[from
Portland, OR] Music festivals that take place in indoor dark venues, multiple indoor
dark venues, trill my toes. Outdoorsy music festivals are messy. So many people.
So far from the stage. All sorts of environmental hazards, like sun and mud and
dust. No one’s really paying attention. Plus you’re all trapped at one or two
stages. SXSW indoctrinated me into expecting endless options of amazing music
at my fingers' tips. But it’s a rare thing. Some friends traveled to Iceland
and chanced upon a similar festival. Seattle hosts a Capital Hill Block Party
that’s a kindergarten version. Well the heavens shone down on me. I was feeling
antsy/fractious, looking through the Willamette Weekly glumly, and what did
my sad eyes see but a little multi-venue event happening in my very own
Portland. It was rainy, it was cloudy, it was cold – but what else was a girl
to do? Kelly’s Olympian is a weird mix of 50s biker memorabilia, supposed punk leanings,
and one of the more violent incidents between Portland’s notorious political extremists.
Twenty people, maybe, were in the sideroom venue – a dark unfortunately-entirely-innocent
room. The band was young, passionate, tumultuous – still in full reel from the
complexities of humanhood. They looked to be a mixed subcultural lot but their
sound was pretty clearly 90s alt-rock – jangly, noisey, maybe a little gothy – often
Smashing Pumpkins. The lead singer was straightforwardly gender bending but,
honestly, 1/3 or more of the people I encounter in Portland are gender adventurous.
When I travel to other places, I am literally overcome by the extravagant
displays of masculinity and femininity. Phoenix! The lead singer pushed their
voice hard and gyrated awkwardly, dramatically. But I still liked them. The last song I heard was a
heartfelt description of their hard psychological times. These are efforts that could make me weary of a person/band, BUT, in this band, everyone was very musically competent, clearly liked each other, and had a sense of humor. Plus it was obvious the lead singer was an exquisitely intelligent, exquisitely sensitive human being, just the sort I adore, so keep on revolutioning.
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