Oregon Music News

After an 18 year break, Portland’s the Dharma Bums returned for an incredible night of rock’n'roll at a packed Crystal Ballroom last Saturday. The reunion was part of the celebration of Music Millennium’s 40th anniversary and coincided with the band’s release of Dumb, a collection of 4-track recordings from 1987.

As tight and polished as they sounded, it’s hard to believe the Dharma Bums ever stopped playing.

They tore into a career-spanning set with an early single, the hard-hitting “Haywire,” and never let up.  Joined by Derby and longtime friends  the Young Fresh Fellows, fans new and old were treated to a night of energetic, melodic rock.

The Dharma Bums were surprisingly heavy for a group of guys now in their 40s.  But these mature musicians, playing songs they wrote in their teens and 20s, have as much heart and style as they did two decades ago.  Hearing John Moen’s drumming, Eric Lovre’s guitar, and Jim Talstra’s bass, you were struck by just how good these musicians are.  They could tear it up with the best of them.

More than anything, though, they played with the pure joy of people returning to something they loved.

Jeremy Wilson (vocals, guitar) looked ecstatic, jumping around the stage like a much younger man, and at one point, kissing Lovre on the head between songs.  You couldn’t wipe the smile from Wilson’s face.  Who knew that a guy that’s been playing around neighborhood open mics was secretly a rock star in a past era.

The long set was bookended by their strongest material.  Hits like “Pumpkin Head,” “Light in You,” and “Walking Stick” were played with so much energy and passion that the crowd couldn’t help but grin along.

Where the Dharma Bums really stood out, though, was their encore.

After a set which so accurately captured their past, they were finally free to just play.  You could see both what they’ve done and what they’re still so capable of. They swapped instruments, with Lovre playing guitar, Talstra on drums, and Moen (also a member of The Decemberists) picked up the accordion.  They were also joined on stage by friend Scott McCaughey, whose band the Young Fresh Fellows put up an earlier set of solid, poppy, post-punk.

The show was as much a celebration for the fans as it was a reunion for the band.

Wilson joked, “How’s everyone been doing the last 18 years?”  He thanked his family, friends and fans who made the trek up from Salem, the band’s original stomping grounds. A woman from Molalla, and an old fan, reminisced about the “innocence and the love” the Dharma Bums brought to the Portland indie scene when they first started playing.

If you missed the show, it sounds like you may have a chance to see them again soon.  Lovre revealed that, “It won’t be another 18 years before we play for you again.”  There are plans for more shows, probably before the end of the year.

At the Crystal Ballroom, though, all that mattered was the music.  As much as this show was about a band reconnecting with its past and with its fan base of aging hipsters, the music itself was alive again Saturday night.  Hopefully the younger ones took notice.