In the never-ending quest to explore, wander about and constantly experience the best that Portland has to offer, on Friday evening I made my way over to the Alberta Arts District in the Northeast part of town to imbibe, chow down and power up. I started with a quick stop into T.C. O’Leary’s Irish Pub for a frosty draft Guiness. This is a great little pub with a lot of local area charm. There were a couple neighborhood chaps playing a table game next to me at the bar, and after 5pm the place filled with what were obviously tables full of regulars.
After savoring my beer, I made my way across the street to Fat Kitty Ramen where I indulged in some gyoza, spicy edamame and chilled Shibata Black Yuzu Sake to start. I got there just before 6pm and found a spot at the counter and again within 5 minutes of sitting down the place was crowded with a line out the door.
Being that it was a cold, wet, breezy evening, for the main course I went with a steaming bowl of the Shiitake Shoyu Ramen, with handmade buckwheat noodles, soft poached egg, pickled Shiitakes, cabbage, scallions and I added on some smoked pork shoulder. The deep umami of the mushroom-based broth, with that added punch from the pickled mushrooms and the savoriness of the smoked shoulder, all combined into this bowl of goodness being one of the top ramens I’ve ever had.
It feels like I’ve said that already 2-3 times here in Portland, but it seems like each place I go to the Ramen just gets better, and Fat Kitty is a serious OG ramen shop serving up only four different flavored bowls, but each is at the top of its game.
The primary reason I was in this part of town on this night was to see the cover band Who’s Next: Tribute to the Who at the nearly 100-year-old Alberta Rose Theater. Theaters may have a hard time paying the bills in the rest of America, but not in Portland, as they are more likely than not all filled to the brim with concert goers on any night of the week.
Apparently this band has studied The Who’s mannerisms, style and everything about their live concerts, and they don’t attempt to mimic them exactly, but they do rhyme we’ll say, while making the audience experience (or in the case of some of the people in attendance on this night, re-experience) what a live Who concert in the 70’s must have felt like.
Prior to the show the producer came on stage and notified the audience of the authenticity of the band, to include the volume they would be playing at (When The Who weren’t destroying their equipment on stage, they liked to play it loud), and that ear plugs were available in the lobby for those that needed them. Once the band got going let’s just say that from my front row seat the volume was somewhere between “Damn, that’s loud” and “Are my ears bleeding?”.
Every minute of the show was exhilarating and with the addition of the lasers (not exactly a 70’s thing, but really cool nonetheless) the production value on this show, especially inside this small venue (the theater seats 300), was well worth the $35-40 price for tickets, and I got the special “kitty” stamp for the upgraded seat to prove it.
Here’s their first set, with excerpts of songs from the Live at Leeds album and a full-length cut of My Generation to round it out. This album came out in 1970 a couple days after I was born and has been called "the best live rock album ever made". This cover band certainly did right by The Who in their performance on this night.
After a 20-minute intermission the band hit the stage again to play through the entirety of The Who’s 1971 album, Who’s Next, an album included by Rolling Stone on its list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Here we have an excerpt from several of the songs on the album, starting with a rousing Baba O’Riley all the way through a full-length take on Won’t Get Fooled Again, ranked by Rolling Stone as the #1 The Who song of all time. Turn up the volume, grab a cold one and sit back for a show, as it’s the longest clip I’ve uploaded to date at over 25 minutes, but well worth your time if you enjoy classic Rock & Roll up close.
What a wild ride of an evening. These guys played The Who’s 1969 album, Tommy here last year, and I’ll definitely be back to cheer them on if they are in the neighborhood again.