With many of the major music venues around Portland still on a bit of a cool-down, this is a great time to take in some of the local music Portland and the surrounding areas have to offer, and you’ve got some great, unique opportunities to do so coming up.
On tap for this week, we have a collection of some of New England’s best garage pop rockers meeting together for the first time, local swingsters that aim to get Portland on its feet, a reason to celebrate Portland’s hardcore scene, and more!
Don’t forget that you can always check out our Live Music Tonight calendar for the full list of live music in Portland.
THE HEADLINER
Head over to Geno’s Rock Club this Saturday, January 14th for an all-star collection of some of New England’s best pop/punk rock bands sharing the stage for the very first time.
Kick the night off at 9:00PM with some hard edge glam rock with the Boston-based Thigh Scrapers, an 80s era skater rock four-piece. Next up is Portland’s own all-female rock and roll sensation Tiger Bomb, a garage-pop four-piece with high energy and good vibes. Headlining the show is Boston-rockers The Shang Hi Los, with their Portland on-stage debut.
Cover to get in and see these local up-and-comers is $10. Keep in mind, Geno’s is a cash-only (ATM on-site), 21+ venue.
LIVE & LOCAL
If you’ve been to Gritty’s on a Thursday since November, there’s a decent chance you’ve seen SUBS, a five-piece collection of Portland music veterans come together to create, as they describe it, “solid rock for unstable people.”
Covering some of your favorite rock hits, with a unique ability to get the crowd on their feet and moving to the music, they have been drawing big crowds for high energy and fun-loving shows with each appearance during their residency.
If you haven’t caught a SUBS performance yet, you have two more opportunities, this Thursday, January 12th, and Thursday, January 26th. Live music goes from 8:30PM – 11:30PM, and, as always at Gritty’s, there’s no cover to get in!
MID-WEEK MUSIC
Swing on in to Urban Farm Fermentory this Wednesday, January 11th, and every other Wednesday with the Ragtime Destroyers, in association with the Portland Swing Project, aimed to bring Swing music and dance to the city.
You may recognize the Ragtime Destroyers from their biweekly performances at Tommy’s Park this past summer. The local Swingsters brought life to the park on every appearance, drawing crowds and energizing the park with music and passersby stopping to dance. They had such a good time over the summer that they found a spot to keep their parties going in the colder months, and UFF was more than happy to help.
Music and dancing go from 6:00PM – 7:30PM, and is free to the public. All ages are welcome.
STAFF PICK
Let your inner metalhead out this Friday the 13th with the I, The Conqueror CD Release Party at Free Street.
If you’re trying to get in on the local, underground music scene, and you don’t mind a bit of head-banging and screaming, check out this Portland-based five piece at the release party for debut album “For Glory.”
Get your moshing and debauchery warmed up with support from other local hardcore acts including Dead in Your Eyes, When the Dead Won’t Die, and Death’s Hand. (I’m picking up on a theme.)
This is an 18+ show, with a $10 cover to get in. The show starts at 7:00PM… This one is not for the faint of heart.
There’s so much live music happening around the city at any given time that we’d never have the time to list them all here.
Check out our Live Music Tonight page for a full calendar of live events happening in Portland, Maine.