photos

Battles at the Wonder Ballroom

M Ward at the Crystal Ballroom

White Fang at Satyricon

The audience at White Fang at Satyricon

White Fang at Satyricon

Packt like sardines in a crusht tin can for Vampire Weekend at the Crystal Ballroom

The band in question, Vampire Weekend, played to a tiny crowd at John Henry's last year

TV on the Radio at the Roseland Theater

Packt in the Roseland for TV on the Radio

Horse Feathers at Holocene

Blind Pilot had a half hour sound check for a half hour of music

Didn't get any good pix of Blind Pilot in action, so here they are at Sam Bond's last week

The audience for Blind Pilot at the Fez Ballroom

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down at Holocene

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down at Holocene

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down at Holocene

I just can't make heads or tails out of this band promo pic. Is it too difficult to do a photo shoot on location in the woods these days? Alternatively, was the forest background so important as to clutter up an otherwise usable band promo pic?

Readers, am I crazy?

By the way:
"Celtic Band," feat. Chico Schwall, Eileen Sterns and Susan Phillips, plays a free show 6:30pm Sunday, Aug. 10 at Washburne Park.

Panorama from the northeast grandstands. Kinda sloppy, but you get the picture. CLICK ON IT FOR LARGER VERSION.

Hey, it's Teddy on the big screen!

The Eugene City Council (and Mayor Kitty Piercy) shows their colors...

The 1980 Olympic Team take a victory lap and high-five from the fans who were alive back then.

Outside at the festival: Ample opportunities for gambling. Heck, I'm telling you. I think the Olympic Trials took a left turn in Sacramento and instead Eugene got The Circus.

The northeast grandstand.

More pictures after the JUMP.

Todd Cooper took some awesome shots on Friday. Click on any photo to go to a gallery of images.

A little Chinese token at the Opening Ceremonies.

Diana Pickler prepares to high jump her way to 2nd place in the heptathlon standings on Day One.

American record holder Brad Walker clears the bar on his only jump of the day. Fourteen vaulters qualified for the final, but not UO grad Tommy Skipper.

Andrew Wheating prepares to win his 800m heat. Only his bling can get in his way...

The crowd manages to rise to the occasion in the men's 5k qualifier ... hint: Rupp is in the lead.

Galen Rupp wore his UO singlet despite not attending the UO since last fall. Nobody seemed to care, though a few press people made note of it.

10k winner Shalane Flanagan has a case of the dry heaves (or just euphoria?). Flanagan set the Hayward Field record, breaking Mary Slaney's record that stood since 1982.

Amy Begley can't believe she PR'd in the 10k, got 3rd, and is going to Beijing. If I were her, I'd be staring at the stars after a gutsy race like that.

Shalane Flanagan and Amy Begley embrace after qualifying for the Beijing Olympics in the 10,000 meters.

Kara Goucher embraces a child (her own?) after her race. Awwwwww, so friggin' cute!

All blurry digi-photos by Chuck Adams

Well, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks did it again. They managed to turn guitar-god indie rock into a live set approaching jam rock splendor. This, from the man who once penned albums called Wowee Zowee and Slanted and Enchanted. Yes, Malkmus is far off from his Pavement days, and well into his Jicks days. Real Emotional Trash is his third — count it: his third — album with the backing band of Janet Weiss, Joanna Bolme and Mike Clark.

Joanna Bolme on bass

Yes, they played mostly their recent LP Real Emotional Trash, a surprising number of Face the Truth tracks and very little of Pig Lib (save for the encore), but the band was on a streak straight through to their encore-busting send up of some obscure classic rock track that I am obviously too young to recognize but which I still managed to be moved by, such was the energy palpable from up onstage. Oh, and I found a bootleg snippet of it online (where DO these things come from?!). Download the WMA file HERE and tell me the song title. I think it may be Ozzy Osbourne or some such.

Janet Weiss (formerly of Sleater-Kinney and currently of Quasi) on drumkit

The crowd was interesting for how homogenized it was. Mostly guys 24-40 years old with a few younger ladies in tow. Capacity was estimated to be about 2/3 full. The style of dance: Hands in pockets, rock the head. Not that there wasn't an ample supply of crowd energy, mind you. It was just more awestruck than usual.

Midway through their set, drummer Janet Weiss seemed upset over the sound levels. Malkmus mouthed some words over to her and Weiss sunk her head low to concentrate on getting through the next song, much less the rest of the show. Luckily the sound improved and Weiss eventually cracked a few smiles here and there (the equivalent of watching a sunrise … though I shouldn’t be coy about this: I’d have Janet’s baby in a sec … or, to be more PC, I’d adopt a child and ween it through its toddler years for her. And if I could catch Weiss smiling just once a day, the burden of the little drummer boy would be all worth it).

Gone is the innocuous Malkmus mustache of 2007. Thank gawd!

Janet Weiss FURY!

Overall, The Jicks are a band to stick around for until the end. Their five-to-six song encore (including a few tracks I’ve never heard before … already testing new material?!!!) was the best part of the night. Malkmus even had something to say about Eugene’s legendary track and field past: “Every time I see those Prefontaine posters it takes me back to watching porn in the ‘70s.” Pure ecstatic bliss (for lovers of those who have mastered the art of kicking out the jams) and a night (for some) of nostalgic Pavement moments.