Project Pabst’s Portland resurgence brings no-frills fun to the waterfront

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The resurgence of a Portland music festival rocked Tom McCall Waterfront Park, where a seemingly-randomized artist lineup, a 24-foot-tall unicorn sculpture and affordable beer were the hallmarks of the weekend.

Downtown Portland welcomed Project Pabst with open arms on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28, nearly five months after organizers announced the event’s return from a seven-year hiatus.

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The Rose City first hosted the festival in 2014, but it had a short run, even after expanding to other places like Atlanta and Philadelphia by 2017.

Despite Project Pabst’s brief history, concert-goers doled out their cash — single-day tickets cost $115 and two-day tickets cost $220 — for a weekend of live music.

Saturday appeared to be the busiest day, with crowds gathering in anticipation of sets from the most popular acts on the lineup: T-Pain and Billy Idol.

However, there was no shortage of fans who attended for the festival’s less mainstream artists. Andrea Murray, a Southern California resident who previously lived in Portland, told KOIN 6 she was delighted to learn that her trip coincided with indie rock band Gossip’s performance.

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But she mentioned a few other highlights as well.

“I was actually really impressed with STRFKR also,” Murray said. “They were really amazing like visuals… so that was really awesome. Of course, I have been listening to the Violent Femmes since I was like… 14 years old so just being here and listening to them was great.”

The festival was split between two stages, with half of the artists performing on the Captain Pabst Stage and other musicians featured on the Unicorn Stage.

The silver unicorn sculpture created by Portland design studio Axiom Custom served as the perfect midpoint between the two stages. On multiple occasions, you could hear festival-goers shouting “Meet me at the unicorn” as they spoke with other attendees on the phone.

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Other popular meeting spaces were the bleachers outside of each stage, the on-site dive bar, Project Pabst bar — with the most expensive drink being a 24-ounce beer for $7.50 — and the lines to purchase food from local vendors.

For some, the food lines were the most disgruntling part of the experience. Some attendees complained about hour-long waits, some of which were caused by businesses who needed to restock before the biggest performances of the night.

Morale was much higher once T-Pain hit the stage. The musician, who may be regarded as a nostalgic act, seemed to have the warmest reception from the crowd. His set was modernized with mashups featuring Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and Travis Scott’s “FE!N,” although people danced the most to his classics like “Bartender” and “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’).”

Headliner Billy Idol also captured audiences. One onlooker made a comment about how the 68-year-old rockstar was “a lot less lively” than when they saw him 20 years ago, but could still put on a show.

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Sunday didn’t attract as large of a crowd, either due to the heavy-hitters being scheduled the day prior or due to people’s reluctance to spend a night downtown before the start of the workweek.

But the silver lining was that visitors didn’t have to wait as long to grab a meal from Let’s Roll, Mid-City Smashedburger or Atlas Pizza, among other food vendors.

They also had more time to purchase Project Pabst merchandise and visit the local businesses with festival booths, including Dentist PDX, Pallet Portland and Floating World Comics.

Sunday’s headliner, Big Thief, was the highlight for many attendees. The indie rock band took the stage for the first time in nearly a year, performing 10 songs that fans had never heard before.

Project Pabst’s return to Portland marks a recent push to bring even more live music events and venues to a city with creativity at its core. If it comes back in 2025, with another random-yet-somehow-appropriate lineup, the 21+ festival is sure to attract more audiences.

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