Dr. Dog, The Cave Singers, Golden Boots WONDER BALLROOM

I would have rather dealt with the worst, most slick ticket monger in the world than have had gone though the hassle I did to see Dr. Dog at the Wonder Ballroom. Me, as brilliant as I have proven to be, thought it clever to buy tickets from the Wonder Ballroom box office and beat the TicketMaster service charge. Ergo, a friend of mine and I checked the box office hours of business and printed out directions. Here I thought I was being so pennywise AND stickin' it to the man. But nobody told me how difficult it is to stick it to the man when you print out the wrong directions and the box office tenant never shows up for work. At this point, I thought about resorting to Craig's List but then remembered my past experience buying tickets off Craig's List. The last time I tried that route I got a call back for "two hours of pure pleasure" and an inquiry about an antique oak dresser set. As for Dr. Dog, I eventually gave in and bought the tickets for twice the price on TicktMaster.

Despite my ticket hassle, the show was WONDERfully delightful. Dr. Dog, the Cave Singers, and the Golden Boots (none of them were actually wearing golden boots but that is just fine by me) played Portland's NE Wonder Ballroom Wednesday April 15th. It was a night filled with pirate shirts, lead-heavy guitars, washboard folk diddys, melodica melodies, and killer sunglasses coupled with stylish facial hair.

New to my music radar, the Golden Boots were a pleasant surprise of psychedelic folk rock and two drum sets. Rapidly becoming one of my favorite acts, Seattle's Cave Singers tore up the stage and left the crowd abuzz with excitement. Their on-stage camaraderie and jump-jiving tunes have kept me coming back for more, five times in the past year to be exact. Once the night had warmed up, Dr. Dog rolled out in a puff of pot smoke and quelled the rambunctious crowd with an EASY BEAT. Their set was complete with mood lighting and area rug! To my surprise they played what seemed like nearly one billion songs. Their encore even had a staggering five songs! I most enjoyed Dr. Dog's collective dancing on-stage. I never knew that people could bop for the entirety of their performance. The lead singer even had duck taped his shoe because he had toe-tapped it in half. Like the heel of Toby's shoe the night was never motionless. I would highly suggest investing in the TicketMaster service charge to see such a WONDERfully delightful performance live.


-mh