Back Beat
Now that Eugene has recovered from our “was-he-or-wasn’t-he-really-here” Justin Bieber fever (Bieber-fieber, if you will), it’s time look ahead at the upcoming week in live music. But first some show announcements: Continue reading
Whats-Happening: Page 454
Immigrant Punk
New York’s Gogol Bordello
Musical traditions, like cuisine, say a lot about a culture. Pay attention and learn of pinnacles, invasions, conquests and declines. The recipe for great music and food is often the contradiction of outsiders celebrating their own lousy situation, mixing in ingredients that in different contexts might not make sense. New York’s Gogol Bordello has long been one of rock’s tastiest stews — a culture unto themselves. Continue reading
Vibrant Voices
Opera, symphony and choral concerts bring vital vocals
We usually hear one dimension of Peter Tchaikovsky: his melody-drenched ballet scores, especially that one that cracks up every Christmas. Continue reading
Murder on the Menu
Mystery Mayhem Theater Company’s dinner show Murder on the Campaign Trail
With perfect political timing, a new dinner theater company brings Murder on the Campaign Trail to town The newly minted Mystery Mayhem Theater Company’s dinner show, Murder on the Campaign Trail, opens in Springfield this weekend, with a sendup of the political process and whodunit rolled into one. The show’s co-producer, Tony Stirpe, cut his teeth on shows like this. Continue reading
Tragedies and Statistics
University Theatre's Scorched looks unflinchingly at the side of war we don’t often see, or want to
Clocking in at nearly four hours, University Theatre’s production of Scorched is something of an endurance test, and the stamina it requires is more than just physical. Bloody and unrelenting, the play transports the audience front and center to hell on earth, and its emotional impact is undeniable, like a seizure of post-traumatic stress that won’t let you go. Continue reading
Face Time
Artist Bret Pendlebury puts a fresh spin on portraiture
We’re all well acquainted with portraits. We’ve all seen da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and Van Gogh’s self-portrait with bandaged ear. We’ve been subjects in our own portraits, from selfies snapped at wild house parties to those bizarre, neck-cricking high-school IDs. Portraits are displayed in magazine ads, on business cards, in mugshots, passports and newspaper headlines. Continue reading
All Quiet on the Eastern Front
Groping in the dark for Springfield’s slowing pulse
New Cherry Poppin’ Daddies music video features Eugene swing dancers
[Above: A still from the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' new music video for "That Lindy Hop" — see the full video at the bottom of this post.] It’s not everyday you get an email from a musician you love, but last fall local swing dancer and instructor Nick Davis checked his inbox to find an email from Cherry Poppin’ Daddies singer-songwriter Steve Perry. Continue reading
The Good Fight
local heavyweight Jimmy Jennett's youth outreach
‘Break jaws, not laws,’ MMA fighter jimmy Jennett says Continue reading
It’s About Time – March 2016
As the vernal equinox passes this month, the spring waves of wildflower blooms increase in breadth and vigor. Like the waves crashing on the beach, they are in constant motion yet precisely defined at any instant. Unlike the waves of the ocean, waves of blooming are so slow the human eye cannot detect any motion. Every flower has a slow but steady dance that one must visualize mentally to appreciate its blossoming. This is what makes time-lapse movies of flowers opening so appealing; they give the impression of inexorable actions being speeded up, constantly moving. Continue reading