Lloyd Jones - Artichoke Cafe, Portland OR - January 7, 2023

 

[Photo courtesy of https://fitguitargirl.com/index.php/artichoke-music-portland-oregon/]

[Grass Valley, CA and Scotland] I’ve heard of this place since I moved to the Montavilla neighborhood and I should have known what to expect given I heard of it at the concerts I’d go to with TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers. Well, I did know – I picked this place because only early show available and I needed to get out of the fucking house and needed to get NiceButAlsoDangerous’s depressed whiny ass off my couch. Packed tight with seated old White people – even NiceButAlsoDangerous made a comment on the upper middle class Whiteness of it. First, I was rudely awoken to find that the $5 per person cover was $17 per person – and we’d arrived late, planned to leave early, and were stuck in the back against the door. On the up side, we were stuck next to Bodie, a Blackish man whose face bone structure was eerily reminiscent of Flame’s – tallish, super skinny, deep scratchy voice - he was a little drunk (drunker by the time we left) – fast on his feet, smart, made me laugh – he was sort of dancing to himself – said he used to see this guy all the time before the pandemic at a bar called Spirits on Cully – he said this was his first time at this place and he was like “I’m a little out of my element here… no, I’m fine” [last part more to himself] …. Then the singer slurred the place, saying I guess there won’t be dancin’ …. Lloyd was a good blues singer and guitarist, a white guy in red tinted glasses and a silly beret… because he’s doing some ‘first Fridays’ thing for the venue, he’s accompanied by different people each time…. This time was a younger guy who sometimes sang songs himself (one super poppy song)… Bodie said he’d never seen Lloyd play drums either (we missed that)… they both were talented but just not a show I would ever pay $17 for … I heard something in Lloyd’s voice and asked Bodie if he knew where he was from and Bodie mused Louisiana, which excited me because I’m really excited to take NiceButAlsoDangerous to New Orleans…. Nah, from what his website says, he’s an Oregon native who has a New Orleans sound – blah. Still: got out, saw stuff.

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