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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2011)
O REG O N'S LGBTO N EW S M A G A ZIN E music JU LY 15. 2011 2L J * It’s On! Introducing the First Annual Portland Q u eer M usic Festival A fixture on Portland’s music scene, Samuel Thomas may have been destined to spearhead the First Annual Portland Queer Music Festi val. W hile juggling gigs as director and founder o f the Portland FREE Music Project, organiz ing the Maricon dance night at The Matador and judging this year’s Portland Idol, Thomas somehow still found time to break more ground for Portland queer culture. O n Saturday, July 30, Red Cap Garage and Boxxes play host to the city’s first festival dedicated to queer music. The all-day, all genre— sadly not all-ages— event spotlights primarily up-and-com ing acts from the Port land metro area, placing them on two stages for the duration o f the day between the two bars. Bands from as far away as Philadelphia (Slutever) and St. Louis (Julie Schurr) have also been confirmed, as have a few acts from Seattle. Thomas sees the influx o f out-of- towners as inherent to the spirit o f a queer music festival. “We discovered there’s a huge interest and a need for music from outside Portland,” ex plains Thonflas, who’d originally planned the event to be Portland only. “There are a bazil- lion music festivals, but not many queer music festivals. So we had people begging, like, ‘Hey, you guys have a festival, we wanna do it.’” For its inaugural run, Thomas approached the idea from a prophetic point o f view, dub bing P Q M F the “first annual,” knowing it would be a success. W hile that remains to be seen, the event has thus far garnered some 300 promised attendees on its Facebook page, with about the same amount o f those saying “maybe” they’d attend. W hat should be noted, also, within the queer festival canon is the emer gence of the Not Enough! Queer Music and Arts Festival, which pits performance art, film, music, visual and all manner o f artistic under takings September 18-19 in North Portland. As that festival generates more steam on a DIY, subculture level, Thomas’ sights are set in a more main stream, marketable milieu, with the focus just on music. He esti mates the day’s total attendance at between 800 and 1,000 festival goers. “In terms o f the amount of bands and performers we have, we will be the largest in the Northwest,” says Thomas, who’s booked all 30 bands himself. The 30th act to round out the lineup will be filled by the winner o f Red Cap’s Portland Idol. “If everybody shows up, and we have a really good turnout,” Thomas says, “we could easily be the largest queer mu sic festival on the West Coast.” That confidence isn’t surprising given the talent assembled for P Q M F ’s first install ment. Representing PDX is a spectrum -rang ing sample o f everything from drag queen electro (CJ and the Dolls) and piano-ballad- eers (Zach Zaitlin) to burgeoning rappers (Jeau Breedlove, SistaFist) and beloved dee- jays (Moisti, Lunch Lady). Similarly engaging acts from Seattle include the indie-dance confessionals o f Noddy, the pop o f Secret Shoppers and more. Despite the meshing o f singer- songwriters with rappers, back pack electro kids with sexy in dustrial rock, et cetera, the performers are relishing the op portunity to do it all under the “Queer Music Festival” banner. “Most queer art or music events focus on one genre of perf ormance like drag or deejaying or rock,” Zaitlin explains. “It’s rare to see an event where queer artists working in a variety of styles are all together under one roof.” It seems a unanimous sentiment that an event like the P Q M F will almost certainly unify and empower the queer arts community, especially what with prevailing stigmas o f queer music and homophobia still rampant in music industry circles. “Being queer and in a band is a hard place to be,” explains Reese Umbaugh o f Noddy. “M ain stream gay culture doesn’t really embrace inde pendent music and the usual genres involved. Local music indie scenes are still primarily white, straight and male, and I am still surprised at the amount of homophobic, sexist and racist attitudes I have witnessed over the years playing in bands in the local music scene.” Portland rhyme-stylers SistaFist agree, and see a huge opportunity in the event. “We deserve a safe space to create and share our work,” says EmSnatch. “W ith a queer festival there will be zero tolerance for ho mophobia, which is unfortunately not the case at many other festivals.” As the P Q M F nears, the final touches are being put on the production— largely by Thomas alone, but also with help from spon sors Absolut Vodka, Pants-O ff Productions, SUBMITTED PHOTO BY RYAN J. PRADO Morel Ink, QPDX.com and Sherman Clay/ M oe’s Pianos o f Portland. But even with that kind o f muscle, the infancy of the festival coupled with Thomas’ ambition are making lessons in event undertaking easy to come by. “W hen I was planning it, I was like, ‘Oh, 30 bands isn’t that much,”’ Thomas jokes. “And now I’m like, ‘W hoa, 30 bands!’ I’ve got to be the point person for everyone who comes in all day. And they all have a lot o f questions. I t’s almost like a full-time job right now, just doing this, as opposed to all my other jobs I ’m supposed to be doing.” m W hat lies ahead following the first annual fest is anyone’s guess. Thomas is already thinking big— bigger acts, more bands. In fact, he’s already working on the Second An nual Portland Queer Music Festival. “I ’m already planning next year’s. I’ve got some o f the basics down, I’m in contact with certain people,” T hom as promises. “I t ’ll happen.” it] * The First Annual Portland Queer Music Festival takes place Saturday, July 30from 3 p. m. to 2 a. m. at Red Cap Garage and Boxxes (J035 SIV Stark St.). Admission is S3. The event is 21 and over. For a fu ll list o f performers and updates, search "Portland Queer Music Festival" on Facebook. fresh ingredients . prepareddaily a new look at classic dishes Shandong c u llin e o f n o rth ern china 3724 ne bro.iclway portland or 07/32 503.287.0331 shundonqpoi tland a 0111 opendAily.ti 2:30 lunih. 4 g ii o d in n e i happy hour specials 3 o RESTAURANT + L0U N 0E : THE TIKI BAR IN PORTLAND 4 0 2 4 N INTERSTATE AVE. t 503 2 8 7 -5 3 3 * * OPEN EVERYDAY" ffAM 2AM KARAOKE! Seven Nights a Week! No charge to sing, and never a cover! '
