Doug Fir and Lenka

Jason took me to a fun little club in Portland called the Doug Fir and we spent the evening pretending to be cool, metro people.  It's always interesting to do something we don't normally do, although, I find it a bit awkward to try to fit in to a world in which I don't feel I belong.  My daily life is far, far away from this place.  Can others tell I'm an imposter?

The building and atmosphere of the restaurant and lounge was really fun and very Oregonian.  It had a lodge theme but with a modern, contemporary focus that was very well done.  I admire businesses like this that have a clear focus in everything they do--from the the food, the decor, the lighting, the bands performing there--they have a defined audience and market and they target it well.  As a business owner, I appreciate the incredible effort and focus it takes to maintain this definition.  It takes a lot to stay true to your identity!

After a yummy, yummy dinner (I went out on a limb and tried the bleu cheese stuffed chicken-yum!) we went downstairs to the concert lounge to see Lenka and the opening band, Satellite.  The stage and audience area is very, very small and intimate--it was like having a band play in your over-sized living room.  It made the experience much more enjoyable than seeing someone perform in a giant stadium with their music blasting in your ears.

We enjoyed the music.  Satellite had a rock band style, while Lenka was more indie "bubble" style, as Jason called it.  She has a cute, bubbly voice and sings lots of folksy, indie type music.  Some of it was a little too folksy for me and I had to roll my eyes when she brought out a finger puppet to sing with.  But, she had an amazing violinist who played with her and I enjoyed hearing the different sounds in her music from the typical guitar/drum/keyboard trio.

I would really enjoy seeing other bands here.  We learned that Cake performed there last month, which would have been AWESOME to see!!!  I imagine the crowd was likely much more intense and large for that concert.  Still, I'll be on the lookout for them to return.  Their music makes me happy.

It was a fun evening with Jason and we enjoyed moving out of our normal routine to experience something different.  It's probably something we'll do again!