is a bit lower-key than the band's first epic two, which found them    More

News PRE-GAME!Last night's caption contest was won by JDSUNTAN. I owe him a high five and a thumbs-up. Apologies to Ben, whom I will still give a thumbs-up as a consolation prize when I see him at work tomorrow. 
So, here at the Rose Garden, they're playing "Walking in Memphis" as the Grizzlies take the court. It's almost as awesome and deflating as "Rocky Mountain High" for the Nuggets,...   More

News Participate in our "Why is DeMarcus Cousins Crying" caption contest now! Winners will receive high-fives and thumbs-ups! Post your caption in the comments section below!
PRE-GAME
The Blazers always come out to music that one of the players picked for the evening. Generally the players pick some dirty south rap or club cut.Tonight it was Nolan Smith's turn. He chose "Party in th...   More

Album Reviews [ROOTS MUSIC] Pretty tends to eclipse everything around it. And in pop music, that’s generally a good thing. Some of the prettiest music being made today—cough, Bon Iver—doesn’t always hav   More

Bar Reviews  Mark Simon’s head is shaped like a fishbowl. But then, I’m looking at the Portland pianist, between bites of my creamy Pacific Coast Seafood Pasta ($16.50), through the distorting lens of an oversized and underfunded tip jar...    More

News Sadly, there wil be no live blog for tonight’s epic Blazers/Magic game. But seeing as how this may be the biggest challenge the Blazers have faced all season, we didn’t want to leave you hanging. So we’ve built this 10-point Blazer/Magic drinking game for your enjoyment. Face it, with Dwight Howard taking charge of the competition, this could be the kind of game you want to be drunk for.-...   More

Music Stories [WESTERN SWING AT DUSK] It’s good to hear Pete Krebs’ voice showcased again. The former Hazel singer-guitarist...   More

News The camera flashes to the hall just outside the locker room, as it always does before games, and most of the players glance sideways at the camera for a minute or ignore it all together. Nolan Smith, though, flashes a smile and a big peace sign, like he's a giddy fan who has falsely assumed he's on national television. I like that. Looseness. I know Nolan probably won't see the court much—if at ...   More

Music There are some unavoidable differences between Luck-One's latest video—for "Farewell," his kinda-sorta retirement anthem—and Macklemore's breakthrough Northwest vid, "The Town." The lingering shots of piles of photos, the rooftop rapping segment, the warm shots of friends and family—all of these were in Zia Mohajerjasbi's 2009 Mack shoot, and no doubt influenced the visuals for the very pret...   More