Surface and Symbol
The Emerald s weekly arts and entertainment supplement Thursday, April 29, 1976
Dancing in the aisles
Musicians help fill Eugene taverns
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet
sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and
spoils;
The motions of Ns spirit are dull as night,
And Ns affections dark as Erebus;
Let no such man be trusted.
Shakespeare
By Greg Raschio
Anyone who has risked bruised ribs
and trampled feet to squeeze into
Duffy's on a Saturday night might find it
difficult to imagine such an unfortunate
person as Shakespeare describes exist
ing in the Eugene area; Duffy's is wall
to-wall bodies on a weekend evening.
The bnck-clad campus bistro is one of
only three taverns in Eugene that regu
larly feature live entertainment. Duffy's
and Murphy and Me, both popular
among University of Oregon students,
provide dance floors for their patrcns,
while customers at the Black Forest are
forced to dance in the aisles should the
spirit move them.
Live music fans are not limited to one
of these three Eugene taverns, how
ever Lounges at such restaurants as
The Back Door — especially popular
among young adults — The Feed Mill
and many nightclub-atmosphere loca
tions not often frequented by the Univer
sity crowd also feature live entertain
ment The Homefried Truckstop. an es
tablishment unique unto itself offers an
additional alternative to the live music
tan
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entertainment as well as libation will in
variably frequent one of four establish
ments Murphy and Me, Duffy s The
Black Forest or The Back Door Each
has its own characteristics in clientele
and music that separate it from the rest
Duffy s, located on the corner of 13th
and Alder is a spacious, cathedial
roofed structure with perhaps the most
homogenous crowds in Eugene The
pub overflows weekends with current
and former University students eager to
dance to rock music
The crowd s passion for rock some
what limits the bistro s management in
their choice of bands.
The weekend crowd here comes to
dance, we have to give them what they
want," says Adrian Clark, a Duffy s emp
loyee who assists owner Steve Nosier in
music selection.
Clark says Duffy s tries to feature light
rock and popular oldies A band that has
been particularly successful for the
tavern, according to Clark, is Foxe and
Weasel, a male-female two-piece who
perform every other Saturday evening.
According to Clark, most of the bands
booked at Duffy's are established local
talent.
"Bands that are established in the
Eugene area will have a following that
will come in to hear them, says Clark.
Murphy and Me. across Franklin Blvd.
from campus, is a rustic edifice with a bit
more of a down-home atmosphere than
Duffy's, perhaps because of its close
This atmosphere is reflective of the
Murphy and Me clientele. The pub draws
a free-spirited, youthful crowd from the
University as well as from the commun
ity at large
Among the most prolific sponsors of
live entertainment (every night of the
week), Murphy and Me's management
is able to offer a wide variety of music to
crowds with diversified tastes.
John McMahon, 25, an employee of
Murphy and Me's says their music
ranges from bluegrass and country to
jazz and rock.
"We have a good variety of music
each week, it stays fresh that way,” says
McMahon.
Dakota (see story page 8b), who play
a bit of everything every Monday and
Tuesday at Murphy and Me, and Wheat
field, a country rode band tavern owners
agree is the most popular in the area, are
■n
scheduling entertainment at The Black
Forest.
“There's a friendly atmosphere here.
The bands will bring in friends to jam with
them. There is no fear of having to put on
a tight show and everyone, band in
cluded, has a good time," Mann said.
The Black Forest has no dance floor
Dakota plays at local tavern (Story on page 8b)
among the tavern's most frequent
groups.
Many of the bands currently working
in the Eugene area, including Dakota,
started at The Black Forest Tavern,
2657 Willamette.
A small, darkened establishment with
a loose, friendly atmosphere, The Black
Forest offers live music every evening
except Thursday and Sunday.
"Bands feel very comfortable playing
here." says Gordy Mann, an employee
who works with owner Steve Sertic in
but offers a variety of music that, accord
ing to Mann, often has persons up and
moving on their feet on every available
inch of carpet. Mann says Dakota, Deja
Vu and Brain Damage have been suc
cessful bands for The Black Forest.
The Back Door, 1046 Oak on the Mall,
is a hard liquor establishment that caters
to a youthful crowd with live music Mon
day through Saturday evenings.
Skip Hoven, 36, one of three Back
Door owners, says a good deal of the
bands they use are from out of town and
nearly all are booked through various
agents.
Haven and his partners will bring The
Drifters to their establishment for two
nights, May 31 and June 1. He says if the
reception is good, they plan to bring
other big-name talent to town.
Despite the out-of-town talent and
hard liquor prices, Hoven says The Back
Door draws a crowd ranging from 21 -30
years of age, a good portion of which are
students. He draws no distinction bet
ween The Back Door’s clientele and that
of Duffy’s or Murphy and Me’s.
“People come here to dance and have
a good time, just as they do when they
go to a tavern. If the music is good, the
place will be filled," he says.
Rock and rhythm and blues are what
The Back Door’s patrons usually hear. A
band called Georges, who sometimes
tour with Mason Williams, is currently in
the middle of a six night engagement at
The Back Door.
For those who prefer easy listening
music with their cocktails and don't care
to dance, there is the Feed Mill, 259 E
5th.
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intimate atmosphere and perhaps the
greatest variety of music in Eugene, all
without a cover charge Classical guitar,
bluegrass or jazz piano may be heard on
any given night at the Feed Mill.
The Homefried Truckstop, near cam
pus at 1414 Alder, remains as one of the
last of a dying breed of live entertain
ment outlets: the coffee house
While weekends are far and away the
biggest nights for lounges and taverns,
Monday evening concerts, which are
broadcast over KLCC radio, are the
highlight of the week at the Truckstop,
which offers live entertainment nightly
during meal hours.
According to Suellen Elm, 21, and
Shelly Jaffe. 25. music coordinators for
the Truckstop. the coffee house offers a
good deal of jazz and folk
"Our clientele identify with the kind of
music we book. It's one of the only
places in town where they can get it,"
says Suellen.
The Homefried Truckstop looks like a
coffee house: more employees than pat
rons, an old cash register by the door,
tables made from old wire spindles sur
round a single-tiered riser stage with a
well-used spinet piano sitting atop it.
What makes the Truckstop unique,
other than being the last of a breed, is
the fact that it is owned by a ‘collective ’
of 35 to 40 young persons, all of whom
work there for the same wage. This ar
rangement began two years ago when
the collective, with help from the com
munity, purchased the business.
‘ The community helped us and we
feel the restaurant is really owned by the
community,'' says Tony Horn, 21, one of
the collective.
The truckstop generally pays musi
cians only what tips are collected during
mealtime and cannot book many of the
bands that can be heard elsewhere in
town. It does offer exposure to unestab
lished musicians, however, who
may have difficulty even being heard
elsewhere.
While Eugene is not hurting for youth
ful live entertainment outlets, it is cer
tainly not prolific. Many bands trying to
get started in the area find it difficult to
get exposure. The fortunate ones, like
Wheatfield and Dakota, are guaranteed
work if they want it.
New outlets are not springing up, but
notfor lack of a demanding market. One
Saturday night fighting through waves of
bodies to get to the bathroom and that
becomes obvious.