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With Portlanders of every vintage so eager to ennoble the fallen, let us remember two things about Slabtown as the longtime Northwest venue fades into memory. Fairly or not, local nightlife preservationists loathed the idea of Slabtown since the club replaced Cal-Sport, a comfortably divey old-man's tavern that welcomed increasing numbers of musicianly patrons.
Also, Slabtown was a terrible idea.
It never had the capacity to attract touring bands of sufficient draw for destination status (like Doug Fir Lounge or Hawthorne Theatre). Nobody quite figured out how to properly utilize the expansive back section, until current owner Doug Rogers began throwing all-ages shows a few years ago. A willfully scattershot approach to genre emphasis never encouraged a scene to coalesce (like Holocene or LaurelThirst), and the club was probably best known for organizing annual events such as Nuggets Tribute Night and the garage marathon Bender weekends.
Most damning, it was a neighborhood venue without a neighborhood. Set under a highway overpass, the club never felt remotely connected to the nearby Pearl District, and if the supra-inclusive booking policies of Slabtown the club spanned too diverse a spectrum, the one audience it was least likely to attract was new residents of Slabtown the real-estate market.
Slabtown was born from the spark of gentrification, survived through entrepreneurial zeal, and should best be remembered as a testament to the wonders of continual reinvention. For the first time, surrounding environs began changing quicker than the venue, which nobody could've predicted a decade ago.
Our town doesn't
always behave as expected, and nothing makes less sense than a sleepy
little tavern in the ass-end of nowhere helplessly transformed to
foundational outpost of turn-of-the-millennium indie Avalon. Shot on the
premises, the Dandy Warhols' "Bohemian Like You" video probably spelled
the end of Cal-Sport as unspoiled watering hole, but take another look
at that video and imagine how band nights wouldn't have happened. If the
history of Portland has taught us anything, it's that live music finds a
way.
SEE IT: Slabtown is at 1033 NW 16th Ave., 971-229-1455. The final show, featuring bands paying tribute to Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Joy Division, Elliott Smith and more, is Saturday, Nov. 1. 8 pm. Free. All ages.
WWeek 2015
