The many, many Portland hiplings who mist up at the thought
of Clinton's first term--aye, Auld Lang Syne--no doubt went
into mild hysterics last week, as the Scene enjoyed something
of an old home week.
The X-Ray Café reunion at the Chinese Teahouse
brought dearly departed acts like Hazel and New
Bad Things out of contemplative retirement for a fling
benefitting ex-X-Ray co-commandante B.A. Ellis' in-progress
documentary film on the old all-ages club. An eager press
(yours truly included) took the opportunity to roundly toast
the West Burnside chaos salon, which eked out a financially
famished, artistically engorged existence between '90 and
'94.
Meanwhile, another old rock haunt received an unscheduled
resuscitation more literal than the off-premises tribute
to the X-Ray. LaLuna, the former indie epicenter
that spent spring and summer masquerading as an all-ages-dance-club-turned-instant-local-trivia-question,
shook the cobwebs off its old name and sonic style to welcome
currently ubiquitous angst-driving duo Quasi.
Riding the strength of their fine new album Field Studies,
Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes rocked a 400-strong
hometown crowd alongside perpetually seasonal-affective
pop auteur Elliott Smith, the one-time darling of
Sensitive Portland who now strums his highly respected,
often despairing songs in the 'Apple. Both Quasi and Smith
stand at the right hand of God in the eyes of their legion
of local fans, so this tag-team was bound to draw. The turnout
was even more impressive, though, in light of a last-minute
venue switch.
The show was originally scheduled for the Glass Factory,
the promising new all-ages venue on Southeast Pine Street
opened a few weeks ago by Todd Patrick and Josh
Blanchard, the former operators of 17 Nautical Miles.
The Glass Factory, which looked to come out of the gate
hard and fast with a slate of high-profile punk shows, is
temporarily shuttered after falling afoul of city officials
for failing to have all the building permits necessary for
rock.
That untimely blow fell just before the Quasi/Smith show,
forcing promoter Mike Thrasher to switch that bill
and a series of other concerts, including this Saturday's
L7/Black Halos/Liars Inc. show, to LaLuna.
Meanwhile, Patrick says he expects to have Glass Factory's
permits in order in a month or so. "Basically, I tried to
operate it like 17 operated," he says. "That is, you come
in, you build, you open and then you get the permits."
He says that earthquake-code problems faced by the neighboring,
nameless club at 315 SE 3rd Ave. may have sharpened
authorities' attention to the neighborhood. (The cops' Sept.
30 raid on a speakeasy just down the block probably
didn't help.)
While Glass Factory's lock-down may be temporary, it most
likely means a permanent parting of ways for Thrasher and
the club, which seems to suit both parties fine. Thrasher
says he needs a more settled venue for the larger, bigger-budget
shows he books; Patrick, on the other hand, says he wants
to maintain the challenging underground edge 17 Nautical
Miles always offered.
Mandarin, a farm-fresh trio including ex-Pond
member Christopher Brady on bass, has been busy in
the basement. "Home Recordings," a four-song EP, serves
as a tantalizing introduction to the band's multi-ply rock.
Refreshingly old-fashioned--like, early '90s alt-rock Golden
Age--in its rock-ribbed craftsmanship and meticulously loud
guitars, this short player rings with clear-eyed emotion.
Systemwide, the mad-science-tinged beatbreakers,
were recently anointed "the States' best dub group" by the
San Francisco Bay Guardian. While the Guardian
is typically about as much fun to read as a back issue
of Pravda with the funny pages ripped out, writer
Jeff Chang has this one right. The band's also tasting intercontinental
gravy, scoring two slots on European compilations. Rootsman,
a wax-cutter from Bradford, England, tabbed S-Wide for his
forthcoming Global Meltdown remix anthology, while
Parisian DJ and critic Laurent Diouf fancies the
Portland insurgents for Wreck This Mess, a comp that
will supposedly sport some of underground dance music's
top guns.
Luther Russell's new solo turn on Cravedog Records,
Down at Kit's, pimp-rolls through a greaser's
paradise of back alley funk-rock. Think Booker T. writing
the score for a full-tilt urban spaghetti Western and you'll
have it about right. The month's been something of a mixed
bag for Russell, though; according to Cravedog's Todd
Crosby, the philistines at Interscope dropped
Russell's band, Federale. Could be a blessing in
disguise, of course.
Finally, Sunset Valley's new album, Boyscout
Superhero, hit the streets Oct. 12. Singer-songwriter
Herman Jolly is in fine, freakish form again. Happy fun
fact: Amazon.com's wond'rous electronic brain suggests that
people who like the album might also like Ban Dai action
figures and Boy Scouts of America pins. The Internet
revolution continues!
Notes:
For those few readers still harboring doubts: I am an idiot.
Last week's scrap of precious prose asserted that Grandmaster
Flash recorded "Rapper's Delight." One reader, with commendable
delicacy, pointed out that The Sugar Hill Gang was
actually responsible for the seminal hip-hop single. And here
I was, blithely mocking Spin. Win some, lose some.
17 Nautical Miles hosted its final show Friday, Oct. 15.
Thrasher, meanwhile, is exploring the possibility of taking
over LaLuna permanently.
Glass Factory has other bureaucratic demands to contend
with as well. Its industrial Southeast 'hood is a designated
"alcohol impact" zone, requiring the club to sell food if
it wants to stock beer (it does, very much). Zoning codes
also require that some actual industry take place in the
former bottling plant. A small print-shop will operate out
of a back room.
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Willamette Week | originally
published October 20,
1999
|
