So... you're wishing you went with everyone else to ECCC, eh?

I kid. Yeah. Okay. So if I was a neighbor and this happened occasionally, I wouldn't care. But if it happened every weekend I'd be a bit miffed. Unless they invited me over. And gave me free beer. And passed around the hat/Folgers can for me. Just sayin'.

Fair enough. But would you be miffed because, "They take away business from properly licensed clubs"? Because that's the underlying argument that is being posited in the Oregonian piece. Which quite frankly is utter bullshit.

Damn kids...get off my lawn!!!

Sure would be nice to have average citizens make this connection and advocate/lobby for/support all ages venues and events like PDX pop now. Every show that doesn't happen in the Artistery is going to happen outside Anna Griffin's and Jack Bogdanski's backyards instead.

I don't know - I've lived near one of these places (different city, not so long ago). The worst part is the loss of crowd control. The noise...OK, whatever, but the drunken idiocy, broken property, trash...it's like a nightmare that never stops. I don't buy the "this is what keeps Portland weird" argument. Whatever happened to getting good enough to get into one of the 1,000 clubs that have bands in PDX? There's a difference between being weird and keeping children awake. Weird is creative, not annoying and disrespectful. Weird is not about someone else having to pick up your mess. I agree with Fruit Cup (in principal)- get the neighbors OK, pick up trash the next morning and quit ata reasonable hour THAT would be weird! Being an asshole neighbor...that's Seattle!

I love it that people that bought homes in "edgy" neighborhoods like the "Alberta Arts District" because they wanted to be in the center of arts/culture now have little children and hate the fact that they live in an "edgy" neighborhood.

That being said, I think that house shows should have a few base guidelines; try to have good relationship with all your neighbors, start/end your shows on schedule, keep an eye on who is at your event and work together with your house-mates/friends to keep things under control. Kegs, and rumors of kegs are for parties, not the best idea for shows.

JonnyX, I love you and all your Groadies.

So it seems agreed. Neighborhood shows are cool with folks assuming the concert promoters are: 1) Asking neighbors opinions, 2) Cleaning up after themselves, 3) Closing down at a reasonable time. Okay. Cool. All seem reasonable. Now, not having any experience with it, what are the odds these three criteria are being met?

To be clear I'm not trying to validate the Oregonians work. I totally get the massive argument fail of trying to say the hooligans are profiteering off of these home shows. But I don't think it's fair to totally write-off neighbors rights in the process.

Where I grew up - Santa Barbara - our regular house show "venues" (the pickle patch, biko house, red barn, etc.) were essentially alcohol-free environments. This kinda makes sense - since they were all ages. But, the cops also cared a lot more about what we were doing compared with the cops in Portland. We weren't all sxe kids, but still it didn't feel like we NEEDED to have booze in these spaces. My experience with house shows here is: the cops don't give a shit (or, have better things to worry about) - which is great!; and, there's more alcohol. I think, like Jonnyx said, more shows here should follow some basic guidelines. And yeah, it would have been super cool if Anna Griffin had actually talked with people who are running house shows. Otherwise, it sounds like she doesn't know what she's talking about. And yeah, like Ezra said, the real story here is the lack of options for the tons of people in town who are under 21 and want to see their favorite bands.

booze is NEEDED in all spaces(im NOT drunk right now)

Also, why doesn't blogtown have a tag for posts that simply copy-and-past chunks of O articles followed by choppy sentences about how stupid and uninformed the above paragraph was

I can only imagine "Ezers" wrinkled face, huffing and puffing as he types out his screed. Hey we can call it his "O"-face (I love references to Ron Livingston movies!)

You can put these in the "O face" tag

Why the O is WRONG about food
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…

Why the O is WRONG about sports
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…

Why the O is WRONG about sports--again!
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…

Why the O is WRONG about bike lanes
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…

Why the O is WRONG about pot
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…

Seriously...get off my lawn!!!

I have an 850 sq ft loft in the pearl (shut it...) and I just kicked the last of the 50 or so people that were here tonight out. I wonder if the O would run the same story given the neighborhood.

I think the problem was with the price those bands got, $100 per ticket is OK with the Oregonian.

Old people tend to drink earlier. so the hang over starts to kick in about 10PM. How would you like a rock band going next store in the morning when you have your hangover? Oh wait that was a church.

I wanted to ask them about their wild, youngster parties but they were just tooo loooooud.

This is what passes for journalism today, sadly. Take one anecdote "theater professor", spin around it an imaginary menace constructed to appeal to enraging stereotypes, throw in a quote or two from a city official, make up the rest, and volia, a "story".

The value of home gatherings is the hunger to get together with friends and socialize. If the "adults" in the neighborhood can't reach out to the cool kids' house without involving the City, which last I heard was pretty thin on resources, we have a much bigger problem as a society than loud music.

BTW sound level meters are really cheap at Harbor Freight or online, even as a phone app. Useful and cool science.

You have to fight for your right to party.

I can't tell who you're mad at.. Oregonian or old people? Because as an old person, if anyone starts one of these things in my neighborhood, I'm damn well calling the cops constantly. Residential != commercial so gtfo. I don't come to your club and watch ABC in my robe.

This could be so win-win. If the neighbors made a deal to clean up the streets and yards of litter before each show in exchange for the music house cleaning them up after, everyone would know when the shows were, when to wear earplugs and neighbors would actually be talking to one another.

If I wanted to clean the streets and talk to my neighbors, I'd be living in Canada.

Sometimes when I see an Elderly Citizen who`s clearly above 90 in the bank going straight to the cashier I feel the urge to scream something like: Grandpa! Show your ID before getting in front of me in the bank cashiers line!!! But I rest quiet and let him/her get away with it. (Make-up can add or take off signs of age).

Nice job Ezra on taking on The Oregonian's Anna Griffin article. There really are several sides of this issue that when writing about should be addressed which looks like Anna missed. No diss on Anna because house parties / no place for kids to go watch all ages shows is a complicated issue. As someone who throws all ages shows at various venues in town I feel bad for the kids here in Portland and Not just the kids the 21 and over crowd as well. I have been throwing shows for a long time here in Portland and every year it gets tougher to do and more expensive. For a touring band to be able to spread their music and make it to the next city House parties are the only option because their is very little if any money being made at live shows in music venues unless your a national act that can charge 10+ dollars and have over a 100 person draw. I encourage people to keep having house parties but the folks throwing them really have to be responsible for their neighborhoods and guest. Some folks out there throwing house parties that dont give a shit about their guest are really going to fuck it up for the people truly trying to help out touring bands and that actually care about our local scene.

It is sad and ridiculous that people associate playing clubs with "getting good enough." House shows are simply the best shows. The best energy, the least amount of pretentious rock star bullshit, and all are welcome. Most of the people I know will help clean up, regulate the crowd, kick people out if necessary, watch the door... this is DIY culture. Of course the fucking Oregonian doesn't understand it.

I assume this means Ezra is in support of building that new Walmart in Beaverton.

I used to run shows in my house in Corvallis about once every 3 months, in part because my house was as good as any other place in town and it was a lot cheaper for all my friends if we got a keg or did byob instead of paying for liquor at the bar, but mostly because there weren't many venues interested in having shows. It usually involved 4-5 hours of houseproofing before, and cleaning up afterward and I was lucky if we collected enough with the hat to break even on the keg. No one is doing this for profit.

I have a sincere question: do you youngsters getting indignant about this article actually believe that it is somehow impossible for you to annoy other people? Is EVERY complaint about your social group misguided? Is it truly somehow cosmically impossible, that just maybe, renting a house on a block with normal people and families and throwing regular house shows might actually be considered fucking asshole behavior? Is there even the least bit chance that this house full of turds might actually have been as terrible as the article portrays, even if it was written by Anna Griffen?

UGH, oh my god, I used to live in a house on this block with these dudes that would throw regular house parties, and I guess someone (nobody in my house) called the cops or their landlord or something or both, and they left this letter on our door that essentially said "STOP CALLING THE COPS ON US!! WE CAN'T HELP BUT PARTY!" and it was very lulz-worthy, but alas, I cannot find the letter!!! :(((

I'll keep looking and post it if I find it. It's very precious.

You're the newspaper for the people who go to house shows, the O is the newspaper for the people who live next door. None of this is so astounding. Same as it ever was. 30 years ago, I was the kid who couldn't understand why the neighbors didn't want to hear Ted Nugent blasting at 1 AM while we passed the Everclear. Now, I'm the neighbor. Cycle of life, baby. Those house show attendees will get their just desserts in a couple of decades. Just wait for it.

I've been to a bazzillion house shows in PDX and else where and I can really only think of two where the home owners didn't press guests to be respectful to their neighbors and let the thing get out of control. The people I know who have house shows in PDX talk to their neighbors and generally have good relationships with them. Last week I threw a house show in my basement in Pendleton, Oregon and everything was peachy. Our neighbors (all older) fucking love us! Sounds to me like Griffen is lumping everyone in with the assholes.

You know how I can tell you're a fake journalist? Because you can't even spell Colombia right.

I think it's not as much that the proponents of house shows don't want to admit that there exists a legitimate need for communication with neighbors and compliance with noise control regulations, but rather that the Oregonian article is just factually incorrect. Baseless assumptions are made about house shows that are not only insulting, but also imply illegal behavior. I do agree that it is necessary to talk to the neighbors before having shows and agreeing on a shutdown time, but I take offense at the accusation that house shows are held for profit. NONE, and I repeat none of the house shows I know of make any money off the shows because all of it goes to the bands (most to the touring bands to pay for gas costs), and house shows also follow a donation structure that doesn't yield very much in the first place. The Oregonian article makes wide sweeping statements that disregards reality for a more dramatic effect.