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Ill
Communication: Todd Patrick of 17 Nautical Miles paves the
way for the Glass Factory.
During
Sunday's final 1201 Gong Show, Phil Ragaway tried his hand
at a karaoke version of Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler." A ringing
gong quickly banished him from the stage.
Sept.
15 is the last day to submit written comments on the proposed
changes to O.A.R.
845-006-0040, the regulation governing the presence of minors
in live-music venues where alcohol is served. Call
872-5004 for more information.
As for
the speculation about various mutations at other clubs,
well, watch this space.
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The New Yorker says it well. "Musicians and nightclub
proprietors live complicated lives," opines the live music
guide of the militantly tony Manhattan in-house circular.
"It's advisable to call ahead to confirm engagements."
Witness the Portland nightclub scene's recent seasonal
molting. This month, one live-music venue changed hands,
and the new owners promptly put the kibosh on rock in favor
of "more of a nightclub atmosphere." A new all-ages club
announced its imminent birth. Several cycles of rumor are
making the rounds; the most intriguing suggests that the
Womb, the all-ages techno joint that supplanted the
much-missed rock club La Luna earlier this year,
might soon revert to rock and roll. The folks involved,
of course, have nothing official to say.
Meanwhile, as various entrepreneurial scene controllers
ponder whether the city has too many clubs or not enough,
the ever-popular Oregon Liquor Control Commission has
thrown a scare into the live-music industry with a proposed
crackdown on minors' access to clubs where alcohol is served.
Let's take it one thing at a time, shall we?
Saturday, with a packed house on hand to mark the end of
a cocktail-soaked era, local roots-rock titans Federale
and Fernando played the last (currently foreseeable)
live set at the 1201 Cafe & Lounge. Owner Phil
Ragaway, who also runs popular scenester taphouses Shanghai
Tunnel and the Bar of the Gods, decided it was
time to move on after about five years of specialty booze,
wacky gaming and tight-quarters rock. While he says he's
holding on to his other pubs, he feels he's reached Miller
Time at 1201.
"I jumped into the scene, did it, and now it's done," Ragaway
says. "It's like a masterpiece--it's a finished piece of
art."
Though Ragaway professes nothing but admiration for his
staff, new owners Varick Schwartz and Matt Miota
have a different agenda for the venerable watering hole.
The sale, which takes effect Sept. 15, meant pink slips
and, reportedly, a fair amount of angst for the 1201's employees.
Miota says that the new 1201 will rotate through a schedule
of DJs from Wednesday to Sunday, with evening happy hours
preceding the beats and music ranging from funk and soul
to old-school hip-hop. Miota and Schwartz, who both hail
from the Midwest, have been looking around for a nightclub
to run for a while. "We decided that Portland was the place
for what we want to create," Miota says.
Buona fortuna, lads.
While 1201's transformation means one fewer live-music
venue downtown, things are simmering in Southeast. After
a couple of years of serving up punk and experimental chaos
at the refreshingly unfrilly Woodstock Boulevard romper
room 17 Nautical Miles, indie impresario Todd
Patrick has secured new digs on the 300 block of Southeast
Pine Street. The new 500-capacity club, to be called the
Glass Factory in honor of its former industrial use,
opens Sept. 25. Shows by big-ticket punk rockers like Promise
Ring and the Dropkick Murphys will complement
the more edgy and challenging fare that's been 17NM's mainstay.
Though the addition of beer will no doubt come as sweet
relief to the multitude of PDX rock fans who love alcohol
so well, the Glass Factory will be an all-ages operation.
"I think kids have pretty boring musical tastes in this
town just because they haven't been able to see shows,"
Patrick says. "Hopefully, if we can get them in to see some
of these bigger bands, some of them will get turned on to
the more out-of-the-way stuff as well."
"I think it's going to fill the void for the punk and ska
scenes here," says promoter Mike Thrasher, who's
already channeling his stream of prominent punk shows away
from the Paris Theatre to the Glass Factory.
Of course, those fine plans depend on whether or not the
OLCC decides it needs to keep minors even farther away from
demon rum. Though places like the Crystal Ballroom have
proven that well-guarded barriers between drinking and non-drinking
zones work to keep kids off the sauce just fine, the OLCC
is considering limiting drinking in mixed-use venues to
lobbies and intermissions.
The OLCC doesn't vote on the proposal until December. Kate
Hilton, the OLCC rules coordinator, oversees the ongoing
public-comment process leading up to the decision. Hilton
says that some commissioners are concerned about minors
stewing in raucous "tavern atmospheres," but she notes that
there seems to be very little public support for the change.
In fact, according to Hilton, the public-comment process
has revealed no arguments in favor of piling new
regulations on an already closely policed club scene.
"The commission is always sensitive to industry concerns
and to concerns about over-regulation," Hilton says. "Some
people have voiced broader social concerns, too--why should
we prevent minors and adults from recreating together? It's
a good question."
If that eminently reasonable statement--from an OLCC official,
no less--doesn't seal this September's legacy as a month
of surprises, I don't know what will.
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Willamette Week | originally
published September 15,
1999
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