Live Music: Who to go see and hear in Portland outdoor concerts in 2023

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, June 21, 2023

It’s summer outdoor concert season, and free and ticketed concerts abound in Portland Parks and venues from Forest Grove to Ridgefield, Washington to Bend.

Here are listings for outdoor concerts that you might want to check out:

Waterfront Blues Festival

The huge festival takes place at Waterfront Park, July 1-4, with the likes of Los Lonely Boys, JJ Grey & Mofro, Amythyst Kiah on July 1; Corey Wong, Shemekia Copeland (with Ruthie Foster) on July 2; Buddy Guy, Neal Francis, Celisse on July 3; The Mavericks on July 4.

Among local acts: July 1, Mel Brown; July 2, LaRhonda Steele; July 3, Norman Sylvester, Terry Robb, Tevis Hodge Jr., Ural Thomas and The Pain; July 4, Curtis Salgado.

For complete info, see waterfrontbluesfest.com.

Concerts in the Park

Portland Parks and Recreation’s “Summer Free For All” includes free concerts in city parks (evening shows unless noted); see portlandoregon.gov for complete info.

July 8-9 East Portland Summer Arts Festival, Ventura Park (PJ Morton, July 9)

July 13 Bloco Alegria, Mt. Tabor Amphitheater

July 14 Ben Fowler Quintet, Lincoln Park

July 15 Conjunto Alegre Latin Band, Sellwood Park

July 19 Micah and Me, Gateway Discovery Park (11:30 a.m.)

July 21 Arietta Ward, McCoy Park

July 26 Olive and Dingo, Gateway Discovery Park (3 p.m.)

July 28 Rae Gordon, Khunamokwst Park

July 29 Pa’lante, Alberta Park

July 30 We Outside, Luuwit View Park

Aug. 2 DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid, Gateway Discovery Park (11:30 a.m.)

Aug. 3 The Bayou Boyz, Essex Park

Aug. 5 Donna Jones and the Delegation, Gilbert Heights Park

Aug. 5 Iron Prophecy, Kenton Park

Aug. 12 Washington Park Summer Festival, Portland Cello Project

Aug. 13 Washington Park Summer Festival, Opera in the Park

Aug. 17 Jujuba, Alberta Park

Aug. 18 Aaron Nigel Smith, Pendleton Park

Aug. 19 A Cara O Cruz Band, Wilkes Park

Aug. 24 Mo Philips and the Spaghetti Pants Dance Band, Irving Park

Aug. 25 Outer Orbit, Denorval Unthank Park

Aug. 26 Community Day at Rose City Golf Course (BridgeCity Soul)

Aug. 27 Providence Stage Band, Laurelhurst Park

Aug. 31 Medicine Robe, Woodstock Park

Noon Tunes

Free noon Tuesday concerts at Pioneer Courthouse Square; see thesquarepdx.org.

June 13 The AM (Acoustic Minds)

June 20 Veteran Cosmic Rockers

June 27 Boka Marimba

July 11 JT Wise Band

July 18 John Nilsen & Swimfish

July 25 Katalysst

PDX Live

The second-year concert series, with evening shows, will be held at Portland Courthouse Square; see pdx-live.com.

Aug. 9 The Mountain Goats, Blitzen Trapper

Aug. 10 beabadoobee

Aug. 11 Explosions in the Sky

Aug. 12 Descendents, Dillinger Four, Mean Jeans

Aug. 13 Alex G, Black Belt Eagle Scout

Aug. 15 Patti Smith and Her Band

Aug. 16 Tegan and Sara, Mae Martin, Deep Sea Diver

Aug. 17 Greensky Bluegrass, The Wood Brothers

Aug. 19 Japanese Breakfast, Built to Spill

Aug. 22 The Flaming Lips (sold out)

Aug. 24 Fleet Foxes, Uwade

Street fairs

Portland street fairs feature live music; please check the websites for updated information.

Alberta Street Fair, June 11, Northeast Alberta/13th-15th, instagram.com/celebratepdx

Foster Summer Soire, June 24, Southeast Foster/50th-72nd, fosterarea.com

Mississippi Street Fair, July 15, North Mississippi/Fremont to Skidmore, mississippiave.org

Montavilla Street Fair, July 30, Southeast Stark/76th-82nd, metba.org

Fremont Fest, Aug. 5, Northeast Fremont/40th Avenue, bbapdx.org

Multnomah Days, Aug. 19, Southwest 35th Avenue, multnomahvillage.org

Lents Cultural Fair, Aug. 20, Southeast Foster/89th, facebook.com/lentsfair

Hawthorne Street Fair, Aug. 27, Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, hawthorneblvd.com

Kenton Street Fair, Aug. 27, North Denver Avenue, facebook.com/kentonstreetfair

Belmont Street Fair, Sept. 9, Southeast 33rd-39th, belmontdistrict.org

Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo features some concerts throughout the summer, called Zoo Nights, starting at 6:30 p.m.; see oregonzoo.org/zoo-nights for info.

June 16 Grupo Masato

June 23 Robert Henry

June 30 Jackstraw

July 7 Pa’lante

July 14 DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid

July 21 Hit Machine

July 28 Too Loose Cajun Band

Aug. 4 Ural Thomas and the Pain

Aug. 11 Garcia Birthday Band

Aug. 18 Jujuba

McMenamins Edgefield

The McMenamins Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn series in Troutdale continue through the summer, with tickets remaining to many shows (see below) and evening start times See edgefieldconcerts.com for info and tickets.

June 17 Barenaked Ladies

June 20 Diana Ross

June 27 Louis Tomlinson

July 13 Jason Mraz and His Superband

July 21 Portugal The Man

July 22 Goth Babe

July 28 Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Ziggy Marley

July 29 The String Cheese Incident

Aug. 4 Big Thief, Lucinda Williams

Aug. 10 Peter Frampton

Aug. 12 Young the Giant, Milky Chance

Aug. 15 My Morning Jacket, M. Ward

Aug. 17-18 Maggie Rogers

Aug. 20 Gregory Alan Isakov

Aug. 24 Sylvan Esso

Sept. 2 The Revivalists

Sept. 12-13 Modest Mouse, Pixies

Sept. 14 Jungle

Sept. 28 Thundercat

McMenamins Grand Lodge

A second-year concert series, Concerts in the Grove, will be held in Forest Grove. Concerts below still have tickets (evening shows). For more: grandlodgeconcerts.com.

June 7 Rodrigo y Gabriela

June 15 Bryson Tiller

June 22 Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, Leftover Salmon

July 15 Lyle Lovett

July 29 John Craigie

Aug. 2 Rain — A Tribute to the Beatles

Aug. 4 Australian Pink Floyd

Aug. 7 The Front Bottoms

Aug. 8 Michael Franti, Spearhead

Aug. 25 Pink Martini

Sept. 19 Herbie Hancock

Sept. 27 Local Natives

RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater

It’s a short drive to the venue in Ridgefield, Washington, and it usually attracts top acts (evening shows). See livenation.com for info and tickets.

June 9 Peso Pluma

June 23 Logic

July 1 Nickelback

July 7 Hank Williams Jr.

July 8 Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Too $hort

July 15 Disturbed

July 20 Luke Bryan

July 22 Tears for Fears

Aug. 23 Mudvayne

Aug. 30 Lil Durk

Sept. 1 Lindsey Stirling

Sept. 2 Janelle Monae

Sept. 6 50 Cent

Sept. 8 Eric Church

Sept. 14 Pentatonix

Sept. 19 Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper

Sept. 22 Jason Aldean

Sept. 27 The All-American Rejects

Sept. 29 Three Days Grace, Chevelle

Music on Main

The free shows are held from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday evenings at Southwest Main Street, next to Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (between Broadway and Park). More: portland5.com.

July 12 Pa’lante

July 19 Bikini Drone

July 26 She’s Speaking

Aug. 2 BridgeCity Soul

Aug. 9 MAARQUII

Aug. 16 Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters

Aug. 23 Glass of Hearts

Aug. 30 Freddy Trujillo

This and that

• If you’re up for a road trip, you won’t be disappointed with the impressive lineup at Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend. Check out the lineup at BendConcerts.com.
• The Gresham Arts Plaza Music Mondays summer concerts start July 3 with Dustin and Andrea Rose (5:30 p.m) and Remedy (6:30 p.m.). The rest of the lineup (all Mondays, starting at 5:30 p.m.): Trent Beaver, JT and the Mudbugs, July 10; Tridium, Boondock Boys, July 17: Christopher Kern, Rhythm Culture, July 24; JT Wise, Johnny Wheels & the Swamp Donkeys, July 31; Lisa James, Super Soul Heroes, Aug. 7; Under The Deku Tree, The Bylines, Aug. 14; Ballet Folklorico, A Cara O Cruz, Aug. 21; Timothy James, Norman Sylvester, Aug. 28. In addition, Gresham’s Music in the Parks at 6:30 p.m. on upcoming Wednesdays features Oregon Symphonic Band (July 12, Nadaka Nature Park), Kenney Polson (July 26, Bella Vista Park), A Cara O Cruz (Vance Park, Aug. 9) and Bodacios (Butler Creek Park, Aug. 23). More: greshamcenterforthearts.org.

• The Clackamas County Fairgrounds and Events Center in Canby is hosting some concerts: June 30, Social Distortion (update: canceled); July 1, Indigo Girls with Niko Case; July 2, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit with Deer Tick. More: clackamascountyfair.com/calendar.

• Many tribute bands — 23 on these stages — make up the lineup at Harefest, July 13-15, at Clackamas County Fairgrounds and Event Center, Canby. More: harefest.com.

• The Cathedral Park Jazz Festival takes place in a scenic setting under the historic St. Johns Bridge, July 14-16. More: jazzoregon.com.

• The Northwest World Reggae Festival has been moved to McKinnon Airpark at Bull Run, east of Sandy, July 21-22. More: nwwrf.org.

• The Craft Beer and Wine Festival will be held July 28-30 at Esther Short Park in Vancouver, Washington, and it’ll feature a couple well-down rock bands, of all people. Quiet Riot and Great White will be playing at the festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary. Curtis Salgado and Johnny Wheels & The Swamp Donkeys will also perform. More: thecraftwinefest.com.

• The Clark County Fair includes Trace Adkins (Aug. 4), George Thorogood and The Destroyers (Aug. 5), Blue Oyster Cult (Aug. 6), Locash (Aug. 7). More: clarkcofair.org.

• The Washington Park Summer Festival is at the Rose Garden Amphitheater, 410 S.W. Kingston Ave., with the following acts (each at 6 p.m.): Aug. 11, NW Dance Project; Aug. 12, Portland Cello Project; Aug. 13, Opera in the Park. The park also hosts jazz concerts each Monday at 6 p.m. More: portlandoregon.gov.

• The famous Pickathon takes place Aug. 3-6 at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley. More: pickathon.com.

• Across the Columbia River, the Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival features plenty of music, Aug. 25-27 at Esther Short Park in Vancouver, Wash. More: vancouverwinejazz.com.

• The Oregon State Fair, Aug. 25-Sept. 2, has set its Umpqua Bank Concert Series lineup: Friday, Aug. 25, Bush; Monday, Aug. 28, Justin Moore; Tuesday, Aug. 29, The Beach Boys; Wednesday, Aug. 30, Skillet; Thursday, Aug. 31, “I Love the 90s” with Vanilla Ice, Rob Base, Color Me Badd, Tone Loc and Young MC; Friday, Sept. 1, X Ambassadors, Typhoon; Saturday, Sept. 2, Elle King; Monday, Sept. 4, Chris Janson. More: oregonstatefair.org.

• Montavilla Jazz Festival has a stellar lineup for its 10th annual festival with concerts at Alberta Rose Theatre, The 1905, Mt. Tabor Park and elsewhere, Sept. 1-3. The musicians include Darrell Grant, Billy Childs, Alan Jones, Tivon Pennicott and Kevin Hays, and much more. More: montavillajazz.org.

• SoundsTruck NW Inaugural Summer Series: Sunday, June 18, 4 p.m., Cathedral Park, Celebrating Nostalgia in North Portland with jazz pianist and composer Charlie Brown III and Lo Steele opening for indie alt-folk duo Faith and Majesty; Wednesday, July 5, 7 p.m., Portland Japanese Garden, the Japanese-French Connection with Amelia Lukas, collaborative pianist Yoko Greeney, percussionist Stephen Kehner, and composer Andy Akiho; Sunday, Aug. 20, 1 p.m., Mount Tabor, Mount Immigration, Joe Kye, trombonist and composer Denzel Mendoza bassist Matthew Holmes; Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m., Lewis & Clark College, Northwest Legacies: Tomas Svoboda’s music from the Palatine Piano Trio: violinist Inés Voglar Belgique, cellist and composer Nancy Ives, and pianist Susan DeWitt Smith. More: soundstrucknw.org/summer-series.

Vancouver concerts

Waterfront Park Concert Series, 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, Vancouver Waterfront Park: July 6, Curtis Salgado; July 13, Aaron Meyer; July 20, Bobby Torres Ensemble; July 27, The Juleps; Aug. 3, Norman Sylvester; Aug. 10, Sabroso.

Sunday Sounds Concert Series, 6 p.m. Columbia Tech Center Park: July 9, Prom Date Mixup; July 16, Petty Fever; July 23, Kalimba the Spirit of Earth, Wind & Fire; July 30, Roll On; Aug. 6, Dancehall Days; Aug. 13, Stayin’ Alive.

More: cityofvancouver.us.

Rose Quarter

And, although they are inside, check out some of the following events at the Moda Center or Veterans Memorial Coliseum through September:

June 20, Janet Jackson; July 25, Paramore; Aug. 2, Bryan Adams; Aug. 5, Greta Van Fleet; Aug. 8, NF; Aug. 19, Marca MP; Aug. 25, Sam Smith; Sept. 2, Maluma; Sept. 23, Banda MS; Sept. 24, Arctic Monkeys; Sept. 26, Sting; Sept. 29-30, Billy Strings.

More: rosequarter.com.