Bright Lights, Bright Stars

Holocene is celebrating its 20th anniversary with performances by Ancient Heat, Inner City and more.

BY ROBERT HAM

The best place to begin the story of Holocene, the beloved Southeast Portland venue celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, is in 2002, with co-owners Jarkko Cain and Scott McLean standing in a muddy trench.

At the time, McLean was coming off years of working behind the scenes at Universal Music and music startup Uplister, while Cain was ready to leave his job in advertising. Both had the dream of creating a Berlin-style night spot in their hometown and set about finding a space, crisscrossing the city for weeks before stumbling on a former auto parts warehouse that stood across the street from the recently opened strip club Sassy’s.

They would have been happy with a much smaller room, but they saw so much potential in the high ceilings, vast interior, and perfect location—close enough to downtown but far enough away to feel like a destination.

Still, the spot at Southeast 10th and Morrison was a fixer-upper. The roof needed to be replaced and the building had to be retrofitted with plumbing to accommodate bigger restrooms and a bar and kitchen. Which is how McLean and Cain found themselves digging a trench for pipes in the unfinished space, creating a mountain of dirt that was becoming a mountain of mud thanks to the rain coming through the half-finished ceiling.

“ You could see the sky through the slats, and it was pouring,” Cain remembers. “All the mud we were digging out was melting and