Portland, 11th & 12th Aug. The Farewell

The memoirs of the long distance gig goer

10/8
So I get back from the East Coast 16 hours sleep in 5 days, but somehow I'm still buzzin'. In work for 3 days and back out to the far west. 13hrs on a plane though, good job I'm a good traveller.
Get to Manchester Airport in good time, jeez the sh*t has hit the fan. There is absolute chaos something about a terrorist alert. It took about an hour to get to the check in desk only to be told there's no hand luggage allowed on-board. No mobile or mp3 player, basically nowt!! A 2 hour delay, damn! that means I'll miss my conection in Chicago. Eventually take off 4hrs late. In my mind all I can think is I have to get into Portland tonight, or that would realy bugger up plans. When we land in Chicago we have to go thru baggage reclaim then thru security and onto see what's gonna happen about my flight to PDX. At security I get pulled cuz I only have 1 piece of hand luggage.

"Is that all your luggage sir?"
"yes"
"how long you here for?"
"I'm going to Portland Oregeon for 3 days"
grabs passport and looks suspiciously at me.
Looks at passport.
"You were in the US last week?"
"Yes"
"Why?"
"I was here for 3 concerts"
"Who did you see?"
"Sleater Kinney"
"Why you here again?"
"I'm going to 2 concerts"
"Who you gonna see?"
"Sleater Kinney"
At this point I get that all too familiar look us S-K fans know (and love) too well. That blank, vacant stare that just says "who" but with depth and disbelief.
Flicking thru my passport he asks "What were you doing in Istanbul"
"Touring"
"What were you doing in Egypt?
"Touring"
"What were you doing in Bosnia?"
"Ok international gun running" phew!! good job I never said that, I was thinking it though.
All I'm thinking is I have to get to Portland tonight.
Anyway I'm eventually set free.
At this point I get my first bit of luck of the day, I get the last remaining seat going into Portland that night. Depart 8:30 pm arrive 10:30 pm, result! Then another curious twist of fate. I wonder if there'll be any other S-K fans on this flight, so I keep my eye out for anyone wearing an S-K shirt. Eventually I spot a guy by himself wearing the blue doggie shirt. When it's time for boarding I say hi and introduce myself, turns out it' sk1bt form the board (Andrew, as I now know him) we then discover were sitting next to each other on the plane, how spooky was that? Eventualy get to Portland 11pm, made it. I actually check the venue at midnight to see if anyone is camping out overnight (ok I'm sad)
11/8
I decide to get to the venue at 6:30 am and hope that not too many people have got there before me and that Andy, Korina or Garrett have secured a good spot in the line. As I approach the Crystal I can see a figure stood outside and my heart starts to sink, I turn the corner and it's Andy result we have first in line not a sign of Sharron. 7am who walks down the road yep Sharron. In the next 2 hrs the usual hardcore crew are there, and so begins a long day. Several coffee runs, lunch at Jakes excellent seafood restaurant and the odd quick pint at the bar next door, the day soon goes. At about 4pm my ticket contact hadn't turned up, so I was starting to feel a little nervous. I try ringing Tom on his mobile but no answer, it's at this point I secure a back up ticket from Alan. 5pm still no sign of Tom so I have go with my back up. 15 mins latter who walks up to me and asks "are you Tim" yes it's Tom, I now feel awful but he understands the predicament I was in, he had been badly delayed with his flight. When the time came for doors, we were ready. Andy said the Ballroom was on the second floor, so leg it up 2 flights of stairs and we're there. Rule: never follow Garrett into a gig you have to run up stairs to. We just keep going up and up and end up on the wrong f**kin' floor, panic we shoot back down a floor luckilly Andy and Korina had held our spots at the front of the stage phew!. Garrett goes and buys the limmited edition posters for us (10 in all) he has a problem at first but a good bit of diplomacy sorts it out (I buy 2). It's pretty crammed at the front but I get the ideal spot just left of Corin. They open with Start Together, which I think is a great opening song. We also get Drama, Get up, Youth Decay. They play 2 encores which include Ballad, Little Mouth (unusual) Dance Song (Yay!) and Light Rail. I was absolutly soaked at the end it was pretty lively at the front, great though.
After the show quite a few of us get together to go for a drink, we end up in a bar that allows minors. Next thing I know it's 3am, damn! I need to get to bed up again at 6 am.
12/8
Get to bed 3:30 am, alarm set for 5:30. Eventually get up at 6:10 run in and out of the shower and out the door. Get to the venue 6:30 am Garrett is already there 3rd in line behind Sharron (of course, she wasn't gonna let it happen 2 days in a row) and 2 girls who were there at 5:30 am. It was quite cold at that time of the morning, but again several coffee runs kept us going. Similar form to the previous day within a couple of hours the mian hardcore were there. I may have forgot to mention that a couple from Brighton were there in line early both days. Had a few chats with them (Brits together sort of thing) I think her S-K.net name was Katness? I'll check that when (if) the board is up and running again. But good effort people. Andy and Korina decide to sit out the crazy get to the front mania this time and want to view S-K's last show from a distance. This I can understand and thought about it myself, but I just love watching them from the spot I've occupied practically every time I've seen 'em. Corin would expect me to there anyway and I couldn't let her down not at the final show. Garrett and I assume normal battle stations. With about an hour to go 'till doors a camera crew come out the venue and ask if they can interview us at the front of the line. They ask us all questions like how long? why? what do you want them to play? ect. When they turn the camera on to me the guy says ah! you were at the East Coast shows too weren't you? "how did you know that?" they then made a big issue out of the fact I'd travelled over gone home again then travelled back. Promted by Todd and Sharron. Thanks guys! who proclaimed me as the no1 fan, though we all agree that accolade belongs to Sharron, respect you damn fine rocker!!. If any part of my interview makes it to vid/dvd then that would be nice but I know I'm not at all photogenic therefore awfull on film so I'd have to live with the embaressment. At doors the usual rush, as a twist this time Carrie had walked into the place seconds before they let us rowdy mob in. Garrett while running upstairs practically nocks Carrie over then realises who he just run past,commically stops glances back waves then continues on his manic way. presious!! Garrett tells the story better than that, but you get the drift of how funny it was. So here we are the last S-K gig ever. I'm not gonna go through the set list, say how good the ladies were ect ect. There are many reviews of this gig I'm not going to add another. What I will say is the people who were there will treasure the expierience the rest of their lives. I know I will. What will stick in my mind is it was the last time I leapt up and down shoulder to shoulder with Sharron, Garrett,Todd et-al. At the end of the show (they finished on "One more hour") Carrie, Corin and Janet hugged as a threesome in the middle of the stage. This is where most people (well me) cracked. I turned and hugged Sharron I don't think we could look each other in the eye, too many tears. The next 2 hours passed with a daze, just hugging and shaking hands with people. It was deep breaths, a strange atmosphere couppled with the joy of an S-K gig to top all S-K gigs. We (hardcore) waited outside the venue till 3am (Corins car was outside, clue?) the ladies eventually appeared. I had my pic taken with Corin and got her and Janet to sign my ticket (I missed Carrie) The end to a fascinating couple of days, laughter and tears, all emotions shared.
As I bring this edition of "War and peace" to an end, I appreciate no one will get this far reading it except me.
I will end on a huge thank you to Andy,Garrett, Korina and Celeste. You are all lovely warm human beings who it was a pleasure to meet and be with. I hope being with this 45 year old British idiot didn't hold back your expieriences too much. There are too many other people to mention here I would be scared of missing someone. To everyone I met, just talked to, exchanged a nod to. Thank you.
You know who you are.
You are all special people.
S-K. R.I.P.