- MITTENS OFF: Sorta a big week in local music. Portland soul/dance/electro/pop outfit Dirty Mittens has called it quits...sorta. Most of the bandâs members are returning as the guitar-less Artifice, a more dance-centric endeavor. Artifice will premiere on New Yearâs Eve at Dig a Pony alongside the similarly dance-tastic Purple N Green. >> Lauded Portland MC Luck-OneâHanif Collins to his folksâis also calling it quits...sorta. Last week he premiered a new track, âFarewell,â which outlines Luckâs plan to drop out of Portlandâs hip-hop scene and music-making in general. Before disappearing to travel the globe, Luck says, he will drop another album next year. >> Starfucker is releasing a new album...sorta. The band is releasing a remastered, expanded version of its 2009 Jupiter mini-LP on vinyl Jan. 10. A digital version is already available on iTunes.
- RELAPSE: Fans of Portlandâs unorthodox Fever Theater, which faded away a couple years ago, can rest easy. Company members Kate Sanderson Holly, Amber Whitehall and Jacob Coleman have formed a new company, Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble, with local actress Cristi Miles and Rebecca Lingafelter, a recent arrival from New Yorkâs Performance Lab 115. PETE is holding a debut party and fundraiser for its upcoming production, Summerland, at 6:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 7, on the roof of the Indigo building at 430 SW 12th Ave.
- BEER HERE: Another brewery is taking up residence in the railyard warehouse district south of Southeast Powell Boulevard, where Alameda Brewing recently inaugurated a 20-barrel production facility. Gigantic Brewing, a partnership between Hopworks vet Ben Love and former Rock Bottom brewer Van Havig, has applied for a license at 5224 SE 26th Ave. >> Element Restaurant and Lounge, the downtown spot that famously closed less than a month after opening in the summer of 2010, then reopened in September, has changed hands again. The new owner, Bonnie Rundell, goes by the nom de business of Clear Vision LLC. Letâs hope the name is accurateâthe place needs it. >> Kentonâs Stone Pickle Deli & Pub has closed. James Miller has applied to open an Italian restaurant named La Vita Bella in the building. >> Tabla Mediterranean Bistro has applied for a license modification to allow off-premises salesâso that you can take home a bottle or two of that great Loire Valley rosé. >> Finally, in Oregonâs ongoing efforts to start a brewery in every tiny town in the state, Dragonâs Gate Brewery has applied for a license in Milton-Freewater, pop. 2,000.
- Ca-CLUNK: Cackalackâs Hot Chicken Shack at the Good Food Here pod on Southeast Belmont Street and 43rd Avenue is soon to be under new ownership or closed. Per a Craigslist posting, âbusiness is great,â but the owners are âmoving back east.â The sale is turnkey and includes the recipe for their spicy chicken.
WWeek 2015