"Are You Ready to Rock?"
Posted by: Greg | From: July 20, 2006
It was mild and sunny in the City Hall courtyard when Mayor Tom Potter and City Councilman Sam Adams took the stage to kick off today's festival "kick off" show. After thanking all of the great city staff members that made the even possible, and plugging the mysterious Vission Vessel, the Mayor shouted the crowd into action: "Are you ready to rock!?!"
It turns out we were. And even if we hadn't been, Pseudosix eased us into things gently with their relatively relaxed bluesy/Wilco-esque stylings. People were lounging on the grass, registering to vote, checking out the pdxpop merch. Plus, this one crazy guy was totally rocking out. Eventually, two other "dancers" joined the crazy guy in front of the stage to bring Pseudosix's set to a close with a rousing round of leap frog.
Next up: The Minders. By this time, the crowd was really starting to fill out, maybe 300 people? More? And The Minders really got them going with their sunny catchy pop and imported charm. Some minor technical glitches knocked out the PA a couple of times during this set, but the intrepid sound team managed to get it sorted each time with little fuss.
And finally, Quasi, joined on bass by Joanna Bolme who's also done time with The Minders as well Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. With the addition of Bolme's muscular bass playing, in the wake of the dissolution of Janet Weiss's other band, and in the run up to an international tour, Quasi seemed more relevant and exciting than ever. They also seemed to be having a great deal of fun (especially during the shaker breakdown near the end of the set [pictured]). By the peak of their set the crowd had swelled into the four to five hundred range (according to my sketchy estimation techniques) and had really started moving.
And that, pretty much, was that. All in all, it was a great success. Lots of people found out about the festival -- I saw Cary and Ross passing out tons of stickers -- and a couple of totally different demographics got exposed to some great Portland music: teenagers and politicians.
No way! Whenver I walk by there, I always feel like it's the kind of deserted where if you walk into the courtyard you'll get shot by snipers!
Posted by: greg at July 21, 2006 2:20 AM
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have that many people ever been gathered in front of City Hall for a positive reason before? well done! it was awesome!
Posted by: Mikey at July 20, 2006 10:24 AM