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The Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon, was where I saw my first concert ever in 1987 (Beastie Boys, "Licensed to Ill Tour"). Its capacity is somewhere in the 1,000 person range. It has a large dance floor with chairs around the perimeter, underneath the horseshoe-shaped, 21 and over balcony. On this night there were only a few hundred people in the venue, many crowded around the tiny little bar in the corner of the balcony. There were more people dressed in Polar Fleece than in costume.
Pork Tornado actually entered the stage on time (how refreshing!). They appeared to be a fairly rag-tag, motley crew band of musicians. Jon instantly started playing a rhythm, and the rest of the band soon joined in, creating some kind of improv jam. The first few songs were a little rough, and they played most of their slower songs in the first set ("Guabi Guabi"). The second set was much more lively, with some rockin’ bar blues, some funk and classic rock covers, and even a countrified bluegrass song or two. If you have heard the studio album, they played most of the songs recorded on it.
The musicians are talented, alternating lead vocals. Aaron Hersey (bass) has an impressive soul-oriented singing voice, and kept the groove rolling. Joe Moore tended to shout his lyrics, but was strong on the sax, with some great solos. Taking the show to a licentious level, in the middle of his song "Kiss My Black Ass," we got to actually see his black ass (and a little sack). Phil Abair was relatively quiet on keys, but sang well and sounded fluid when tickling the ivory. There were some great moments in the show, and there were some of those other moments.
Photo by Adam Foley |
Perhaps the best feeling from the night came from seeing 1/4th of the band Phish, up close and personal with a small and intimate crowd. Jon Fishman was playing some great beats. "Chained to a Stump" was certainly a highlight that focused on Jon. He started the night in his traditional Viking helmet, and some strange pig-nose-with-buck-teeth mask. Throughout the night, if I ever became lost in what they were playing, I could just focus in on Jon's rhythm, and it would take me back.
Pork Tornado proved to be a fun "bar band," and I appreciated the fact that they traveled the West Coast to share their music. Seeing new live music is almost always a good experience, and spending Halloween with a bunch of musical freaks was of course a fitting and wonderful way to enjoy the holiday.
The Halloween costume winners were "Lord of the Flies Guy," "Buckethead," and "Weird-Al Yankovic."
I often comment, and sometimes even brag, about how mellow we are out here in Oregon. But I sometimes feel for the musicians who visit us because we often don’t do well in audience participation sing-alongs, and sometimes barely make enough noise for an encore. It’s not that we don’t appreciate the music, we’re just not used to making a lot of noise up here. However, they did give us a courtesy encore, "Jungle Boogie." The band invited nearly all of the women in the audience on stage to dance, while Joe Moore sang "get down, get down" to any guys who tried to follow the ladies on stage. Hilarious.
Andy Bracco
JamBase | Portland
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