Dave Chappelle's early morning appearance before a packed Pioneer Courthouse Square is getting big buzz this morning.

Thousands of people packed the square late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, drawn by the ethereal promise of an appearance by the popular comedian. They stayed two hours despite a tiny sound system that made Chappelle nearly inaudible, creating one of the most remarkable spontaneous gatherings in Portland history.

Dave Chappelle in Pioneer Square







Chappelle's Portland visit was the hottest search trend on Google this morning and thousands turned to Twitter to chat about the remarkable event.

The rumor came through Twitter and text and Facebook, and it seemed too good to be true: the wildly popular comic appearing at midnight in the middle of Portland -- for free?

A mostly 20-something, expectant crowd filled the square until it was crammed full. By midnight thousands stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a bigger crowd than the Greg Oden and playoff rallies the Trail Blazers have held in the square in recent years.

"It's like Woodstock," said Keith Kunis, a 25-year-old marketing student at Portland Community College. "Davestock 2009."

Chappelle arrived at 12:53 a.m. to huge applause and people surging toward him, camera phones aloft. When he reached the stage, left in place for the square's lunchtime summer concert series, he turned on an amplifier the size of a toaster. It was barely audible beyond the first dozen rows of people.

One point that did come across: "Portland Police were kind enough not to arrest me," he said.

Check out images of Chappelle on this Flickr stream.

Chappelle starred in the 1998 marijuana-based comedy "Half Baked," which he also co-wrote. But he is best known for his wildly popular and often quoted sketch-comedy program, "Chappelle's Show," which ran from 2003-2005 on Comedy Central. He stunned fans when he reportedly walked away from a $50 million contract to continue doing the show, and has been somewhat of an enigma since then.

It wasn't clear why Chappelle was in town, or how the impromptu gathering came about. Though he did say, at one point, "I'm not here for money."

Most people had gone to the square at the last minute, after receiving a text message or other communication from a friend, coworker or roommate.

"He played the Bye and Bye (bar/restaurant in Northeast Portland) last night," 22-year-old Alyse McNeill said. "So I think he's just doing a tour through Twitter."

But instead of the 200 people Chappelle said he anticipated showing up at the square, thousands did. He had no entourage and, apparently, not one security guard.

Chappelle kept speaking to the crowd, at one point saying he was proud, "when people can stand this close together and not be angry."

A man climbed on stage, and Chappelle announced the man was going to get a better sound system, and would return in 20 minutes. People watched each bizarre turn of the evening from every surface of the square, from the top of Starbucks Coffee to the corrugated-tin roof of Shelly's Honkin' Huge Burritos cart.

When the man returned with the equipment, spectators fed orange and black power cords to the edges of the square to plug them in. But apparently there was no power.



Word of Chappelle's visit spread the way it does these days: through social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.



Those who know what that means, skip ahead. But if you wonder how a crowd of more than 4,000 people learns about a rumor first floated around 5 p.m., read closely.

Local35 clothing store owner Justin Machus wasn't at his Hawthorne Avenue boutique at 4:58 p.m. when he logged onto Facebook with his phone to update his status to reflect that Chappelle was shopping in the store, taking advantage of "double rewards" day for frequent shoppers.

"David Chapelle in my store an I'm not there!!!!," he wrote.

Then Machus, who shifts frequently between updating Facebook and posting short comments on Twitter, turned to Twitter. "Dave Chappelle has a Local35 rewards card!... I wasn't here... :("

Moments later, a friend replied to his Facebook status change: "what?? i heard about a secret show tonight??"

Machus responded 10 minutes after his original post. "Yeah! Free standup, Midnight tonight at Pioneer Place! he was on his way to buy an amp for the show! He bought a few things!"

For good measure, Machus repeated the news on his Local35 Twitter page. "Free Dave Chappelle standup at midnight tonight at Pioneer Square!!!"

Two hours later, one of his 334 followers, Scott Serchen of San Rafael, Calif., posting as "hiveprojects," responded: "forrealz?"

Machus quickly replied: "It was from his mouth. He said to spread the word."

Then Machus added, "This may be getting out of hand."

A few minutes later, at 7:17 p.m., Machus was worried.

"This is out of hand. Poop."

Later still, dressed in a white shirt and carrying purple Master Piece cycle bag into the crowded Pioneer Courthouse Square, he updated Facebook again: "this is getting crazy."

He turned to Twitter: "Dave is here, massive crowd judgement fail. :( no sound system other than a battery powered Vox amp."

Then after midnight, back to Facebook: "Dave is seeking out a better soundsysten. Didn't expect this crowd."

He returned to Twitter: "This might get ugly. Bad energy brewing."

An hour later: "Easily, one of the strangest events in my Portland history. Blame it on me and other Twitter people?Hope not."

Shortly after 4 a.m., Machus wrapped up the night with this post: "that was a bizarre evening with Chapelle. Blame it on Twitter? Quite the social networking experiment."

Despite the fact that the late-night show in the square never really got going, the air was temperate and the mood mostly light. Occasionally a woman would flash the crowd, or Chappelle. A few attention seekers climbed onto the stage to pose for photos or shake Chappelle's hand. When a few people rocked the stage impatiently, others shouted "no!" or booed them. Despite the huge crowd police never intruded.

Chappelle seemed surprised by the scene.

"This has never happened in my entire career," he said, to a huge cheer. "I'm grateful everybody came out."

Chappelle did squeeze in some comedy. He compared one guy working on the sound system to Scotty from Star Trek, and took an OPB reporter's microphone and said, "Support Oregon Public Broadcasting." At one point, a woman and two men atop Starbucks began stripping as Chappelle gaped and the crowd cheered and jeered.

By 2 a.m., it was clear the sound system wouldn't go, and Chappelle wound things down. He thanked the crowd and shared a few things he learned, including: "Don't tell a secret in Portland."

He left the square at 2:09 a.m. and walked to the Heathman Hotel, where he held court with several dozen fans on the sidewalk.

"I'll catch you on Twitter," one man said to a friend as he left.

As Pioneer Square slowly cleared out, 29-year-old Jennifer Hudson sat on a step with her boyfriend, 28-year-old Connor Kirkwood, who praised the police's soft touch.

Just then, an officer approached and told them it was time to go. Then he left.

"See?" Hudson said. "That was so respectful."

Central Precinct Commander Mike Reese this morning said the event was peaceful and required no extra police resources. He said authorities got a call about 4 p.m. Tuesday from Pioneer Courthouse Square officials who alerted them to a possible gathering later that night.

About midnight, Reese heard from a lieutenant at the scene who reported a gathering of about 500 people. The crowd swelled by thousands by the time the night wrapped up. Last he heard, officers made no arrests.

Pretty remarkable for an impromptu gathering of some 4,000 people.

"We had the Naked Bike Ride," Reese said. "We can do anything."

-- The Oregonian