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Portland History
Posted inMusic

Portland Concert Poster Exhibition Opening at Mint Gallery Records

Ranging from the ’60s to 2024—posters come from the archive of Portland historian Jason Blumklotz.
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

For decades, Portland’s lampposts and community boards have told a vibrant history. Oftentimes stacked one on top of another, feet-thick, stapled up on poles lining hip-strips like Mississippi and Hawthorne avenues, concert posters clue in passersby that certain artists will be playing at a certain time and date at a certain place; while also telling […]

Posted inMusic

Satyricon: An Oral History

From 1984-2011, the downtown dive was a venue where legends, locals, and total unknowns shared a stage.
Avatar photo Melissa Locker

Before Michaela Watkins’ first shift behind the bar at Satyricon, the manager gave her the tour. “He said to me: ‘Okay, here’s the taps, here’s the keg, here’s the bat.’ And I was, like, the bat? And he’s like: ‘Yeah, the bat.’ I was like, am I gonna use a bat? He nodded: ‘You might […]

Posted inMusic

Toody Cole and Friends Celebrate the Life, Music, and Birthday of Fred Cole

Crystal Ballroom hosts an evening honoring the Dead Moon frontman.
Avatar photo Ben Salmon

Depending on which source you believe, we are either approaching or have just passed the official 30th anniversary of the release of Nervous Sooner Changes, the all-killer-no-filler seventh studio album from Portland punk legends Dead Moon. Crammed front to back with the band’s signature mix of wild-eyed garage-rock and desperatly doomed-folk ballads, the 10-track release […]

Posted inHistory

Little Bits of Paper Everywhere: An Oral History of Snipehunt Magazine and Kathy Molloy

Avatar photo Joshua James Amberson

In the Portland of the late ’80s and ’90s, there was one publication that influenced and guided the music and arts community more than any other: a free, wildly designed, oversized newsprint magazine called Snipehunt. Started in 1988 by now-famed poster artist Mike King, the magazine came into its own when contributor Kathy Molloy took […]

Posted inHistory

A Peek at Portland’s Alternative Universe

What If Portland Were Completely Different? (You’d Still Complain About It, Right?)
Avatar photo Joe Streckert

Nothing’s inevitable. Had it not been for a storm, the Spanish Armada would have beaten up England. Lincoln’s evening may have been more enjoyable had he canceled his theater plans. A better-designed Florida ballot might’ve given us President Al Gore. You get the idea: According to the popular theory, a butterfly flaps its wings, and […]

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