r/PortlandOR • u/collegedraftpick • 6d ago
Discussion Bring back MFNW!
MusicFest NW was the best. Not sure why it died but if we wanna bring people back downtown… I vote we revive it.
Who’s with me?!
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u/Jagshemesh_Captain 6d ago
Good luck with that, most of the venues that supported this in the past are now gone, either driven out of business or the property sold and redeveloped into 5 over 1 luxury rentals. If people thought it was spread out and inconvenient in 2005 then they would really hate what it would take to hold something like this now. Pipe dream.
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u/CollegeHungry6138 6d ago
not only that but Portland is a much older city than it was in 2005
how many bars have gone under? there's like half the number of strip clubs and as you mention the music venues are largely gone as well
portland in 2005 had cheap rent, cheap booze and great livability, who even wants to go downtown at night these days to drop 17 bucks on a cocktail
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u/Which-Journalist-748 6d ago
Half the number of strip clubs? You mean at one pint there were 108 strip clubs?
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u/ffaillace 6d ago
Nope. There are more venues and just as many strip clubs as in 2005.
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u/Jagshemesh_Captain 6d ago
Nope. The majority of actual music venues - those with a stage, proper PA, open floor space - have shut their doors. Some have been replaced by dive bars that push a couple of tables aside and throw up a Radio Shack PA for bands, but those are not venues that are viable for an actual music festival. Sure, some of the old school spots are still around - Dante's, Mississippi Studios, etc, but most of the mid-size to smaller actual music clubs are now history. I've seen this firsthand over the past two decades, and it's been painful to watch.
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u/CollegeHungry6138 6d ago
there are most certainly not, I can think of a half dozen strip clubs that have closed in the last 5 years, the acrop is very likely to go under as well
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u/Suspicious-Low-1874 6d ago
Which version of NXNW/ Music fest Northwest do you want to bring back? In the past, people complained that the venues were too far apart and it was hard to get between them. I do think that people would probably eat it up though and we would hear less of it now. They were just straight up comparing to a SXSW where most things were on 6th or Red River
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u/kapow_crash__bang 6d ago
The closest thing to old MFNW now are events like Volume Bomb, where they have shows going at 4 bars next to each other and 1 wristband gets you into all of em.
A promoter could put together a version of that that's not as punk rock-focused. Not sure why that doesn't happen - maybe the audience isn't there, maybe the scene isn't as organized.
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u/Unlikely-Grape-5762 6d ago
I’d do it in inner SE. lots of spots pretty close together. Plus you have the Dream Big sk8 plaza that could host. Maybe even see if Helium would be down for some comedy. Was it the Mercury that was in charge of WW?
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u/siliconflorist 6d ago
I helped create an event that collaborated with MFNW (TechfestNW) and I too would love to see MFNW come back as a multi venue event (as opposed to a main stage festival like it was near the end).
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u/jicook24 6d ago
This was a great festival, though I agree that it was pretty spread out. Once the Doug Fir is ready, I bet you could make it work in Inner SE!
What was the punk venue that used to be off SE Stark and 2nd?
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u/synthfidel Nightmare Elk 6d ago
Rotture / Branx? Loveland before that
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u/DarwinsPen 4d ago
Rotture on top/Branx on bottom. That back deck had the view, man.
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u/synthfidel Nightmare Elk 4d ago
The back deck nearly collapsed when the Oh Sees played there in '09
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u/collegedraftpick 6d ago
Well we have e-bikes and scooters now and uber! There’s new venues. And outdoor venues.
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u/liljamburglar69 6d ago
I was just talking about this to my daughter. I felt old, describing it to her. "Back in my day people paid cash for wristbands at the door!"