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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2004)
BY VANESSA SALVIA The Sugarbeets are at Sam Bond’s New Year’s Eve. ensemble breaks out the rhythms of Carnival. Don’t try to resist the call. Samba in the new year. Partyin’ Like It’s 2004 Where to ring in the New Year G et out your dancing shoes and pre- pare to party like a rock star this New Year’s Eve because no matter what you’re into, Eugene’s got it goin’ on. The WOW Hall and the Faerieworlds Festival host a New Year’s Eve Faerie Masquerade Ball with reunited Trillian Green and music from Woodland. The event also features art from Brian Froud and Jen Delyth’s lightshows. Ten years ago Trillian Green’s musical odyssey began at the Oregon Country Fair. They performed to appreciative crowds until parting ways after their 1997 New Year’s Eve show at the WOW Hall. Last summer they rediscovered their joy of performing together and now they’re ready to play for you! Woodland’s music explores the realm of the Faerie through harp, violin, guitar, bass, drums, flutes and the faerie art of Brian The Faerie Masquerade Ball WOW Hall, doors 8:30 pm $15 advance 687-2746 Froud. Feel free to dress for the occasion in robes, wings and crowns. Cozmic Pizza hosts a Last Night Celebration from 7:30 pm to 1 am. Performances kick off with tango dance music from The Tango Trio and end with Samba Ja, a Brazilian-percussive ensemble. In between, delight in appearances by Eugene’s reigning Slug Queen Scarlett O’Slimera and friends, West African drum- ming and dancing performances by Village Pulse, bellydance performances by members of Ala Nar, and Brazilian dance music by Macaco Velho. Don’t miss Grupo Capoeira’s perform- ance as they demonstrate the “national sport” of Brazil — a non-contact martial art involv- ing music and artistic expression between players. Samba Ja brings the night to a thrilling close when the 30-piece percussion Last Night Celebration Cozmic Pizza, 7:30 pm $5-$10 sliding 338-9333 With so many reggae lovers in town, it’s no surprise Eugene has our own resident reg- gae legend: Norma Frasier. Friday night, chase away the evening’s chill listening to her smooth, sunny, tropical rhythms at Lucky Noodle. Frasier released her first record, We’ll Be Lovers, at age 19 in 1961. It topped charts in Jamaica for more than a year. But it’s her second album, The First Cut Is The Deepest, which debuted in 1967, that made her famous in the U.S. Frasier recorded at Studio One in Jamaica with Bob Marley and the Wailers, Ken Booth, The Skatalites, Delroy Wilson and others. Though she gained a measure of fame in the early 1970s, she was disenchanted with the business end of the music industry and didn’t perform for 20 years. Luckily that’s changed and her clear voice is as beautiful as it was in 1961. You’re sure to see unshaved pits and dreadlocks at Sam Bond’s when The Sugar Beets perform. With two female vocalists, acoustic guitar, keyboards, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass and drums, the band delivers an unstoppable dance groove for Eugene’s ubiquitous hippies. Eugene Weekly readers know and love the Beets, and voted them best band in both 1999 and 2000. The group knows it’s a band for dirt- lovers and expresses it with gentle humor, as on “Did You Ask The Tall Blue-Eyed Hippie To Stay?,” a track off their 2001 CD Sweet Ride Home. If you like the jam and groove of Widespread Panic or Leftover Salmon, Sam Bond’s is the place to park your tie-dyed butt on New Year’s night. ew Norma Frasier w/ Steps To Lydia Lucky Noodle Restaurant 9 pm $5 • 484-4777 The Sugar Beets Sam Bond’s Garage, 9 pm 431-6603 Maximizing New Max’s Tavern reopens to fanfare M uch-needed remodeling rein- vigorated a beloved campus watering hole recently, and the New (and improved) Max’s Tavern plans to reopen and kick off the New Year with music from the Divers. Chase Fairbairn bought Max’s Tavern in 1993 and over time noticed that the floor was slowly sinking. He attributed it to settling of an old building until the floor started caving in. “Eventually things started looking dangerous and that’s when we finally shut down,” says Fairbairn. After looking under the floor he found that while the restroom drainage was fine, corrosive beer and soda had eaten away the old iron pipes coming out of the bar’s drainage system. Six scary feet of “quickmud” had formed under the bar’s floor. They closed in August 2004 for repairs, and used the same technology engi- neers employed to shore up the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. They sank pillars 16 feet into the ground to stabilize the load-bearing wall and all plumbing is now state-of-the-art. “All the infrastructure of the bar is new. All the equipment is new, all the cabi- netry is new, all the seating is new,” Fairbairn says. “We’ve redone every- thing, and especially anything that has to function. It’s like a bionic building now!” Fairbairn says the new décor has a “haberdashery” feel, like an old ‘40s retailer. New Year’s are typically raucous affairs at the Tavern, and with the grand re-open- ing of one of Eugene’s most-loved bars, this event will be one to tell your grandchildren about. DECEMBER 30, 2004 21
