Beirut Invades the Pacific Northwest

Don't worry, we won't be bowing to Lebanese overlords anytime soon. The band Beirut is actually based out of New Mexico and headed to Vancouver, BC tonight and Portland, OR tomorrow. Led by singer Zach Condon, whom also tinkers on the trumpet and ukulele, Beirut creates an off-kilter sound which on first listen seems like it shouldn't work but it just does. There's some kind of special something that pulls together the unique instrumentals, vocals and electronic sounds the band shells out into a loosely cohesive bubble. That may not sound like your idea of enjoyable music or even make sense--but once you've heard it you'll know what we mean.

Starting out early, around age 15, Condon has been writing songs and toying with the idea of making music full time. Then, after a stint at college, he hit it head on in 2006 with his first album Gulag Orkestar. Soon after he gained a lot of attention and it's been that way ever since.

Unfortunately this tour is one of the many we see every year that passes right over our fair city and goes to (in our opinion) the less musically enriched neighbors. That claim will probably get our hands slapped by some Canadians (that's about as violent as they get outside hockey games). It's not like our neighbors to the north and south don't have a fantastic music scene. They do, but come on... skipping the Emerald City for Portlandia? Anyway, we digress and have decided to take matters into our own hands and venture up into the great white north for the night. If you want to see Beirut and haven't grabbed tickets already, you might want to do the same since the Portland show is evidently sold out.

Beirut actually played the Commodore Ballroom last night and they're gearing up for a second run tonight. They're then heading down to Portlandia for what promises to be an incredible show at the Crystal Ballroom. If we weren't headed to Doe Bay we'd probably consider going south instead, but cramming in as much music as possible into the week is our specialty!

TONIGHT: Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver, BC) // Show 8:00pm // tix: $44 CA (including fees) 19+

FRIDAY: Crystal Ballroom (Portland, OR) // Doors 8:00pm // tix: SOLD OUT All Ages