Dekum Manor Show spring break 2008!

Dekum Manor is one of my favorite house venues in Portland. The place itself is beautiful and set up well enough to host larger shows like this one, without feeling completely chaotic and overrun by large crowds. Of course, maybe I just dont feel the numbers because I always fight to stay near the front, to snap photos.
The bill was solid: Worlds Greatest Ghosts, Reporter, Explode into Color, and Fist Fite-- I wanted to see every single band playing that night, which is pretty rare. Since I had to work @ 9 am the next day, I had to leave before Fist Fite played, to my infinite disappointment, since I still have yet to see them play. Someday soon. soon!
The first band to play, and third pictured here, is Explode Into Color. It was their first show, and they were totally rad, all three girls are just amazing and versatile-- Explode into Color is a second or third band for most of the members. Check out the band Kickball, for whom one of the Explode into Color girls plays drums. The same girl also gives drums lessons on occasion. I saw Kickball @ The Modern Age this winter and they blew my mind. Someone at the show also mentioned that the guitar player/singer played with punk duo Japanther in the past. I am not sure about that, but if its true, then one more rad-person point goes to her. I cant wait to see more from this band!!
The house was packed for Reporter, a re-formed new/old band who are definitely as good or better than their former incarnation as the super popular post-punk group Wet Confetti. They graciously went on second instead of third, since Worlds Greatest Ghosts were waiting for their MIA guitar player Brandon, who, we learned later, had some kind of a projector problem at his "real" job-- as a projectionist at the St. Johns theater. In the end Brandon made it down to Dekum st. just in time for WGG to play third, to a thrilled and still packed house-- I realized as I watched them play that this is a band that is seriously loved in the house show circuit. I have seen them play bars and coffee shops lots of times before, but never to this kind of reaction from the crowd. Kids were singing along to most of the set, yelling out what they wanted to hear between songs, and the guy next to me said that his young kids even love the band, probably because of their penchant for singing about mythological animals and dinosaurs.
Anyhow, long story short, this show was great and I cant wait for another show at the Dekum manor, here in the magi-cool city of Portland.