Even as the economy sags, it seems live music just keeps happening in Central Oregon. Here are some options you could check out:
• For the second week in a row, the Midtown complex will host a big underground hip-hop show. This week it’s Freddie Gibbs , a Gary, Ind., rapper who’s been making waves with his recent mixtape “The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs,” a collection of some seriously gritty (and dirty) street-level hip-hop. Check him out at www.myspace.com/ freddiegibbs, and if you want to see him, head to the Domino Room (51 N.W. Greenwood Ave., Bend) at 8 tonight. Cover is $10, and the bill also includes Tre Squad, Juga 3 and Fresh (www.myspace.com/empirefresh). Contact: gibbsinbend@yahoo.com.
• Funny band name alert! The Washington, D.C., duo Ugly Purple Sweater is coming to Bend, thanks in large part to the friendship they’ve formed with the East Coast half of our very own folk faves The Erins. The core of UPS is Sam McCormally and Rachel Lord, and together they play fun, rollicking folk music. According to www.myspace .com/uglypurplesweater, they “sing songs about surviving the apocalypse, falling in love after the apocalypse, the apocalypse as metaphor for gentrification, and God.” They’ll bring all that to Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom (24 N.W. Greenwood Ave., Bend) on Thursday at 8 p.m., where they’ll share a bill with The Erins . Cover is $8.
• Last week, we pointed you toward a whole bunch of young, local bands at the Rise Up Battle of the Bands. (The Snag won, by the way.) Tonight, you have another chance to see more young, local bands for a good cause, as Mirf the Bing, Juga 3 and Walter and the Chronkites gather at the Sons of Norway hall (549 N.W. Harmon Blvd., Bend) to raise funds for the Kurera Fund, a grassroots nonprofit group that provides scholarships for high school students in Rwanda. Doors open at 7 p.m., and a $5 donation gets you in. For more info, visit www.kurerafund.org or call 541-388-2192.
— Ben Salmon
