… a blog post from Chairman’s Corner.

Venues come and venues go. When I moved to Portland, OR back in June of ’99, the legendary Satyricon club was still around (check out the pic above to see some of the remnants of their infamous bathroom wall). Satyricon (named after the Fellini flick!) was basically Portland’s answer to CBGB’s – the club constantly hosted shows for various punk rock luminaries (both local and far beyond). I had the honor of seeing the incredible Dead Moon (PDX punk rock royalty) on Halloween there a couple of times, which was quite the classic tradition back then here in the City of Roses.

While the Satyricon is no longer, of course other venues have emerged since its closing. Luckily, Portland still has many great venues where we can experience awesome shows. Some rockers may say that no venue will ever quite capture the Satyricon’s magic (likely VERY true!), but I’ll always be grateful to live anywhere that still has a decent amount of options for witnessing live musical performances.

In terms of the variety of PDX musical venues currently out there, of course there’s always room for improvement (which is likely true of most towns) – but it seems that there are folks in town who are actively working on that. Personally speaking, I feel that the under 21 crowd should always have a place to go for live entertainment. The Kids Are (Always) Alright…and not so jaded either! Friends of Noise is a local organization that supports “creative youth in Portland through all ages concerts, workshops, and experience navigating the music scene.” F.O.N. is also currently working on opening up a brand new all ages venue. The event calendar for Commonwealth Skatepark is a great resource for the all ages shows that they host, not to mention Black Water (yet another venue that hosts all ages performances). Portland’s locales also host various genres. Tons of counter-cultural places for punk and metal (for sure), but there are also establishments that host folk, jazz, blues, indie, pop, etc.

As mentioned in my last blog post here, community is everything (IMHO)…and supporting local artists by going out to their shows is most definitely a fantastic way to build it. I’m still inspired by all of the talented folks who are both putting on and playing amazing local shows on a weekly basis. So many fresh ideas flow out of the creatives around here, providing insight into everything from songwriting to constructing live sets – or even planning some (hopefully) innovative events for that matter! I truly love getting out into the wild, getting my face melted off at the rock show, buying a record (or t-shirt) from the band, and showing support to as many heartening creators out there as I can.

Plus, you never know what might happen at a live show (whether it be your own or someone else’s)! I was watching a band recently, and the power shut off on them completely. Luckily, the band that I was watching was only 15 seconds away from finishing their final song (a song that is supposed to end with chaotic noise anyhow). For me, this kind of constant spontaneity of the live gig is always a huge thrill.

Cheers,

Jeffrey “Chairman” Couch

Music lover, creator & collector

chairman@spinneymedia.com

Chairman currently enjoys freaking out & creating panic with his spastic rock band Nasalrod, which is based in Portland, Oregon. He created this blog to share his serious love of music, the arts, and physical media.