Wonder Ballroom

Seeing Godspeed You! Black Emperor live is an all-consuming experience that borders on the spiritual. Performing in near darkness, backlit by grainy 16mm film projections looped and decayed to haunting effect, the band lets the music speak without introduction or small talk. From the first ominous drone to the final crashing crescendo, the performance unfolds as a single, undivided narrative arc. The set, mostly newer material with some older epics, was rendered with raw intensity and deafening volume. They felt like a brooding force of nature, rising from hushed minimalism to towering walls of distorted guitar, double drums, and screaming violin. Unlike a lot of bands, GY!BE offers no breaks, no encores, and no sense of performance-as-entertainment. This is protest music disguised as cinematic art—dense, uncompromising, and deeply affecting. In a time when live shows are often about charisma and spectacle, Godspeed You! Black Emperor strips everything down to sound, light, and resistance. It’s not for everyone—but for those attuned to their frequency, it’s unforgttable.

It's great to have Sixpence making new music and on the road again. So glad, they included Portland on this tour! A great combo of their classics and covering the new Rosemary Hill release. Very emotional performances from Leigh Nash, and loved the spirited percussion and backup vocals/guitar from Steve Hindalong (The Choir). The Wonder Ballroom was the perfect venue and the crowd was into it all the way as they request and received encore performances. Looking forward to more new music and their next stop in Portland.

Becky Hill is the real deal: Signer / Songwriter. Her stripped down concert was her, two back up singers, singing live to music. She has an amazing voice and live presence. Between songs she have the backstory of why they were written, with whom, and it was illuminating the song writers with whom she has collaborated. She has a witty, engaging personality personality. The show in Portland, Oregon was the last stop on her N. American Tour which coincided with Pride week in July. It was an amazing nite at the Wonder Ballroom which was the perfect venue to dance the night away.

I have been to two Scarlet Opera concerts now. The guys really know how to put on a show. The actual Venue was horrible. They opened the doors late. Made everyone wait out in the rain. Security was a nightmare. They have you go through a make shift tent, use a metal detector wand on you, and take your sharpies away. The microphones had the sound muffled, so you couldn't understand everything the singers were saying. The lights had a lot of strobing effects. I asked security where the bathrooms were and they told me the directions for the women's bathroom. The upstairs area was closed. We had access to the downstairs area to sit, but that was also closed. I don't think I'll go back to the Wonder Ballroom. Love the Scarlet opera though. They are a great bunch of guys. If you haven't listened to them yet, give them a try.

This is one of my all time favorite bands! This was the third time I've seen them live and they didn't disappoint. Jimmy has been a great addition. He's super energetic and has a fantastic voice, and really embodies the Strumbellas vibe. What I also loved is that Izzy seems to be playing a larger role on stage. The violin is such an integral part of their music and really makes them unique. Izzy is captivating to watch! They played a really good mix of old and new, with some of the old changed up a bit, which I actually liked a lot. While most people will know them primarily for their huge hit "Spirits", they've made some incredible music since then, including their new album, "Part Time Believer" which is really strong. I truly hope they continue to tour more frequently. While I love the Wonder Ballroom they really should be playing in a larger venue. More Strumbellas please!!!

The Paper Kites were amazing! Sam is sometimes a little hard to hear/understand over the guitars. The a capella portions were hard to hear as well - too quiet. The venue wasn't the best. At least from where we watched the show, there was too much noise from the various bars and the merch table was way too loud and distracted from the music. A+ for the band, C+ for the Wonder Ballroom.

The infectious energy from those women and their impeccable punk skills made for another great show! Drunk Boys and Girls Choir from Korea brought matching energy for their opening act! For the lead/bassist's birthday no less! The giant inflatable beaver-floatie crowd surfing was a cherry on top of a rambunctious show! I couldn't put my finger on it; but the sound mixing was a little off or something for both bands. I no nothing about light and audio tech stuff to say what could've been tweaked by the sound guy...

best night of my life.. not only are they BEYOND talented, they are also so freaking down to earth & kind. i got to take a selfie w Marc & Jordan gave me a setlist. 🥹 the vibes were immaculate, the halloween atmosphere, UGH!!!! everything about it was FANTASTIC. i already loved them so much, now they are my absolute favorite artist of all time. 10/10 recommend. my group & i went as the Teletubbies and made their faces the sun. they shouted all of the costumes they loved out, ours included. oh yeah, it was my birthday, they made my birthday nothing less than epic. thank you NEIL FRANCES <3

Reading poetry and inviting the room to delve into the energy we can create together this small venue lit up with positive energy. Yoke Lore is ahead of times and invites the listener to take a closer look at music and the words we spill*into each other. His voice unique, unwavering and his energy unique. I went to the Wonder ballroom years ago and was intrigued by its growth and transition to a lighter space. Looking forward to more events here! Thank yo Yoke Lore for making your way through PDX.

First time at Wonder Ballroom and hopefully not the last. Very friendly and helpful staff. The show, though? MASSIVE! I travelled back 15 years when I first was introduced to H.A. At a point of the show I almost started crying from the nostalgia and gratefulness of seeing them perform live. Only gripe is that they didn’t play K Horse. Outside of that, all the songs I wanted to hear, they played it. Daryl Palumbo is the fk’in best! Thanks for the memory and good time. Love you, Head Automatica.

Great wrestling! Everyone in my group had fun. Don't know that I'd go again if the main floor is standing instead of seated though. No one in my group could see anything below the second rope because of everyone standing. Couldn't see the mat wrestling, pins, nothing below the second rope. I'm 6'1" and that was the same for me. When wrestlers would leap off the ropes outside the ring, we couldn't see any of the landings. I'm sure there's good energy and other reasons to having everyone stand, but I really wanted to see all the wrestling and couldn't see nearly as much as if people had been seated.

Bob was in great form and obviously in a great mood being back on stage after the long pandemic break. He was also very vocally appreciative for the size of the crowd and our compliance with the proof of vax and masking requirements. As for the show, it was blazing from start to finish. It started out with more recent stuff but the band soon began to mix in a lot of older tunes from the Hüsker Dü and Sugar days. And they just kept playing. Non-stop. No time between songs, except a couple of brief moments when Bob expressed again his gratitude. Near the end he announced they would normally take a break and come back but the air conditioning blowing onto the stage would fuck up his guitar tuning so they were just gonna keep playing. And so it was. For two full non-stop glorious hours Bob Mould and his band ruled Portland.

Cobra Man + The Worble + Dreckig tore the roof off the Wonder Ballroom and rocked the faces off almost 800 people that night. Was it a great time? No. It was an absolutely incredible time and a surreal night to remember- and I got to spend it alongside some of my favorite friends! If you get the chance to see Cobra Man live, please do. Their music is amazing and the videos they collaborate on with The Worble are nothing short of outstanding.

KESHI WAS SO HOT OMFG. HIS VOCALS ARE EVERYTHING. PLEASE COME BACK NEXT YEAR One thing that I was disappointed was how the venue was too small in portland and the people next to us kept on pushing even though there was no space!! One of their friends didn’t even have a VIP ticket. We were suffocating and one of our friends felt like fainting. I just hope next time it’s more organized where the GA section could be separated from VIP. ANYWAYS I LOVED THE SHOW AND KESHI MADE EVERYTHING WORTH IT. Just only if those crackheads didn’t act like it was a rave it would be better!

Shannon and the Clams were amazing, The venue, The Wonder Ballroom sucks now. It took 45 minutes to get in with airport level security, then you have to wear a mask even tho everyone in the venue had proof if vaccination. They even had ppl walking around making sure you're putting it back on between sips. And they weren't even cool about it. They were jerks. Almost ruined the night but thank the Gods, Shannon and the Ckams came out and made all the bullshit worth it. I'll never go to Wonder Ballroom again tho.

John sang his heart out and the band played like they were at Madison Square Garden performing for a sold out audience. The night started with Twin XL and there was nothing Messy about their performance. They are as tight as anyone I've seen play here. They were the perfect warm up for The Maine. The entire concert, start to finish, provided an evening of musical delight for those attending. Other than Marianas Trench this is the best show I've see at this venue.

I absolutely loved this performance! I haven’t listened to too many Frank Iero and the Future Violents songs, and mainly came because of his past music with MCR, but I thought that this show was great! It wasn’t that packed which was great since it was easy to get pretty close to the stage without throwing elbows to get in front of people. I would definitely go to another concert if they come back to Portland!😊

Made me smile from start to finish. The lighting was spot on with the color choices, sounds was crystal for the most part. There may have been a moment when the sound board stopped working, but the audience was so alive in keeping the chorus going that it didn’t matter. Crowd and performers became one big family this night, and I won’t forget it. That or the marriage proposal that happened towards the end of the concert. Congratulations ladies ❤️

Crystal Ballroom next? Great performances from the whole lineup. My first NBT concert. They could obviously jam in any environment but the Wonder Ballroom did have some issues (great staff tho 🙂). I'm an old Starry Night headbanger but this satisfied. Took my daughter (a NBT fan) my - first comment after the show was "I didn't want it to stop". I couldn't agree more. Made her first concert experience a great one!

Traveled from Porterville, CA to see home and the lovemakers again! 13 hour drive well worth it! As always it was an amazing show. If there’s a show near you, you should go! They have an amazing performance and has motivated me to follow their shows near me ❤️ Their San Luis obisbo show was awesome too! Now tonight I’m going to see them in Sacramento! One of my favorite bands! And the only one I follow💜 I highly recommend their shows you will not be disappointed 🤟🏻