I’ll start with indoor venues:

Rose Garden Arena- The big Kahuna.  As far as arenas go, this one is wonderful.  I prefer the Theater of the Clouds setup, but when the whole place is packed and rockin’, it’s fantastic, and loud!

Crystal Ballroom- 1332 W. Burnside, Portland (503) 225-0047
Lovingly restored by the McMenamin brothers in 1997, this is a beautiful venue.  Plus, you can’t beat the bouncing dance floor!  Great food and beverages within the building.

The Aladdin Theater-3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. (at Powell) 503-233-1994 (schedule and tickets) 503-234-9694 (office)
Great little place for a show!  It seats 620, and features all kinds of amazing acts.  There’s a bar next door and they always have pretty great stuff to snack on in the lobby between acts.

Roseland Theater-8 NW 6th Ave., Portland, (503) 224-2038
Great sound at the Roseland.  This venue holds 1400 people in the main room and balcony.  You enter through the Roseland Grill, which also has a stage for the smaller shows.  Enjoy the wonderful photography in the Grill taken by my friend Fred Carneau at shows mostly shot in the Northwest.

Wonder Ballroom-128 NE Russell, Portland, OR 97212 (503) 284.8686
Restored in 2004, this historic building was once a meeting place for political and cultural groups (among other things). It holds about 750 people. There’s great food in the neighborhood within walking distance.  I also love the fact that they set up chairs on one side of the room, and leave the middle open for standing and dancing.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall- 1037 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205
It used to be the Portland Paramount before restoration in 1985, and was originally the Portland Public Theater when it was built in 1928.  It seats 2776, is beautiful, and hold a lot of memories for most Portland rockers.  Check out “Our Lady of the Lobby,” the beautiful alabaster sculpture.  At least that’s what I call her.  Great sound, host to the Oregon Symphony.

Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA)- 1111 SW Broadway, Right next door to the Schnitzer!
Occasionally there will be rock shows in this venue.  Great seating and sound.  Mostly it is used for theater.

Keller Auditorium-222 SW Clay (on the corner of Clay and 3rd Ave), Portland, OR 97201
Home of the Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theater, Broadway shows, and occasionally great rock shows.  It seats 2992, and has wonderful acoustics.

Berbati’s Pan-213 SW Ankeny, Portland, OR 97204
Family owned and operated, this venue has great food, full bar, and is a cool place to see a show.  Mostly standing room with some seating around the outer edges.

Doug Fir- 9th and East Burnside, Portland
Next door to the Jupiter Hotel…which is one of the coolest places to stay in the world.  They have condoms on the pillow instead of mints.  Nice touch.  The firepit area outside is like a tribal meeting place for young rockers.  It’s wonderful.  I fall beyond the demographics of this place on most nights, but I don’t care…this is my kind of place.  The food is great at the DF if you’re looking for comfort, and the drinks are yummy.

Hult Center-7th and Willamette, Eugene, Oregon
Great acoustics.  An amazing place to see a show.  It opened in 1982 and has hosted a variety of music, dance, art, and comedy through the years.  Not that far away, and worth the trip.  Located in downtown Eugene so there’s plenty of places to eat, shop, and stay near the venue.
Outdoor Venues:
The Amphitheater at Clark County-Ridgefield, Washington, 20 minutes north of Portland, off I-5
I love the fact that the seats are covered at this outdoor venue.  There is a lawn area where the ticket prices will be much lower than the seats, but it is not covered.  However, the lawn is a great place to be on a hot summer night.  The biggest problem here is the traffic out of the place after a show.  There’s a couple of ways to avoid this problem.  Buy the VIP package and your parking area gets released almost directly back onto the freeway, or fill your car with people, and print out the carpool pass for another special area that also gets released like the VIP lot.  Saves gas money too.  Not much around the venue for places to eat, so either plan on arena food or eat before you go.

Oregon Zoo-Just west of downtown on Highway 26, 503-226-1561
Each summer, the lawn at the Oregon Zoo becomes an outdoor concert venue, and you can watch the elephants swaying in rhythm to the music. Bring a picnic and a blanket. There’s also food & drink available to buy on site.  The only drawback that I’ve found in this venue is that it’s so laid back and has an atmosphere like a company picnic, so people tend to talk over the music that I’m trying to listen to.  Here’s a tip.  Go early and sit near the front if you want to hear the band.

McMenamin’s Edgefield-2126 S.W. Halsey Street, Troutdale, OR 97060
Once the site of the poor farm for the area, Edgefield is now a cool hotel with several restaurants and pubs, a winery, a distillery, a golf course, a movie theater, strolling gardens, and even a glass blowing studio. Concerts are held on the lawn outside the main building and every summer the line up gets better.  Great food and beverages on site.  Parking is pretty easy to deal with, and getting back on I-84 is simple.  Plan to stay after a show at least once.  The party lasts quite a while after the music stops, and breakfast at the Black Rabbit is amazing.

The Oregon Garden-879 W. Main Street, Silverton, Oregon, 503-874-8100
I love this place even when they don’t have music.  The gardens are spectacular.  The bowl area they have set up for music is fantastic and the way the sun moves around later in the day, you can count on mostly shade.  Which is nice.  They are building a hotel and spa on site, and I will report back on this when it’s complete, because I plan to stay there after a show next season.

L.B. Day Amphitheater-Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem
This venue used to have great bands playing there through all the good weather months.  Now you only see acts booked there during the fair, which is a shame.  It’s an easy venue to find, has great parking, and there’s not a bad seat in the house.  If you plan on going to see a show during the fair, make sure it’s at the L.B. Day, and not the Pavilion which is nothing more than a big metal shed meant for housing RV shows and things of that nature.  Seriously.

Maryhill Winery-9774 Highway 14, Goldendale, WA, 98620
They have built a permanent stage on the site now, and had a great line up this year for concerts.  I will admit, that I have not visited this place, but it looks like something I would enjoy.  The only tip I have for you on this one, is from a friend who said to remember it’s in the Columbia Gorge and the wind blows and weather can change quickly.  Bring a jacket.

Secret House Winery-88324 Vineyard Lane, Veneta, OR 97487,541-935-3774, 800-497-1574
According to Roger McGuinn, this is a beautiful venue and place to play.  Yes, he told me himself.  I love his music so I will believe everything he says about this place.  Also, Veneta is the annual site of The Oregon Country Fair, which makes me want to paint my face, slather on the patchouli, and have my aura or palm read.  Yes indeed, it’s as close to camping as I care to get.  Anyway, a place I need to check out.

Cuthbert Amphitheater-Located in Eugene, Oregon at the edge of Alton Baker Park near the University of Oregon’s Autzen Stadium.  This is abeautiful concert venue with a capacity of more than 4,000.  The Cuthbert features superb sound, beer gardens, and food booths.  I love this place.  I loved it even more when I lived just down the street.  Eugene isn’t that much of a road trip, and is certainly much closer than going to The Gorge…

The Gorge Amphitheater- 754 Silica Road NW, George, WA 98824
Will you think less of me because I have not been to the almighty Gorge Amphitheater?  Well, okay then.  I’m sorry, but I’m not going on a 5-6 hour ride to then watch a show and camp.  Nope, not me.  Amy the KGONsider did, and so did Shannon recently for the Petty show.  Marty went when the place first opened, and he had a motorhome and driver to go over for the Bob Dylan show.  Now that’s my idea of camping.  I’ve also had friends who took a helicopter into the place.  That works for me as well.  Otherwise, just link to the venue, or go and see for yourself what it’s like.

The Britt Festival- Jacksonville, Oregon
Okay, so this one is a road trip about the same length as going to The Gorge, but there’s hotels, and great food in the nicely restored and maintained gold rush town of Jacksonville, just outside of Medford, Oregon.  They start selling tickets for their Summer season in the spring, and they have all kinds of music and dance going on there.  It’s truly amazing how they book this place, and who shows up.  I went there to see a show, had no reservations but found a room at one of the local hotels, and walked to the show.  Perfect.  Also had some of the best bar-b-que ever in that town.  Since I was last there, they have a new stage that they use for some of the bigger shows and I’ve not seen it.  So I can only recommend the Britt Pavilion for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Did I miss some?  Please email me and let me know about the ones you know about that are new to me.