English Beat - Wonder Ballroom

I had never seen the English Beat before (even though I had seen General Public way back in the day), so I thought I would finally check them out.  They seem to tour every year or two, so I had never felt any urgency to attend any of their shows.  Dave Wakeling and his band put on a fun show, filled with hits from the Beat and from General Public.  They still have a strong fan base from the old days, and it was great to see so many people show up on a Sunday night.

English Beat - Wonder Ballroom

Joy Formidable/Guards - Wonder Ballroom

Joy Formidable put on an amazingly energetic show at the Wonder Ballroom.  Singer/guitarist Ritzy bounced around the stage like a whirling dervish.  The open stage setup really allowed a lot of running and jumping during the non-vocal segments of each song.  Trying to get a decent photo of the action was quite the challenge.

Joy Formidable - Wonder Ballroom

Guards - Wonder Ballroom

Silent Film - Mississippi Studios

A Silent Film returned to Mississippi Studios to promote their latest album "Sand & Snow."  The show coincided with the birthday of Spencer, the band's drummer.  In addition to the traditional crowd sing-a-long of "Happy Birthday," there was a surprise birthday cake brought on stage.  This was the first time that I got to eat birthday cake at a concert, and it made the show even more fun than the band's fantastic performance.

Silent Film - Mississippi Studios

Ben Folds Five - Roseland Theater

Ben Folds Five made the last stop of their tour in Portland, and the reunited trio treated the crowd to a rousing performance.  There were many older Ben Folds Five songs, including "Brick", which I thought they were never going to perform live again.  We heard some funny anecdotes about Steven/Stephen, and the crowd screamed for the return of their black t-shirts.  The band avoided songs from Ben Folds' solo period, so no suburbs were rocked.  All in all, an entertaining evening.

Ben Folds Five - Roseland Theater

Keane/Youngblood Hawke - Crystal Ballroom

Keane opened their North American tour in support of their latest album with a date at the historic Crystal Ballroom.  They split their set between big hits from their earlier albums and cuts from the fantastic "Strangeland."  Keane gave a solid performance, and fed off the great crowd energy.  The audience skewed heavily female and older, and the band really appreciated the enthusiastic response from the crowd.

Keane - Crystal Ballroom

Metric/Shadows on Stars - Roseland Theater

This was a December to Remember show.

Metric - Roseland Theater

The audience gave Metric a great reception.  By the end of the evening, many people around me were enthusiastically proclaiming that the band had put on an "awesome" performance, and I have to agree.  Metric had great energy and treated us to many hits.

Saint Etienne/Kim Baxter - Wonder Ballroom

Saint Etienne came to Portland and put on a great show.  I was surprised that they decided to include Portland on this tour, because they usually just hit a few big cities when they come to North America.

Saint Etienne - Wonder Ballroom

It was only Bob, Pete and Sarah, plus a great backup singer, on stage, but they still brought the full Saint Etienne sound.  They played a few songs from the latest album "Words and Music by Saint Etienne," and a ton of hits from throughout their career.  It took a little while for the crowd to warm up, but the show turned into a fun dance party, and I think the band really appreciated the energy of the crowd.  I, for one, was really happy that they chose to play Portland, and I hope they'll be back.

Smashing Pumpkins/Fancy Space People/Light FM - Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan

With the completion and imminent release of the new album "Oceania," the Smashing Pumpkins took to the road to treat their fans to some of their new songs.  I caught their show at the Boulevard Pool, an intimate outdoor venue on the deck of a rooftop pool overlooking the Las Vegas strip.

Smashing Pumpkins - Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan

This was truly a tour for the fans, with only two hits ("Cherub Rock" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings") played during the entire set.  Instead, the band focused on newer songs from "Oceania" and "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope," and on older album cuts from the "Gish"/"Siamese Dream"/"Mellon Collie" era.  Songs like "Silverfuck" and "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" were great surprises.  Billy and company even played a significant portion of "I Am One," although without any of the vocals.  The set included the first time I remember seeing "Frail and Bedazzled," one of my favorites.  I loved "Owata," with the substitution of Las Vegas for Chicago in the lyrics - the song's phrase "what a beautiful night" summarized the concert for me.

Starf***er/Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Wonder Ballroom

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark/Washington - Wonder Ballroom

An enthusiastic audience greeted the return of OMD, with the reunited original lineup.  The band played every hit song that you could hope to hear. Newer songs from "The History of Modern" fit seamlessly into the set and drew an appreciative response from the crowd. OMD had received complaints that they had not included "Secret" in earlier shows, so it was a pleasant surprise that they had rehearsed the song and included it in the encore. The show was a great blast from the past.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Wonder Ballroom

Ladytron/Geographer - Wonder Ballroom

Ladytron put on a great show, featuring many songs from their latest album "Gravity the Seducer."  My favorite moment came when both Helen and Mira performed vocals together on "Seventeen."

Ladytron - Wonder Ballroom

Also, shout out to the random dude who gave me his spare guest list ticket as I was standing in line at the ticket window - thanks!

Ted Leo - Dr. Martens store

This was a Musicfest NW show.

Ted Leo - Dr. Martens store