KEXP Suggests: Project Pabst Portland

Across the last three years, Project Pabst has quietly become one of the more reliably interesting festivals in the Pacific Northwest, which is no small feat considering its large-scale competition to the north of its site in Portland, Oregon. It's essentially the Room on Fire of Northwestern music festivals - not reinventing the playbook but sharpening little bits and pieces until it stands out on its own accord. KEXP has covered the previous two installments of the Portland Waterfront-located festival, and with this year's lineup standing as the biggest to date (alongside the festival's expansion to three other cities), Project Pabst is unquestionably set to be another late-festival season highlight.It's important to note that there's a lot more to running a great festival than the bands it books, and Project Pabst does a pretty good job of all of those other things. Two stages within a quick walk of the other with alternating, staggered bands means that there are no schedule conflicts and it's particularly easy to traverse. If you want to skip out on a band to take a breather, last year's fest featured a number of shaded areas and other attractions (lawn games, a booth where you could record straight to a 7"), and perhaps most importantly, all the beer is cheap. (Spoiler: it's PBR.) The only snag with last year's fest wasn't even the organizers' fault - 100 degree Fahrenheit weather made the afternoon sets extra sweaty, and probably didn't encourage fest-goers to drink anything but water until the sunset-framed headlining sets. The organizers took note, and this year's festival is being held a month later, which means, at the very least, Portland should be not quite as sweltering, at least until the headliners hit the stage.

On that note, this year's headliners are Tame Impala (a band at a creative and live peak that have been ready to make the headliner jump for at least six months) and Duran Duran (a band that's been headlining things since before many of the festivals were born), two bands with plenty populist appeal (read: hits) and artistic cred. (Also worth noting: very few North American fests have either band booked, much less this high on the bill.) The undercard is stacked too: a rare set from the reunited hardcore legends Drive Like Jehu, Ice Cube (who will likely play a ton of NWA classics next to cuts from his almost-impeccable early '90s run), hometown heroes Unknown Mortal Orchestra and STRFKR, Philadelphia scene cornerstone Hop Along, and the band whose name everyone loves to say, Diarrhea Planet. And that's not even listing half the bill! (Or the night shows!) So for those looking for a good late summer weekend in Portland or those who are looking to get a warm up for the fall season of drinking beer and watching music in a club, Project Pabst is a one-stop shop. Just don't make the same mistake this writer did last year and wear your Rainier hat.