An "I love Portland" moment
The Mac Store has been marking the Grand Opening of their Clackamas store in a variety of ways: the usual special deals on hardware and software, and (perhaps more unusually) with a series of live shows by local musicians and bands in both the new Clackamas store and the Portland store.
I came down a couple of times to meet up with Christine, and the music was always of very high quality. And Christine said that about the acts that I missed as well. The problem was is that it was generally played to an almost empty store, or to customers who wanted to shop rather than listen to great music. Sort of "live in store" elevator muzak, if you like.
That all changed when Laura Veirs showed up for her gig on Saturday. Suddenly, the store was full of enraptured listeners who found a position wherever they could to listen to her. As you can see in the picture above, there was even a guy who pulled up his old G5 tower that he'd just picked up from the service department as a seat! No one was interested in picking up an iPod accessory or even in the free pizza on offer until after Laura finished her set.
Of course, this reaction was to be somewhat expected - Laura Veirs is a pretty big name on the Portland scene. As Christine noted, she's the only one out of all the acts booked who has her own Wikipedia entry! She's released at least three albums that get proper distribution (ie, she doesn't rely on selling them at the end of gigs to get them out in the market) and has had successful tours and collaborations with The Decemberists, amongst others.
And that's what's cool about this small Portland moment. A successful local act who isn't above playing a very low key gig in a rather strange location (a computer store?!!). And she's rewarded for this, as the large and appreciative audience shows. A big win all around!
Posted in: chaosboy, music, portland on June 1, 2008 at at 7:13:00 PM
