Music can be a key into another place and time. For No-No Boy, songs contain clues to follow, like a sonic time capsule. Portland-based singer, songwriter, and scholar Julian Saporiti is the mind and heart behind No-No Boy. This music-meets-history project is the manifestation of Julian’s doctorate dissertation at Brown University, from where he holds…
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The Roots are playing McMenamins Crystal Ballroom in Portland on February 21st. Can you believe it? It’s nothing short of magical when such a wildly popular and acclaimed band plays the Crystal. Compared with larger stages, such as Edgefield’s outdoor amphitheater (which the Roots played in 2019), the experience of seeing a huge artist in…
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Ani DiFranco delivered a profound and spirited performance at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon on June 30th—returning to the historic McMenamins venue. She played songs from her latest record, Revolutionary Love, along with plenty of early favorites. The place was packed with Ani superfans, from old schoolers who grew up with Ani in the…
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Bad Bad Hats, a rising indie-pop rock trio from Minneapolis, put on an energetic and joyful show at McMenamins Mission Theater in NW Portland on Wednesday, May 25th. The opening band, the Ophelias, brought their playfully dark baroque-rock from Cincinnati and were the perfect musical foil to the sunny Bad Bad Hats. Bad Bad Hats…
Read MoreApril brings about a change in the season, and for us it brings about a change in our McMenamins music world. At the end of April the Mission Theater will be transforming from a live event and music venue to a first run movie theater. While we are excited to re-open our doors with this…
Read MoreWritten by Tara Nicole Golden, Photos by Kat Nyberg Sometimes it is best to walk into something without any expectations or even knowledge. That was how I approached this PJ Harvey show at The Crystal Ballroom. I had heard PJ’s music before, and appreciated it, but although I have seen her albums in stores for…
Read More1939 Ensemble invited us into their North Portland practice space to talk about the formation of their band and how they developed their unique sound. We also got to capture them performing one of their new songs, “Hourglass,” before they hit the road to go on tour with Tortoise and RJD2, a tour that is…
Read MoreWe had a chance to sit down with John Craigie in his home where he recorded his latest release, No Rain, No Rose. In this video, get an intimate glimpse inside John Craigie’s recording process, find out what to expect from his Great Northwest Music Tour and hear him play a song off of his…
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Who is Bernadette Bascom? Students’ music teacher and vocal coach, gospel/R&B singer, Vegas stage performer, Emmy Award winner, pal to Stevie Wonder…. High among her many accomplishments is the Music Project at Secondary Academy for Success (SAS), an amazing program initially launched for musicians at what’s now McMenamins Anderson School. Bascom was recruited to lend…
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Just one of the fun aspects of gathering McMenamins history is when it comes from out of the blue. We recently received an email from a guest at the Kennedy School inquiring about our Draaiorgel het Blauw Frontje. (Great name for a beer, right?) Have a look… ***** My family and I visited the Kennedy…
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