Scoop: Patty For President

1. THE MAGIC’S GONE: Magic Garden is closing Dec. 31. The iconic Old Town strip club was founded in the 1960s as a lesbian club and evolved into a coed hangout, a place where nude dancing coexisted happily with lunch-hour discounts and games of pool, and the music selection ran from Violent Femmes to Kurt Vile. The bar has been presided over for more than 20 years by Patty Wright, onetime owner of Patty’s Royal Cafe, a beloved presence almost as well-known to old-time Portlanders as the bar itself. According to staff, Magic Garden’s lease expires at the end of the year and the building’s owner declined to renew it—all other tenants have also vacated the centry-old building. 

1. FREE RIDE: Podcasters James Engberg and Eric Kilgore took a hard line against accepting complimentary tickets when they launched their theater review program 5 Useless Degrees & A Bottle of Scotch. “We don’t want comps because it may lead to an air of bias,” Engberg told WW last November. “We also want to pay for the seats we’re occupying,” Kilgore said. “We want to support the companies we’re going to see.” Earlier this month, the hosts reversed course, saying that for financial reasons they’ve started accepting free tickets. Kilgore estimates they spent more than $2,000 on tickets last season, not including a trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which he says isn’t sustainable. “It feels hypocritical,” he says. “My tail is firmly between my legs.” Engberg echoes the sentiment: “I feel like shit, and I’m pissed off that I have to trample over my principles if I want to keep seeing and reviewing theater.”

1. MOVING OUT: After 15 years in the same studio space, Oregon Ballet Theatre has announced it is seeking a new home for its company rehearsals and ballet school. The company’s current building, at Southeast 6th Avenue and Morrison Street, has been acquired by an apartment developer who will build 200 housing units in the space. Executive director Dennis Buehler says the sale eliminates OBT’s long-term debt, adding that the company had long been looking to sell. “It does have its limitations for our artists and our students,” Buehler says of the building, noting that it lacks an efficient layout. OBT aims to find a new space by fall 2015.

1. CALL THE DOCTOR: Legendary Portland-via-Olympia punk band Sleater-Kinney is getting back together, confirming a tour and a completed album titled No Cities to Love. The band—once declared the best in the world by rock critic Greil Marcus—played its last show in 2006 at the Crystal Ballroom, but appeared onstage together at a Pearl Jam show at the Moda Center last November, fueling a year of speculation. Reunion rumors reached a fever pitch with the announcement that an upcoming box set would include an “unheard song,” which turned out to be No Cities’ first single, “Bury Our Friends.” Sleater-Kinney’s tour begins Feb. 8 in Spokane, Wash. As of press time, no Portland dates have been announced. The new record will be out Jan. 20, right about the time the new season of Portlandia airs, which is sure to leave many Portlanders conflicted about Carrie Brownstein.

WWeek 2015