WW’s Best New Band Showcase at Berbati’s Pan, May 10, 2008
Apparently, it takes at least three days to recover from WW’s Best New Band showcase. Yeah, it was that good. So good, in fact, that all I’ve been saying for the past few days is “all three bands were on top of their games” and “best Best New Band showcase yet.” The thought of writing about the show honestly hadn’t occurred to me. But now that I’ve had a chance to let all that awesomeness sink in, it’s high time I told you past-capacity folks and stay-at-homers how it all went down.
Upon arriving at Berbati’s (I got there pretty early, around 8:45 pm), the line was still stretching down the block, past Voodoo Doughnut and across the Paris Theater’s entryway. I panicked a little (naively assuming the show would start on time at 9 pm), as I was planning to introduce the evening and the bands before openers Loch Lomond went on. Being the big-wig music editor that I am (good god, please don’t take that seriously), I thought the Berbati’s folks on the restaurant side might let me in the back way by the video games and pool tables. Not so. I meandered back to the 3rd Avenue side of the building only to find that the doors hadn’t even been opened when I first saw the line. The 100 or so people who had been waiting were now inside. Soon I was, too.
I hate going onstage (hence the whole writing-about-music-instead-of-playing-it gig), but Best New Band time is a special time of year for local music and local music fans, something we WW music scribes don’t take lightly. So I felt the show ought to at least have a proper, celebratory introduction. There wasn’t much for me to do but mill about by the stage entrance (not a big fan of the green room), drink and say hit to incoming friends and coworkers; I was just waiting to get it over with. Sooner or later, Loch Lomond’s Ritchie Young emerged, wearing huge, mom-ish tortoise shell glasses, a yellow crew-neck sweatshirt covered with little silk-screened thingys (I thought they looked like fishing lures, but was still unable to identify them by set’s end). I got my little intro over with (always less painful than I imagine), and the acoustic ensemble (which placed fourth in this year’s BNB poll) quickly filled the stage with its huge—both sound- and member-wise—presence.
Shortly thereafter, while Young was belting out in his effeminate voice, “Now we’re having fun/ Now we’re living life” (the lyrics to “Elephants and Little Girls,” from the band’s recent split 12-inch with this year’s Best New Band, the Builders and the Butchers), a few people cut in front of me in line for the bar. I was so enraptured that I don’t think it was at all clear I was trying to grab a drink. That’s the power of choral backing, I tell ya.
Back in front of the stage, I felt stupid for wasting any time grabbing drinks. Loch Lomond, which is filled out by Scott Magee, Laurel Simmons, Heather Broderick, Jade Eckler, Amanda Lawrence, Pia Da Silva and Dave Depper (plus a flute-playing woman who contributed to a few songs and whose name I missed), was seriously breathtaking. On “Field Report,” a song from the band’s recent Hush release, Paper the Walls, Young sang in a Sufjan Stevens-esque manner, “The sound of children laughing/ Makes my eyes bleed.” It’s a line that pretty much embodies all the oft-grotesque beauty to be found in Loch Lomond’s music. And, I imagined, a fine introduction for new listeners.
The band’s sound is orchestral, expertly played and polished, and that all came across quite convincingly last Saturday. But it’s also undoubtedly raw, especially when it comes to having a line on human nature—as later numbers “Tic” and “Virgin Mountain” (both from excellent ‘06 EP, Lament for Children) aptly proved. Their huge proclaimations—”I am not an animal” and “I’m tired of being a mountain,” respectively, coupled with dynamic and delicate instrumentation (bassist Depper was even multi-tasking on some tunes, playing bass or guitar as well as a tiny suitcase of bells, which he’d occasionally glance at with some disdain) drove that notion home with an easy power. And Young-as-bandleader was in somewhat rare form—smiling his broad, thick-toothed smile and joking about hiding the pee spot on his jeans behind his guitar. Then he introduced “Carl Sagan,” and when his sonic army shouted the arching refrain, “Pay attention!” clipping off the ends rather tersely, everyone did just that.
Acoustic acts at Best New Band showcases haven’t always faired so well (take Laura Gibson’s talked over solo set last year or Tractor Operator turning has back to the audience and playing to a small circle of fans onstage the year before for prime examples). But Loch Lomond was starting the night off the same way the Butchers would end it: with big, big, acoustic sound. But first, Starfucker!
Josh Hodges and company, multi-instrumentalists Ryan Biornstad and Shawn Glassford, came out fully dressed in drag—wigs, dresses, makeup; the whole shebang—toting a giant, inflated gold number 2 (laughably indicating the band’s placement in this year’s BNB poll) and dancing from the get-go. Biornstad proceeded to take center-stage and switch between singing, playing guitar, near-stripteasing (he bared his purple pantied butt to the crowd while bumping and grinding with himself) and spinning records. His mascara bled as the beat-heavy set progressed, but he didn’t let that get him down. Oh, no: These guys were here to have pure, unadulterated fun.
Meanwhile, Hodges and Glassford beat their dual drum kits into a fury, the former singing in his soft, lulling voice much of the while. The set started out with “German Love,” a serious crowd favorite and the type of infectious groove that’d make an instant fan out of anyone. And—after a bustling set that ranged from hip-hop beats and sugary pop melodies to noise and straight-up dance music—Starfucker went out with their other strongest cut, “Rawnold Gregory Erickson II.” I honestly think they could’ve riffed on that one for a good half-hour with nary an objection.
LocalCut editor Casey Jarman later remarked that it was the best Starfucker show he’d seen (and, believe me, he’s seen a few). It was my first time seeing the band since it was, well, a band (Hodges used to perform solo as Starfucker, looping backing vocals, guitars and other instrumentation along to live drumming), and I was blown away. I mean, I don’t really dance much. I rock out a lot, but I don’t sweat-dripping, need-a-drink-of-water dance—and I was getting down.
Afterward, a girl in line for the bar told me she’d come for the Builders and Loch Lomond, but totally fell in love with Starfucker. Earlier in the night, a girl in the ladies room told me the same thing in reverse: She’d come to see Starfucker, but thought Loch Lomond was R-A-D. “That’s why we do this thing,” I said. And it is. Much love was brought on the band’s parts, as well. Depper (pictured below engulfed in our LocalCut banner) threw a really nice shout out to Jarman and myself (thanks, Dave!) during Loch Lomond’s set, and Hodges (also pictured below in his pink wig and black gown, looking demure and not-all-that-surprisingly hot!) threw Local Cutter Nilina Mason-Campbell into his round of thank yous. The Builders, for their part, spread the Willy Week love and gave a big ol’ finale style musical hug to their mates, Loch Lomond—but we’re not quite there yet…
Finally, the Builders and the Butchers, five strong and fully amped, came out. The venue, which had been at- or near-capacity all night, remained packed—as the temp in Berbati’s clearly indicated. Exhaustion and heat notwithstanding, this year’s Best New Band did not disappoint. With a fury of nasally vocals (courtesy of crazy-eyed frontman Ryan Sollee), a barrage of strings (deeper ones at the hands of acoustic bassist Alex Ellis, who was looking especially Daniel Day Lewis-y, and high and furious ones at the quick-strumming hands of mandolin and banjo player Harvey Tumbleson) and a fiery onslaught of percussion (thanks to hard-working fellas Ray Rude and Paul Seely), they were off! And went right along with ‘em.
So right-along, in fact, that many audience members chimed became like extras in the band, singing along to gospel-influenced choruses or contributing additional noise with actual instruments. This time, though, I think some fans brought their own auxiliary noise-makers. See, the Builders often hand out little kids’ drums, shakers, tambourines and the like, but there were fans all across the audience (too many, it seemed to me, to have been supplied by the band) with rattling gadgetry—including a guy a bit too close to my left who was banging a chunk of metal with a mallet. He chilled out after awhile, and we were back to focusing on the band.
Plenty of high-energy tunes, from “Bottom of the Lake” to “Black Dresses” were slaughtered (in a good way), with refrains sung en masse and feet stomped all around. I’ve had “Went It Rains,” a tune from aforementioned split 12-inch, in my head for days. It features a bevy of castanets and some mournful mariachi-tinged trumpet that’s just fucking killer. And the Builders, contrary to their name, brought the house down with it.
And that was before they brought the whole damn Loch Lomond crew back out onstage (plus Norfolk & Western, M. Ward and sometime-Bright Eyes drummer Rachel Blumberg, plus another dude I didn’t recognize) for a combo-group rock out—everyone singing and carrying on in one giant cluster. The lot of ‘em made an honest-to-god racket, just as any party ensemble should. Just as the Builders always do. After all, when you’re demon-ousting and storm-beckoning, there’s strength in numbers. And man did it pour.
Links:
LomondSpace
StarfuckSpace
BuilderSpace
Builders photo by Jim Newman; all other photos by Emily Cable.
NILINA MASON-CAMPBELL
says:I find myself strangely attracted to Mr. Hodges specifically because of the wig and tights and his complementary pose/expression… Hmm…
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 1:13 am (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkRichard Schoenradt
says:Loved the photo of Builders. Great show.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 9:08 am (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkBill Brenght
says:The Builders are a gimmick. Their songs are boring but everyone’s all up in a huffy like they’re the first band to give the crowd tambourines and sing-a-longs. Woooo! Spanish Country rock the house with my washboard revival. Starfucker was robbed. It should be called “Best New Band That Only Venue And Label Owners With Some Kind Of Investment And Conflict Of Interest And Older 20’s “Music Buffs” Care About.” The paragraph or so introducing the list this year was almost offensive in praising itself on being made up of votes strictly from “The Big Wigs” in Portland music, and not “we, the people” who don’t have some kind of stock, monetary or otherwise, attached to the bands we would have voted for. How is Portland’s favorite new band being represented fairly if there are only a handful of people in Portland voting for them? Shouldn’t the vote be open to everyone? Why is there a list in the first place? Who’s idea was this? I want answers! Where did all the competition come from? There’s probably bands out there who campaign for votes or some retarded shit like that, just because the Willamette Week and it’s team of professional music analyst insiders make it seem like they have some kind of cred that the rest of us don’t and can thus further ones success as a musician. I swear to God. Gotta get them votes! I’m gonna start a band and my sole purpose is to be best new band next year. Watch me do it. It’s so political. Gross. I don’t understand why people care who Blah Blah Blah at Lucky Madison and Blooh Blooh Blooh at Marriage are listening to. ‘fuck outta here with this.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 9:55 am (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkNick
says:so much inner-conflict.
“It should be called “Best New Band That Only Venue And Label Owners With Some Kind Of Investment And Conflict Of Interest And Older 20’s “Music Buffs” Care About.”
or…
“I’m gonna start a band and my sole purpose is to be best new band next year.”
within the paradox lies the truth.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 10:07 am (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCASEY JARMAN
says:Hey Bill,
As far as I know, no one on this list campaigned for votes. Though I have heard through the grapevine that there was somewhat of a community effort to get Valet on the list (which we sorta think is rad). I’ve answered some of these questions in various places, but I’ll try to answer a few of your questions quickly the best I can.
* If you can find a good way to get a general, open vote that doesn’t turn into bands voting for themselves over and over again, we’re more than happy to listen to suggestions. You can email me at cjarman at wweek dot com if you want. I think we’ve all rolled this over in our heads A LOT, and haven’t thought of a way to do it that doesn’t favor bands with fast clicking-fingers or deep pockets and a street team.
* I disagree about the Builders and the Butchers, and votes for them came from people across the board. But it sounds like you enjoy Starfucker, so maybe the poll wasn’t that far off?
* There are conflicts of interest, to be sure, but we think they level eachother out pretty well when you cast a wide net out to Portland bookers, venue owners, label heads, promoters, etc. One or two people can’t get a band on the list. A PR person can’t get a band they rep on the list. And by big-wigs we also mean people that throw house shows, small-time radio dj’s, basement labels, etc. And there are more (and more varied) voters every year.
* The idea was ex-WW music editor Mark Baumgarten’s, he wanted to promote the local music scene before WW went all-local. Past winners have been Menomena, Talkdemonic, Copy and the Shaky Hands.
I really think bands and voters are more realistic about it than you imply here. Any band or artist that has ‘placing on Best New Band’ in their priority list should probably spend more time working on their music. We did have a band try to cheat the poll two years ago, but we caught it.
The poll is what it is. We try to be very upfront about what it is. If you asked me what my top 10 best new bands were this year, the list would look different. We don’t expect anyone to bow down and worship the list, and for me it has always been as powerful a conversation starter as anything else. It seems to have had that effect on you (albeit in a sorta pissed off way). But for my part I’m glad people pose these questions every year, I’d feel really awkward and dirty if everyone just handed B&B the key to the city and I’d guess that they would to. They certainly didn’t start with the idea of winning the poll, and a steady buzz has built around that band for the last two years or so. I saw their show at SXSW and it was jam-packed with crazy dancing people. So I do think this poll evidenced that, regardless of how you feel about them, a pretty huge chunk of voters thought that they were one of the best bands to come to prominence in the last year. I honestly think that if we figured out a way to do a non-bogus popular vote, the Builders still would have placed pretty damn well, if not first. Which is wild speculation. But, you know, they have built a following.
Ok, I tend to ramble. Anyway, thanks for your comments, please hit me or amy (amccullough at wweek dot com) up by email if you have further questions. Til then!
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 10:40 am (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDave Depper
says:Whoa, man… Josh Hodges in that getup might be enough to get the straightest arrows to consider switchin’ their hittin’! Doth I detect a baby bump, though? Alert US Weekly!
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 10:49 am (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJ Ragel
says:mhm- Josh looks pretty cute in that getup. Manly hands though. VERY manly.
@CJ: It doesn’t seem to me like the voting process for BnB could be dramatically improved. My only idea is that ya’ll send a 2nd email to the voters listing the top 100 candidates (thus far) for judges to consider before casting their ‘final’ votes. So voters would first nominate then vote. This way, an artist who was ‘hot! hot! hot!’ locally in the summer but toured the world in the winter would run less risk of being out of sight out of mind. Take YACHT, for example. I was really surprised to see his name absent from the top 10.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 12:04 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJesus Christ
says:People who work in the music industry see more (and a wider variety of) Portland bands than any of the “real fans” do. That is why they are qualified to find the best. Period.
The people that put this package together work very hard to spotlight local bands and create a larger music culture for the city. Period.
Get over yourself.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 12:22 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCock n' Roll
says:Every year eople cry about the voting process and the outcome for WW Best New Band, as well as both the PDX Pop Now CD and Festival..
And every year organizers get super defensive about it like they’re baby ma ma or something..
My lists don’t match the Final ones in the least.
Thank fucking god, I would annoy everyone with my weird ass favorite music by people that don’t like to play out or record and certainly care less about this stuff than I do.
Although when the WW claims that people who vote cannot have a conflict of interest, and then they let things like DAT’Rs label that recently had put out their only record vote them number one, hmmm.. haha!
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 12:31 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkBrian Jones
says:“Best new band” or best new anything is just lame for that matter. We are all musicians with cool things about us and our music. Why does everyone have to compete, just make love and play music. It’s only safe. & the best new band from Portland in all reality is Starfucker, c’mon just look at him. He’s gonna be famous.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 2:42 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCASEY JARMAN
says:Jonny: That’s something to think about. I have some reservations but it’s an idea to throw around.
Cock n Roll: (sometimes I feel so funny saying these names). Just to clarify, I never said that people who vote don’t have a conflict of interest. Most of them do, I just think that those conflicts even out and the stuff voters agree on is the stuff that winds up making the list.
Brian: I don’t think it’s an actual competition in the classic sense. It’s a poll, and it’s an indicator, but I don’t honestly think that it proves anything except “these are the bands that a good chunk of portland’s behind-the-scenes music folks can more or less agree on.” We do not wish to interrupt anyone’s music or love-making.
Lastly, I think we’ve done a pretty good job of not getting defensive. We understand that the poll is a WW thing and people aren’t always going to accept it as benign. But I kid you not that it’s always a goal of ours to make it more of a community thing than it is now. Our aim is true, I do hope people understand that. So most of my comments are just trying to clarify why we do it the way we do, and what we hope it represents/can represent in the future. So when someone says “fuck you,” I’m interested in hearing why they don’t feel represented or why they’re turned off. There are different reasons for that. I still love the idea, I love the issue, I love the process and most of all I love the show. I stand by the results being fucking awesome every year. Not ‘definitive,’ perhaps, but fucking awesome.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 2:55 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinktravis
says:these comments are hilarious. ‘best of’ lists are silly. my band got on the list either last year or the year before. it did not change anything. we still have 2 finished lp’s with no label interested and have to choose between gas or booze on tour.
it seems like maybe old Bill had money riding on another band or something….
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 4:27 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinktravis
says:i meant ’silly’ in that its just for fun.
Posted @ May 15th, 2008 at 4:27 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJason Simms
says:U GAYZ SHOULD ST4RT A “B3ST NUDE BAND POLE” A POLE SOMEWARE COVERED IN HAWT PIXXX OF PR0TLAND BANDZ.
Posted @ May 16th, 2008 at 7:28 pm (May 14th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalink