Club Calabash
835 SW 2nd Ave Portland, OR 97255Phone: (503) 241.5676
Located in: Downtown Portland & near Southwest Portland - Visit Website
BarFly's Review of Club Calabash
Portland’s mid-southwest is riddled with failed notions of danceclub, and Calabash is no exception. It is, more than anything, admirably ambitious, twisting from hip hop to jazz to poetry to the outmoded dancefloor stylings of Real McCoy or C&C.
Calabash’s ambition, unfortunately, leads to simple incoherence, and its identity problem is compounded by severely understaffed bartending. Whatever anybody meant when they opened this heartbreakingly, naively well-meaning clubspace in Portland’s douchiest night-prowling district is, unfortunately, left up to mystery.
Our solemn and only hope is that the roving weekend teams of suburbanites will understand what we don’t, and therefore leave the rest of us alone.
Departure, Kelly's Olympian, LAVA, Lotus Cardroom, Mama Mia Trattoria, Mother's Velvet Lounge, Open Bar, Paddy's, Porto Terra, Red Star Tavern, Rialto, Rialto Corner Bar and OTB, Rock Bottom, Ron Jeremy's Club Sesso, Sungari's Dragonwell Bistro, The Jack London Bar, Up Front, Urban Farmer, Yamhill Pub
Just got home from my first time at calabash and I had a great time!! One of the highlights was the eclectic mix of people who frequent the spot on Wed night. Another is the array of musicians, singers that perform there! They ALL are amazing artists! I'll definitely be going back on Wednesday's!!!!!!
There are a lot of great things about Calabash and there are a lot of not so great things about Calabash. Firstly, the bar tending stinks if there is a crowd. For a while they only had one bar tender who was glacially slow. Now they have two but its not much better. That being said, the music/performers that they host are awesome! there is an assortment of spoken word poetry, jazz, live artwork, hip hop and cultural dance music. The club itself is small but what it lacks in size it makes up for in atmosphere. Club Calabash's walls are blanketed with cultural artwork, and the outdoor seating is great on warm summer nights.
I cant wait to come, I will see this venue tonight. Wasnt this the old h2o?
This is small, intimate, cozy, clean bathrooms the music is a variety of sorts. Something for everyone, every different night. The sounds are exotic, people are friendly and warm...The Tuesday open-mike poetry and spoken word is one of my favorites...a good place to relax and unwind. On a scale of 10. I'd give it an 8.
