Slideshow

Slide Show: 10 Years of PDX Pop Now!

June 14, 2013

The PDX-POP listserv was mostly for posting “my amp’s busted” or “I saw this amazing show.” Then in 2003, we started a thread noting that Portland bands were selling out shows around the country but playing to just six friends here. Thirty people showed

Photography by Gary Lee

Get Hustle on the Roturre stage in 2010

The first year was at the space that is now Branx/Rotture—at that point it was Meow Meow, an important all ages venue. We were some of the first shows there, so we were painting the walls for the venue and building a stage. It was exhilarating and disorg

Photography by Inger Klekacz

Nurses in 2009

In the 2009 festival, Nurses was playing inside Rotture. It was at capacity, disgustingly hot, and everyone was jumping into each other in a mosh-pitty environment because it was an amazing set. When it ended, everybody walked outside into the summer nig

Photography by The KBOO Foundation

Two days worth of compilation submissions

When the selection committee votes on the songs on the compilation, they don’t know who the performers are—they just have a bunch of songs to listen to. And in 2008, everyone voted Y La Bamba as their favorite, and that brought a whole lot of attention t

Photography by Greg Borenstein

Ages and Ages in 2010

I was in Pocatello, Idaho, working at KISU back in 2006. Even then, anything emanating from Portland had a bit of a cache. The fact that bands who are just starting out can be on a compilation alongside the Decemberists and the Shins is a big deal. It pu

Photography by Gary Lee

Liv Warfield in 2008

PDX Pop provides a place for artists to really play with no expectations and no rules. That was the most free I’ve ever been. If I could’ve, I would’ve played all night. I don’t know who taped our performance of “Gimme Shelter,” but Prince was looking fo

Photography by Jason Quigley

Shy Girls on the road

I had released an EP of songs in late 2011 on the Internet, and [artistic director] Chris Cantino found it and asked if I played live. I didn’t have a band, so I took that as the initiative to put one together. We were nervous, but it was huge for us. En

Photography by Shy Girls

I didn't have a lot of social skills when I was young, so going to shows and meeting people who are interested in music is how I came out of my shell. To be part of an organization that gives kids a place to see music, which is really hard to do in Portl

Photography by The KBOO Foundation

When we got involved in 2008, the economy was not in a place where people right out of college had the opportunity to do things that really made a difference in the world. This was an open door that allowed us to make a difference while doing other jobs

Photography by The KBOO Foundation

Alela Diane at Parkrose Middle School in 2007

In 2007, PDX Pop launched its outreach efforts at Parkrose Middle School on 118th and Shaver, where I was a teacher. I’d heard how many of my students were bored over the summer, and how they’d seen no live music of any kind, least of all local music. So

Photography by Jason Quigley

Bicycle parking outside Refuge in 2011

In 2010, we felt like we reached our capacity with how the festival was being run. We were out behind Rotture on the street, the stage setup wasn't very professional, and it felt like we were just bursting of the seams. We got a new logistics coordinator

Photography by Aaron Brown

Menomena in 2009

I go to a lot of shows, but it’s been a place where I’ve seen tons of things for the very first time. I think that’s where I saw Menomena the first time, Brainstorm, AU. That’s a pretty awesome opportunity if you’re a fan of music. I think you take the c

Photography by The KBOO Foundation

The audience for Menomena in 2009

The most amazing thing is something is being created that can carry on without any of the original founders. That’s something I would’ve doubted as I sat down with the people at the Lucky Lab 10 years ago. And it’s a really positive event. People frequen

Y La Bamba at one of PDX Pop's City Hall showcases in 2009

I think that PDX Pop is the charger, the battery—all this really good positive energetic collaborations with people who really believe in music. Portland is what it is because something called PDX Pop hosts bands who want to start out and feel good that

Photography by Feb 28

White Fang in 2008

We like to think the Portland music scene is amazing, and it is amazing. But I’ve never heard of another festival that features the range of bands that this does, does it for free, and is all ages. I think it’s completely unique. —Jeremy Peterson, OPBMu

Photography by Nathan Backous

Every summer for the past nine years, PDX Pop Now! has sonically saturated a July or August weekend with Portland bands. Some are big names, others have never played live before; some pluck banjos, others thrash guitars or tap laptops. At 480 acts and counting, the festival offers an annual snapshot of Portland’s ever-shifting music scene, while the concomitant compilation has become the city’s unofficial musical archive. Read our full story here.

PDX Pop Now, Music, Slideshow, Concerts, Y La Bamba

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Portland Monthly

Slide Show: 10 Years of PDX Pop Now!

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