Little big show

The “Cure for Cabin Fever” concert points at cool things to come

By Sam Pfeifle

“Cure for Cabin Fever,” with Colepitz, Twitchboy, Freerider, David’s Playground, Ransom, and Broken Clown, at the State Theatre, December 28, at 6 p.m.

THE NEW COLEPITZ: Ray Suhey, Mike Lapointe, Nellie Dyer, and Kurt Brown.

Ever heard of the band Freerider? Mark Cooper of David’s Playground hadn’t, but he was more than happy to sign on for a show Todd Erickson

(Freerider’s lead singer) was organizing, called “Cure for Cabin Fever,” December 28.

Just because they have a cool-sounding name? No, there were other factors involved. Namely, that the show was going down at the State Theatre. “I find it to be a pretty big deal,” says Cooper. “We take it very highly. I mean, Bob Dylan stood on that stage.”

Also, there were some other bands signed up: Broken Clown, Twitchboy, Ransom, and Colepitz. “Especially not being from Portland,” says Cooper, “to be part of a Portland group like that, we’re pretty excited.” He notes that in the past — say, five years ago — bands from outside the city had a tough time cracking the local club scene. That trend seems to be coming to an end, with bands like David’s Playground, Liquid Daydream, Blue Velour, even Jeremiah Freed, coming from the north and south to charge up the Portland nightlife.

“It used to be,” says Cooper, “if you’re not from Portland you’re going to have a rough time. We’ve been playing for a long time, and we’re just now starting to kick off and do pretty well.” He reasons it might not have taken so long to find some success if the band had been from Portland, but now, “the scene is starting to open up. Normally I don’t think we’d be involved in a show like this.”

Finally, there was a good cause involved, something to which Portland’s music scene is becoming increasingly attentive. Namely, “music teachers can’t even buy sheet music to teach the kids with,” says Freerider’s Erickson. So, a portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Portland School District’s Music Programs. “We’ll divvy up the money to the programs that represent themselves as needing it the most,” says Erickson, or “we’ll give it to the guy we like the most.”

With all those good things going for the show, Erickson had little trouble convincing the five other bands to join on, even with little advance notice. In fact, this thing was still being organized in the second week of December, which is testament to how cool Grant Wilson’s new freedom with the keys to the State Theatre could be.

“I was working with Grant to do an all-ages show at the Stone Coast,” says Erickson, “and can’t get a gig for months and months. Then he just hands us the State Theatre.” Wilson must have enjoyed the new Freerider disc, No Ride Denied, a mix of late-’70s Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin and mid-’80s Guns ’N Roses. Not only did he give them a release show at the Stone Coast on the 29th for the 21+ crowd, but he also decided an all-ages affair was in order.

“He kind of looked at me,” says Erickson, “and said, ‘Why don’t you just do it at the State.’ Then he said, ‘If it works out, we’ll do it again.’ ” So Erickson started calling his friends, and soon enough, what he considers to be the “hugest, baddest show of the year” came together.

This is a sign of great things to come: grand local shows in what just about every musician agrees is a grand venue.

“We’ve always loved going to the State Theatre to see shows, for years and years,” says Colepitz’s Mike Lapointe. “Now to be able to actually play there is quite a treat. It’s great to see people like Grant going out of their way to support the local scene.” He also notes that there aren’t many other venues in the area with the sort of mid-range capacity afforded by the State: big enough at 1500 seats or so to generate some interest, small enough to allow local-scale bands to fill the place. “I hope that people come out and support these shows,” says Lapointe, “so that we’ll be able to keep this opportunity.”

Another good reason to come out would be to see the new Colepitz lineup, 50 percent different from the original. Drummer Brian Higgins, then lead-singer Rob Egbert, recently left the band for a variety of reasons, including differences in musical vision. The split appears to be amicable, with Egbert retaining a link to the Colepitz.com site. This show will be the band’s reintroduction to Portland with its new members, drummer Nellie Dyer and singer Kurt Brown. Guitarist Ray Suhey and bassist Lapointe, founding members, have been principle songwriters from the beginning, so the band’s sound shouldn’t stray too far, but Lapointe notes there will be differences.

“Musically, we’ve simplified,” he says. “And vocally we’ve tried to create strong, memorable melodies people hopefully will enjoy. Tonally, Kurt’s voice is a lot different than Rob’s was: a little more ‘poppy’ if you had to describe it, I guess.” Whether the change will be well received has yet to be seen, but it seems as though they’re getting a tad more melodic, and slightly less technical. “We’re really confident in the new stuff,” says Lapointe. “And I hope people do enjoy it.” n

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com.