Don’t get all crazy expectant or anything, because we know how the “Sibilance” staff have abused you on this topic in the past, but we have it on some authority that the Skinny really will reopen in the old Whit’s End space on Congress Street sometime in the “early fall.” Seriously. If nothing else, Skinny impresario John Lomba knows a good band when he hears one, and there’s no denying that he books a mean club. Tack on some food from the Blue Mango and the space should be a top-notch addition to what is already the coolest street in town, what with SPACE, the White Heart, the new Geno’s, 555, and various and sundry other joints we might find ourselves hanging out in. (Disclaimer: Should the Skinny not actually reopen in the early fall, the “Sibilance” staff bears no responsibility and will not refund the purchase price of this newspaper. Cheers.)
Maybe you’ve heard of the Mixtape Collective of Portland? We recently have and, yes, they actually still make mixtapes. Personally, we threw our cassettes out some time ago, and have relegated the tape deck to the take-me-I’m-free pile at the dump, but some people are all retro and whatnot and we’re not going to pee in their cornflakes for that. Rather, we’ll tout their Mixtape of Portland Contest, whereby people can send mixtapes “appropriate for your whole extended family and friends” (it’s a wedding-music thing, on some level) to the collective at PO Box 228, Portland, 04112, by August 15. The best one, in Esther and Co.’s opinion, will win its creator a “deluxe” prize package and a mixtape by a “Portland Celebrity.” E-mail questions to amandajennifer@gmail.com.
Former Twitchboy/6gig drummer, and current Conifer drummer, Jason Stewart has teamed up with old friend and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Todd Dadaleares (brother of Twitchboy/Tripe’s Brent Dadaleares) and attracted the services of newly returned to Portland Neil Collins on guitar and Frank Couture of Matahari (Stewart also played with them for a time) on bass. Also, there’s a keyboard player who is not confirmed, but you’d recognize if you follow the scene. They don’t have a name yet, but they’re in rehearsals for a first gig in the fall. Look for intelligent rock, with some electronic elements and some interesting song structure if the respective former work of these musicians is any indication of future work.
Portland’s first can’t-miss rockers, TheKopterz, are celebrating their 24th anniversary with a cruise on the Casablanca, departing from Custom House Wharf July 27 (likely tonight, if you’re a loyal reader of this column). Get tix at the Comedy Connection and hop on board. Anyway, even if you miss it, the Kopterz will be releasing a re-mastered box set of all their original vinyl releases on three CDs, hopefully by Christmas shopping season. We love Portland ’80s music just as much as we love contemporary Portland music; we just listen to the ’80s stuff in our tighty whities.
