Skip to main content
Last week, Dekum Manor—for many years Portland's preeminent house show venue, located at 422 NE Dekum St.—burned down. Though its heyday had passed, the loss represents yet another casualty during a year that has been the disappearance of many local cultural institutions. We asked former residents and regulars for their memories of what some consider the city's best unofficial show-space.
CHRIS H., former resident:
"I moved into the house around 2006. It was my first house after living in an abandoned warehouse in the North Portland industrial area. Shortly after moving in, we realized that we could probably have a house-show in our living room. We had just recorded a band called the New Bloods and it seemed like an opportune time to see what would happen with the neighbors/cops. The show went well and we had no real complaints, so we started having them more. A couple shows a month at first, turning into at least one show a week within a year. By the time we moved out, we had them almost every other day, and there was never a cover (excepting the time someone smashed our toilet into pieces, and that was by donation only).
The shows that have stuck in my mind we're as follows:
- Thrones: Apparently Joe Preston had set up a show somewhere else and it had fallen through. I got a last minute call and told him, "Of course you can play here tonight, you're Joe Preston!" It was so last minute, however, that hardly anyone showed up in time. In fact, I think TWO people and my roommates were there. Still, he played one of the best sets I've ever seen. Despite no one being in the audience, I felt like I was watching Zeus destroy Portland with every song.
- Deer Tick: Not only did they sound amazing, but we ended up drinking moonshine after their set and throwing a plugged-in television set off the back roof of the house.
- Every show with: Nurses, Drunk Dad, Wampire, Purple Rhinesone Eagle, Explode into Colors, Stag Bitten, White Fang, Karl Blau, Calvin Johnson, Don Hellions, The Boo Jays, Mattress and 1,000 other bands.
Shortly after painting our walls bright yellow and our floors neon pink, I would often come home from work to find a show going on in my living room. Even on the nights that we weren't having a show, people would come by wanting to come in. One evening somebody stopped by, and we were recording an album. We decided the best way to do this was to be completely naked. I was in the kitchen singing when someone walked in the back door. They did not seem bothered in the slightest that I had no clothes on, and hung out for quite a while drinking wine and watching us. I think that was the thing about Dekum Manor to me: It was a place where everybody felt completely comfortable. The bands were amazing, everybody got weird, and no one (usually) would call the cops.
After six-plus years of house shows, we finally had to shut down. The city was sending inspectors and lawyers a couple times a week and threatening to sue us for running an illegal business (the inspectors always left confused, realizing that this wasn't the case), and we figured it was time to move on. They then turned the house into an 'electronics repackaging facility' (shady, I know) and shortly after, the last iteration of Dekum Manor began. The rest is visible from news helicopters. We now live in a slightly dilapidated mansion on the edge of town."
ADEE ROBERSON, New Bloods:
"My band New Bloods played our first show there. We recorded vocals in the bathroom for our demo there as well. This was in 2006 or 2007. I remember that time being pivotal for that place in the sense that there started being so many more shows there after that. It was just a chill place to play and the people who lived there at the time were so supportive."
LISA SCHONBERG, Explode Into Colors:
"Dekum Manor was one of the most important spaces for music to me and a lot of my friends when I first moved here in 2007. And it was a really great space to be playing in as a new band, with Explode into Colors. I miss having houses like that to play shows in. I remember Dekum shows always solidly packed with sweaty bodies straight through the living room and into the kitchen, and the energy was really good in there for fun, crazy-feeling shows. Where does that happen now? I miss it, and I think I need it."
CLAUDIA MEZA, Explode Into Colors:
"The Midwest teenagers that lived there benevolently opened up their house night after night to a bunch of crazy local (and touring) punks. They also cleaned up every morning after a party while wearing the most dapper robes. I know this because I would sometimes wait to load out in the morning and would catch them blasting Eno, drinking tea, as they slowly pushed around a broom, re-telling how close the floor came to collapsing the previous night. And they did this all with a smile, still offering me any beverages leftover from the party. Those kids made that place.
Geez, where are all the teenage punks now? Where's the new Dekum Manor?"
HEATHER TREADWAY, Explode Into Colors:
"I remember playing a couple of shows at Dekum in 2008 and 2009. I think we played either our first or one of our first EIC shows there. At that time I hadn't ever really played 'shows' before. EIC was my first band and I was always kind of nervous before we played, but the vibe at Dekum was so good. The nicest people! I realized I didn't have to be sketched about playing perfectly, as it was about the energy we exchanged with everyone. So close in a cramped room. Sweaty and personal. I can remember all hanging out in the back patio/converted garage area during shows. It was set up a bit like a groovy hookah lounge—dim lighting, cozy. I liked that there was a chill zone nearby where you could relax and chat if you needed a break from the craziness inside. Shows were so fun at Dekum Manor. People were stoked to listen to music, to dance, to have a real time. And it was nice that it was a house and not a bar, that's what made it special."
CHRIS SUTTON, Hornet Leg:
"Dekum Manor was at one time the only bastion of familiar and familial energies when I first moved to Portland in 2008. Coming from a small Olympia musical community that principally thrived on house shows this was the perfect environment for my punk rock sentiments. Upon arrival, I discovered that there was a "scene" bubbling and growing in that modest shack in my neighborhood up north, with representatives from such disparate areas as Boston, Los Angeles, Olympia, Philadelphia and New Orleans all converging simultaneously into one space and offering up there own special sounds and personalities. These summits would happen weekly, sometimes daily. I will always remember Chris H. was always out front greeting all the punks with a beer, a cigarette and a smile, politely absorbing the environment he helped create, while his housemate Kadi Rae was always inside filling the house with spritely vibes.
People entered in the back door, the kitchen was the merch area, the porch was the green room and the beautiful living room was the venue. In this room I witnessed bands like Big Black Cloud, New Bloods, Magic Johnson and Drunk Dad whip the compressed crowd into a furor, with the ancient wood floor stressing and swelling to every strum and cymbal crash. There was a brief time where I there at least once or twice a week, either performing in one of my bands or watching a friend hone his or her craft. If there was a cool out-of-town band that wanted to play PDX, we always try to direct them there.
The best show I played at Dekum? Probably the time my band Ghost Mom played and Nadia vomited all over the middle of the floor and then continued to sing her heart out. Not one person left the room! There were so many other amazing shows just like that, too.
Anyway, times change, people get older, move, fade, etc. But those first couple of years were pretty amazing, and to this day those are some the best memories I have as a performing musician. It is so difficult to maintain a house show-space, especially if you have neighbors who like to sleep, but I can't remember a single time when I saw a police officer during my time there, which seems impossible when I think about it. But this ability to maintain a certain amount of longevity is just another reason why Dekum Manor is and was so special in my mind, and why I hope these kinds of places continue to exist and change peoples lives."
SHANE BARBEAU, Mothers Whiskey:
"My band Mothers Whiskey was invited to play Dekum Manor last Easter by Ed Coffin as a going away show for Ed. We were stoked that we were asked to play, but we were also a little on edge because Mothers Whiskey isn't exactly a crusty punk band. We have a few friends that run in that scene so we asked them to accompany us to this show, just in case things got a little too rowdy—we didn't want our gear to get trashed. We arrived to the house/venue and started loading in. The inside I'd liken to the gutter squats inhabited by kids partying really hard on whatever is around. A few pitbulls were wandering around waiting for people to pet their head. As I was setting up my drums I noticed someone had drawn a bunch of Michael Jordan scribbles all over, which I found strange cause most gutter punk kids aren't known for loving sports. My guitarist and I joked about how someone must have been really high and tripped out on old No. 23.
Once we got set up we jumped into our set. Much to our surprise these kids were totally rocking our to our doom-rock grooves. Within two or three songs the living room was packed with dreads and black denim and lots of PBR being spilled in every direction with joyous roars to the sky when we hit riffs they deemed worthy. After we finished our set we were thanked by many folks that on first glance you'd think would rather stab us. Once we packed our gear up we grabbed a few beers and joined a group of punks hanging in the living room and watched the next few bands. All in all it was a great experience and it's sad to see that place is no longer around. Portland is filled with precious gems like Dekum Manor or Banana Stand or the other place I can't remember the name of that was on 52nd between Foster and Powell. Hopefully another place will take it's spot soon."
TONY PRATO, Bunk Bar booker:
"Dekum Manor as I remember it, that being the group of people that lived, recorded and hosted music at 422 NE Dekum St., from about 2006 to 2011, existed in a Portland that is fading far too quickly.
Going to Dekum for shows became an important ritual. It was the people I'd see there that made it meaningful. I remember taking the 6 bus north on MLK and being able to tell who was going to be getting off at Dekum Street, even if I'd never seen them before. There was a sense of an extended family of people who belonged, but not in an elitist sense. It wasn't a who's who of anywhere and no one could possibly look too cool standing around the kitchen sink full of dirty dishes. It was sort of a secret place in the sense that people who didn't go there would never know why people ever wanted to go there, and that was just fine with the people that did.
Most of the bands that made Dekum Manor what it was don't exist any more. To name a few: Magic Johnson, Stag Bitten, Don Hellions, Ghost Mom and Psychic Feline. Magic Johnson were probably the best representation of what Dekum Manor was about. They were a Spanish-language punk band started by two best friends who moved from Los Angeles to Portland and started writing songs in order to keep their Spanish sharp. It was music that reminded them of who they were and it was music that created a dialogue with those around them. Art as self-exploration and affirmation, art as a communication device—if there was an ethos behind Dekum Manor, this is where I saw it."
JACOB EARLY, resident:
"I moved into Dekum in October of 2008, shortly after my 23rd birthday, and stayed there until the summer of 2011. Those three years were a whirlwind. I was present for every single one of the countless shows that happened during that period, and it was an absolute blast. I remember at least one weekend when there was a show Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. By the end of the weekend, the house was in shambles, the smell of sweat, beer and God knows what hanging around well after the last band was done and the three day party was over. As fun as those times were, they were also quite draining. Living conditions took a backseat to providing a home for rock 'n'roll. There would be donations for touring bands, but we, the residents, didn't make a single dime off Dekum. It was labor of love for everyone involved and, for a time, it was one of the best—in my biased opinion—places in Portland for underground music.
There were so many amazing shows, that it is hard to sort them all out. It's better, perhaps, to list some of the great bands that I was able to experience for the first time there, in my pink living room: Stag Bitten, Magic Johnson, Jizz Wizard, Don Helions, Mattress, Wampire, Grey Anne, Explode into Colors, Big Black Cloud, the list goes on and on. There were doom shows, punk shows, dance parties, hip-hop shows, folk musicians, etc. The house was open to everything. So many great bands, so many great people.
Most of my memories are personal. I met most of my current friends at Dekum. Through that house, Portland became my home. There were no available rooms when I first moved in, so I built one in the basement out of plywood. Just a box, really. That was the kind of house it was—a self-funded, self-directed, self-implemented adventure. Just a really great time, all in all. There was the Christmas we spent on acid; in fact, the strange time capsule we buried that night might still be there. I have no idea what went into it. Some trash, probably. It was a period of time that I will never forget but couldn't relive at this point in my life, as I've grown older and more used to relative comfort, however, I am glad that I experienced it when I did. It was a great time for the house show scene in Portland. Dekum Manor was a venue that meant many things to many people, but for its residents, it was also a home. I will never forget you Dekum Manor, may you live in all our memories as the greatest house venue in Portland history."
WWeek 2015