Any excuse is a good one for a weekend road trip to Portland, so far as we're concerned. This weekend is something of a no-brainer, in more ways than one, with the debut music festival Project Pabst. On September 26th through 28th, celebrate the PBR-PDX love affair that went public more than a decade ago in The New York Times.
In what's been described as a love letter to the city, the festival occurs over two days (27th & 28th) at Zidell Yards on riverside in SW Portland, with bands playing two stages during the daytime and then at various clubs around town in the evenings (26th-28th). Featured artists include headliners Tears for Fears (Saturday) and Modest Mouse (Sunday) plus many other KEXP favorites like Phosphorescent, Speedy Ortiz, Violent Femmes, Shabazz Palaces, Lord Huron, Rocket From the Crypt and Portland's own local heroes The Thermals and Red Fang.In addition, there's the PBRcade, a dive bar complete with surly bartenders and 35 pinball machines and arcade games. Phenomenal food options, worth the trip alone, include Bunk, Pine Street Biscuits, Olympic Provisions, and Fifty Licks.
The festival continues with evening shows at venues all around Portland, including the Crystal Ballroom, Dante's, the Wonder Ballroom, and Mississippi Studios. Saturday's shows include Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Constantines, and Menomena while Sunday features Built to Spill, Deep Sea Diver, and Surfer Blood, just to name a few.
Individual day festival passes are still available, here. Tickets for the evening shows are sold separately. All shows 21 plus. A portion of each ticket sale goes to the Jeremy Wilson Foundation, which provides financial assistance to musicians in times of medical crisis.
For Seattle electronic music fans, Decibel Festival has spent the last 11 years working its way from mythical creature to household name. The festival has hosted some of the best electronic music in the Emerald city since 2003, and in the last couple years, has expanded into an year-round sponsor t…
