Concert Reviews

Anderson Paak’s Portland Show Ushered in Summer

Billie Eilish’s Moda Center Show Was a Weird, Fun Nightmare

Clearly, Eilish’s role as a visible, free-agency weirdo matters to a lot of people, especially the grade-school kids in the audience screaming along to “All the Good Girls Go to Hell.”

Lizzo Celebrated Her Birthday on Stage at the Roseland With Twerking and Tequila

On her single “Truth Hurts,” Lizzo claims she took a DNA test, and the result said she’s “100 percent that bitch.” The phrase has become the latest one-liner that’s all over social media, but when Lizzo stated it during the second of her two sold-out Portland shows, it was surely no joke. She showed the packed house at the Roseland on April 27 how much of that bitch she is.

At Eric B. & Rakim’s First Portland Show, the Legendary Duo Performed a High-Energy Set to a Low-Energy Audience

At their show at Roseland Theater on April 18, Eric B. & Rakim were dressed for a well-earned victory lap. The iconic hip-hop duo wore matching customized black-and-gold Louis Vuitton tracksuits to headline at the Soul’d Out Music Festival. They redid their entry because the audience—mostly heteronormative men who were in college and high school during Eric B. & Rakim’s heyday—weren’t turning up as they should for two men who helped usher in rap’s golden age.

In Between Coachella Sets, Maggie Rogers Brought Her Self-Positivity and Wholesome Dance Moves to Portland

Overall, Rogers’ concert was self-positive, inoffensive and apolitical. She and her band played a baker’s dozen songs, including a John Prine cover and a duet of her most popular song, “Alaska,” with opener Melanie Faye, who, like Rogers, experienced a viral rise to fame.

Weezer’s Portland Show Involved Rivers Cuomo in a Rowboat, a VCR Player and, of Course, “Africa”

Former theater kids must have cringed at Weezer’s midsong set changes, which told an unnecessary story the band barely, if at all, engaged. Astroworld it was not: Rivers Cuomo circled the floor-level seats in a rowboat for a few songs to get closer to the audience and to distract from a staging revamp.

James Blake’s Portland Show Was Very On-Brand

A few songs in, Blake meekly walked to the mic with his hands at his sides, wearing glinting black leather shoes, a long black trench coat, cuffed black pants and black socks short enough to reveal two pale slivers of legs. He looked like Christopher Robin, if Christopher Robin were a character in The Matrix.

Vince Staples Called Out Racial Injustice at His Portland Show, But the Audience Missed a Few Points

You’d be hard-pressed to find two musical artists in any genre more devoted to calling out racial injustice than Vince Staples and JPEGMAFIA. So their stop in America’s whitest major city was always going to be interesting. Portland’s demographics are apparent at most rap concerts, and Staples’ two sold-out shows at the Roseland Theater on March 23 and 24 were no exception.

Noname Complimented Portland’s Weed and Tested the Crowd’s Rap Knowledge at Her Crystal Ballroom Show

Fans of all ages sold out Noname’s Portland show in support of her latest album, Room 25. Packed in like little fanatic sardines, they cheered and whistled as she joked about being “high as hell.” She surely wasn’t the only one.

At His Portland Show, Action Bronson Proved That He’s More of an Entertainer than a Rapper

Action Bronson is no longer just a rapper. In 2019, people are just as likely to know him for his multiple TV shows, the most popular being Fuck, That’s Delicious, as for his musical career.

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