Christian Kane Rocks Portland, Oregon

Christian Kane is possibly best known as Lindsey McDonald from the television show, Angel, but in addition to being one of the stars of the hit TNT show, Leverage, he's also an accomplished musician. The second season of Leverage is being filmed in Portland, Oregon and Christian is making the most of his stay in the Pacific Northwest city by performing concerts throughout the summer.

The gigs take place at a club called Dante's, located on the corner of SW 3^rd and Burnside in the Entertainment District of downtown Portland,. Before the club opened in February of 2000, the building housed such things as a brothel, a boarding house, and a gambling den. Dante's has hosted such artists as Bo Diddley, Lemmy of Motorhead, The Killers and Patton Oswalt. In addition to the musical performances found at Dante's, it's also the home of Sinferno Cabaret & Vaudeville.

Billed as Kane, the band was founded in 1998 by Christian and fellow guitarist, Steve Carlson. Though out of print, they released a self-titled CD in 2000. One of their songs appears on the soundtrack of the Ashton Kutcher movie, Just Married, and a live album, recorded in London, came out in 2004. Steve has released four albums on his own and as The Steve Carlson Band, and he often performs at the Hotel Café in Hollywood.

Kane has performed to capacity crowds in three concerts so far this summer with fans having come from as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia and North Carolina. The hour-long set has included new Christian Kane songs House Rules, A Different Kind of Knight, and Let Me Go. The latter was announced as a new single being released in late July. They have also performed old Kane favorites such as Spirit Boy.

The music is solid and Christian is an excellent front-man. His talent is obvious as soon as he takes the microphone, but he also has a very strong stage presence and he completely owns the room. He interacts with the audience, and is seemingly comfortable answering an occasional question thrown at him from a fan. Steve and lead guitarist, Jason Southard, don't just stand on stage and play, which they do well, but they also make their presence known by talking to the crowd.

The band has been introduced by Christian's Leverage co-star, Aldis Hodge. He's also familiar to fans of NBC's Friday Night Lights and the CW's Supernatural. Other Leverage co-stars, Timothy Hutton and Gina Bellman, have been spotted in the audience.

The second show, June 28, took place the day after Christian's 35^th birthday. Fans were treated to Christian's friend and special guest, Jensen Ackles, star of the CW's Supernatural and My Bloody Valentine 3D. He joined the band on stage for an up-tempo version of Lukenbach Texas and later, with Aldis, led the audience in a rendition of Happy Birthday. The show was also opened by Michael Dean Damron, who is a known performer in the Portland area.

The concerts are a lot of fun, and definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of country music. There are currently two more scheduled; July 26^th and August 16^th. Doors open at 8:00, with the show starting at 9:00. Tickets are $10 at the door, and also available from TicketsWest.