I almost didn't go to the @rabbithole_pdx showcase/event at bridgecitysessions this Saturday, but it was a quick walk over the train tracks, I was curious about the venue, and things are going to be strange and strained at home until at least October.
I didn't realize the event was a DIY thing. Bridge City didn't seem like a full-time venue -- more a recording space that I guess they sometimes open for shows? With screen printing in the front? And the soundboard was a stack of a -- sound things? (I'm very technical) -- next to the stage.
BUT REGARDESS -- loud sounds in a confined space were made which is what I'm after right now. Also, apologies in advance for any misattributed band names. I was in and out of the venue because it was hot inside and I missed most of the intros.
When I got there a ghost in an orange t-shirt who I think was @body.shame was massaging an array of synth equipment with all sorts of beats, blips, and crunchy sounds coming out the other end. Of their top songs on Spotify, "Being a Girl Today" reminds me most of what was going on Saturday evening.
Next up was my personal headliner (i.e. how I knew about this show), Blushbutton. Viv, Heather, and Joe banged out a great set. There was no raised stage and the bands being on the same level as the audience really seemed to play to the band's strengths (although that might be m protection) and it got pretty gay there near the end for Viv.
Cooling down outside I was accosted by an extremely precocious blond child -- maybe 8 years old -- who demanded I answer two riddles.
- "What has many keys and no locks"
- "Poor people have me, rich people want me, and if you eat me you die"
She lorded it over me when I couldn't get the second one.
After cooling down in the evening breeze (a hint of autumn? 😻 ) I went back in and the next band had already started. I asked a gal next to me who it was and she said "I can't remember -- but it starts with an O and sounds like a prog band name" so that must have been @ominyx.band. My abiding memory of their set is the gal on keyboards, looking like a mild-mannered Portland girl next door suddenly channeling metal demon from hell and belting out the scariest death growl I've heard in a long time. It was, as the kids say, sick.
I'm not sure who the next set was -- she mentioned that Teeth were next so it wasn't them, which leaves only Lurid on the bill. My surface-level internetting says Lurid is more metal and she was not that. The vibe was like if Peni Parker had a slightly older way cooler sister. Lots of live processed vocals over beats and a blue cable running from the board up her pant leg leading me to believe she MIGHT have been a cyborg.
As the night went on the average age of the crowd started dropping -- I presume because the over-21s went off to drink somewhere and the under-21s stuck around because there weren't other places to go. I started to feel a bit out of place and uncomfortable when some high-school-looking kids showed up -- tfw you might be three times as old as someone at a show is a weird vibe.
That said a smart/cool lady I recently met pointed out that for a lot of the queer kids, even if they have supportive parents at home, these DIY events might be the first place they encounter queer adults and how vitally important that is. Thinking about it in retrospect the idea of being a -- role model?!? -- when I'm such a mess made me a little uncomfortable and probably stirred up a lot of "growing up queer and not knowing it" energy for me. Hopefully I'll be ready for it next time.
But a grand time regardless and I'm enjoying my time at live shows way more than my dip back into dance/club nights.