What is "Hip"?

Last night I ventured into the bowels of the Doug Fir Lounge for more or less the first time ever. The reason? A (rather smashing) show by those keyboard-craz(ed)y Brit boys, Hot Chip. The Doug Fir is apparently brought to us by the folks responsible for my beloved, much-missed La Luna, the now-defunct all-ages club that was my high school haven. How can I forget the time when, at the age of 16, I had my very first sighting of a man in leather chaps, while rolling about on the floor drinking smuggled-in Long Island Iced Teas with my friend Misty? Quite a experience for an impressionable country girl.

Anyway, the Fir has a whole "Twin Peaks"-y/log cabin thing going on. Though, honestly, the walls downstairs look more like shaped baguettes in their final rise than logs. But, um, that's probably just me. The basic impression I've had is that the Fir is a cool-looking place with cool-looking people who are all looking at you to see if you're cool. Hipsters ahoy!

If there is one thing I am not, it is cool. And I exemplified that truth last night: I totally fell down the stairs walking back from the bathroom. I didn't even have the excuse of being drunk to camoflauge my utter un-coolness! Also, I grabbed some girl's hair in a desperate & futile attempt to defy the laws of gravity. Sooo not cool.

But by then, I was well on my way to unearthing an amazing discovery: the Portland variety of hipster is, by & large & unlike most other strains, not too cool for school. The door guys were super-friendly & nice. So were the bartenders. & yes, dear reader, even the audience members were afflicted with the same congeniality. With the possible, & quite understandable, exception of the girl whose hair I pulled. At the front of the stage, while waiting for HC to go on, I had pleasant, friendly conversations with all in my immediate vicinity. Additionally, although I've only been to two shows in Portland since I've been back, I've thus far found the audience enthusiasm very impressive. Imagine - you part with your hard-earned dollars to go out & see a show, & you're actually excited to be there. Instead of standing still with arms folded, you dance. If you don't dance, you at least nod your head & tap your feet. When a song is over, you applaud & holler as though it were the last song you'd ever hear. Judging from the reactions of the bands I've seen here, this is not a phenomenon they experience on the road with great frequency. At the Dresden Dolls, "fucking awesome" was the appellation bestowed. Last night, one of the opening bands said it had been their "favorite show ever".

This all kind of makes up for the rain. Methinks I have discovered the secret of survival in the land of sog.

Oh, & reason #1228 why I love it here: DJ Assault & the Egyptian Lover are doing a show at a club this Saturday! Side note: appropriately enough for a venue hosting the man behind "A Strange Place (The Alezby Inn)", the club also has queer girl nights called "Tart" & "Cupcake". I'm hoping to go & hook up with cute lesbian bakers. My apartment is so less than a mile away from the club. Also I'm hoping that cute lesbian bakers will be less likely to call me a creepy number of times & get mad at me when I don't want to talk about my feelings after spending a whole four hours together. I may be aiming too high there, but we'll see.

Reason #1229, you may or may not ask? The Slits are doing a free in-store performance at Jackpot Records next Tuesday before their full-on show at Dante's. So, if my temporarily flat-broke ass can't afford the real show, I can still see 'em.

Oh, & I didn't mention it before, because it seemed so obvious, but: Hot Chip were fucking awesome live. Go, run, go now & see them if they're playing anywhere near you. If they aren't, never fear: they divulged last night that they'll be touring the States again next year. & allegedly, they have a new album in the works, from which they played a couple tracks.