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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Sydney Sprague

The “Somebody in Hell Loves You!” Tour

Wheelwright

6:30 pm doors, 7:30 pm show

$15 advance, $18 day of show

All ages welcome

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Sydney Sprague

Sydney Sprague

Sydney Sprague channels her sadness, anxiety, and existential dread through driving guitars, shimmering melodies, and the deceptively sweet weapons of indie pop-rock and keen observation.

Self-aware with a knowing injection of dark humor, her songs summon the best of 90s alt-rock and classic power-pop without sacrificing a melancholy befitting of the end times. Her music is intimate, vulnerable, confrontational, autobiographical, and strangely uplifting. Her sophomore record, somebody in hell loves you, is as devilishly saccharine as the title implies, boldly accessible and smart.

The positive press, word-of-mouth, and a stellar tour with Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional helped make organic streaming hits out of songs like "steve," "quitter," and "i refuse to die"; "object permanence" boasts nearly 1 million streams on Spotify alone. "As a smaller artist, it's almost impossible financially," Sydney says of her relentless schedule. "But I love it so much."

Sydney wrote most of somebody in hell loves you during the pandemic lockdowns, and yet, it's decidedly less angsty than its predecessor. "And not because I'm a less angsty person," she clarifies. "Obviously, none of us were in a good place in 2020. It was a depressing time. But I didn't want to wallow in that. I wrote more as an exercise to distract myself from my woes." A lot of the songs became observational storytelling, exploring the drama of people around her and revisiting her past.

Wheelwright

Wheelwright

Wheelwright brings a western sound of pop and grunge from the sprawling desert city of Phoenix, AZ. Blending devil may care spirit commenting with the tumultuous contemporary relationships and existentialism that comes from hope and youth in a world that isn't kind to either. None of his songs are idealistic, they capture a rugged wholesomeness that comments on the human experience. No darkness without light, no laughter without at least some suffering, no thoughtfulness without some recklessness. Songs of self acceptance and love without the kumbaya bullshit, but rather the idea that we are all beautiful and flawed, stuck here together, whether we like it or not.

His songs are self admitting and allow listeners to meet him where they truthfully are. Not where they've been or where they want to go. But what is directly in the mirror in front of them. It's brash and it's honest. The true beauty is that everybody has things about themselves that they don't like, they have things that they would change about themselves, but they also have spirits, and hopes, and dreams and light inside of them despite the darkness that seems to hang over us as we march into the uncertainty of what's next.

 

Website:
https://wheelwrightphx.com/

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About Mission Theater

Experience a slice of Portland history. What is now known simply as “the Mission” was originally home to the Swedish Mission Covenant congregation in the early 20th century, and despite its staid, buttoned up appearance, this place now hosts live music, video dance nights and special events on select nights each month. 

History

The location that serves as one of McMenamins favorite neighborhood theater pubs was the locus of great spiritual zeal beginning in the 1890s. That's when the Swedish Evangelical Mission established its church here....

From a church to a theater-pub to event space, the Mission's history ain't exactly saintly. Click here for more info!

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