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Posted inMusic

Satyricon: An Oral History

From 1984-2011, the downtown dive was a venue where legends, locals, and total unknowns shared a stage.

Before Michaela Watkinsโ€™ first shift behind the bar at Satyricon, the manager gave her the tour. โ€œHe said to me: โ€˜Okay, hereโ€™s the taps, hereโ€™s the keg, hereโ€™s the bat.โ€™ And I was, like, the bat? And heโ€™s like: โ€˜Yeah, the bat.โ€™ I was like, am I gonna use a bat? He nodded: โ€˜You might […]

Posted inFall Arts 2025

Satyricon: An Oral History

From 1984-2011, the downtown dive was a venue where legends, locals, and total unknowns shared a stage.

Before Michaela Watkinsโ€™ first shift behind the bar at Satyricon, the manager gave her the tour. โ€œHe said to me: โ€˜Okay, hereโ€™s the taps, hereโ€™s the keg, hereโ€™s the bat.โ€™ And I was, like, the bat? And heโ€™s like: โ€˜Yeah, the bat.โ€™ I was like, am I gonna use a bat? He nodded: โ€˜You might […]

Posted inQueer

Fucking Political: Lessons From the Early AIDS Activists Who Took Matters Into Their Own Hands

It’s possible one booklet by two AIDS patients and their doctor—and another written by drag queens—saved thousands of lives.

[Originally published in the Mercury‘s sister publication The Stranger, as part of its Love & Sex Issue.] On July 3, 1981, the New York Times announced the coming plague with a short news item tucked into Section A, Page 20: โ€œRare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.โ€ย  Nobody knew the purple Kaposiโ€™s Sarcoma lesions the article […]

Posted inCulture

Portlandโ€™s Next Top (Architectural) Model

New installation City of Possibility offers a big picture of the city’s urban planning history via tiny buildings.

In the early 1970s, Portland design reviewers used a miniature (yet massive) model of downtown to consider proposed construction projects. City of Possibility gives Portlanders the rare opportunity to see the 18-foot by 22-foot city in all its glory—along with a bunch of other fascinating models, both literal and conceptual.

Posted inNews

Commissioning Change

Why did Portland decide to adopt its unique commission form of government more than 100 years ago? You can blame a hurricane and lots of corruption.

After more than a century, Portland is transitioning away from a commission form of government. Compared to other major cities, itโ€™s been an unusual method of governance, with each member of the Portland City Council running for at-large positions and then taking on roles as the head of different city bureaus. But it wasnโ€™t always […]

Posted inHistory

Tracing the History of Queer Spaces in Portland

Silverado was once Flossie’s; Lowensdale Park was once a place to cruise—take a brief dive into a history of our city’s queer spaces.

[Find the Mercury‘s Queer Guide in printโ€”available in more than 500 spots citywide!โ€”eds.] The Silverado is obviously and stridently a gay bar. Rainbow tassels line the kitchen, attractive men in snug underwear sling drinks, and posters of shirtless guys adorn the walls. Also, after nine at night male strippers perform in the Silveradoโ€™s basement. The […]

Posted inHistory

Black Drag Artists Tell the History of Black Drag in Portland

For a second year, Race Talks presents a panel telling stories guaranteed to bring joy, tears, chills, and something you didn’t know.

In 1977, Lawanda Jackson and Darcelle XV got dressed up and went downtown. “My best girl, she let me borrow her Jefferson High School cheerleading costume. Darcelle had all her white hair, in her glory. We made the news but it wasn’t easy.” Jackson told the Mercury. “They called her all kinds of things, N-word-lover. […]

Posted inHistory

Little Bits of Paper Everywhere: An Oral History of Snipehunt Magazine and Kathy Molloy

In the Portland of the late โ€™80s and โ€™90s, there was one publication that influenced and guided the music and arts community more than any other: a free, wildly designed, oversized newsprint magazine called Snipehunt. Started in 1988 by now-famed poster artist Mike King, the magazine came into its own when contributor Kathy Molloy took […]

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