Slabtown Looking for a "Clean Slate"

Help the Portland punk institution clear some of its debt, make structural improvements.

Slabtown owner Doug Rogers proudly touts his club's DIY bonafides, which, frankly, were etched into its walls long before he bought the place two years ago. But, as we've learned recently, doing things yourself is a costly endeavor—particularly when you've inherited debt from previous owners.

And so, in his attempt to keep ol' Slabby—as he refers to it—from going the way of 285 Kent, Rogers is taking to fundraising site Indie Gogo to help clean up that back-pay and make a few plumbing and electrical improvements, along with other upgrades.

Rogers does a pretty good job summing up Slabby's importance to the local music community:

According to Rogers, though Slabtown is "profitable and growing," being consistently behind on past payments means they're "still always a couple of canceled shows away from having to shut our doors." And with Slabtown opening its back game room to all-ages shows a few years ago, the venue's become even more important, particularly with the recent closure of Backspace. To donate to the Clean Slate Campaign, go here

And, as per usual whenever I blog something about Slabtown, I have to post the following video of the time Mudhoney played the annual Bender (which has since moved to Star Theater) in 2009, just a few months after I moved here, which remains easily the loudest and one of the most radical shows I've ever experienced. 

WWeek 2015

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