page_title: Backspace (Portland, Oregon)
section_title: Description and history
hierarchical_section_title: Backspace (Portland, Oregon) / Description and history
caption_attribution_description: Backspace, Portland, OR (2013)
context_page_description: Backspace was a coffee shop, gallery, Internet café, and all-ages music venue located in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The venue opened in mid 2003 and closed in 2013.
context_section_description: Owner and painter Eric Robison opened Backspace, which was located at 115 Northwest 5th Avenue in Portland's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, as a coffee shop in July 2003. He was inspired by two nearby stores within the same neighborhood, operated by Katsu Tanaka: Compound, a gallery, and Just Be Toys, a Japanese-themed toy and DVD rental store. Robison and his brother Kris had considered operating the business in the Pearl District, but were "attracted to the edginess" of the building. He recalled, "People said, 'Dude, you're insane,' when I told them where it was. I saw the exposed brick, and the whole cyberpunk feel that we could pursue. It was a little too frou-frou in the Pearl." Robison also recalled fending off drug activity outside the store by barring dealers and users from entry. The building that housed Backspace was renovated by the city and Portland Development Commission.
  The establishment had been described as a gallery, a computer gaming and Internet café, and an "oft-beleaguered" all-ages music venue. It was one of several businesses in the neighborhood, including Ground Kontrol, geared towards young people who worked in the technology industry. According to Willamette Week's Matthew Singer, Backspace "[evolved] into the epicenter of Portland's underage music culture" because of a one-off Thermals performance in 2007. The space hosted a variety of events, including Portland Development Commission meetings (2007), an anti-bullying event called "Frank Conversations: Speaking Out on Bullying" (2010), and a concert by Dustin Ruth, the Battle Ground, Washington-based singer-songwriter and frontman of the band Ruth (2011).
caption: Interior art display, 2013
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