News City Commissioner Steve Novick wants Portland to change its phone-hold music. So he made the city bureaus a playlist. In this week's cover story on changes at City Hall, WW reported that Novick, who took office Jan. 2, has heard frustration from the Water Bureau's customer-service team. Some citizens have complained about the "Listen Local" program played by the city when customers are on hold.Novick ...   More

Music Last night, I saw Bruce Springsteen live for the first time. In the culture of music journalists, I basically just had my bar mitzvah. Seeing the Boss perform in person is an unofficial rite of passage for anyone who writes about rock’n’roll—and, as I wrote in the introduction for our preview piece this week, it really doesn’t matter if you actually appreciate his music or not. If you ...   More

Music Stories Every American—anyone “born in the U.S.A.,” if you will—has a connection to Bruce Springsteen. It doesn’t matter if you treasure his rusty-throated, denim-collared rock-’n’-roll anth   More

Cover Story Portland author Peter Ames Carlin had stalked pop music giants before. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys allowed Carlin into his strange but creative...   More