United Kingdom based band, Basement, electrifies the crowd at the Analog Theater in Portland, Ore. (Source: Dylan Conner)
You could see the band writing their set lists in the fogged-up mirror behind the stage, the room so hot and crammed you could barely pull out your camera or your phone. Lights beating down on your face as an opening riff started the set, and created a surge of fans pushing towards the stage.
We arrived at the Analog Café and Theater in Portland, Oregon towards the beginning of Colleen Green’s set. The small, yet growing, crowd swaying to her laid back surf rock sound while she was alone onstage, guitar in hand and sunglasses on. Green provided a perfect “warm up” for the rest of the chaos to come.
Melodic hardcore band Defeater, from Massachusetts, was up next and by then the crowd had shifted from small clusters to a large room of people, half of them forming a large circle pit. The band was high energy and a complete shift from the calm performance of Colleen Green to loud guitar riffs and powerhouse vocals.
Colleen Green was one of the 3 supporting artists on tour with Basement. (Source: larecord.com)
“I really enjoy Portland!” said solo act, Colleen Green, “…this tour has been great.”
Up next was Maryland hardcore band, Turnstile. This band is known for putting on an absolutely wild show, and thyme every expectation. The crowd was in full motion and between dodging the massive circle pit and crowd-surfers, and maybe even an elbow to the face- it was even possible to squeeze close to the front to get a full view of the band.
Anyone could tell how passionate they were about their performance, and not only that, you could tell how much the crowd absolutely came alive during their set. Everyone in the room knew the words, one song in particular, “Drop” off their latest album “Nonstop Feeling” seemed to get the crowd going the most.
Last to perform was London band, Basement. They opened with one of their older songs titled “Whole” off their album “colourmeinkindness” and you could see the crowd absolutely go crazy as they sang along. Basement also played a lot of songs of their latest album “Promise Everything” that is available on iTunes and Spotify.
Overall, the performances were incredible. It is not always common to truly enjoy all bands on that big of a tour. One fan who remained anonymous told me that it was “her first time seeing a show like this” and that she “feels like she’s been missing out on the ‘scene”. However, on the negative end, this show should have been done at a better venue. For those who have not been to the Analog Café and Lounge, it is a tiny attic-like room above a bar.
Now, this sounds like it would work in theory, but get a room full of sweaty dudes body slamming each other and a stage that’s only a step off the ground, you’re going to run into some minor complications. For one, the ceiling was so low that it was a legitimate hazard to the crowd-surfers and stage divers… or “step divers” as some may call them. Security had to make an announcement not to knock into the sprinkler pipes.
Turnstile, hardcore band from Maryland, is known for their massive stage presence. (Source: turnstilehc.bandcamp.com)
Now, for a less rowdy show this venue would be fine. In fact, it is fine, another show that was booked there not too long ago didn't seem to have the same issues, and the sound was awesome. Unfortunately that’s about it. Sound quality is definitely a majorly important factor, but the Analog didn’t seem to even have that in the bag last night. A few times during Basement’s set, the guitars cut out and made for a couple long, awkward pauses.
“Honestly, despite all the technical issues, Basement made up for it by performing so well” says Oregon State student Taylor Alvarez.
The band did a fantastic job improvising during those times, however you would think that by the last and most anticipated band the venue would have gotten it together by then.
The Analog by no means is a “bad venue”, however, booking agents should be saving their rowdier bands for venues that are better equipped.
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