Smells Like Clean Spirit
After playing in smoky dives for the last 25 years, my lungs are breathing a sigh of relief.
Posted by: John Chandler on Apr 13, 2009 at 04:00PM
20 Comments
Just a few items from a big rock weekend.
In case you missed it, my band, Giant Bug Village, tore it up at the East End on Saturday night, along with Tigerbomb and Pure Country Gold. Three cool bands, no cover.
The East End is a really fun club and I’ll tell you why. It’s got three different rooms for hanging out. Four if you count the smokers’ tables out front, and five if you count the long, long line to the bathroom. Six if you count the photo booth! Also, the sound in the brick rathskellar is superb. Instead of the usual sonic suck-fest, I could hear every note from my bandmates which greatly improves one’s performance.
Also, the East End serves 24-ounce cans of Pabst and Tecate, which makes for an ideal stage beer while you’re playing. Instead of having to keep track of a couple pint glasses—one of which will eventually topple and spill into my amp—I have all the suds I need in one sturdy can. If you need more than a pounder-and-a-half to keep you lubricated through a 35-minute set, a few weeks of drying-out time might be in order. Unless you’re our singer Stan McMahon, in which case one beer per song is about par for the course.
But my greatest discovery of all was how much I love the smoking ban. At the end of a five-hour night my lungs were still robust and functioning perfectly. Used to be, I’d be coughing and hacking for three days after a show, a condition we referred to as “club lung.” Better still, my GF doesn’t banish me to the couch for stinking like an ashtray.
What do you think drinking buddies? Has the lack of ciggie smoke adversely affected your bar-hopping experience? Or are your lungs still thanking you for all that pure, untainted oxygen?
Tags: Bar Culture Southeast
I give a thumbs up to the smoking ban. I don’t necessarily feel that strongly about it myself, but most of the people I go to bars with don’t care for smoking, so the happier they are, the more often they’ll be into going to bars with me. Also, there’s certainly something to be said for not smelling gross when you get home at night.
As a non-holier-than thou ex-smoker, I wasn’t pro ban until I realized how sick I felt and smelled after a night out, then I still wasn’t completely for it (I think a limited number of venues should be able to buy the right to keep smoking in them, using a medallion system like NYC cabs.) That being said, it’s great for it to no longer be a concern, and the only downside is noticing how awful smokers really smell when they come back into the bar.
Now if only bars and clubs would step up and PUT ASHTRAYS OUTSIDE THEIR DOORS! I’m a little torqued that nearly every morning I see a Portland Clean & Safe worker sweeping up the butts outside the stumble-row of Shanghai Tunnel, Berbati’s and XV, where not a single ashtray is in sight. This is the unfortunate norm, and not an exception.
I agree with Aitch, there should be ashtrays and, I would add, other amenities for smokers. It’s weird to see them crowded under an awning while they suck ‘em down. We shouldn’t treat them like second-class citizens; after all, one could argue they’re doing their bit to keep everyone’s taxes down.
And I’m all for the ban, altho I’ll always have nostalgia for the hazy bar scenes of yore, just as I do for the ability to quaff a beer while driving (since made illegal in my home state). Why does it seem society evolves to be more strict?
HOooooray smoking ban!
I don’t have to shampoo my cigarette-scented hair anymore after returning home (saves on water), and I feel less sick the next morning.
Drinks taste better and I can talk without coughing thanks to some smoking-jackass who has no exhale boundaries.
Cigarettes still look cool, tho.
The smoking ban is where it’s at, yo.
Thank you for your most excellent blog, John Chandler.
Always a pleasure to be guided and/or amused by your keen insight.
Keep ’em coming!
The smoking ban is the only civil way to go. If I want to smoke, I can simply step outside. No biggie. Seems a small price to pay for respecting the well-being of my fellow humans.
Honestly, I’m a hardcore non-smoker, but I was ambivalent about the ban. Laws that govern personal behavior kind of freak me out. On the other hand, I CAN GO TO BARS AGAIN. WHOO HOOO. Exposure to cigarette smoke is not just an inconvenience to me, it’s a serious and immediate health threat, Dr’s orders. Plus it smells like frickin’ ass. What a joy to be able to go out and hear music or just get a drink or 3 again. Rock On \—/
Good point about the outdoor ashtray dearth. I don’t mind cigarettes, but I loathe stinky stubs.
I agree that the side-effects of the ban have been generally positive both on the olfactory senses of those who are forced to coexist with those who previously had no choice but to go to smoky bars, but also for those who must staff these establishments. One now imagines that after their masters release them from their indentured servitude, they are free to pursue their own dreams without hiring an oncologist to follow them around, and to set ever more astounding personal records at triathlon. As someone who proudly considers himself “not down” with oppression (I’m like if Zach De La Rocha and C Everett Koop had a baby), I’m pleased that non-smokers have finally found allies in the struggle. However, it sometimes seems as if it would have been better to come up with some sort of system whereby a) the owner of an establishment could opt to either allow or not allow people to smoke in said establishment and b) non-smokers were granted the freedom to choose where to seek employment and spend their leisure time.
Thanks for the feedback Navin, sounds pretty reasonable. But I foresee circumstances in which the nonsmoker (e.g., me) still gets screwed. For instance, I want to see Sleepy LaBeef tonight. It’s a rare opportunity to see a true music legend perform. If Dante’s was one of those venues that decided to let folks smoke, my choices would boil down to:
1. Not seeing Sleepy LaBeef.
2. Tough it out for the night as I have countless times before. Wheeze! Hack! Koff! How many years of life have been sheared away by my love of music? I’d rather not speculate.
I do agree with Aitch and Em Dee that smokers should have more options at bars. Heated patio tents for example. The idea of smoking clubs is also intriguing. (I should add that any venue Giant Bug Village plays is indeed a “smoking club.”)
Society’s rules were more strict when they required people to breathe second-hand smoke wherever they went. I am very glad that this requirement has now been waived, and our citizens are now free to breathe actual air at any given location, if they so choose.
Hey, no fair using this issue and your position on the staff of Portland Monthly to promote your band.
It seems like there are still some options for bars: (a) Outdoor/patio space (my assumption is that these spaces are not covered by the ban (b) Have a smoking room (like the Holocene); I assume these are also legit, although maybe not? © I like John’s idea about bars specifically devoted to smoking. Cigar bars are legal (isn’t there one right behind the Badgad?), so why not cigarette bars?
Anon,
If we were a band with even an ounce of ambition, one that actually practiced, I would heartily agree with you. Our lead singer is 56 years old, and the rest of us are in our 40s. And we’re a Guided By Voices tribute band, for cryin’ out loud. We play for beer!
i think i used the smoking ban as incentive to quit smoking. I think it’s great for the people who work in bars to not HAVE to breathe in smoke while at work. I think, too, that friends of mine are using the smoking ban and the increased price of cigarettes as motivation to try quitting again. For myself, I’m on day 29 of not smoking and I don’t hate on people that smoke. It’s their choice. And they can choose to stand where they can smoke. I’m glad the people who work in bars don’t get second hand smoke; they never had a choice before this ban.
Ah Jessica, but I’ve never owned a car. Therefore, since I’m not killing the planet, I can squawk all I want. And whaddayamean your vice isn’t putting money in the coffers of terrorists? Tobacco company execs may not wear turbans but they’ve still got a lot of blood on their hands.
The ban allows us to smell the rotting kitchens in some joints.
GBV! GBV! GBV!
What about Copenhagen? Can I still have a dip in a bar?