All The Profane Timbers Army Chants (Not) Fit To Print

May 29, 2012 By 1 Comment

Cover your eyes!

NOTE: The Timbers Army chants juvenile, R-rated things from time to time. If you are offended by such expressions then I recommend A) you not stand with the Timbers Army and B) read one of my hundreds of other posts. Thanks!

I stood with the Timbers Army Saturday night when the Portland side hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps inside Jeld-Wen Stadium. The match marked my first time in a year seeing Portland’s Major League Soccer team play.

For the record: I don’t consider myself a Timbers fan or an MLS fan, in general. I couldn’t tell you the Timbers record. I do, however, enjoy the rowdy nature of their crowds. The Timbers Army reminds me of a more harmonious, less plastered New Orleans Saints crowd.

I forgot over the past 12 months the Timbers Army could make a sailor in a whorehouse blush with its inventive use of profanities in song.

Here are some of the Timbers Army songs I heard Saturday, plus photos I took while there. The match ended in a 1-all draw. Both teams scored in the second half.

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Filed Under: Photos, Portland, Sports Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Photos: Alabama Shakes @ Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland

May 29, 2012 By 2 Comments

You gotta hold on!

When Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard goes for it, her mocha-colored face contorts into a pained, scrunched-up mass of lines, and her glasses hang on for dear life from the edge of her nose. Her massive tongue shows. And out … out explodes this booming, smoky howl that recalls an old soul dressed in a 23-year-old southerner’s skin.

Howard doesn’t care what she looks like when she’s singing. I respect her willingness to “get ugly with it.” All that matters is the sound, the emotion, the feeling.

My friend Matt and I had the pleasure of standing two rows from the stage Sunday when Howard and Co. blessed the Tom McCall Waterfront Park stage in Portland. I’ll be posting a review of the show shortly, but for now here are pictures I took while at the show.

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Filed Under: Live Music, Music, Photos, Portland Tagged With: , , , , ,

Dad’s Summer Jam: Let’s Have A Party

May 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Toby Keith and his favorite cup

The race for Summer Jam 2012 is a wide-open affair at the moment. But if I had to select a song now, it would be Icona Pop’s “I Love It”, with its ear-grabbing lyric, “You’re from the 70′s but I’m a 90′s bitch.”

I also love love love Japandroids’ “Younger Us”, a song that initially came out in 2010, but is on the duo’s fantastic new record, Celebration Rock.

My dad, Ray Jr., has already discovered his 2012 summer jam.

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Filed Under: Music, Musings Tagged With: , , , ,