Skip to main content- HOT NEWS: Lucky Strike, the beloved Szechuan restaurant on outer Southeast Powell Boulevard whose pepper-bath chicken (see photo) is responsible for the majority of the city’s heartburn, has applied for a liquor license at 3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd. That’s the downstairs of the torch-fronted building across the street from Fred Meyer that houses the Hawthorne Theatre as well as, until recently, the short-lived restaurant Arista. Lucky Strike’s proprietors could not be reached for comment—the restaurant is closed until Feb. 4, according to its Facebook page, to deal with a family emergency.
- SOMETHING’S GOTTA STICK: 12th Avenue Bar & Grill, the most recent failed tenant of the downtown space that over the past few years has housed Green Papaya Bistro and Taj Mahal Fine Indian Cuisine, will soon reopen as Element.
- HAITI, RELIEVED: Local arts organizer Stephen Marc Beaudoin’s Songs for Haiti benefit at the Aladdin Theater, which featured everybody from Thomas Lauderdale to Storm Large and the Portland Cello Project, raised more than $150,000 last Thursday for earthquake relief. That figure includes $75,000 in matching funds from the Ray Hickey Foundation and a $23,000 gift from philanthropist Howard Hedinger. “My favorite part had to be when pianist Janice Scroggins, vocalist Linda Hornbuckle and a wailing 10-member band of singers and players tore through a set of roof-raising gospel tunes, which got the entire audience up on its feet, screaming and hollering,” Beaudoin gushes. “There was some CHURCH up in the Aladdin that night!” Find more local benefits and Haiti helpers at wweek.com/haitirelief .
- FERTILIZED: The first three days of the second Fertile Ground festival of new theater was a smashing success. According to festival organizers, more than 3,000 people attended festival events over the weekend, selling out 16 of the 32 performances. For more coverage of the festival, check out Ben Waterhouse’s reviews at wweek.com.
- THE BLEEDING: Anyone who’s seen the Parenthetical Girls in concert knows the Portland experimental pop outfit has a flair for the dramatic. But for the band’s forthcoming series of five vinyl EPs (set for online and show-exclusive release via the band’s own label, Slender Means Society, and limited to runs of 500 each), the Girls decided to go for broke: They’ll hand-number each EP in blood. Their own blood. And though we’re not exactly sure how this bleeding will go down (are they being professionally drained or just doing some light wrist-slitting?), we’re pretty sure their mothers wouldn’t approve. Death and Endearments, the first release in the series, comes out Feb. 23. It’ll have Zac Pennington DNA on it. (Photo courtesy of The Billions Corporation)
WWeek 2015