Towne Lounge

[July 23rd, 2008] THE VENUE’S VENUE: On the eve of my departure from Portland and WW (as its recent music editor, see Here Comes Your Fan), I’d like to salute my favorite local music venue: the Towne Lounge (714 SW 20th Place, 241-8696). How do I love thee? Let’s see: You’ve been home to LocalCut.com’s monthly Portland Lounge Series, as well as MusicfestNW’s local showcases. Your owner, Angelo Puccinelli (OG of West Burnside dive the Matador), isn’t keeping it real for just any neighborhood drunksypants; he’s here in the name of art, opening the Towne’s doors only on show nights—which are most rad (and usually $5) thanks to impeccable booker Matt King. You’re in a building (once owned by MGM) rumored to have housed a mausoleum; you embrace a “secret clubhouse” feel with an elusive locale and navigational hint (“look for the green light”); you have an odd affinity for canned beverages (Foster’s, Boddington’s, etc.), candlelight and cigarette smoke; and you offer Full Sail’s tasty Session as your cheap ($2.50) house beer. Your regular bartendress, Glynis, shares her name with a really good Smashing Pumpkins song and knows I want Maker’s Mark, every time. And, besides welcoming Maritime and Plus/Minus for two of my fave shows in past years, you gave me a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Okkervil River’s Will Sheff play “For Real” alone on a piano to a hushed room. And for that, perhaps above all else, I thank you.