Guidance Counselor Plays My Porch! (and other 4th of July mayhem)
posted ~ July 10th, 2009. Filed under: Music Reviews, Uncategorized.
Guidance Counselor 7-4-09 from Andrew Sloan on Vimeo.
A bit delayed on the recap of what was, without a doubt, the best 4th of July since 1776, but this story needs to be told. While attending a show mid afternoon at The Meat Factory, a local house venue, my fellow patriots and I witnessed the breakdown of the event at hand. The first two bands had played a bit too loud for the neighbors and the landlord was threatening eviction; the party was over. Portland experimental electro-dance favorites, Guidance Counselor, were on deck in the line up to play and had just lost their venue. I had a 90 minute IPA and a PBR 40oz in me and without hesitation my hand flew up as I blurted, “WHY don’t you guys play on MY PORCH?!” Needing a place to play and feeling that it was a relatively OK idea, G.C. obliged. I raced home, put on some French pop and made my front porch band worthy. Upon my arrival I found that the back yard, which also happens to be home to legendary food carts Potato Champion and Perierra Crêperie among others, was LIVE AS FUCK. The Champ had rented a moonbounce and they were setting up to have some more excellent locals (Wampire, May Ling, Breakfast Mountain, and Deelay Ceelay) play in the cart lot. There were tons of people about. Guidance Counselor set up and before the tunes could get going in the food cart lot they began to play. I ran back to the cart lot, where most of the hungry cart-enthusiasts were waiting for Wampire to start, grabbed a mic and announced through a tunnel of digital delay and reverb that G.C. was about to play a rouge set on my porch 40 ft away. They flocked. G.C. killed it, playing from my porch to humans flooding the sidewalks and streets. I took a video of a complete song which I think encapsulates the energy appropriately. It was incredible. I was on top of the world. Coolest. thing. ever.
Immediately following Guidance Counselor’s set Wampire began to play in front of the giant inflatable jumping castle in the back yard. All my guests migrated to the cart lot to observe. Wampire was super good. As they played joyous pop hooks over drum machine San Francisco’s Dad Fag set up on my porch. We had begun the sickest impromptu Independence Day festival the world has even know. The night continued on like this with fireworks abounding. From the lot to the porch, porch to the lot. French fries, beer, explosions.
Below is a video shot by Minh Tran posted by the Portland Mercury’s blog. For a better idea of all of the madness that was this past 4th of July take a peek. The video follows the adventures of a wandering poutine as it meanders through the chaos. I’ll never forget this shit.
July 4th 2009, 12th and Hawthorne, Portland, Oregon from Minh Tran on Vimeo.