[Portland, OR] I discovered this place randomly last Friday afternoon when I
needed a place to mentally switch from an annoying work day to chatting with
BrightShardsOfGlass, and then to picking up BlackAndWhite at the airport. Although
I spent more time on the phone in my car in the uncomfortably shady parking lot,
I managed to learn a lot during my 30 minutes in the bar alone with the owner
of the bar, Steve. Namely, they have a lot of live music, it’s mostly hard
music, and they’re right down the road from where I live – why was I not
informed of this immediately upon move-in? Tonight was a rough start. Sure, Steve
happened to be next to the door man when I arrived & actually remembered
me, made sure I was promptly situated with drink – I actually prefer to be more
incognito but whatever, we are somewhat simpatico – he’s an entirely-straight-looking
biker who is excellent & kind to people – I’m a road tripper who is
endlessly fascinated by people. But he’s 20 years older than me so I immediately
filtered him. My week was wearing on me. Technically, there was nothing wrong
with it… except my smooth people were being difficult and my difficult people
were being smooth – overlaid with a thick glaze of PMS. The crowd was real
metal—90s metal—nary a hipster in sight. Lots of legs spread wide man style. Except
a slightly-black guy on my left side in hipster glasses and a t-shirt with
Kelly from Saved by the Bell on it who screamed FUCK right after I sat down at
the bar and then kept apologizing, looking from his phone with some video on it
to me like I was supposed to get it. In all, the people in the bar who weren’t
long-haired and baggy-panted were a little nutty. I felt even more out of place
than usual. But I can skate. Steve told me last week he really survives because
of the gaming. I was shocked upon arrival in Oregon by the amount of machines
in bars—I guess still naïve that Vegas is the only mecca—not so much—and, of
course, the people partaking are the most desperate of the characters—so let’s
participate in their degradation. Then Steve was chiding the poor bartender for
putting her tips in the register – she remained gracious even after like four
repeats from him. The band, though, they were just so ungood. Maybe it was the
sound (the poor doorman was tasked with both duties) but I’m pretty sure the
band was just kind of average. They were metal (first song “Captain Nomad”) but
then the second song was more punk. Ultimately, I liked the songs by the
alternate singer more—more punk-tinged and driven. They had some post-grunge
songs too (typically not a good thing). They did cover Corrosion of Conformity,
which I’m totally surprised I recognized, and even more surprised I’m really
enjoying reliving them. They ended with AC/DC’s “Ride On.” Ultimately, the holistic
experience of the first band reminded me of why I’m in no way a real nihilistic
– the scene reminded me of all sorts of things I spent some time running real
fast away from.
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