Paradisi found
■The downtown cafe emerges
from remodel with improved
sound and a new look, hoping to
draw the under-21 crowd
By Caron Alarab
for the Emerald
A large mural spans the width of
Cafe Paradiso, swirls of lines and
color merging as three faces sing in
different directions. Beyond the
mural, painted by local artist Steve
Lopez, lies a dark curtain serving as
a backdrop for the stage, which is
surrounded bv tables and chairs.
The smell of coffee lingers in the
air, and patrons lounge on couches
around the room.
But the cafe, located at 115 W.
Broadway, didn’t always look this
way. In mid-August, the cafe fin
ished a five-month renovation that
transformed it into a full-fledged mu
sic venue. General manager Robin
Pendoley said he hopes the cafe’s
new look will appeal to a wide audi
ence, including the under-21 crowd.
“It’s a place for 21 and not to
hang out and enjoy live music,”
Pendoley said.
When the cafe was established
seven years ago, it was simply a cof
fee shop. But before long, the cafe’s
owner, Greg Feener, wanted to add
music, so he invited local musi
cians to play there. Feener had lit
tle experience managing a music
venue, Pendoley said, so he simply
communicated to the public that
the cafe was open to any local act
that wanted to play.
However, the cafe, which had at
one time been a bank, didn’t lend
itself to high-quality sound, venue
manager Randy Hamme said. An
open kitchen and a large pillar in
the middle of the room hindered
the sound, which bounced off the
walls and back windows like a rub
ber ball, Hamme said.
Feener recognized that the sound
quality was lacking, Hamme said,
but he didn’t know how to fix it.
Business began to decline as estab
lishments in the downtown area
kept moving to other locations, sell
ing their leases or even going out of
business. Feener, who felt pressure
from lack of business, decided to
hire a general manager to help him,
Pendoley said.
“A year ago this week, I was
hired as the general manager of
Cafe Paradiso,” he said. Then, a lit
Mason West Emerald
Justin King performs during an all-ages show last Saturday at Cafe Paradiso.
tie more than six months later, lo
cal singer T.R. Kelly gave a solo
performance at Cafe Paradiso. Un
like other acts, Kelly, also a mem
ber of the band Rotosquirrel,
brought sound equipment with
her, as well as her friend and band
mate Randy Hamme to set it up,
Hamme said. Hamme had worked
at a music store and came away
from the job with a few “equip
ment perks,” as he called them.
According to Pendoley, the sound
quality of Kelly’s performance was
so good that he approached Hamme
to ask his advice about sound equip
ment and Cafe Paradiso’s potential
as a musicfvenue. Experienced with
the local music scene, equipment
and the needs of a venue, Hamme’s
suggestions inspired Pendoley to
put them into effect, and he and
Feener hired Hamme as the cafe’s
venue manager.
“The universe threw us together
that night, and magic was made,”
Hamme said.
Then Pendoley and Feener began
implementing Hamme’s ideas. A
wall was built to separate the
kitchen from the main floor, and the
pillar in the middle of the room was
removed. After that, a bar was
added, the food menu was expand
ed, a curtain was hung along the
wall of the main stage and alcohol
was stored in the former bank safe
(one of the perks of the original lay
out), Hamme said. Hamme also sug
gested to Feener that they pay the
musicians who played at the cafe.
"I just explained to him that if he
didn't pay them better, they either
wouldn't come or would come and
play badly," Hamme said.
One of the acts that will perform
frequent shows at Cafe Paradiso is
the Justin King Band. Frontman
Justin King is an Alaska-born Eu
gene local, and, while he and his
drummer, James West, are currently
in London recording new music,
King still sees the local scene as
part of his future.
“I wouldn’t leave Eugene for any
thing,” he said.
Hamme said King’s sound is ex
actly what Cafe Paradiso is looking
for: "more conservative music. With
so much time put into quality and
presentation,” he said, “we don't
want to limit our audience — we
want to expand it. If anything, we
are trying to meet somewhere in the
middle, between generations."
While the cafe has always tried to
appeal to a wide audience, Pendo
ley said he is now focusing on at
tracting the under-21 crowd, both
as performers and as spectators.
Pendoley said he graduated
from college a year and a half ago,
and he remembers what it was
like to be 21 and not be able to
hang out with younger friends at
21-and-over establishments. He
said Cafe Paradiso is one of the
only places in town where both
people on both sides of the drink
ing age can go to eat and listen to
music together.
“There are incredible musicians
under the age of 21, and now their
friends can come,” he said.
And Pendoley agrees with
Hamme, who summed up the
changes at Cafe Paradiso.
“We’re Eugene’s best-kept secret.”
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STUDENTS•FACULTY•STAFF
Flu Vaccination
Beginning October 3rd
Influenza vaccinations will be given at the
University Health Center for high-risk faculty, staff I
and their dependents 18 years and older every
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to
9:00 a.m. and for high-risk students Monday
Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Beginning Wednesday, October 3, 2001.
High-Risk Criteria
If you belong to one of these categories you are
eligible for Flu vaccine
Criteria for Category 1
Students (Mon.-Fri. 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.) $6.00
Faculty, Staff and their dependents 18 years and older
(Wed.-Fri. 8:00-9:00 a.m.): $10.00
(covered by PEBB insurance—you must bring your PEBB card
010795
• Persons 65 years and older
• Persons with any of the following conditions:
/ Long-term heart or lung condition / Diabetes
/ Kidney disease / Anemia
/ Cystic Fibrosis / Asthma
/ Conditions that compromise the immune system
• Women who will be in their 2nd or 3rd trimester of pregnancy
during the influenza season (November-April)
Criteria for Category 2
Students (Mon.-Fri. 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.) $6.00
Faculty. Staff and their dependents 18 years and older
(Wed.-Fri. 8:00-9:00 a.m.): $10.00
(NOT covered by PEBB insurance)
• Persons having closest contact with persons in Category I,
including:
/Household members of High Risk persons in Category; /
/Physicians, nurses and other sta ff who provide direct patient
care for persons in the Category I high Risk group
For more information, call the
University Health Center at 346-4444.
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