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Music Navigator |
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Cool Nutz says he'll keep a low profile for the next several weeks. |
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The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is conducting an investigation of LaLuna, expected to take at least another month.
LaLuna is located at 215 SE 9th Ave. Belmont's Inn is at 3357 SE Belmont St.
In June, Cool Nutz, a.k.a. Terrance Scott, released a two-CD set of local hip-hop music (Timbre, WW, Aug. 27, 1997). |
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BY BROOKE DeNISCO, bdenisco@wweek.com |
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Bertrell Coleman says that when he headed to Southeast Portland two weeks ago, he just wanted to catch a show by local rapper Cool Nutz. Instead, he caught a bullet. As a result, the 22-year-old Northeast Portlander now finds himself in the middle of an ongoing controversy about black-oriented music that threatens the future of one of Portland's most popular music clubs. Coleman, an African American, says that on the evening of Aug. 26, he drove to LaLuna with his cousins and two friends. After the show, the five headed out of the club and began walking toward their car, parked a few blocks away. One of Coleman's cousins noticed another acquaintance, 22 year-old Kevin McClinton, who, Coleman says, fired a round of shots at them. One bullet pegged Coleman in the left leg. Another hit the left buttock of a woman visiting from Seattle whom none of the men knew. Police confirm that McClinton is a suspect in the shooting, but haven't been able to find him. Although they won't comment further on the investigation, it's clear that police think LaLuna is part of the problem. They considered requesting an emergency shutdown of the club, but instead settled on a "chronic nuisance warning," basically putting the club on probation. Drugs and Vice Det. Bill Calder says the shooting is not the only reason the nightspot is under police scrutiny. "LaLuna is up there on the top of my problem list," he says. "There was a fight in April during a concert. In June a physical fight resulted from an argument that started at LaLuna, and on Aug. 20 we arrested a concertgoer for urinating on the side of the building. They're going to have to fix the problem or they'll get closed down." Although none of the previous incidents Calder mentioned were at hip-hop shows, he and others think that type of music is particularly troublesome. When asked how LaLuna might avoid future problems, Calder said, "Not having hip?hop shows is a possibility." Club manager Sarah Collins, however, says she's never seen a connection between rap music and violence in clubs. For the past three years, LaLuna has hosted POH?HOP, a two-day hip?hop festival, which Collins says has been trouble-free despite capacity crowds on some nights. Similarly, Collins says, there were no problems at the Aug.26 show prior to the shooting. "It was good music, there was a good vibe and the crowd was pretty positive," she says. Coleman also fails to see a connection between the bullet in his leg and anything that happened inside LaLuna. McClinton, says Coleman, had accused Coleman's cousin of stealing a gun from him. "Kevin probably found out from someone that we would be at LaLuna and was just waiting for us to come out," Coleman says. As he sees it, the shooting could just as easily have happened outside a movie theater or private party, if his cousin's plans had been different. The shooting was not the first time this summer that gunplay was reported at a hip-hop show. On May 6, residents near Belmont's Inn reported the sound of gunfire following a show by local act DJ Chill. Although police found no evidence that shots were fired, residents of the nearby Belmont Dairy apartments confronted the bar owner and threatened to file complaints with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. They made it clear that they didn't think hip-hop music, and the fans it drew, was appropriate for the neighborhood. "I don't have any objection to Belmont's," says Belmont Dairy manager Dave Marbaugh. "We only began having problems when that DJ Chill started, when they started playing that rap." Belmont's manager Jojo Abbott wasn't surprised by the reaction. "I'm half black and half white and I can see it," says Abbott, who's been tending bar in the predominantly white neighborhood for 14 years. "Once they see the black guys smoking cigarettes on the street and getting in their cars with their boom boxes, that's enough for them." The fear of losing his liquor license was too much for Belmont's owner Matt Traxler. This summer he stopped bringing live music to his club. It's unlikely that LaLuna will follow suit. Since opening in 1992, it has been a crucial space for the Northwest's burgeoning alternative-rock scene. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Hole all played LaLuna before going on to international fame. What's more likely is a halt--at least temporarily--to rap shows. Terrance Scott, who organized the show and performed under his moniker Cool Nutz, doesn't think that he'll be playing at LaLuna again anytime soon. Scott's record label, Jus Family, has close ties to Monqui, the company that manages and books LaLuna, and he doesn't want to jeopardize the space. Collins, although she's a strong supporter of hip?hop, doesn't have a clear vision for its future at her club. There are currently no hip?hop concerts booked at LaLuna for September or October. In fact, no hip-hop shows are scheduled in any major Portland clubs during September. --J.C. Blalock contributed to this article |
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