Portland July 19

This sold-out show at the Roseland Theater rocked. The band rocked. The crowd rocked. More to the point, the chemistry between the two rocked. One concert-goer, who didn't know the band's music well and had never seen them live, described the show as mind-blowing. Another, who claimed to have gone to dozens of jam-band concerts said that this was the best show he'd every seen in his life. The feeling was mutual. Going off-stage after singing lead on a couple songs early in the set, Karina expressed her gratitude to the audience by thanking them and telling them they were great. Though Roseland lacks the charm of the Moore, it's a great place to see Thievery. Because there are no seats on the main floor, it's more conducive to dancing. And a whole lotta dancing went on in the tightly packed hall, rendering the venue thick with sweat-infused air, which intensified the intimacy of the experience. The Rose City is chock full of hipsters who dig Thievery and whose dance moves draw on as broad a cultural mix as the band's music.

Thievery Corporation is anything but a corporation. It's like a big family and I've been fortunate to observe how its diverse members, coming from many different backgrounds, are united in their shared vision of a world that allows individuals to think and act freely, that prioritizes people not profits, that is more loving and respectful. Before each show, the band congregates in the green room backstage for a ritual. Members begin to clap their hands, each articulating a different rhythm that grows together, summoning a sonic presence constructed of the most basic, primal musical spirit. Everyone puts their hands together in the center and they dedicate the show to someone. The show is not about them individually or collectively, it is for someone or some idea, it is for music, for people, for the world.

This is the first time I've been in Portland and it also seems like a big family. It's youthful denizens seem to share Thievery's anti-corporate, post-ideological politics. With a population of approximately 500,000 (2005), it's large enough to have a critical mass of creative artists but small enough so that people know each other, having met at one gathering or another. I made friends and strengthened friendships at the Thievery show and I'm witnessed many others having the same experience. People here seem very mutually supportive, committed to making their polis a healthy and fun place by building and sharing it together, rather than simply taking from it for their individual gain. I can see why quite a few of my friends have gravitated Portland and why the people I met here love it.

Perhaps these are some of the reasons why Portland is Eric's favorite city in the US. Portland and Thievery are a perfect pair.

To conclude on a more personal note, my visit to Portland was very special because I got to catch up with my old college buddy, Peter Shulman, and to meet his lovely family, who hosted me during my short stay. Peter was my first friend in college. We met during frosh pre-season soccer and went to hear the Clash together, bonding before school even started. We've not seen each other in 19 years (the last time was at a Grateful Dead show at Compton Terrace in Tempe) and it was really rewarding for me to see Peter so fulfilled and happy. I also got to see my grad school friend Jen Urich and meet her friend, Michael, who served with her in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. He now owns the bar, Low Brow, which in my mind is a perfect bar. Warm people, cold beer, seating indoors and outdoors, and utterly no pretense. I'd also like to thank the beautiful and talented LaTisha Strickland for a fascinating conversation about insects, plants, and symbiosis and for driving me back to Peter's. Goodbye Portland, or rather, au revoir - I hope to see you soon.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a little time on the plane from PDX to OAK to edit some of the pix/videos and get them posted.