"Get in Gear"
Duff's Garage could be a high-octane solution to Portland's lack of rough-and-tumble rock-n-roll venues.

By Sam Dodge Soule, pdxguide.com

You're sitting bar-side next to two barely of age white-t shirted young men, both sporting slicked back hair and Mopar insignia tattoos. You watch them goggle over vintage car magazines while throwing down yellow beer and over-done cheeseburgers. Then it gets worse.

A band of virtual geriatrics takes over the small stage space to your left and begins playing the absolutely worst kind of watered down electric blues. The "Leave-it-to-Beaver-to-want-to-look-tough" stool-squatters next to you clap after every song...every freaking song. They yell out the names of band members with an enthusiasm better reserved for secret Rolling Stones reunion gigs. Is this terrible, you ask yourself, or what?

Answer: absolutely, but only for the moment.

If Duff's Garage seems at first to reek of being a cheesy theme tavern, give it a couple of minutes (or a couple of months). There is an authenticity at work here that may first be obscured by the interior decor overkill of pin up girl posters, Fender guitars and chopped down classic motorcycle parts, not to mention an irritating clientele of pony-tailed blues fans and gear head wannabes.

But, stick with this place because the potential is there. In a town known for tasteful taverns set in renovated historical landmarks and hipster downtown nightclubs trying to catch up to the modern scene, Duff's scores high marks for blue collar edge and rock-n-roll sensibility by setting up taps in a former garage located in the under-utilized, light industrial section of Southeast Portland. It might be lagging now, but Portland's recently opened home for live music, cocktails, and good eats in an automotive atmosphere is promises to get up to speed.

Duff's is a small bar with an atmosphere that benefits by high ceilings, red girder-work and malt shop style lime green booths. The twin Freightliner-accommodating garage doors facing the street are priceless. Of course, state health codes prevent Duff's from featuring essential automotive atmosphere staples like oil slicks and grease rags. However, one can be comforted by the fact that some of the posters on display are promoting actual GOOD contemporary R&B and garage rock bands and the music on the in-house PA is consistently top shelf obscure 60's rock-n-roll. To top things off, that pleasant man in the Orbison-specs checking ID's at the door once played guitar in a backing band for Sun Records icon and 50's rockabilly mega-star Rudy "Tutti" Grayzell. Suffice to say, Duff's has got definite retro scene credibility.

The menu at Duff's is a particularly non-descript hamburger-and-chicken-strip affair priced reasonably at the $5-to-$6 range. Cold sandwiches and salads are also available. The bar is fully stocked with micro-brews and five domestics on hand for hand for about three bucks a throw, cocktails slightly more. A startlingly brief happy hour, 2-5pm Monday through Friday, serves domestics for $1.75, micros for $2.75 with daily drink special.

Bad blues notwithstanding, watch this bar to become a potential hot spot for live music. As it stands, Duff's six-night-a-week music calendar needs to be improved. It's not terrible, just not as ambitious as it should be. What needs to happen is for Duff's to bring in more talent like what it regularly hosts Fridays for "Garage Night." These have been showcases that have brought in a number of exceptional young local bands, groups like the Hunches, the Intelligence and the Units, all who have put on outstanding shows for nearly packed houses. Duffs low-slung stage space has proven to be exceptionally fan-friendly and highly conducive to wild rockin' performances, something Portland's music scene has been missing for a number of years.

The opinions expressed within are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of pdxguide.com or The Columbian Publishing Co.