With summer in the Pacific Northwest bidding adieu and the rainy season lurking around the corner, concert promoters who got a late start to the season due to Oregon having some of the harshest pandemic restrictions in the country are cramming as many outdoor shows in as possible before the weather is no longer suitable. Such is the case with Pickathon, the beloved Portland music festival that recently hosted a two-night run of shows at Topaz Farm on Sauvie Island, the first of which was eclectic Afrobeat collective Antibalas and the Rose City Band on Thursday, September 30th. Perhaps it was the cold and damp weather or the fact that Pickathon chose to tack on a twenty-dollar parking fee – in a giant field that is normally free for other shows at the farm – on top of an already steep ticket price, but the turnout for Thursday’s show was somewhat sparse. Those that did make it, though, seemed delighted to squeeze in one or two more outdoor shows before masking up and braving their way into indoor venues for the winter.
Rose City Band got the festivities started with a set that found the cosmic country jammers grooving through songs from the three albums they have released since 2019 – a prolific output for a band that never played an actual gig until this year. Unfortunately, front man Ripley Johnson – known for his role in Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo – had lost his voice before the show. To compensate, he had two members of his band handle the singing, which led to less than impressive vocal performances. Luckily, all was not lost as the band let their tunes sprawl out, with plenty of pedal steel guitar and keyboard twanging weaving into Johnson’s own spacey guitar solos.
For just over two decades Brooklyn-based musical collective Antibalas have been proudly waving the Afrobeat flag while simultaneously crafting a sound that is both original and faithful. Hitting the stage for one of their first gigs since the pandemic, the ensemble cast of musicians launching into a straightforward track that showcased their amalgamation of Afrobeat, old school soul, funk and Ethiopian jazz. Throughout their set, the band would engage in their in-the-round solo style that takes a Democratic approach to letting each member chime in and show off his musical talents. The band often rotates singers and for this run their longtime singer and MC Amayo was replaced by a young female singer who brought her own level of energy and intensity to the stage. She also played the flute, complementing the sinister beats. Hypnotic grooves kept the audience in a constant state of motion as the band never let up.
When watching a band like Antibalas there is really only one response: dancing. At Topaz Farm, the crowd responded to the music by doing exactly that. The magic of Antibalas is their ability to keep the level of energy at a high and never let the groove stop. Though the show might have benefited from the setting of a dark nightclub, their set was a welcome and vibrant presence on a chilly autumn evening.
