Production/Venue Guide
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PRODUCTION/VENUE GUIDE OREGON MUSIC / DECEMBER 2001 photo Buko Photo: Michael Moran 1980. Wallpaper Music at the Long Goodbye. Jon Newton on guitar. on Newton was a young, schooled, blue- ings among the rockers. He created , D’Anse Combeau musical theater, directing the pit orchestra for over 50 grass violinist that listened to Frank Zappa. , a smarmy French lounge singer played by Jim Baldwin. shows. In 1994 he became the Development Director J He left Portland to spend years on the road Their specialty; “Protest Songs To A Light Latin Beat”. for the Wil Vinton animation company, where he “cre- playing “Classical Gas” with Mason Williams and re- Eve of Destruction cha cha cha. “Woodstock Goes ated film and television concepts and pitched them in turned home in ‘77 to join the Tu Tu band “About half- Hawaiin” was the Combeau blockbuster. Newton scaled Hollywood.” Newton did lunch with Eddie Murphy and way through their run.” He quickly made a reputation down with The Patios “Portland’s softest band. If you they created The PJ’s for Fox Television. Jon returned for himself in the club scene where he wrote riotous don’t like our music, we’ll turn it down till you do.” to the club stage December 2nd to emcee the Oregon musical concept shows featuring the Tu Tu players. His They did “Some Velvet Evening-A tribute to Nancy Music Hall of Fame’s Tribute to Billy Rancher at the totally hip musical theatrics developed huge follow- Sinatra”. In 1988 Jon left the club scene and worked Roseland Grill. LL privileged children a chance to participate in mu- month, Denny does admit he may have strayed over the sic. line in making reference to the WTC. He says his focus LETTERS I have worked in the music retail business in was meant to be on the catastrophic loss to Portland’s GC DROPS AD Portland for over twelve years...at three different music community with the bankruptcy of the city’s first Two Poopies, locations..and never was given such an opportu- player-owned retail music store specifically for drummers; lease cancel my ad with Two Louies nity as what was given to me at Guitar Center...and The Drum Shop. Established by Don Worth in 1958, when Magazine immediately...In reference to I have been able to hire in my store the local talent Pearl was a finish and not a line and the first generation P your latest issue (Cool Nutz) page 29 and offer them the same opportunity. Maybe Mr. of rock players was learning the drum parts to “Peggy Skinny White Shoulder...last paragraph...I find that Mellor should spend a day at my side and he would Sue” and “Jailhouse Rock”. Our sincere apologies to any any future business with your magazine would be have a different opinion. GC employees who thought the shoe fit, and wore it.) impossible. Your guy Denny Mellor I guess is not The tasteless comments that you allow in your informed on how many things us “greedy corpo- magazine..i.e. World Trade Center reference, has BILLY RANCHER LIVES! rate owned chain-gang music store punks unfor- made it clear to me that you guys don’t have a Dear Two Louies, tunately not located in the World Trade Center” clue...how do you know that someone that works hanks again to all those involved for have done for the entire community of Oregon. I for this company hasn’t been affected personally the hard work organizing the Billy can give you pages of schools, churches, and local by the events of 9-11-01? T Rancher Tribute and kicking off the bands that I have personally given my free time Brian Harrison Oregon Music Hall of Fame. Judging from and free loans of instruments, PA, Lighting, Per- Manager Guitar Center Beaverton Portland's response, the efforts were timely. In light cussion... you name it...to help facilitate the dream (Ed. Note: Although we couldn’t find Guitar of all that has happened this year, it was a great of being a musician, or to inspire young under Center’s name anywhere in Skinny White Shoulder last Continued on page 30 TWO LOUIES, December 2001 - Page 3 Helio Sequence at Dante’s. Continued on page 19 Page 4 - TWO LOUIES, December 2001 Hall Of Fame Magic by Ford T. Pearson www.oregonmusichalloffame.org rior to the Billy Rancher Tribute event, the last time I heard Rocky Road live was P1983 at LaBamba’s. I was 20 at the time, but my ID said I was 23 and I had been work- ing for Two Louies Magazine for about 3 years at that point. Billy’s PDX play-cir- cuit back then was mainly LaBamba’s, Lung Fung’s, Casey’s Coral and a few others. He packed Hand-Crafted Swank ‘em in wherever he played, but LaBamba’s was my www.bacchusrestaurant.net favorite venue at which to catch Billy’s show. He ack in 1989 Tom Anderson was fresh iliary busses, mono three-way front end with in- and the Unreal Gods always seemed extra “on” out of the army and looking for some dependently controlled center cluster, Yorkville there, and I saw and heard magic happen many B thing interesting to do. He wound up speaker enclosures, 4 monitor mixes on 5 Yorkville times. in Seattle and spent some time working for con- wedges mixed from the front of the house posi- At the Oregon Music Hall Of Fame’s Rancher cert promoter Tribute, Sunday, Albatross before December 2nd, I moving on to saw and heard the Bower/ that magic again. Kinnear power- And I experi- house Media enced the power One. music has to “I was a keep a person crew guy, you and a legend know? I pushed alive long after the cases they have left us. around,” said I arrived at Tom from his the Roseland new, custom Grill that Sunday built, palace in at about 3:00PM, Vancouver, and the joint was Washington, the already jumping. Bacchus Restau- Smokey Wymer rant. “I spent and his crew of years doing the gear-gurus from real work so I Guitar Center know what’s re- were 90% done ally involved in with the load-in the trade.” he and were busily continued. setting up the Bacchus is photo Buko stage. the only Five And vid-vet Star joint in Vancouver. Its swankiness is exceeded tion. There’s also tons of outboard gear and full David Jester was in the process of setting up his only by its hip personnel. Tom knows the business. lighting equipment supporting the 12X24 arched video recording and playback gear. Jester and his And he obsesses on every detail of the world in stage. crew (David Ashton, Frank Mahoney and Barry which he lives. When he and the owner’s son and Dennis Mincks is the man wielding this con- Kaine) set up a mountain of equipment, including musician Lloyd Taylor, accompanied by ex- siderable amount of hardware. Bacchus chose well a giant screen TV, through which the lucky crowd Roseland Chef and the designer of the Roseland when they tapped Dennis for the gig. Mincks has in attendance got to watch about an hour of Billy Grill build-out Kevin Paul Connell, personally went over 24 years of live-sound experience and has Rancher footage shot by David over the years. on the shopping spree that netted the profundity worked for everybody from Concert Audio to David is the wizard behind the curtain. Big time. of in-house gizmonia designed to seduce both the Starry Night, including a nine-year stint with the David mixes video footage from multiple sources audience, and the artists performing at Bacchus, Dan Reed Network. on the fly and purely by feel. At one point, he there was no exception to that rule. Upcoming at the Bacchus in December is a blended the imagery from the live recording of the Case and point? The place was built from the very cool Christmas show on the 19th featuring Unreal Gods’ (with Lenny Rancher) performance ground up. Get that? One million bucks worth of the Inkspots. Following that, on Monday the 20th, of Used To Hang Around with classic footage of Billy hand-crafted swank. Custom work, Bubba. Specifi- is a rare performance by Victoria Corrigan with and the Unreal Gods performing the same song, cally designed so that you can get your groove on the Donny Osbourne Trio, and if you’re craving a almost perfectly synched. Spooky-cool huh? in that Cadillac kind of style. little funkiness for the new year, check out their Ever just hung back and watched the set-up Bands will love Bacchus too. The Spectrum first annual New Year’s Eve party with Da Funk. for a sizable event? It’s quite mesmerizing. Lots of Acoustics installed sound system features a 24X8X2 Bacchus (360) 882-9672 people running around, climbing up scaffolds, wir- Allen and Heath GL4 mixing console with 10 aux- Continued on page 29 TWO LOUIES, December 2001 - Page 5 n the late nineties I took a fun gig at a fledg acts get a bit of grief from other musicians in town. I as they make their video in LA this month, sell their ling local indie record label, Eon Records. I hear the scuttle on the street from the industry people records, tour the US with acts such as Seven Dust and Iwas excited to deal with the two aspects of the I have known throughout my days of working the Port- Drowning Pool and get those precious spins on the ra- music business I had not touched on yet in my music land indie scene.