On record, Femi Kuti can't help but come off as a slightly vanilla version of his mad genius father Fela (popularizer of Afrobeat music, also known for having 12 wives at once, among other things), and certain early moments of his show at Port City Music Hall had me worried his live show would feel the same: there were successive solos by nearly everyone in the band, among a few other superstar tropes. By and large, though, Femi and his 13-member band (five horn players, two drummers, three dancers — thought to be Femi's wives, others on keys and guitar) were astoundingly energetic and surprisingly innovative. Mind-bending polyrhythms and explosive blasts of horns ruled the nearly two-hour set, and Femi was as charismatic a leader as you could ask for (though his skills on the sax left something to be desired). Toward the end of the night, Kuti tied a five-minute long sex-education lecture (you get better as you get older) with the refrain of a set-capping song: "Don't come too fast." The band clearly behaved with that knowledge in mind, as they sounded more emboldened and experimental as the night went on.
Luke Kalloch, a/k/a the Loblolly Boy, makes a good first impression at a singer/songwriter joint: he has a Moses Atwood-y ugly mustache and anachronistic costume, so you naturally expect something more than standard coffee-shop fare of him. Alas. Kalloch has an agreeable stage presence, but a frustrating habit of prioritizing accessibility over singularity. His rambling, strumming narratives about relationships (and basically life, man) are lacking in detail and nuance, and they're tied together with wan sentiments "we can all relate to." (Unfortunately, this is not a unique approach in Portland.) Kalloch's got an image, I guess, but he could use more personality.
Related:
Music Seen: All over, Portland Music News: June 19, 2009, Finding even better days, More 
- Music Seen: All over
Last week we spent five of six nights out on the town. If anyone ever complains that we don't have enough venues or shows to attend we beg to differ.
- Portland Music News: June 19, 2009
Yeah, this makes us feel a little old: The June 27 show at the Port City Music Hall will be a 20th anniversary show for TWISTED ROOTS . SUN GODS IN EXILE (fresh off a release show for their debut album) and SIDECAR RADIO open, and there's word that original TR bassist NEIL COLLINS will sit in for a few songs.
- Finding even better days
Gypsy Tailwind have been a slow build. Though Halo Sessions was one of the best local albums of 2008, it seems no one really heard it until 2009, thanks largely to the radio success of "So Lonely," a single whose melancholy bounce was heartbreakingly honest: "I'll tell you a secret: I drank myself to sleep last night."
- Music Seen: Neko Case + Haru Bangs
First things first: Neko Case is the complete package, an unmitigated bombshell (gorgeous, wry, self-effacing) with a singular artistic vision (country/folk songs so heavy on metaphor and animistic and obscure mythological references that you could — and should — unpack them for months) and a voice like an air-raid siren.
- Music Seen: Sufjan Stevens + Marie Stella
The ironic thing about Sufjan Stevens's belated debut in Portland was that a big show for this town is an intimate event for him.
- The way it 'Otto' be
People queued up along Congress Street during the First Friday Art Walk last week may have been in town for the art, but they were in line for the pizza.
- Movies are moving, hot dogs are hopping, Binga's is burning
Even as the temperatures drop and we head into hibernation mode for winter, Portland's drinking, dining, nightlife, and shopping scenes continue to evolve. Here's a round-up of comings and goings.
- Dry days are over for PCMH
It's an all-too-common scene here in Portland: A local music venue is ready to rock, but liquor inspectors (or fire inspectors, or some kind of inspectors) haven't yet signed some important piece of paperwork.
- Ridiculous and sublime
Certainly what will stick out most in our minds are those wonderful hours late on November 4, when we hugged and cheered and attempted to get from one side of Empire to the other without spilling our beer.
- Aphrodesia
The band are tight and fluid, and their command of far-flung languages and musical genres is sure-footed without being reverential.
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