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For the past 28 years, the CandleLight Room has been one of Portland's most diverse and laid-back clubs. Though it sits on the edge of the Portland State University campus, the club has long been home to gigging blues and soul musicians well past college age—artists who rarely get high-profile press in their hometown but play on boldly nonetheless. The bar closes at the end of the month to make way for new TriMet construction, and it has invited a host of old friends back to play the club off "before the wrecking ball hits." We asked for memories and got some surprising results (which you can read on wweek.com), including this note from longtime CandleLight devotee Starr Lara.
"This picture was taken at the Candlelight Room April 26, 1980. I remember it so well. I had just arrived earlier that day, after a several months-long visit to my sister's house in California. My friend Debbie is on the right. She and I and many of our PSU friends would often hang out in the CandleLight Room, especially on our way to the disco, which is what we were doing that night. The disco didn't get started really until around 8 or 9, so we'd hang out at the Candlelight Room until then. We stopped there this night, too, on the way to the disco, and someone snapped a picture of us. The date is forever etched in my mind, as I met my future hubby later that night. We've been together ever since."
SEE IT: The CandleLight Room, 2032 SW 5th Ave., throws a going-away party on Saturday, March 31, featuring a host of regulars and special guests. 5 pm. Free. 21+.
WWeek 2015