Author: Sam Lloyd

You know what you’re getting when you go to a concert at the Rose Garden arena: either a band that released its last good album 20 years ago (The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Roger Waters) or a band whose songs you’ve already heard so many times on the radio that they’re permanently burned into your brain (Coldplay, Katy Perry). You also know what you’re getting from a show at the Crystal Ballroom: a band just popular enough for casual music fans to like and serious music fans to hate (Snow Patrol, Hot Chip). Elsewhere, though, it gets murky.

Here are the two most important things to know about Portland-based experimental indie rock band Menomena: 1) Pitchfork loves them, and 2) no one person in the band is the primary songwriter; rather, every band member submits their own portion of each song electronically, and then they all get together to combine them. So yes, that bearded guy living in the downstairs bedroom who wears beanies in July probably loves them.

Portland State’s women’s volleyball team could be forgiven for feeling pressured by expectations for the 2012–13 season. After all, they’re currently riding a streak of five consecutive appearances in the Big Sky Conference Championship Match. Instead, though, they’re mostly feeling confident, thanks to their successes thus far in the spring exhibition season.

The Western Hockey League Championship Finals are set to begin May 3, and the Portland Winterhawks are relishing the chance to be included for the second year in a row.