Having ventured more than 3000 miles for my last New Year’s extravaganza, I decided a more local approach would suit the bill to ring in 2006. By the night’s end I was in no way disappointed, and in fact I was pleasantly surprised. I live in the heart of a wonderful city (Portland Oregon) and spent my New Years Eve traversing three separate gathering/parties and dancing at one joyous local concert that matched up two local musical staples Asbury Park and Big Island Shindig.
The Hawthorne Theater (formally Conan’s) is located at the heart of the Hawthorne district in South East Portland. This part of town is known for its laid back restaurants, countless bars, a multitude of head shops and various music venues. The new owners have opened the theater by moving the bar to the center of the room instead of it being a clog in the artery of the venue. Before the move it was difficult to circumnavigate the bar because the bar’s location created a human flow issue.
The theme for the night was the “Alice in Electric Ladyland” which combined aspects of the classic Lewis Carroll story Alice in Wonderland, with the psychedelic insanity of Jimi Hendrix’s classic album Electric Ladyland. As we walked into the venue we had to step through the looking glass (or mylar curtain) to enter the festivities. The whole stage and hall was elaborately decorated, to create this thematic mirage. Mad hatters, Cheshire Cats and Alices of all proportions filled the room. There were false doors pasted to the walls that led to nowhere yet contained some written hidden truth. There was also a well constructed shrinking hallway that gave the illusion that the room was closing in around you as you moved forward.
Any quality production like this would also need a good light show for the concert, and the liquid light show that was projected on the wall was quite impressive. It was as if we stepped back into a psychedelic Pink Floyd concert from the sixties. The coup de gra was the giant glow in the dark mushroom on stage that had the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland sitting atop with hookah in hand. There was even rumors of a tea party floating about. The artistic display that adorns the theater was obviously made with a lot of love and care, and the creators of the livable art deserve recognition for their efforts.
We arrived just in time for the Big Island Shindig show opener of The Top. The Shindig’s set was full of energetic positive songs that also featured a splattering of Jimi Hendrix staples throughout the show including fun versions of "3rd Stone from the Sun" and "Crosstown Traffic." The Shindig did a great job of emulating Jimi Hendrix as we danced, laughed, and celebrated life.
A high energy Shindig original "Disco Mary," or on this night "Disco Alice," rung in the New Year on a seriously grooving note. As the countdown was going on the human Alice stepped behind a curtain with her drink me potion, and as the New Year struck, a giant Alice stepped from behind the curtain to dance with all of us. It was these little touches that made the evening all the more enjoyable. Hugs, smiles, cheers were all abound, as Portland welcomed in 2006 in style.