Peace Out, Brooksy

Long-time Lane County resident and fingerstyle guitarist extraordinaire Brooks Robertson says farewell to our beloved city on Feb. 12 when he makes a break for the stars up in Portland. LaVelle Wine Bar, a recurrent host of Robertson, plans to make the event as fitting as possible while we see off one of the area’s most talented and unique artists. Brooks has been named the Buster B. Jones of his generation, and this seems apt considering how smoothly and impressively he makes his guitar hum. Jones was also a mentor of Robertson from an early age, and so the legacy of virtuosic fingerpicking will live on for years to come.



There’s something about the power and raw energy of one dude sitting in a chair with just a six string and a bunch of intense chops that makes the heart sing. Brooks has made this feeling a reality for years in Eugene, and there’s no doubt he’ll do the same up in P-town. His reputation is already large, and it’s boosted magnificently by his memorable second-place overall finish at last years “Yamaha Six String Guitar Theory Competition,” an international event that draws guitarists from almost fifty countries worldwide.

The evening-long “Bon Voyage” event at LaVelle features a meet-and-greet with Robertson starting at 5 pm, a set by local country-pop band Apropos from 6 to 6:45, and a two-hour Brooks set worthy of this momentous sendoff beginning at 7. Food will be available for purchase all night, and everything else is free. Could you really ask for more?

So let’s doff our hats to Brooks for supplying us with one of the coolest guitar techniques around. Thanks for all the good times, dude.

The Brooks Robertson “Bon Voyage” concert starts at 5 pm, Saturday, Feb. 12, at LaVelle Wine Bar; FREE

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Upcoming Events: Wolf Parade

The five—and more recently four—man Montreal group Wolf Parade will release their third LP entitled “Expo 86” on June 29th and thus far the tracks that have been pre-released are sounding impressive. After mild disappointment with their second album, it is comforting to hear some remnants of “Apologies to the Queen Mary” shining through. Though the loss of Hadji Bakara will leave a hole in the band’s sound manipulation department, this is not by any means a death sentence for Wolf Parade’s sound. In particular the layering of high, melodic lines on the new “What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had to Go This Way)” is quite evocative of the classic Wolf Parade style that so many listeners crave.


(Wolf Parade - "Expo 86" Album Cover)

It has been almost two years since the band’s “At Mount Zoomer” tour carried them here to unleash blissful chaos on the McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom. Upon entering the show I was not anticipating a particularly lively show—after all Wolf Parade’s studio sound had always seemed oddly tame to me in conjunction with their upbeat style—and so I (foolishly) decided to wear open toe footwear. In hindsight I can safely say that the 2008 show was the most definitive sweat-shower of my life: Over the course of their set I received several bruises, caught countless foreign sweat drops in my eyes and mouth, watched from across the pit as my friend battled with a violent asthma attack, and lost both of my sandals. I am expecting nothing less from this summer’s concert. Wolf Parade will hit the Ballroom on July 27th; get tickets, get sweaty, get out satisfied.