By Clare Shreve
From scruffy beards and dreadlocks to mom jeans and old men with canes, Portlanders showed up in full force to celebrate the Crystal Ballroom's 95th birthday celebration throughout last week. Crystal Ballroom fans filtered in and out of the Stumptown landmark to honor its near-century run. In honor of the big 9-5, the Crystal Ballroom put on free all day, mostly all-ages shows on Sunday, Jan. 25. All four floors of the historic building were packed with bands. Its sister venue, Lola's Room, home to the ultra hip '80s video dance attack also rocked out on Sunday.
The showcase included alum of the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, Alpaca!, Whiskey Puppy, Blue Giant and the good ol' indie-folk of Blitzen Trapper. The shows began at 1:30 p.m. and rocked through the finale, nearly ten hours later.
Music lovers of any genre were entertained by the all day affair of bluegrass, psychedelia, kids rock, funk, blues, old-timey, electronica, country and marimba madness. With such an array of sounds echoing through the drafty halls of the Crystal Ballroom, the hours of the day passed with bumping rhythm.
The Crystal Ballroom was established in 1914 to "raise people's spirits" during World War I, according to the McMenamins Web site, According to Kevin Robinson, lead singer for Blue Giant, dancing was illegal in Portland at that time.
"The color brown was also illegal. You've come a long way Portland," Robinson said.
Despite Robinson's facetious comment, truth resides in his statement. According to the McMenamins Web site, the Crystal Ballroom opened its doors "in the days when frisky Portland residents could still be arrested for dancing the Tango."
Throughout the 20th century, the Crystal Ballroom has evolved from its old-time dance revivals to the ultimate rock palace during the '60s. Musical legends like Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead blew audiences out of the walls of the Crystal Ballroom with electric waves and lyrics that are iconic to those of us born decades later. After reopening its doors in 1997, the Crystal Ballroom brought Gen X-ers into the "floating dance floor" with '90s rock stars like Billy Idol and the Indigo Girls.
Today the Crystal Ballroom ushers in 20-somethings born in the '80s with Portland-based bands like The Decemberists, The Shins, and M. Ward.
Sunday's birthday bash wind-down that featured Blitzen Trapper was a solid indication that the Crystal Ballroom is continuing to support local bands while bringing in the big names.
Blitzen Trapper's latest and first non-self produced album, "Furr," came out in Sept. 2008. At the birthday bash, they played a solid set of over a dozen songs, many of which came from "Furr." There was a healthy mix of slow and quiet tunes, like "Not Your Lover," as well as the more lively head-noddingly good songs, such as "God & Suicide." The band played its sweet-sounding song, "Lady on the Water," live for the first time at the birthday bash.
While the free ticket to the show was a great perk, the best part of the birthday was Blitzen Trapper's cover of an old country song. The sextet created such a range of sounds, complete with vocals that channeled Bob Dylan and concordant harmonies, it blurred the lines between folk, country and synthesized rock.
Very few bands can pull off harmonica along with synthing within the same show, but Blitzen Trapper achieved this musical near-impossibility flawlessly.
After years of supporting both local and national artists, it's great to see the Crystal Ballroom alive and kickin' at 95. Without this venue Portlanders wouldn't have that trademark experience, typical to the Crystal, of dancing on clouds (or rather the springs in the dance floor), young hipsters would have to find a new place to wear their oversized sunglasses inside, and the over 29-year-old crowd wouldn't have a clue where to go to stay musically in the know. The Crystal Ballroom contributes a lot to our music loving city of Portland. Happy birthday Crystal Ballroom!
