Call it the Packed House that Twitter Built. Call it Chappelle’s Silent Show. Call it “the greatest show that almost happened.” Call it whatever you want.
Because the facts are these: At 10 minutes to 1 this morning, reclusive comedian Dave Chappelle appeared in Pioneer Courthouse Square, carrying a microphone and a 10-inch amplifier. And 4,000 people were waiting for him.
“I don’t know about you,” Chappelle told the crowd an hour later, as he tried to make audible a plea to go home, “but I learned something tonight: Don’t tell a secret in Portland.”
At this late hour, it is difficult to think of a more impressive spontaneous downtown gathering in this city’s history since the Trail Blazers won the NBA title in 1977. Spurred by rumors on web sites and across Twitter, people began arriving in the Square at 9 pm in groups of two and three. By midnight, the supposed showtime for the stand-up comedian who suddenly quit his Comedy Central hit Chappelle’s Show in 2005, at least 3,000 people (and maybe as many as 6,000, depending on estimates at the scene) had packed the grandstands, surrounded the Noon Tunes stage and climbed onto the glass roofs of MAX stations.
The mood, by turns giddy and impatient, had by 12:30 am turned a little ugly. Banners were torn from the stage tent. Cups and bottles were thrown at the street kids who leapt onto the stage to smoke hashpipes. TV cameras left as the tent began to shake. People drifted away. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna believe anything again,” said a disappointed onlooker.
Then Chappelle showed. He immediately confessed he had no idea what he had gotten himself into.
“I don’t know how I can tell four people, and 4,000 people can show up,” he said. “Next time I’m just going to think about this shit, and maybe 200 people will show up.”
Chappelle, equipped only with a 10-inch battery powered amp for a sound system, seemed both amused and bewildered as he looked for a means to make his stand-up heard, while police officers kept a low profile at the north edge of the Square. “The Portland Police,” he mused, “I’ve asked them not to arrest me… To do a show under these circumstances may be impossible. I’m gonna have to iron my shit out…I appreciate you, [but] I don’t know how to make this work.
“I don’t wanna waste this much good energy,” he continued. “This has never happened to me in my entire career.”
Volunteers from the crowd offered to set up an impromtpu speaker system, and most of the audience remained until 2 am, entertained by faintly audable wisecracks and a women who stripped down to her panties on the roof of Starbucks. At 2, Chappelle and his new team realized the power system had been turned off in the Square, and he called it a night (”In five minutes, you guys will be the audience for the greatest show that almost happened”) slogging his way through a iPhone-flashing throng until he reached his vehicle back to the Heathman Hotel.
But not without one last joke: “I didn’t know I was still famous. Now I know.”
Photos! First, proof that Dave Chappelle was actually there (he’s the blur on the left):
By 11:15 pm, crowds perched anywhere they could:
…including atop MAX shelters:
At 12:45 am, the Noon Tunes tent was shaking dangerously (as was my camera):
Finally a shot from WW culture intern Heather Morse, from another angle:
And that’s all I’ve got tonight. Let’s sleep on this, and maybe in the morning we’ll know what it means.
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Tags: Comedy, Dave Chappelle, Pioneer Courthouse, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Spotted
We now have a legal precedent in place to permit such illegal spontaneous performances and gatherings in Pioneer Square in the middle of the night when the property is closed. It will be interesting to see what if any political fall-out results from this mischief.
Ed: This is PDX…ANSWER,NOT A DAMN THING WILL HAPPEN!
Why wasn’t there better coverage? KGW has a mini studio IN THE MIDDLE OF PIONEER SQUARE. And they knew this was coming HOURS ahead of time. Even if it was a hoax, that would have been a story. They should have been there covering it and when Dave needed some juice to power the second amp, offered it to him. Otherwise why even have a news coverage thing installed in the middle of the place?! FAIL.
You can run a good enough 120v PA from your car or a loose car battery with one of those inverter things. I’ve done it several times, and I’m not that slick. They sell them at Costco, ‘fer cryin’ out loud.
Dave! Dude! Get at least one token geek in your entourage. Srsly.
Believe it or not, OregonLive has the best video I’ve seen of the event. I don’t know how they got this close:
http://videos.oregonlive.com/oregonlive/2009/07/dave_chappelle_in_pioneer_squa.html
[...] Police are putting the kibosh on one rumor surrounding comedian Dave Chappelle’s impromptu performance on Pioneer Courthouse Square last [...]
[...] spontaneous free outdoor show (that almost actually happened) in Portland last night: http://is.gd/1zU3CWill be reading @TechCrunch for the Twitter docs today. It’s newsworthy, they have every right [...]
Overall i thought it was an amazing event. even if he didnt perform. The energy was amazing and everyone was cooperating to try and make it happen.
I have a few photos of it here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancronin/3722644385/
I heard about it from a friend and headed down there at about 11 pm. We walked around the square to try to find the best vantage point. We ended up on some large brick blocks on the side of the square by the courthouse. I have never seen so many people in once place downtown in my life!! After 12:30 many people started to leave. I asked a cop what was up and he said “nothing anymore, the park closes at 12″. Went back to my perch and at about 12:53 my friend was scoping the street and said “Why does that guy have a mike?”, we all looked and at the same instant I recognized him, my husband shouted “It’s Him!!!” I was about 10 feet away from him…would’ve jumped down, but I was wearing stillettos! The sound system was awful, but it sounds like he didn’t expect so many people!! A once in a lifetime experience I am proud to say I was part of of!! Totally surreal!! I will remember last night for the rest of my life!! We miss you Dave, make us laugh again!!!! (PS Portland ROCKS!)
Also, a guy from KGW 8 was standing in front of me and left a little after 12:30. When I asked him where Dave was, he said, “I dunno, I just came because he didn’t deny it”….
It’s like ketchup, good things come to those who wait (and don’t listen to the cops who just want people to go home)
Katie – Good point, but he had no entourage.
He’s been hanging in town by himself.
Secondly – that crowd was easily 8k. I say this from a almost marrying a statistician and being in the social sciences myself. Also, look it up -Pioneer Courthouse Square can hold 8k+ – at 12:15am that crowd was maxing the Square.
[...] consensus going around town today that last night’s Dave Chappelle silent performance was a major letdown, since, you know, nobody could hear the man. For what it’s worth, I think [...]
Where are people getting the idea that the crowd was only 4,000 people? Have you observed the aerial photos which clearly show the square was at 90-100% capacity?
The square’s maximum capacity is 15,000 people. Therefore, if the crowd was only 4,000 (or 2,000 as the police claim), that would mean the square was at 15% or 30% capacity which as you can tell from the aerials is COMPLETE AND UTTER BS.