detuned's Blog

i thought it was hard to tell at first too, but then i looked at those guitar stands and boxes on the stage to give some vague scale, and well, it definitely looks a little small, especially for a place that supposedly aims to fill the void the state theater left. im sure itll be be fine for smaller/low level bands, but does it even have enough room for a larger headliner to leave all their gear set up during a show?

just got an email from port city, they have launched a blog with some pictures of the renovation. good to see progress, stage looks a little small to me though...

http://portcitymusichall.blogspot.com

yeah, youd think with all the update/subscription/stalker features that myspace is pushing these days, that there would at least be able to be notified when bands add shows to their pages. having RSS feeds for shows would be a nice addition as well.

i too saw many great shows at the asylum in high school, and it killed me when the place went 21+ only (especially since i was about 20 at the time and was forced to miss some of my favorite bands). i could probably count the number of great shows that have happened since then on two hands, while on the other hand id need a supercomputer or something to count the number of goth dance nights or whatever. at least it seems they have gotten a little better as of late, with more well known names (though still a little footed in the past, *cough*everlast*cough*) and some all ages shows, so maybe this is the beginning of the asylum stepping back up to help fill this larger venue void we've had since the fall of the state.

back to port city though, i guess on the bright side of the ages debate, is that its 18+ and not 21. hell, the middle east in boston is 18+ 99% of the time, and it books practically every small to mid level band in existence, and has something going on almost every night of the week. i pray someday portland can sustain a venue of that caliber.

totally agree, i follow a ridiculous amount of bands, so if it wasnt for RSS feeds id be pretty lost. if only just simply using their myspace blog or any other free blog service, every artist should really take advantage of this ridiculously easy way to keep their fans informed.

great, what portland needs, another non-all ages venue, heh. ive read about this front lounge thats connected to the venue, why not have the drinkers go there to drink, and then have all ages in the main performance area? i love drinking and all, and i understand venues make a lot of their money from alcohol sales, but i think only catering to that crowd is a big mistake. there are so many bands that will not play anything other than all ages shows, so not even at least doing them occasionally will prevent some great bands from playing maine.

as for bands i would like to see there, pretty much any well known, mid level bands out there touring now, bands that would be hitting up the state theater if it was still active. none of these has-beens that seem to dominate a certain other venue in the area. i also would like to see REAL tours there, none of this getting a bigger band to tag on a show after their actual tour is over, and then throwing on a bunch of shitty locals no one wants to see, and calling that a show. mainers deserves more than that.

but just to throw some names out there: metric, queens of the stone age, chimaira, mastodon, converge, tegan and sara, isis, trail of dead, torche, eisley, stars, broken social scene, mogwai, thrice, against me, unearth, rilo kiley, melvins, anything involving mike patton, minus the bear, the dresden dolls, down... i could go on all day.