Nightlife
Picks
East Burnside must be the safest place in town. Leastwise,
a man sure felt looked-after last Tuesday night, as the Finest
rolled up and down Portland's greasy jugular. One shiny white
car headed west, another pointed east, the helping hand of
the Man everywhere.
The heavy footfalls of Auntie Vera's warriors jibed well
with the speakeasy feel of the Viscount Ballroom,
the dee-luxe dance 'n' (soon) dine joint that hovers above
the thoroughfare, in a building that looks like it was forgotten
about the same time the 18th Amendment got kicked to the
curb.
Nightcrawler's amazed by the enduring popularity of the
swing craze. The Viscount packs 'em in by the hundreds
with swing and ballroom events, and with the Rose City
Ballroom Dance Club reportedly on the verge of
turning its membership over to the V., it's only going to
get sweatier. Fortunately for those of us who like a Shanghai
Sling better than any swing owner Michael Hebb has
other plans as well.
This ex-restaurant wage slave truly carts a payload of
inspiration. He skips in a sentence from the Sugarfoot
Cafe, the upscale gnoshery planned for the Ballroom's
imperious second level, to plans for a Mardi Gras blowout,
a jazz-laced poetry series and hook-ups with international
Latin, jazz and swing bands. With the addition of a
full liquor license in the near future, the Viscount should
be all-the-way lubricious for the people. This alongside
the Ballroom's de rigueur dance clubs, lessons and
such like.
If you stop by to scope the place, let me recommend the
perfecto smoking room, a sanctuary well out of Lindy-hop
range. It's dark and pungent, with walls painted with the
life essence of a freshly gored ox. Or at least that's
how they look. It's the perfect place to kick back and play
Let's Make a Deal.
Over the river and down the street, Dante's Caffe Italiano
aims for a similarly subterranean vibe. This new outpost
joins the Cobalt Lounge in Frank Faillace's
Old Town stable, going for an Inferno color scheme to cosmically
balance the Cobalt's cool blues. With its hell-red-and-midnight-black
decor, Dante's looks like a high-society anarchists' boîte.
On a recent weeknight, the place was as quiet as J.D. Salinger--except
for a suitably Satanic cell phone in the hands of
one of the few customers. (If Max owned a licensed establishment,
he'd keep a ball-peen hammer and a switchblade behind
the bar for just such occasions, but never mind.) Still,
the bartender was a fine fellow with a sure hand on the
swizzle stick, and when they're pouring Belvedere off the
top shelf, you know you're in good hands.
The secret to Dante's success will likely be the small,
scarlet-shrouded stage huddling in back; while the immediate
area isn't lacking for hipster dives, creative entertainment
could hack out some new space in the minds of the obliterati.
Time will tell, natch.
THE VISCOUNT BALLROOM
722 E Burnside St.,
233-7855
DANTE'S CAFFE ITALIANO
Southwest 3rd Avenue and West Burnside Street, 417-1747
POP! UPDATE
Nightcrawler's sad to report that Pop!, the monthly
series of ambitious fashion/ dance fandangos planned to
run through spring at Berbati's, has been canceled.
Mieke, the mononymic mama who ran Pop!, reports an
unspecified falling out with club management. She says she
hopes to nail down a space for future fun soon.
EVENTS
MILONGA BERRETIN
Argentine tango.
918 SW Yamhill St., third floor, 222-4691
9 pm Saturday, Feb. 19
$5.
FILM CARNIVAL, FEATURING THE TRAVELLING CINEMA
"Seven Screens of Rare & Unusual Short Films: Art,
Bizarro & Burlesque!"
Moon & Sixpence, 2014 NE 42nd Ave., 288-7802
8 pm Monday, Feb. 21
Free
COMEDY
DARRYL LENOX, BRYAN KELLEN
Stand-up.
Harvey's Comedy Club, 436 NW 6th Ave., 241-0338
8 pm Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; 8 and 10:30 pm Friday;
6:30,
9 and 11:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 16-20
$8-$10
COMEDYSPORTZ
Laugh it up, fuzzball.
1963 NW Kearney St., 236-8888
9 pm Friday, 7:30 and 9:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 18-19
$10
DUMPED AND DIVORCED
Starring J.P. Linde and Art Krug.
It's a Beautiful Pizza, 3341 SE Belmont St., 940-7405
8:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 17-19
$10-$12
KEITH WALLEN
Hosts open-mike stand-up.
Jimmy Mak's, 300 NW 10th Ave., 295-6542
9 pm Monday, Feb. 21
$3
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Willamette Week | originally
published February 16,
2000
|
