Bar Guide 2014: The Firkin Tavern

By MATTHEW SINGER

The Firkin Tavern

1937 SE 11th Ave., 206-7552, thefirkintavern.com. 11:30-2:30 am daily.

The Firkin Tavern ain't much of a looker. There's a pool table, a pinball machine, a couple TVs, a small patio out back…and that's about it. Oh, and the flooring is deep gray carpet. If this inner-Southeast dive sounds a tad generic, though, that just means it's primed to be reshaped in the image of its patrons. Boone Howard of Portland-via-Alaska psych-pop act the We Shared Milk took over Saturday night bookings there last year, turning the tiny corner stage adjacent to the Cure poster into a platform for local bands just beginning to transition out of their basement practice spaces, like proggy cosmonauts Cambrian Explosion and noisy garage rockers Still Caves. The shows are free, offering a glimpse of the city's emerging underground music scene. And with an expansive, rotating tap list and inexpensive pizza specials, the Firkin itself is gradually coming into its own, too. MATTHEW SINGER.

What plays: Baby psych garage, straight outta the garage.

WWeek 2015

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