Report: Those Darlins Live in Portland

August 2 at the Bunk Bar, Those Darlins, along with Motopony and White Arrows, packed ‘em in.

By Tim Hinely

A very odd Tuesday night at Bunk Bar for one, because the place was absolutely packed and an odd crowd as well. My buddies and I were picking out the high school cliques, we saw plenty of bros/meatheads, some barbies, several indie kids, a few metalheads, a couple of milfs, and, of course, some washed out hippies (with Jesus beards) as well. It seemed like all of the social groups were represented. Seattle‘s Motopony have a bad name but that can be changed and they also seem to have a bit of a Jane's Addiction fixation but that can be changed also. Of the songs that weren't Jane's influenced, they seemed to slip into a deep n' heavy rhythmic groove while vocalist Daniel Blue showed his worth with a serious set of pipes. Why isn't this guy doing opera? Motopony are definitely worth some of your precious time.

L.A.'s White Arrows hopped up on stage next and continued Motopony's mastery over this motley bunch by blowing through a 40 or so minutes of  pop music with a fairly nifty mix of pop riffs, dance beats and some occasional forays into a realm that can only be described as psychedelic.  I hear the 1980's all over their music and the electro-ish cover of The Boss's "I'm On Fire" was ace. The signer Mickey Schiff, was apparently born blind but can now see and studied Ritualistic Shamanism at NYU, so think about that for awhile.

Nashville's Those Darlins seem to be still going on that big breath they took in on their last tour (last Portland stop was just a few months ago) and hey, why not. The latest (terrific) record, Screws Get Loose, is topping the indie charts (if it's not, it should be) and these three-ladies-and-a-dude-on-drums hit the stage near midnight (why oh why so late on a freakin' Tuesday night?!), slipped right into their murky/twangy girl group goodness and had the crowd, sloshed on somethin' by this point, mesmerized and eatin' out of their hands. Enter, approach and bow mightily (and make sure you have your dance shoes on).