Bring the Pain | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Bring the Pain

We want more rap

With a website that hasn't been updated in three years and a bio that's 6 years old, it seems Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man has focused more on acting than music in the last decade.

With roles in "The Wire", How High and even a cameo at the tail end of Garden State, it looked like Method Man, born Clifford Smith in 1971, had made a career change.

But with a new solo album coming out this year, slated to be titled Crystal Meth, he's decided it's time to hit the road once again. And that road will lead him to Bend's Domino Room on Feb. 27.

It's the answer to our hip-hop-starved prayers.

"Hip-hop is hard to come by here in Central Oregon," said Method Man fan Katrina Langenderfer. "This show is not to be missed."

But with just about every '90s rapper on tour these days, we may get more acts our direction in the coming months. Snoop Dogg and DMX have been to Bend recently, and though they didn't come to Central Oregon, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony reunited and played Portland last week.

The key to keeping these shows coming to town is the widespread love we have for these artists.

"As long as Bend residents keep coming out to party, they can expect more concerts and variety," Random Presents' Kevin Prather said. "When the folks stop showing up, it is much harder to take a chance on something new that has no history in Bend."

So far, the turnout for these shows has been good, even allowing Random Presents to bring an act like Seattle's Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to town last year. Seems like if what Bend wants is more rap—there's a good chance we'll get it.

Fan Joe Waldrop says these acts don't need to worry about people showing up.

"I've been listening to [Method Man's] music for years," said Waldrop. "It's not that often we get real hip-hop musicians in Bend."

Method Man

9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27,

The Domino Room

51 N.W. Greenwood Ave.

Tickets $28 at bendticket.com and Ranch Records

Ethan Maffey

Both a writer and a fan of vinyl records since age 5, it wasn't until nearly three decades later that Oregon Native Ethan Maffey derived a plan to marry the two passions by writing about music. From blogging on MySpace in 2007 and then Blogspot, to launching his own website, 83Music, and eventually freelancing...
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