At Amigo’s, beats were throbbing from the second floor. This performance space might be one of the coolest “I had no idea it was there” spots in town. The first act to take the stage was the invincible trio of KGB, Bread, and Moshe, arguably the cream (strictly butter) of the hip hop crop in Portland. They delivered a strong set of material that included work from their “Moving Car” project, all of which was very well received by the winter-coat-clad crowd.

As Meantone took the stage, there was a divide in the room between those who were in the know about this band, and those who had no clue what they were about to witness. Consider me in the latter. The duo consisted of drums a guy with a western hat and a string tie playing drums and and a guy wearing a full-on gas mask outfitted with a wireless mic playing slide guitar through both a guitar and a bass amp. This music was crunchy, dirty, and urgent.

At Plush, Nicotine was knee-deep in a set of funky house. His talents and musical tastes are always apparent, and his devotees were out in force. Another notable nightclub fixture, DJ Jon, kept the dance floor at Bubba’s filled with ’80s pop fanatics until the bitter end.