While Cary Clarke takes a much-deserved vacation traversing the
globe, I’ll be filling in for him here at the local music news
desk.
—Ezra Ace Caraeff
Last Friday, April 18, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC)
voted unanimously (4-0) to amend OAR 845-006-0340 Minor Postings, thus
allowing minors access to limited 21-plus establishments that submit,
and are approved for, a proper control plan. Simply put, this is
very good news. After months of hard work courtesy of the OLCC
staff, the volunteers at PDX Pop Now!, Bruce Fife and the Musicians
Union, venues, artists, and other local music
activists—especially the author of this column, who I am filling
in for—the amendment glided through the voting process and will
go into effect on the first of June.
The control plans mentioned above are for venues and mixed-use
facilities that wish to allow minors entrance in an atmosphere where
alcohol is available, pending that they can prove that liquor is not
the main activity, and that they can prevent the two parties (kids and
booze) from mixing. There is talk about how this will be implemented,
whether it be roped-off areas of a club (the most likely option), the
classic “X” scrawled on a minor’s hand, or something less
Sharpie-dependent, like a wristband—but this remains to be
seen.
The effects of this ruling benefit both venues with bars that want
to expand their show-going base, and all-ages establishments who wish
to serve alcohol to drinking-age patrons. Pending recession or not,
Portland has a long history of small all-ages venues struggling to keep
their heads above water, and hopefully this decision will help lessen
the strain of running such an establishment.
Of course, to follow these guidelines and submit a control plan will
take a fair amount of work. In the coming months we’ll see how many
control plans are submitted, and of those, how many the OLCC will
approve, but for the time being, this is a substantial victory for
Portland’s artistic community. For all those who took part in the
email-writing campaigns, or braved a trip to an OLCC meeting in
Milwaukie, thank you very much for your effort and support.
In other—yet equally as important—news, a few choice
local artists (Reporter, Sukey Tawdry, Dragging an Ox Through Water,
Luis Soto) have banded together to throw a benefit for Darcy Davidson,
who is currently undergoing treatment for advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
While cancer is something that has affected most everyone, either
directly or through family, Davidson’s fight is made public through her
excellent—and bilingual—blog, Con Limón y Sal
(conlimonsal.blogspot.com). The
show is taking place on April 30 at Rotture.