The acoustic styling of Beth Willis, Saturday, June 7th

Armed with a stunningly beautiful voice and striking lyrics, Beth Willis performed her heart out at edge last night, proving once and for all that all you need for a good night is a pretty girl, a guitar and a rock n’ roll spirit.

Complete with good-natured banter back and forth with the crowd, Willis enthralled us all with her songs, her stories and her charm. Spurring forth a mixture of her own songs (which, by the way, were extraordinary – check out her MySpace page or website for samples.) and a collaboration of covers ranging from The Eagles to Metallica to a, I must say, hauntingly evocative rendition of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin & Juice,” Beth was able to keep us captivated throughout the night in a haze of good music, good drinks and a soulfully acoustic atmosphere.

Make sure you check out our events page for next week's musical performance at edge and get ready to get down with some sweet happy hour and even sweeter music.

BODY CULTURE: IMAGERY @ edge of Belmont. See the Portland Art Scene get under your skin.

Is there art in a human canvas? Do the catwalks of Paris, New York and London prove that there is inherent creativity found in body ink? Why is the art of body tattooing such a universal phenomenon?

With the ever increasing presence of inked bodies and a highly expressionistic culture, today's tattooists are among the most prevalent genre of working artists.

Now it's time to show this work in a place that doesn't walk away.

On Friday, June 6^th, 2008, in a show hosted by edge of Belmont, curator Shannon Mayorga brings together original art from some of Portland's most creative tattoo artists, representing more than 7 studios and 15 artists. Demonstrating the culmination of high context art meeting low context culture, BODY CULTURE: IMAGERY is a fusion of art, modern society and the body.

Take an opportunity to see a different side of these working artists, and experience how the pinnacle of PDX culture can get under your skin.

The melodic immaculation of D3, May 24th...

So, where do I begin?

D3 started the night off at edge with some serious rhythm, starting at around 8:00pm and going strong until 10pm. I'd like to thank Chris Phillips, Eric Gold and Eric Bigger for bringing in a packed bar and hosing the atmosphere with some funky tunes and maniac fingers on the keyboard. With nothing but a bass guitar, a set of drums and one mean sounding keyboard, D3 rocked the edge last night in an all but subtle manner, teetering itself towards a fun-loving, drink guzzling and good-time having atmosphere.

Come check out D3 next month and watch them shake down the edge and mingle with the crowd all night for another awesomely drink-infused and music-laden night.



xoxo!

edge at belmont.

Acoustic Minds w/ Alex Arndt May 21st

The edge of Belmont was host to a good crowd on the 21st who came out to see the increasingly popular Acoustic Minds who are traversing the countryside with guest musician Alex Ardnt on their 2008 Peace Tour. With just an acoustic guitar, microphones, and a couple of very lovely
harmonizing voices, they really impressed with a soft but full sound, making them the perfect band to really appreciate while nibbling some tasty basil fries and having a drink. The musicians themselves were lovely, mingling in breaks and really getting a lot of welcome positive feedback from some obvious fans.

The Bus Project got PDX all argumentative again last night with it's most recent Mercury and New Deal sponsored debate.

Just over forty politically minded individuals met at the edge of Belmont yesterday to witness a debate addressing some hot issues affecting the elections. Namely- when is one of these candidates going to freakin' Drop Out??

Secretary of State Bill Bradbury was the major voice of the evening, outlining his recent "Rotating Regional Primaries" proposal which addresses what many see as a flaw in February 5th's "Super Duper Tuesday" where an entire twenty four states rushed to be the first to hold primary elections; in effect, they hope, giving them a greater influence in selecting the presidential candidates.

However, fellow Oregonian politician and former colleague Jesse Cornett was not behind the proposal. Though he did agree that there was an issue that needed addressing, he quickly outlined where the proposal may fail through regional popularities hurling single candidates into momentum whilst knocking other potentially better candidates, perhaps popular in other regions yet to hold their elections, off the board.

The Bus Project got it's fair word in, calling for volunteers and reminding everyone that The Bus leaves on May 31st! Though some not completely understanding the reason for his vendetta against the Oregon squirrel population, we met with founder of The Bus Project, Jefferson Smith, who suggested that perhaps focusing on local and state wide politics would be time better spent than staying glued to the media channels which only look to the highest key events nation wide.

Quote of the night?
Here ya go: "...shooting BB's at elephants and wondering why they don't topple? Instead we should be aiming at squirrels!" Thanks, Jefferson.

Downing some seriously good lemonade and potatoes, we asked Bradbury: "Is this the worst campaign you've ever seen?"

Enthusiastically he responded with a resounding "No! It's inspirational!"

He thinks that the energy created by the conflict between Obama and Clinton has been passed on to the voters and that it will inspire higher voter turn out. God, we hope so!

Edge of Belmont - Home of the Mercury Debate Club

“Some fear the Columbia River Crossing will add to sprawl and pollution”

On March 25, The Portland Mercury and The Bus Project sponsored one of their monthly debate club meetings at Edge.

The subject was population growth in Clark County Columbia River Crossing, and the place was packed with... well... debaters! Metro councilor, Rex Burkholder, moderated, but it's still unknown if the debate will effect the outcome of the river crossing.

Stay tuned for the next debate in April!