Matt’s Picks (June 17-20): Springfield Public Library to screen Bee Gees documentary – The Register-Guard

June 16, 2021 Kim Martel

This week in Eugene-Springfield, Matt’s Picks invites people back outside to celebrate several live, outdoor music and art shows (at a safe social distance). Keeping with music, the Bee Gees story will stream from the Springfield Public Library while the Eugene Public Library offers a fun night of trivia.

Check out a dive into Springfilm’s streaming music documentary or jump to additional events below. And make sure to keep an eye on registerguard.com/calendar for all of this week’s goings-ons in the Southern Willamette Valley.

‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,’ Springfield Public Library

Livestreaming via Zoom on Thursday, SpringFilm presents “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart,” with a discussion to follow.

Directed by Frank Marshall, the producer behind blockbusters from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” to “The Sixth Sense” to “Jurassic World,” the film follows the Bee Gees’ history, featuring revealing interviews with oldest brother Barry Gibb from his home in Miami and archival interviews with the late twin brothers Robin and Maurice.

Marshall runs through the Bee Gees’ many career transformations (and fabulous hairdos), beginning with Australian and British pop hits in the 1960s and into the fame that would tear them apart again and again. The Bee Gees lasted because that fraternal bond brought them back together again and again, most notably in the mid-1970s, after “accidentally” discovering Barry’s falsetto skills and diving into American soul and R&B.

This crescendoed in 1978 with the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, featuring eight Bee Gees tracks. In March 1978, the Bee Gees held the top two positions on the U.S. charts with “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive,” the first time this had happened since the Beatles. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 25 March 1978, the Bee Gees bested even the Fab Four with five Gibbs brothers’ songs together in the top 10 (“Night Fever,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “If I Can’t Have You,” “Emotion” and “Love Is Thicker Than Water”).

While cultural stereotypes may elicit pursed lips for the band that represents disco, it’s easy to forget that the band sold more than 110 million records spanning four decades, according to The Guardian. The Bee Gees represented pop’s key bridge from the 1960s Beatles-era to 1980s Michael Jackson. Their music also happened to go hand-in-hand with gay night life, normalizing an alternative lifestyle and eliciting a vicious, violent reaction from conservative Americans.

When disco caught fire in 1978, the flame ended in a conflagration at the infamous Disco Demolition night at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1979, which Marshall calls out for its overt racism in the film.

“How to Mend a Broken Heart’s” main theme, though, is the brothers’ fractious relationships — Robin and Barry the rival peacocks with Maurice as go-between and peacemaker.

Marshall’s documentary is a fascinating journey through eras, a serious account with plenty of heavyweight input, including commentaries from Eric Clapton, Nick Jonas and Noel Gallagher, who turns out to be an interesting source on the internal dynamic of family-as-bandmates.

Join SpringFilm for a livestream of the 2020 HBO documentary at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 17 and afterwards participate in a fun discussion. “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” can also be viewed via the library’s streaming video service at bit.ly/2SEQwzv. Join the live ZOOM stream free at wheremindsgrow.org/events.

Highlighted events

“Be Here Now,” showing Friday through July 16 at the Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Avenue. Gallery opens 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Free; info at 541-345-1571 or mkartcenter.org.
“Bookish Brain Trivia Night,” 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the Eugene Public Library Foundation. Free; eugene-or.gov/Calendar.
Left on Wilson’s first unplugged show kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday at Slice Pizzeria and Bar, 325 Blair Blvd. $10 presale, $15 day of with limited tickets; 541-653-9937 or leftonwilson.com.
Faroe Rum brings Celtic tunes to Oregon at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at The 3 Legged Crane Pub and Brewhouse, 48239 E. First St., Oakridge. Free with purchase; 541-782-2024 or 3leggedcrane.com.
“The Official Juneteenth Celebration” running from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday at Alton Baker Park, 200 Day Island Rd. Free; facebook.com/events/598153104913383.

Follow Matt on Instagram @CAFE_541. Questions or comments? Email him mdenis@registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.