Positively Entertainment

Volume 27--Number 7• July 29, 2003 Serving Portland, Surrounding Areas, and Seattle

GOBLE TAVERN -- by M. Sebenoler

There is no greater time than summer in the northwest. Numerous festivals and parties abound, the great music and talent that is our legacy here in the northwest. Many of these events have become annual, and you can just about plan your calendar of events accordingly.

One smaller festival in its fourth rendition this year is Goble Warming IV Music Festival and Tractor Show. It's located at the Goble Tavern in Goble, Oregon , about 40 miles north of Portland on Highway 30 (between St. Helens and Ranier). It's easy to find, since the tavern is the only one of three businesses in Goble. (There is a tiny grocery store down at the boat landing and Wave Recording Studiois located there.) The Columbia River is only yards from the tavern that houses a replica Viking ship (that was in the Rose Festival decades ago) in its parking lot.

Bar owner and musician Jerry Modin has decorated the small building (capacity about 50) with all sorts of music paraphernalia and Americana, which creates a great ambiance in the century-old building. Although on a tight, small budget, music acts from all over the northwest book dates at the tavern. The club has the only live music (with no cover charge) for about a 50-mile stretch along the Columbia River Highway and the local patrons are a real appreciative audience of the great music that comes through Goble.

Goble Warming is slated Saturday, Aug. 16, this year, and has moved into the beer garden behind the bar. A large covered stage has been constructed and is a permanent fixture. Several bands have elected to take the music outside this summer, depending on the weather. Approximately eight-nine bands will perform this year and the event will kick off about 2 p.m. and go to midnight.

Heavy Petting Zoo will be back this year, along with a great new band, the Pennsyltucky Takeover, a bluegrass-rock styled unit that relocated to Portland from Pennsylvania. Guy Live! and the Rockin' River Batz are also back this year and several new acts will be featured. As of this writing, there are a couple of slots open.

The Tractor Show is basically old, unique large and small tractors that win various prizes, including a grand prize for driving the farthest. There is also outrageous, delicious cuisine featuring hickory smoked ribs and BBQ chicken. A great sound system by Ray Ryder of Wave Studios really makes all the music sound better and the bottom line is that the show is free! There's plenty of parking in the large parking lot and several campsites are available adjacent to it all, first come, first served.

A false rumor that former Goble resident Willie Nelson will make an appearance this year (his mom was a bartender at the bar in the '50s) is just that; a rumor.

If you've never been out this way, the drive is easy and scenic, the festival is free and it's always a lot of fun. See you Aug. 16!

(Any music acts interested in appearing at Goble Warming should contact the tavern A.S.A.P. at 503-556-4090.)