A Couple of shows AFTER Boston Calling...

June 03, 2018

This past Tuesday, I went to see Alvvays at Port City Music Hall. They had recently played an afternoon set at Boston Calling (which I had gone to, but had missed their set, because I was seeing a different band at the same time, but I wasn't too disappoint because I knew I was seeing them headline). The show was sold out and for good reason, because Alvvays are an incredible live band. They are definitely a band to be watching out for because they are on the verge of exploding onto the mainstream. They write super catchy songs and the singer's voice is great. Aside from not being able to see her through the mass of people in the crowd because she is incredibly short (I'm guessing narrowly 5'0"). They put on a great show.

A Boston-local band, Palehound, opened for them and did a great show setting the stage. They have a very similar sound to early-'90s alternative rock. I've seen them open for a few other bands in the Boston area, as well. It was great to see them venture to Portland because I definitely think they have a good market here. Hopefully, they come back at some point.

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Friday night, Hop Along came back to Portland, headlining a show at Port City Music Hall, after having opened for Modest Mouse at the Civic Center (re: Cross Insurance Arena, but it'll always be the Civic Center to me) a few years back. They commanded that huge arena with their opening set, but I've also seen them in smaller venues and just love the environment at the smaller venues. My sister and I had actually seen them headline at the Royale at the beginning of May, as they started their tour supporting their interesting, yet superb new album "Bark Your Head Off." A lot of their sound hinges on Frances Quinlan's amazing, raspy, throaty howls/screams and singing, besides the amazing guitar work threaded throughout their songs. The Royale show was probably one of my favorites of the year, so far. They just seemed so in snyc with each other and played so well that night. This headlining show, towards the end of their tour, started off with some obvious nerves as the guitarist struggled to get his peddleboard to function properly. They had to open the show with a different song, because he had to work on getting it fixed and you could tell that the singer and the rest of the band were a bit thrown off by that shaky start. They tried to recover as best as they could, because as the old adage says, "The show must go on." To me, they put on an incredible show, but it definitely was not as great as their Boston show the previous month. I was still extremely happy to see them in Portland, and now I think I've seen them 4 times! They have easily become one of my favorite bands of recent.