Skip to main contentWhen a crowd of young punks clad in denim and band-patches bum-rushed the Wet Confetti set during last August's PDX Pop Now! Festival and chanted "You suck," it was clear that the next year would be an interesting one for Portland music, a year where boundaries would be crossed and young music-making hipsters clad in bright T-shirts and band-buttons wouldn't be the only ones demanding to be noticed. Now, on the eve of this weekend's third annual PDX Pop Now! Festival (which is kind of like our New Year's celebration), we look back at highlights of the sonic year that was.
SEPT. 5, 2005 Hawthorne Theatre opens, to the joy of youngsters and hard rockers alike.
After the collapse of Conan's Pub in June of '05, Nicholas Yannariello (singer of hard rock band DFiVE9) opens the Hawthorne Theatre, a revamped all-ages rock club that manages to survive (so far) in a city where all-ages venues tend to drop like flies.
SEPT. 8, 2005 Crackerbash, Hazel, Sprinkler and Pond play MusicfestNW reunion show.
Almost a decade after the general demise of these former Portland institutions, all four bands take the Crystal Ballroom stage for MusicfestNW, playing to a crowd that includes a few who've traveled cross-country to witness the rare event. Crackerbash plays one more show and entertains the idea of opening for Modest Mouse on that band's next tour, before officially calling it quits again.
OCT. 12, 2005 Portland internationally recognized as indie music utopia.
Portland is identified as the "hub for the indie rock scene" in an Associated Press story by Terrence Petty. Following the lead, Canada's largest daily paper, the Globe and Mail, runs a Nov. 26 story by Alexandra Gill calling Portland "indie's newest epicenter."
NOV. 11 & 12, 2005 Portland's hardcore fest comes into its own.
Drawing international acts like Japan's Gouka, the second annual Speed at Reed festival helps put Portland on the super-underground DIY punk and metal map.
NOV. 16, 2005 During a Death Cab for Cutie show at the Crystal Ballroom, guitarist Chris Walla announces he has moved to Portland.
DEC. 1, 2005 Potentially awesome venue becomes lame-ass cowboy bar.
The retro-swanky Bossanova Ballroom—once host to such bitchin' rock shows as the Arcade Fire and the Weakerthans—closes its doors to reopen under different management as Outlaws Bar & Grill, a cowboy karaoke bar. The bar is a part of a larger "urban cowboy" trend, which includes the recent opening of the Dixie, American Cowgirls and Thunder Ranch.
DEC. 5, 2005 Barsuk Records signs Viva Voce.
Seattle indie label Barsuk signs local lovers Kevin and Anita Robinson, adding the duo's sunny, sexy psychedelic pop to a roster including Nada Surf, the Long Winters and alums Death Cab for Cutie. The couple's Barsuk debut, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, is set to drop in September 2006.
DEC. 12, 2005 The Decemberists sign to Capitol Records.
After releasing Picaresque in March of '05 and subsequently receiving play on MTV, the Decemberists are courted by a number of major labels and eventually decide on Capitol Records. Leadman Colin Meloy tells Pitchfork Media, "We've never been the sort of group that has lived and breathed indie-ness." The new album, The Crane Wife, is scheduled for an Oct. 3, 2006, release.
DEC. 14, 2005 Spoon's Britt Daniel tells Pitchfork Media he is moving to Portland.
JAN. 4, 2006 Berbati's Pan cans booker.
After three years as Berbati's in-house booker, Chantelle Hylton gets the boot from owner Ted Papaioannou on account of money troubles. Hylton retaliates by launching her own promotions company, Blackbird Presents. She also takes a larger role in booking shows for the Towne Lounge, turning it into P-town's smoke-filled, hipster living room of choice.
JAN. 5, 2006 Hip-hop finds a home at Berbati's Pan.
Indie rock's loss at Berbati's turns out to be a boon for hip-hop, as Hylton's replacement, Conrad Loebl, "keeps it real" by booking out-of-town rap acts like Mr. Lif and Fatlip, then packing the bill with eager local talent.
JAN. 9, 2006 Marriage Records and Lucky Madison go national with Nail Distribution.
Two of Portland's core hometown labels sign on to Portland-based Nail Distribution, which can put the labels' records in just about any record store in the nation.
JAN. 30, 2006 Poison Idea guitarist Pig Champion passes.
Tom "Pig Champion" Roberts, member of Poison Idea and one of the greatest punk guitarists the Rose City has ever known, dies at the age of 48. Robert's passing receives press in The New York Times, and he is remembered onstage by bands from Dead Moon to Zeke, who headline a memorial show at Sabala's at Mount Tabor.
FEB. 25, 2006 PRF become Faggots no more.
An up-and-coming young band, known as Wolfgang Williams and the Punk Rock Faggots, opens for Plan R's last show, a benefit for Books to Prisoners, where they are met by Topher, a queer activist who, with his supporters, offers a statement in protest of the all-straight band's name. Taunted by the crowd, Topher publishes his experiences online on Indymedia, causing an outcry against the band. The teenage musicians change their band name to PRF.
MARCH 1, 2006 FCC shuts PRA down.
After operating illegally for three and a half years, pirate station Portland Radio Authority is shut down by agents of the Federal Communications Commission. The station, which boasts more than 50 volunteer DJs, resumes broadcasting on the Internet.
MARCH 14, 2006 E-40 hits the big time.
It might not seem like local music news, but the release of E-40's breakthrough album, My Ghetto Report Card, means a lot to Portland hip-hop. Bosko and Cool Nutz both have long personal and work histories with the ambassador of Bay Area rap. With Nutz's upcoming release, Guerrilla in the Trunk, slated to carry a "E-40 presents" tag, this might be Nutz's greatest chance to grab that brass ring.
MAY 2, 2006 Soul Plasma signs to Sony imprint.
Soul Plasma, who makes guilt-free spiritual music that can still shake the rims off your Ford Taurus, signs to Sony's new Christian hip-hop imprint, Beatmart, and changes his moniker to Soul P.
MAY 5, 2006 New owners runs Booty out of Porky's.
Soon after North Portland hangout Porky's changes ownership, the founder of the club's weekly gay pirate dance party, DJ Puppet, is jumped outside the bar. After requesting security from the new ownership and not receiving it, Booty splits to Southeast Portland's Acme.
MAY 10, 2006 Copy named WW's Best New Band.
Solo electronic producer Copy wins WW's Best New Band poll, signaling that Portland's days as steadfast indie-rock town are waning, and sending a solid message to the tremendous underground of electronic artists that their time has come to step into the light. Finally.
JUNE 27, 2006 Sleater-Kinney calls it quits.
After 11 years and seven albums, the three first ladies of Northwest rock, Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, announce that the band will break up. After an Aug. 12 show at the Crystal Ballroom, Sleater-Kinney will cease to be.
For a more complete PDX Music Yearbook, go to localcut.com and search "yearbook."
WWeek 2015