It is a perfectly natural tendency to tread known waters, to follow the beaten path, or to resort to a series of clichés when opening a piece of writing. Most people have a similar instinct when seeking out live music. They hunt down a copy of the Mercury, scan the listings for the Roseland or Crystal Ballroom or Doug Fir, and chances are they’ll spot at least one show featuring a band they know and love, playing songs they will recognize. And there’s nothing wrong with this—you know what you’re getting into and can rest generally assured that it will be exactly what you expected.
Risk takers, however, will tell you that there is every reason to leave the path, that straying even a short distance from it can lead you into moments or situations that are more personal. They’ll tell you that by going your own way one can attain a host of new experiences that never would have occurred by maintaining a routine. Some will even go as far as to claim that more depth can be extracted from a more personalized or exotic experience, and that these deeper glimpses can develop a person into a stronger and better-rounded individual. It’s like trying escargot with a fine glass of Boudreaux for one’s first time after a lifetime of eating nothing but Pepsi and Big Macs. You never knew you would enjoy snails so much! I wonder what else could be out there…
Here are a few places to see live music that lie a bit out of the way and that you’ve perhaps been avoiding in favor of the Whopper venues. In a town as weird as Portland there is a wide variety of musical-flavor for one to taste.
East End 203 SE Grand
Located basically in the dead center of town, the East End hosts live music just about every night. The downstairs venue is intimate and dark with a tiny record and vintage store called Omnibus lurking in the back shadows. When they featured the Monotonix the bar’s rock-and-roll dedication was put to the test, which they passed amiably. For those of you not familiar with the antics of the Israeli-born Monotonix, a brief description of their forty-five minute take-over should prove the East End’s willingness to roll with the punches. The set began as usual, with the band ignoring the stage and instead electing to set up in the center of the room. Then the beer throwing followed by the lead singer Ami leaping from the bar to crowd-surf while perched atop the bass-drum. The bar-staff raced about frantically un-screwing light fixtures from the ceiling and attempting to save any glass that had not already been broken. Then the band led the crowd upstairs, outside into the street where they continued to play for a short while. Back downstairs, more beer throwing, everything made of glass broken now, and not any indication of stopping the show from the staff. And I heard the band was invited back.
The Know 2026 Alberta
This is the best bar in town to take a chance and see a band. Period. It’s small and dark and loud and absolutely filled with dirty, rowdy drunks. But the neighbors seem to dig it…usually. Bands love this bar. It’s not for the sound quality, which is, granted, not always the clearest. It’s that for some reason the place consistently packs with an enthusiastic crowd that knows how to give the best brand of heckled-love. The Know breeds a sense of camaraderie that is hard to find in the often all-too-hip town of Portland.
Ash Street Saloon 225 SW Ash
Hiding downtown between 2nd and 3rd, the Ash Street has made a name for itself as a place where one can consistently see underground bands from a wide-range of backgrounds; one night electro-pop, thrash-metal the next, maybe an acoustic cover band following that. The stage-room is fairly large and open with huge, arching buttresses giving it a distinctly gothic-church vibe. Several of the unofficially famous Portland ‘characters’ can often be found hanging around the Ash Street, like Lefty and Elvis. If you run into Elvis don’t be afraid to ask him to play you a quick cover of ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’. He never passes up an opportunity.
The Red Room 2530 NE 82nd
The Red Room is a very rock and roll place to be. That being stated, you can hear a lot more than just rock, everything from Latin dance music to bluegrass. It’s the feeling the place gives off that begs for that first sentence. Located out on 82nd this little bar screams ‘dive’ without the filth and urine-puddles that usually accompany such a word. Of course lit in red, with a tiny stage decorated with the mug-shots of rock-stars, this is a dream bar for any cowboy or punk rocker. Don’t fear the 82nd.
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