Project Pabst 2014 Preview

“Pabst Blue Ribbon!!!” Dennis Hopper made sure that the Heineken-loving Kyle MacLachlan knew what was the best beer in the world in David Lynch’s cult classic Blue Velvet. The workingman’s beer rose in the middle of the century, only to decline and now revive as the hipster brew of choice. It’s as associated with twenty-first century hipsters as alternative music or Portland or Williamsburg or ironic facial hair, so it’s no wonder that PBR is putting on a festival at Portland’s Waterfront Park this weekend, September 27th & 28th:

(but why no festival in Williamsburg? I guess Portlandia mayor Kyle MacLachlan pulled some strings…)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th

Tears for Fears, Captain Pabst Stage, 7:15 PM – 9:00 PM “Everybody Wants To Rule the World” – That was a major anthem of the eighties, and it can from Bath, England’s Tears For Fears. The new wave duo of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith had a number of hit singles during the Reagan/Bush/Thatcher years (“Mothers Talk”, “Shout”, “Head Over Heels”, “Sowing the Seeds of Love”) before splitting up at the dawn of the nineties (though Orzabal retained use of the name through the nineties). The pair reunited as the twenty-first century dawned and released Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, and now come to headline Project Pabst with word of their first new album in a decade.

Rocket From the Crypt, Blue Ribbon Stage, 6:15 PM – 7:15 PM Rocket From the Crypt broke out of San Diego just as punk was breaking worldwide in the early nineties – MTV VJ Kennedy had a tattoo of their logo on her ankle, and what’s more early nineties than ‘MTV VJ Kennedy’?… The group underwent some line-up and label changes before breaking up in 2005, but was reunited six years later on Yo Gabba Gabba! (singer/guitarist John Reis, more recently of his own Night Marchers – QRO photos – plays ‘The Music Swami’ on the show, who introduces each episode’s musical act). It took another couple of years for the group to get a full reunion tour, but 2013 saw it with first a European & Asian tour, then North America (QRO photos at a North American festival), and have kept going.

Phosphorescent, Captain Pabst Stage, 5:15 PM – 6:15 PM Alt-country/indie-folk has been booming, especially on the festival circuit, so there’s gonna be a slot for Athens, Georgia-by-way-of-Brooklyn, NY (QRO photos outdoors at a festival in Brooklyn) Phosphorescent (QRO photos outdoors). After playing Europe (QRO European tour review) & America last year behind the Muchacho, they’re less jam & more touch than their contemporaries, and love to play outdoors (QRO photos outdoors) and at festivals (QRO photos at a festival).

Red Fang, Blue Ribbon Stage, 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM Portland is ahead of the musical curve in all sorts of ways, including the new wave of indie-metal, like Red Fang, who play Project Pabst off of last year’s Whales and Leeches.

Violent Femmes, Captain Pabst Stage, 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM The New Wave that acts like The Talking Heads ushered in back in the eighties saw a number of ‘geek rock’ outfits grab the listening public, from They Might Be Giants (QRO live review) to Violent Femmes (QRO photos outdoors), who hit it big in 1983 with the self-titled debut and singles such as “Blister In the Sun” and “Kiss Off”. Follow-up records didn’t find the same success, and the band went on numerous hiatuses/break-ups. Drummer Victor DeLorenzo left in 1993 only to return in 2002, but the biggest split was between singer/guitarist Gordon Gano and bassist Brian Ritchie over Gano selling the rights to “Blister” to be used in a Wendy’s commercial in 2007. A lawsuit ensued, and this break-up seemed to be for good, but this year they’ve somehow reunited again for another run at the festival circuit (QRO photos at a festival), though DeLorenzo’s left again, to be replaced by Brian Vigilione of Dresden Dolls (QRO photos with Vigilione at a festival).

X Ambassadors, Blue Ribbon Stage, 2:15 PM – 3:00 PM Ithaca’s X Ambassadors (QRO photos) come to Project Pabst after scouring the world for the best busker band with Budweiser.

K. Flay, Captain Pabst Stage, 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM A musical aficionado, K. Flay (QRO photos at a festival) seems to know how to do it: producing beats, making rhymes, and playing guitar, piano, and drums. Her inexplicable catchy hooks, and beats are something least expected of a Stanford graduate but has already been deemed the ‘new best thing in hip-hop.’ This year she’s moved up from mixtapes to her first proper full-length, My Life As a Dog.

Also: Guantanamo Baywatch, Blue Ribbon Stage, 12:45 PM – 1:30 PM

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th

Modest Mouse, Captain Pabst Stage, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Washington State’s Modest Mouse (QRO photos) broke through to mainstream success in 2004 with Good News For People Who Like Bad News, and followed that up by adding Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr for 2007’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (QRO review) – unfortunately, Marr has since left to join the even younger Cribs (QRO live review) and then solo (QRO live review). But they’re still big enough to even headline (QRO photos headlining a festival), are great outdoors (QRO photos outdoors), and word is they’re finally working on a new album (QRO photos at a more recent festival).

GZA, Blue Ribbon Stage, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PBR is most definitely for hip-hop fans as well, and Project Pabst has picked a strong seller in The GZA (QRO photos at a festival). The Brooklyn native was a founding member of the famed Wu-Tang Clan with his cousin Ol’ Dirty Bastard. He’s subsequently gone on to do acclaimed work both with Wu-Tang and on his own. The Wu recently reunited (QRO photos at a festival), but for Project Pabst GZA comes solo to do his critically acclaimed 1995 solo album, Liquid Swords.

Lord Huron, Captain Pabst Stage, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Los Angeles label IAMSOUND is best known for electronic acts, but found a nice local indie-folk act in Lord Huron (QRO photos in Los Angeles), who are also festival regulars (QRO photos at a festival).

Shabazz Palaces, Blue Ribbon Stage, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Hip-hop collective Shabazz Palaces hail from Seattle (QRO photos at a Washington State festival) – that’s why their latest, Black Up (QRO review), was released by indie label Sub Pop, better known for starting the grunge sound from up there twenty-plus years ago.

The Thermals, Captain Pabst Stage, 3:15 PM – 4:00 PM Portland’s own The Thermals (QRO photos) have become lo-fi heroes since their debut, More Parts Per Million, delivering catchy pop-punk the kids love. However, even after moving from Seattle’s Sub Pop to their hometown’s Kill Rock Stars with 2009’s Now We Can See (QRO review) and 2011’s Personal Life (QRO review), and last year on Omaha’s Saddle Creek for Desperate Ground (QRO review), they’ve never become that impressive to a finer-tuned ear. But they’ve got a legion of fans (QRO photos) that turn out in force, especially outdoors (QRO photos outdoors), at a hometown festival (QRO photos at a Portland festival), and especially outdoors at a festival (QRO photos outdoors at a festival).

Speedy Ortiz, Blue Ribbon Stage, 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM There’s tons of buzz around Brooklyn’s new Speedy Ortiz (QRO photos at a festival) – so of course they’re playing a festival (QRO photos at a festival) sponsored by PBR.

Also: Deap Vally, Captain Pabst Stage, 1:45 PM – 2:30 PM – QRO photos at a festival Grandparents, Blue Ribbon Stage, 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM