The Top Two Hippest Happenings in the Portland Music Scene

Having its name determined by a coin flip is not the only interesting thing about this vibrant city. Known as a laboratory of everything that’s hip and cool, Portland’s music scene is nothing less. The city’s highly diverse musicians range from the feisty youngGrammy award-winning jazz princess Esperanza Spalding to Tommy Thayer, the lead guitarist for the hard rock band Kiss – also known as The Spaceman. With this kind of creative diversity, a fabulous array of artisan baristas and dog-friendly bars, Portland is understandably a very popular city and many people are settling there.

The Secret is Out, And It’s Causing Trouble!

Since it became common knowledge that Portland is oh so cool, the city is no longer one of America’s best kept secrets. Unfortunately, since so many people are honing in on the coolness, Portland’s rents are skyrocketing and this is severely affecting the music scene. Venue after venue started shutting their doors. Old favorites that welcome patrons of all ages like Slabtown and Backspace were the first to go. Then venues that had liquor sales to keep them afloat, like Blue Monk and Alhambra were not able to sustain operations (and insane rents!), and also threw in the towel. With music lovers struggling to find places to go to and artists having the same battle with venues to perform at, Portland’s music scene had no choice but to evolve.

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