Gig Report
Share the Warmth
January 10, 2008
It’s easy to forget the gifts we have like a roof, a bed and some food – simple things, maybe, but necessities that some people don’t have. Over the winter months Lizard Lounge collected jackets in their store to donate to the Transition Projects, the largest provider of shelter and services to Portland’s homeless adult population. And, as if philanthropy isn’t enough motivation, Lizard Lounge gave 20$ away to spend on new duds in the store for every jacket or blanket donated.Stats: 214 jackets, 3 blankets, 2 scull caps and 2 scarves.
Sean at the Lounge had this to say about it, “We want to be a part of this community in a dynamic way, so whatever we can do, we should!”
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Music Mobilizes Community at Lizard Lounge
December 18, 2007
If there is one thing the Toads know how to do, it’s party. Up in Portland at the Lizard Lounge, the Toads and many other fellow good-timers, came to hone their party talents at the launch of Brett Dennen’s Good for the Earth Project. Teamed up with Horny Toad, Brett Dennen’s art and words are featured on organic cotton hoodies and t’s to be sold at his shows and online. It’s a way to move the environmental meter in the right direction while looking darn good and having fun!At Lizard Lounge, the concept of community is key to its original inspiration – a space where art, shopping, lounging, talking, drinking (coffee and beer) and music all come together in a seamless, non-fragmented way – a third space. What a concept, eh? Brett Dennen and Chris Pierce put on a fantastic show that didn’t bring the house down, but brought it up instead, raising the roof to show that community spaces such as the Lizard Lounge can and do work to bring folks together. Several Toads that attended said that the energy was amazing, a real connection to the community in Portland that was tangible in the air as the music and laughter floated around the room.
Moral of the story, mixed concept spaces work to join folks of all ages and backgrounds together. A cherry on top of the sundae of community goodness was the fact that about 30 jackets were collected to donate to Transition Projects, the largest provider of shelter and services to Portland’s homeless adult population.
Rave Reviews …
“We would both like to thank you for including us in what was an incredibly fun party. The drinks, food, entertainment, company, and – of course - the venue were all awesome. I think the fact that we were two of the last four people to leave is indication of what a great time we had ... as always, thanks for making us feel at home in your space!” - T & J
“Thank you so much hosting the event. We enjoyed Chris and Brett very much and were glad to meet some new people in the neighborhood and from other parts of town. Thanks also for extending the sale as it was a bit difficult to navigate through the crowd with our hands full of good food and drinks!” - Y & M
“Nice to see Brett in a small setting like that – the crowd definitely enjoyed the show. Thanks!” - D
“Great party! you guys know how to get it done.” - JP
“Thanks for a great party last night. I had a blast!” - E
Community Bands Together For Family
November 16, 2007
Grizzly Outfitters hosted a fundraiser for Russ and Trudy Skiver mid November. Russ was recently diagnosed with a cancer called Hodgkin's disease. With Trudy due with their second child in late January, Grizzly wanted to help out with surmounting medical bills. With limited insurance and nearly a year of chemo for Russ, and half a year off for Trudy to care for their children, Grizzly donated all proceeds from the raffle night of their annual movie premiere to help cut costs. In another sad turn of events, Henry, their first child, broke his femur in the middle of October and is now in a full body cast from the waist down. The Skivers are long time locals of Big Sky, MT. The whole community has banded together to try to help out this awesome family through their struggles and challenges. It's a long way to the end of the road for the Skiver family, but Grizzly Outfitters and the Big Sky community wanted to do anything to help. This event is a small step in the right direction for the Skiver family and just once again goes to show that there is strength in numbers.Crystal at Grizzly Outfitters had this to say about the event.
“Hi Everyone! I just wanted to extend a huge thank you for supporting our event this year! It was a Huge success! We raised nearly $10,000 dollars for the Skivers. It was awesome that so many of you donated to such an awesome cause. We and the Skiver Family want to say thank you for everything, it is truly appreciated.”
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Organic Or Bust!
November 16, 2007
Here at the Toad HQ we are constantly working to make this world a better place, not only with the laughter that we share, but also in our business practices. Some of you might already know that Horny Toad is heavily involved with social causes, but as we start to see the link between the environment and the well being of everything on Earth, we’ve started on our mission to educate ourselves on more sustainable fibers, energy and general office stuff – like paper. Recently a group of Toads, 13 to be precise (our lucky number), hopped in a couple of cars headed to the San Joaquin Valley, the goal … have some fun and get the low-down on organic cotton farming.
It was a one-day blitz from farm to farm, we met with the folks that make that soft stuff we all love to wear. All facets of cotton from seed to harvest to gin were delved in to during the day – there was even hands on activities like releasing beneficial bugs into the crop to chow down on the bad bugs – delicious! The obvious benefit of organic farming, the reduction of harmful pesticides and herbicides, was easy to cheer for and something that everyone can get behind. However, Toads didn’t bargain on was learning about the other issues that confront farmers like water rights, foreign competition and labor. All these serious issues make the cost of organic, local farming more expensive than conventional farming, driving the price of organic goods higher. Moral of the story, when you buy organic you are buying more than just chemical free products, you are buying a future for the land and all those that work it. Knowledge is power, and on the part of the Toads knowledge also comes with the responsibility to do something about our fiber sourcing. In other words, the organic cotton tour was fruitful for us, pun intended.
Let it be said that this is not a pat-ourselves-on-the-back, green-washed marketing story, it’s just something we feel is right to do … plus we got to play old-man makeover – the good times never end.
www.sustainablecottonproject.org
Read More...Race For The Finish
November, 10, 2007
The first annual Portland Urban Adventure Race on November 4th was a resounding success. Together with Widmer Brothers, Salomon, Portland Rock Gym, Roots Brewery, Casey Dale and Bungee.com, Buffalo Gap saloon & eatery, Harlo Media Inc, Nau, Stephen Ashbrook, Henry’s Tavern, Oregon Active put on this great race to benefit young cancer survivors. The race consisted of ten stops along the course to participate in various “adventures” such as egg toss, pool, lemon-in-the-beer drop and ping pong (practically the religion of Horny Toad). All told 200 people showed up to race through the leaf littered streets of Portland to an eventual finish line of a beer garden, how awesome is that!? Everyone had a great time and $12,000 was raised to benefit those strong folks that have battled through cancer at very young ages.
Oregon Active’s motto is, “It’s all about getting out there, trying new things, combining good times with good people. It’s about giving something back.” Now that’s something that Horny Toad and can get behind, especially when there is beer involved. Sean, manager of the Lizard Lounge, was there to help out with the event and had this to say, “It was quite an adventure, I’m so glad we had the chance to participate and help a great cause.”
Hope that you can join us next year. Check out the following links, to both a blog of the event and Oregon Active’s site.
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Chris Pierce: Halleluiah!
November 1, 2007
Chris Pierce performed on Monday at the Ventura Theater. Toads were in attendance to see the magic that he brings to the crowd. One Toadette had never seen Chris before and was blown away, quite literally, by the energy that came down from the stage. Here are a few words from the now converted Toadette. “I had heard Chris’s music before, and had heard from the other Toads about how amazing he is not only as a performer and musician, but also as a person – but I was still totally blown away by his opening performance on Monday night. I guess you could say he brought down the house! It was a spiritual experience for sure with an almost Baptist congregation feel to it. People were clapping and singing along, and just generally having a great time. The best thing was, Chris seemed to put every ounce of energy he had into the music that was seriously tangible in the crowd. I guess you could say that I’m sold. What really sealed the deal was meeting him. He was just one of those genuine and sincere folks that are so refreshing to run into in life. His warmth was apparent in the way he looked at you, and in a world of what seems to be hurried glances his attention to the moment was so wonderful. Thanks to Chris for keeping it real, as they say, and know that you have one more fan who will gladly be a part of your musical congregation any day!”
Read more about Chris at www.chrispierce.com.
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Blue Ridge, Bluegrass and Benevolence
October 16, 2007
Blue Ridge Mountain Sports and Horny Toad decided to kick start fall with a VIP party and silent auction that combined some melodious Bluegrass tunes, environmental education and some natural enthusiasm for the local mountainscapes. On September 22nd on the rooftop of the Live Arts Center in downtown Charlottesville, VA, folks rocked out to The Hound Dog Hill Boys until the wee hours while supporting the non-profit organization Appalachian Voices and learning about the damaging effects of mountain top removal. Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director for Appalachian Voices, presented some frightening statistics and eye-opening photos of mountain top removal in the Appalachian range and greater Southeast. Mountain top removal is a type of coal mining that excavates the top of a mountain to expose seams of coal as an alternative to traditional, labor intensive mining practices. A silent auction of items from Horny Toad outfits, a sleeping bag, tent, a guided climbing trip, a white water kayak and even a digital camera, raised over $2000 for Appalachian Voices, a Boone, NC based organization that aims to raise awareness and bring folks together to solve environmental issues in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. For more info on Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, Appalachian Voices and/or mountain top removal, check out www.brms.com, www.appvoices.org and www.ilovemountains.org. Read More...
Yosemite Facelift: Gettin' Down and Dirty
October 8, 2007
If there is one thing to be said about Yosemite Valley, it’s that it is one special place. Every year there is a group of folks that make the journey to the Valley to help clean ‘er up from the busy summer season. Organized by the Yosemite Climbing Association, the Facelift draws people from all walks of life with one commonality – a love for this gorgeous natural treasure.
Armed with the coolest trash grabbers you’ve ever seen (no joke, they were cool), some sweet orange vests (NYC runway, here we come), gloves for the really dirty stuff (don’t ask) and trash bags, the 2,945 volunteers of this year’s event set out to collect anything from metal scraps from who knows what to toilet paper and cigarette butts that were left behind by the less-than-conscious visitors. The volunteers picked up 42,330 pounds of trash from trails, climbs, riversides and meadows.
To top off the great success of this event, there were slide shows and movies by icons in the climbing community. Contributors, Horny Toad being one of them, gave away goodies to be raffled off at parties to the hard working volunteers. To those that spent their time up in the Yosemite lending a helping hand to mother nature, we say thank you from the bottom of our Toad heart! And, we hope to see more do-gooders up there next year to hang out with us and get dirty.
One Toadette said this about the event, “It’s nice to know that folks still care, that there is awareness about the direct cause and effect of our actions on this planet – trash being the obvious one in this case. This is only one small, albeit beautiful, corner of the earth and this event should serve as a really good example of how we can clean up our act and have a damn good time doing it!”
The event falls in fall (pun intended), so keep your eyes peeled for dates on next year's event at www.yosemiteclimbing.org.
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Ventura Rocks!
October 4, 2007
Just a stone's throw down the coast from the Horny Toad HQ is the community of Ventura, home to several Toads. In this beachside town, for the past five years, an amazing group of concerned citizens collectively called The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy (of which one of our own toadettes is a founding member) has put on one rockin' concert in the very hillsides that they are working to preserve. Beyond the fact that this concert draws some great musical acts and great folks to enjoy it with, the proceeds go to a great cause - preserving Ventura's hillsides, canyons and open space in their natural state. Last year Brett Dennen, our new Toad affiliated musician, opened the show and this year's sold-out show kicked off with Chris Pierce, a long-time league-of-toads musician. It was an amazing event with tons of good vibes flowing, along with beer and wine. Rock on Ventura, rock on!
Read More...Telluride Bluegrass Festival 2007
June 21-14, 2007
Every summer solstice we venture back to our roots in Telluride for the Bluegrass Festival. We schlep a truckload of Toads and Toadwear out to Colorado and set up a vendor booth on the festival grounds. Yeah, there’s good food, great music and lets not forget the cold beverages, but there’s also tons of great folks … all ingredients for what is traditionally called a rip roarin’ good time. Read More...
Upcoming events for the next 30 days
November 24, 2008
Jay Nash in Los Angeles
December 1, 2008
Jay Nash in Los Angeles
December 4, 2008
First Thursday for December
On the first Thursday of every month three blocks are closed off in NW Portland between Everett and Johnson on 13th Street from 5 to 10 pm. The street fills up with musicians and showcases hand-made and original artwork by local area artists. Fortunately for us Lizard Lounge sits at the heart of this. Come visit us on any first Thursday of any month and you are guaranteed to find an art show, live music and, of course, beer, wine and the ever-sumptuous Stumptown coffee. Check back for details on who this month's featured artist and musician will be. See you soon!
December 6, 2008
Jay Nash in Los Angeles
December 6, 2008
Holiday Bash at the Freeport Store
Hey, it’s that time of year! Why not throw another party in the mix? Come on down to the Freeport store to celebrate whatever the heck you want to celebrate. The good times get rolling at 6:00 p.m. and will roll on out until about 8:00 p.m. Spirits will be high and flowing, so come on down for a pint or two – provided by Freeports finest brewers. For those of you that don’t like beer or like both, we will have wine too. Discounts will abound along with merriment.
Cheers!
December 8, 2008
Jay Nash in Los Angeles
December 22, 2008
Jay Nash in Los Angeles
