If you manage to get a gig at the Crystal Ballroom, well, congratulations are in order because the well-known Portland venue is incredible. If you get booked for a show at the ballroom, where the max capacity is a whopping 1500, and still feel a strong desire (or need) to play for a smaller audience, the Crystal Hotel down the street has a pre-show solution.

Newly renovated and opened to the public in May of this year is the Crystal Hotel, with a small venue/bar located in the basement: Al’s Den. For bands rolling in that can afford to stay and explore the wonderful city a little longer, may put on smaller pre-shows in a truly intimate atmosphere (where the max capacity is about 80-100 people, depending on who you ask).

Al’s Den, named after Al Winter, a notorious (notorious in the northwest, at least) mob affiliate, running a local gambling wire service and owning a nightclub on the ground floor of the now Crystal Hotel in the early fifties.

“Winters was quite a character. The war years were good to him… he became a sort of gambling king pin in the northwest,” said Tim Hills, the McMenamin’s historian.

Today, the basement of the once hustling and bustling nightclub owned by Al Winters, is a venue next to a bar below a restaurant and further below one of Portland’s most unique hotels. The local favorite has played host to little known artists to members from R.E.M.

Overall, Al’s Den tends to cater more toward local Portland artists, mostly due to the venue’s unique booking system. The booker for Al’s Den, Alex Wideman, explains that the venue only books in week- long residencies. Meaning, “the artist is expected to invited different acts to sit-in or open each night, and artists are expected to do one ‘special’ thing throughout the week.”

That “special” thing, Wideman says can be anything from an early all ages show to a songwriter’s workshop to a meet and greet.

“We can get as creative as we want with that aspect,” he said.

Jimmy Byron, booker for the Crystal Ballroom, says that the renovation for the basement of the historic building was purposefully built to make it the best acoustically sounding room. Byron gave proof to this claim by adding that local musician and owner/founder/creator of Mississippi Studios, Jim Brunberg, assisted in the renovations of the venue.

“…the sound is really framed by the small room, and, though it’s not completely unplugged, it definitely has that unplugged feel,” said Byron.

The “residency” booking may sound unusual, and it is. But it is also great for musicians to get really get acquainted with their audience, and for audience members – be it local Portlanders, or hotel guests from around the world – to know the musician.

Venue stats, in the words of Alex Wideman:

Capacity: “is relatively loose, since music can be heard in several locations in the building. But I’d place it right around 100.”

Stage size: “Small. You couldn’t comfortably fit a full rock band on it, but an acoustic duo, trio, or four-piece would be able to fit.”

Equipment provided: “Basics. A couple of monitors, a couple of mains, 8 channel mixer, some sm57 and sm58 mics. Since the venue is connected to the Crystal Ballroom, I can usually get whatever equipment is necessary for the show in question (within reason, of course).”

Photos by Liz Devine