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Berbati's Pan, Dead-On Target
by
Sam Soule, for pdxguide.com
A
local three-piece band plays
hushed over indie rock to
a sweeping room appointed
with Old World charm. Nostalgic
black and white footage is
beamed from a projector behind
the band, and then repeated
from an unseen source onto
a screen hanging above a tiled
side-stage level with the
floor.
Between
songs, seventeen people
applaud stiffly with genre-specific
self-awareness, which
means this carefully sweatered-and-sideburned
threesome owns the house
-- the entire house.
Welcome
to the thriving epicenter
of Portland's music scene:
Berbati's Pan.
Sarcasm,
this is not. This is Tuesday,
a night of the week most
music clubs in town are
dark. But Berbati's, a
combination restaurant/music
venue inhabiting an entire
half-block in the heart
of Portland's downtown,
is successful enough to
book bands when most clubs
cut their losses and wait
for the weekend. To it's
further credit, Berbati's
also books as many benefits
as anyone else. This ability
to remain active on slow
and relatively unprofitable
nights is grounded in
the popularity of the
club's Mediteranean-fare
restaurant-- Berbati's
Pan is named after the
owner's hometown in Greece.
It
is the restaurant that
established the business
back in the mid-Eighties.
Since then Berbati's has
expanded into one of Portland's
most accommodating music
nightclubs. The sparseness
of the crowd on my latest
visit is not by any way
indicative of typical
show attendance.
 Many
nights the room teems
with hundreds of party-goers
out to enjoy the club's
diverse calendar of rock,
funk, hip-hop Dj's.
Though
it survives on touring
bands with a major draw,
Berbati's is also a home
to the local scene. In
ways more than just the
venue's location might
sugges t-- neighboring
clubs like Dante's, the
Ash Street Saloon and
the Paris do not earn
this distinction -- Berbati's
relationship to Portland's
music scene can best be
described as central.
The
room itself fixes Berbati's
as a center-point. With
a Mediterranean theme
established by the restaurant,
this candle-lit concert
hall has an unmistakably
classic feel, muted disco
ball notwithstanding.
The main bar is over a
hundred years old and
was imported by the owner
from Europe. The back
service center is modeled
after a rustic wine bar.
Also
in the back is a raised
area with a faux granite
backing that looks like
a chunk of coliseum seating.
A series of gold-toned
columns span the room's
center.
The
accessibility of the location
is, of course, an obvious
factor in bringing in
the crowds; the comfort
level of the space is
another major attractor.
With pockets of tables
and black upholstered
couches relieving an impressive
swath of hard wood floor,
it's always relatively
easy to navigate and enjoy
the stage show, even on
packed nights. In addition,
and very importantly,
wait times on drink service
is generally cut to a
minimum with crowds being
serviced with up to three
potential bars. And the
sound system, always the
crucial factor, is clear
and well-balanced.
 Local
bartender and musician
Chris Spinelli brings
up another good point
about shows at Berbati's:
you don't sweat as much. "It
never seems to get so
hot there," says
Spinelli. "Other
places like Nocturnal
and the Meow Meow, it
can get just unbearable." But
it is a sense of even-handedness
that defines Berbati's.
Yes,
location and accommodation
probably rank first in
importance. But there
is a play-nice/play-safe
vibe about the place,
from the band's booked
to the to the choice of
interior decor: nothing
falls to any extreme.
Other
venues in town tend to
lean more in one direction
of the other, catering
to specific tastes in
the process, but Berbati's
is Portland's happy medium.
In this light, Berbati's
Pan is not just central
to the Portland music
scene, it's centrist.
And
like an exceptionally
talented politician, Berbati's
Pan earns its votes.
The opinions expressed
within are those of the
author and do not necessarily
reflect those of pdxguide.com
or The Columbian Publishing
Co.
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