Portland, Oregon based Menomena played a two-off series of shows at Portland’s Doug Fir this past Monday and Tuesday. The isolated shows were not a part of a larger tour, rather a quick opportunity to catch the band at home. While Portlanders are probably quite familiar with the Doug Fir, it’s certainly one of the better venues I’ve been fortunate to catch a show at. Nestled beneath a swanky 50’s style diner in East Portland, the beautiful wood-decor venue itself offered a stellar sonic experience for the show.

Monday’s first opener was Portland’s own Hosannas, whose most recent EP Thug Life Nicole can be downloaded for free from their website right here. Their noise-pop set was followed by second opener, EMA. If you’ve not heard or checked out EMA before, I would highly recommended doing so. EMA is the solo project of Erika M. Anderson, who has served time in Amps for Christ and the Gowns before departing on her own. I’d liken her music to a mix between Sonic Youth and Cat Power; plenty of noisy and experimental guitar work coupled with emotionally wrought vocals. Her second album, Past Life Martyred Saints, was just released and earned a BNM award.

Now, onto the main course itself: Menomena. While the experimental indie rockers have received well deserved critical praise and fan adoration over their decade long career and four full-lengths, many wondered how the group would fare with the departure of Brent Knopf. Well, worried fans can exhale; they killed it. The new additions of 31Knots’ Joe Haege and Paul Alcott presented no hiccups for the older songs. Menomena did skip the songs where Brent featured on lead vocals, such as “Wet & Rusting” and “Evil Bee”. But Danny and Justin picked up the vocal roles quite well, and the absence didn’t take away from the set. Moreover, whether or not Brent was in attendance, the band thanked him for his contributions and the parts he’d written. Wednesdays set featured openers Talkdemonic and Archeology.