Thursday,7
Open Source Improv, Cloud & Kelly’s Public House, 126 SW 1st St. 9 p.m. Free
Improv comedy. You want it, and we have it. By “we,” I of course mean we as a culture generally and Corvallis specifically. You must be pretty pleased that you’ll be getting your chance to yell out random word combinations and see variously trained locals act those things out. I plan to shout things like “cauliflower escalation!” Art. Am I right? Sometimes it just sounds like a lot of bullsh*t.
Marys River Grange Movie Night, Marys River Grange Hall, 24707 Grange Hall Rd., Philomath, 7 p.m. Free
The last edition of MRGMN really started to ramp things up—we saw some crossover of Corvallisites into Philomath, and I was loving it. This week we should see that trend continue, as we screen And Then There Were None (1945), the legendary and brilliant Agatha Christie adaptation. It’s a deviously funny and thrilling mystery that will thrill and entertain even the most cynical hater. The movie is fabulous, the Grange is gorgeous and welcoming, and the amazing Philomath community brings crazy good treats. This is the future of community screenings, so get used to it, people. We’re here to stay.
Friday, 8
Berto Boyd, Nick Rivard & Ben Woodman, Bombs Away Café, 2527 NW Monroe Ave. 9 p.m. $5
Berto Boyd is an amazing guitarist who will blow your tree-climbing Pacific Northwest minds with his flamenco guitar. I feel confident saying that because it happened when I heard him play, and I sort of like to imagine everyone’s mind is as fragile and combustible as mine. Also he looks like a Miami Vice villain which doesn’t hurt. But seriously, he’s good, and this show is a steal at $5. Ben Woodman and Rivard will also be blazing what can only be described as “hot licks” in support of Boyd. What? Nobody uses the term “hot licks,” huh? Fair enough… d*cks…
https://www.facebook.com/ben.woodman.397
The Alkis, Calapooia Brewing, 140 NE Hill St., Albany. 8 p.m. Free
The Alkis are a dynamite acoustic duo out of Seattle who are not what their name made me suggest. I was sort of imagining a thrash metal outfit of long-haired dudes who love to drink. This is a couple of women with beautiful voices singing soft rock with an unpretentious sensibility and a precision of delivery that is refreshing. I’d actually pay money to see the Alkis, so getting a chance to do it for free is a real thrill for a cash-strapped person with not a lot going on, like me.
https://thealkis.bandcamp.com/
Saturday, 9
Coronation, Bombs Away Café, 2527 NW Monroe Ave. 9 p.m. Free
Coronation is back with the party pumping retro sound that makes the kids go, “Wait, these guys totally sound like that hot young band I’m all about these days, that I can’t quite name right now because the person writing in my voice is too uncultured to even be passingly familiar with.” But the gist of all this confusing and poorly constructed characterization is that Coronation rules. Come get your funky synths on at Bombs. For free, my favorite kind of funky synths.
http://www.coronationmusic.com
Majestic Madness, Majestic Theatre, 115 SW 2nd St. 7:30 p.m. Free
I believe this is the third iteration of the Majestic’s popular new fun community activity. Not to be confused with their 700 other new fun community activities. This is the one where the people just jump in the action right there, cast and read short plays right in the spot, with the audience jumping in. How could you not want to see that? Unless of course you are one of the extremely rare group that had a loved one die in an impromptu crowd-involved theater stunt gone wrong. I’m just saying, they’re out there. And you don’t want to be caught in that particular awkward conversation. “Then the clown asked him to sniff the flower on his lapel… and boom…”
Sunday, 10
Blues Jam, Calapooia Brewing, 140 NE Hill St., Albany. 4 p.m. Free
Blues Jam is bravely resisting society’s clear message to fold it up for the week and stay at home to watch football. They can be like that, the guys at Blues Jam; they’re a stubborn bunch. And they love to play the blues, for free, in a sort of jam-like formation. I won’t be there myself, because obviously I’ll be watching football, but I get the sense there’s a strong contingent of Corvallisites that just don’t give a f*ck about football. Am I reading the room correctly? If so, this is your Sunday afternoon right here.
NFL Playoffs
Jeez, I would have to check the fossil record, but I don’t believe there has been a Sunday with as little going on as this one ever. It’s almost as if the NFL is contracting with local venues to make them not book anything on the first day of the playoffs. I would be angry if I didn’t admire their ruthlessly ingenious methods. Like I needed an excuse to stay in and watch playoff football all day in my bathrobe anyway. There are two great games on including Seahawks vs. Vikings and Packers vs. the team from Washington which shall remain nameless. And then Blues Jam. It’s a perfect Sunday.
Monday, 11
Science Pub, Old World Deli, 341 SW 2nd St. 6 p.m. Free
Science Pub is kicking off its 2016 slate of fascinating talks with a really interesting-looking one from Dr. Bogart of OSU. We previously met her in an article here highlighting her work on communication with people living with disabilities, primarily facial paralysis. It’s a much more common condition than people realize, and Dr. Bogart was herself born with it in the form of Moebius syndrome. This is sure to be another eye-opening edition of Corvallis’ smartest free evening of entertainment, not counting my weekly podcast How to Do Stuff.
Bryson Skaar, Imagine Coffee, 5460 SW Philomath Blvd. 7 p.m. Free
Also kicking off what’s sure to be a strong 2016 full of jazz piano is Bryson Skaar. Sure, it’s his second performance of 2016, and I believe I started last week’s exhortation to go see Skaar with the exact same sentence. Look it’s going to be a long year of 8 Days columns, let’s not start turning on each other now. Where was I? Oh yeah, Bryson Skaar; now that Monday Night Football is over, he’s pretty much your only option. In fact, he should get some business cards printed up that say that.
Tuesday, 12
Community Movie Night with Ygal Kaufman, Darkside Cinema, 215 SW 4th St. 7 p.m. Free
Yeah boy! Seeing as how this Sherlock Holmes character is, I’m just going to go ahead and milk it. It’s the second CMNYK Sherlock Holmes double feature with two Basil Rathbone Sherlocks for you rabid fans of the classics to enjoy. They’re only about an hour apiece, so you won’t be there all night. But there will be amazing newsreels, cartoons, and other surprises… what could it be this week? You’ll have to show up to find out. And it’s free, so with the way movies cost money these days, it’s almost like we’re paying you. Come see The Secret Weapon (1933) and The Woman in Green (1936) back-to-back on the big screen. With me.
Celtic Jam, Imagine Coffee, 5460 SW Philomath Blvd. 7 p.m. Free
Now if you’ve quite had your fill of Sherlock Holmes, and I really couldn’t blame you for that (if I wasn’t such a shameless crowd-pleaser I wouldn’t be relying on Sherlock to fill seats at CMNYK), you can always go hear some great free music from our favorite local Irish music bunch. Just a lovely group playing lovely music. For lovers. Too much? OK, fine. Just go.
Wednesday, 13
Chuck Holst & Gary Rowles, Bombs Away Café, 2527 NW Monroe Ave. 8:30 p.m. Free
Love. You ever hear of it? They were a band. Sorry, let me re-phrase that. The band. Love is one of the greatest and most innovative rock acts of the classic era. They’re like Death meets Spirit with a little Miles Davis, Rolling Stones, and MC5 in the mix, too. They were perfect. And Gary Rowles was their lead guitarist for a time. Now you get to hear him play for free every month. Corvallis is a lucky place to live. Chuck Holst is like the yin to Gary’s yang, if yin and yang weren’t polar opposites and instead were like identical musical soulmates. You know what? yin and yang were a bad choice for comparison there. My bad.
Out of the Past (1947), Whiteside Theatre, 361 SW Madison Ave. 7 p.m. $7 ($6 for students, seniors; $5 for members)
I’d love to hate the Whiteside for putting on a classic movie series right across the street from CMNYK, but it’s hard to hate when they’re doing such a good job. Last week it was Chinatown, and this week it’s the wonderful Mitchum classic Out of the Past (1947). I can’t endorse this strongly enough. It’s a fabulous film in a fabulous old theater with some of the biggest stars of arguably the greatest movie era. Goddamn Whiteside! This is awesome. Just go. And remember, one can really never get enough classic films on the big screen in their life, so feel free to go on Thursday, Tuesday, and then again on Wednesday this week. There is no such thing as oversaturation.
Thursday, 14
Asterion & Partrimony, Bombs Away Café, 2527 NW Monroe Ave. 9 p.m. Free
Get the lead out, people. It’s Asterion and Patrimony live at Bombs. Asterion is a sort of modern metral that some will love and others will likely hate. Patrimony is just one of the hardest working hard rock bands in town and you should all know them well at this point. This is a couple of Oregon acts busting a*s to get ahead in the dog-eat-dog music world. Will they make it? I remain skeptical, but that shouldn’t stop you all from supporting them. Without your eyes and ears, they would literally shrivel up and die. If a prog-metal band shreds in a forest and there’s nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound? Philosophical questions from a guy who knows how to dance.
Wild Hog in the Woods, Calapooia Brewing, 140 NE Hill St., Albany. 7:30 p.m. Free
Wild Hog is definitely starting off the year as Willamette Valley as humanly possible. That’s right, it’s 2016 and I’m now using “Willamette Valley” as an adverb to describe doing things in an Americana manner. Is it poor writing fundamentals? Undoubtedly. But I don’t care. This is music “totapatoeto,” as they say, and every time I type that I immediately get hungry for baked potatoes. The English language can be weird like that, but let that not dissuade you from enjoying maybe Corvallis’ most Willamette Valley band. Boom. I just used it as an adjective, too. Your mind is blown, admit it.
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