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Monday, October 18, 2010

Music Farewell, Berbati's Pan

Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 9:24 PM

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After 17 years of hosting live music, Berbati's Pan will cease booking concerts starting the first of next year. The restaurant half will stay operational, while the venue itself will be split between a smaller room under Berbati's control (that might, on occasion, host events), and an expanded space for Voodoo Doughnuts to better serve the tourists that see it necessary to lineup on SW 3rd during all hours of the day and night for a freaking doughnut. But the days of Berbati's consistently hosting music are numbered.

"Attendance was really down and it's not like rent went down with attendance," explained booker Matt King. "Plus competition was a major factor as well." King took over the booking reigns from Anthony Sanchez around August April of last year, a job he did along with publicity for the club. "The writing had been on the wall, and the club has been struggling for a number of years before I was involved," said King.

The final show in Berbati's as we know it will be on New Year's Eve. No word yet on the lineup.

End Hits: Another one bites the dust.

 

Comments (17) RSS

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1
I think this means that none of the places I used to go for shows after moving here in late 1997 have shows, or even exist, anymore (or, at least, one of these things will be true soon). 17 Nautical Miles, EJs, La Luna/Pine Street, Satyricon, Berbati's.
Posted by The One True b!X on October 18, 2010 at 11:18 PM · Report
2
Fuck Nuggets.
Posted by Marq on October 18, 2010 at 11:42 PM · Report
3
Sad to see it go but honestly the booking has been terrible for years. I can't remember the last time they booked something I was genuinely excited to see there. Will never forget the epic Okkervil River show during Music Fest a few years back they had. It was probably 120 degrees inside of the place. I had three beers and was hungover for 2 days.
Posted by BlackedOut on October 19, 2010 at 12:08 AM · Report
4
Sorry, but: good riddance to bad rubbish. I was always so disappointed when a band I wanted to see had the misfortune of having to be booked there while on tour. Awful sound, awful layout, bad drinks. Plenty of better venues in town.
Posted by cat & beard on October 19, 2010 at 12:17 AM · Report
5
where is that amazing sound man gonna go?
Posted by tomatofarmer on October 19, 2010 at 2:56 AM · Report
6
They could have done so much with this space. They overcharged for shows and the booking was crap, local bands avoided it and that is certainly a curse in Portland.
Posted by stuffandstuffs on October 19, 2010 at 4:50 AM · Report
7
@BlackedOut That was a great show. I'll always remember it for that oversold White Stripes show in 2001. I swear they crammed about 600 people in there.
Posted by ezra on October 19, 2010 at 6:50 AM · Report
8
I don't care about all the flaws, I'm sad to lose this venue, and it's a little grating that the Doughnut Herd helped make this decision easier.
Posted by Commenty Colin on October 19, 2010 at 8:11 AM · Report
9
Hey anyone who wants their club to close, booker Matt King is available for work...
Posted by econoline on October 19, 2010 at 8:29 AM · Report
10
Typical Portland. Let's make room for the tourists. It's all about the tourists.
Posted by poofy on October 19, 2010 at 11:28 AM · Report
11
man, saw the scissor sisters there on a 100 degree portland day... i can't tell you how hot it was in there, but the show was awesome! lyrics born, moorcheeba, gomez...saw them all up close.
Posted by dudeluna on October 19, 2010 at 11:28 AM · Report
12
Whoa. Let's put things in perspective here. Over the past 4 years the owners over there have canned some of the most talented bookers in town including Chantelle Hylton (Blackbird Presents/Towne Lounge in its prime/ Knitting Factory NY), Conrad Loebl (Rotture/Branx) and Anthony Sanchez (most of the hiphop you see in town.) This created an unstable booking environment for anyone new that came in. It's bad enough thinking your job is constantly in the balance, but with each new booker, new relationships have to be formed, new terms established etc. For the last three years Matt has diligently booked two to three rooms at once while managing some of the best emerging talent in town. Econoline, I'm sorry your band is shit, maybe you can get a gig at the Greek Cuisina.

love,
Aaron Hall
Posted by makeyouclaptothis on October 19, 2010 at 11:32 AM · Report
13
Nooooooooooooooo! Damn! I saw a lot of great shows here. It was definitely one of my favorite venues in town. Very sad to see it go.
Posted by Ginny on October 19, 2010 at 12:10 PM · Report
14
But. BUT NOOOOOO. I saw the White Stripes at Berbatis before anyone knew who they were. And GBV and Mojo Nixon and um...EVERYONE.

Now I feel old. Again.
Posted by kiala on October 19, 2010 at 12:35 PM · Report
15
King Banana booked Satyricon and Berbati's?
Posted by Raptured Randy Savage on October 19, 2010 at 1:42 PM · Report
16
Does that open up space for another uninteresting, redundant, piece of dog doo downtown nightclub from concept entertainment?
Posted by Jerud on October 19, 2010 at 7:25 PM · Report
17
Saw SadHappy there many many years ago. That was the shit.
Posted by scock on July 30, 2011 at 11:28 AM · Report

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