Baxter Brewing Party

I expecting a much different experience for this event. The beer was great as always. That was not in question; however, beers were $7-8 after paying an actual ticket to the event. I was a little surprised they were so expensive on top of admission price. I feel like this venue was kind of an odd choice for a brewery party though. This was the first time I've been to the Port City Music Hall, and I found the layout a little odd, but that's kind of beside the point. Granted I left just as the band began to play, so the music may have gotten better. However, the DJ's choice of music (if you call it that) was not working for me and my fiancee. We actually planned to leave earlier because of it, and I'm a beer nut. The music was like a hybrid of electronica, techno, trance, dub step (or whatever that fart music is), and random digital tinkering compliments of the DJ. And, I'm stretching it. A good DJ should play music to please his/her crowd yet this DJ was clearly into himself and his music, never looking at the crowd once. The music made the event really awkward, and you had to yell for conversation. Basically I had expected to walk in to a place with great beer, a chill vibe, and opportunity for good conversation. Instead I felt like I walked into a club kids party in NYC circa 1987 (at least as far as the music goes, not the attendees...well not most of them). The saving grace was the underground bar we found downstairs, which consisted of more what I was hoping for. A bartender with a good attitude, a bar with no line, a pool table and some games, and pretty much the entire Baxter Brewing staff socializing. And, we couldn't hear the DJ's music down there.

Anna Lombard was great and Lyle/Model Airplane killed it, as per usual. I would absolutely go to another show featuring the both of them!

Of course the beer was great, because it is Baxter. But I was totally shocked by Model Airplane, who stole the show and was arguably the most entertaining and best quality live small-venue performance I've seen - maybe next to Cake. Their talent is spectacular, energy is tiring, and the music is so much fun that I didn't want to miss anything when I had to use the restroom.