HISS & VINEGAR

[September 10th, 2003] WILCO, SLEATER-KINNEY, R.E.M., OH MY!

Sleater-Kinney fans were treated to a surprise at the Wilco show in Eugene last Thursday: S-K drummer (and one-half of Quasi) Janet Weiss jumped onstage midset to lend the Chicago boys a coupla hands for "California Stars" and "Handshake Drugs." The red-hot double-drummer chemistry shook the capacity crowd at McDonald Theatre . Wilco swooned, too. And when Weiss came back for an encore--a track from Jeff Tweedy's Loose Fur project titled "Not for the Seasons" (a.k.a. "Laminated Cat")--the incendiary improvisation melted the room.

The night before at the amphitheater in Clark County , R.E.M. lead singer and shiny-happy-guy Michael Stipe spread some love to the locals, dedicating the quiet, delicate "Nightswimming" to PDX filmmaker (and husband of S-K singer-guitarist Corin Tucker) Lance Bangs.

THE LOW-END THEORY: GBV + CHRIS SLUSARENKO

Guided By Voices has tapped local musician-producer Chris Slusarenko to replace Tim Tobias on bass for the band's fall U.S. dates. You may remember the lucky (and multitalented) local from his stint with Sprinkler in the early 1990s; today Slusarenko releases gems like Goldcard (Charlie Campbell) and Blues Goblins (Sam Coomes) on his one-man-label Off Records . The GBV tour ends in Anaheim on Oct. 26. Expect Slusarenko's latest and greatest, Wig in a Box: The Songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch (featuring Yoko Ono, Yo La Tengo, Minus 5, Bob Mould, Frank Black, Rufus Wainwright, et al.) sometime later this year.

DON'T FORGET THE FASHION

With so much excitement over the Shins/Sarah Dougher/Thermals show at the recently stripped Modern Zoo this week, little attention has been paid to Saturday's Rock 'n' Roll Fashion Show. The show benefits the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls and features a lineup of the old, the new and, um, you. The old being Dead Moon, the new being Electric Eye and you being, well, you, onstage, singing with Karaoke from Hell.

The all-ages event starts at 7 pm, costs $12 and features 20 designers, as well as the music. Check out www.girlsrockcamp.org for more info.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

Being the great defender of music photographers everywhere, Hiss & Vinegar couldn't help noticing that photo credit was not given to Shayla Hason for last week's Club List photo of Gravity and Henry. Let it now be known who took the photo.