At first glance, a festival that is blatantly branded and named after its corporate parent seems ripe for protest by the cool, socially liberated kids. But Pabst Blue Ribbon holds a special place in the heart of anyone who has ever spent late nights in a dive bar smoking butts and pounding the cheap lager, gone on a group bike ride, or partied by the river. As a brand, it is widely loved enough to transcend its corporate status and even throw itself a music festival in its honor. And Project Pabst, which returned to Portland, Oregon’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park July 26-27 this year, is a genuinely cool music festival. Sure, branding is everywhere, from Pabst-themed corn hole and artwork to an on-site dive bar filled with memorabilia. But the beers are cheap (a major rarity at any music festival), the food vendors are local, the lineup is killer, and entry is restricted to 21+, making it one of the few truly adult festivals. These factors have transformed it into something of a Pacific Northwest destination festival, ranking among the summer’s best offerings.
All of this brilliant marketing was enough to draw the dive bar crowds into the sunshine in downtown Portland to party for two days. Between a new generation of rock and rollers, indie favorites, and legendary punks, these are the acts that shone at this year’s Project Pabst:
The Chats
Nothing jolts your attention on a lazy afternoon like a healthy dose of punk rock, and that is exactly what Aussie sensations The Chats did. As the relentlessly tight power trio railed through a set of punchy, bass-laden punk that included songs like “Baby” (fact check), the swaggering guitar rock of “Half-assed,” and the hard-charging, mosh-inducing barroom punk anthem “GTR,” cans of PBR sailed through the air as a sort of affirmation that these young guns know how to stir up a riotous good time.
Mannequin Pussy
If Sunday was more about indie rock and pop, Saturday was for the punks with various iterations of the genre. One of the more interesting sets came from Mannequin Pussy, who smashed together post-punk, hardcore, shoegaze, and grunge to make for something that carried enough familiarity to pull the audience in and enough uniqueness to hold their attention. Onstage at Pabst, the band’s front woman, Marisa “Missy” Dabice, stayed true to her reputation for being brash and charismatic as she led the band through songs like “Sometimes,’ “Everything,” and “Cream.” Throughout the hour-long set, Dabice strutted across the stage while railing against conservative values and various other social issues in a seductive voice. She contrasted these moments by leaning into more ferocious vocals on songs like the crowd-pleasing anthem “Loud Bark” while songs like “Aching” pulsated with hardcore energy and bassist Colins “Bear” Regisford had his moment in the spotlight when he took lead vocals on “Pigs Is Pigs.” While the amount of between-song banter eventually made you start to question if Mannequin Pussy could actually fill their time slot with music, their set was one of the strongest of the weekend.
Devo
The ground-breaking synth-punk wizards from Ohio have been on a 50th anniversary victory lap for well over a year now. Somehow, Devo seems to only gain popularity as new generations discover their spunky tunes. This was evident by the wide range in ages that packed in to catch their Saturday night set, which mostly stuck to their greatest hits while proving why they remain such an enduring force. Songs like the one-two punch of “Girl U Want” and “Whip It” were as catchy as ever with their rollicking synths and Mark Mothersbaugh’s commanding vocals, while it was both thrilling and humous to see the band members don their signature yellow jumpsuits for their take on the Rolling Stones classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that stood out for its jagged, angular guitar playing, wild vocal interplay, and robot moves. Following a “Secret Agent Man,” Devo steered the spaceship into some of their most potent hits with “Uncontrollable Urge” (complete with Mothersbaugh tearing apart the jumpsuits of him and his bandmates before throwing pieces into the crowd), “Mongoloid,” and “Jocko Homo.” Even with most of the band in their 70s, Devo sounded timeless and energetic as they closed out with a near-perfect combo of “Freedom of Choice” and “Beautiful World” that seemed to speak to staying resilient during our current political uncertainty.
Iggy Pop
The recent passing of Ozzy Osbourne served as a powerful reminder to go see legends while you still can. Well, Iggy Pop has now outlived Ozzy by two years, and at the age of 78, the perpetually shirtless and aged-like-fine-leather rocker still knows how to put on one hell of a show. Pop’s headlining set saw the crowd packing it in – dangerously so in some places – to get a glimpse of the same manic magic he has been serving up for five decades. Pop was backed by a gang of young guns that included a horn section to inject his classic solo and Stooges work with extra pizazz and transcend the raw grit that influenced punks for years to come. Opening with the Stooges’ “T.V. Eye” and “Raw Power,” Pop wasted no time in getting down to business as he ripped off his vest and started gyrating to the music. Whereas songs like “I Got a Right” and “Gimme Danger” may have lacked the potency of Pop’s more youthful years, his voice was strong, and his aura was enough to win over the entire audience. Glammed out solo work like “The Passenger” and “Lust for Life” had many singing along, and Pop reminded them why he is still a top showman when he climbed into the crowd for a version of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” loaded with psyched out guitar blasts. Throughout his ninety-minute set, Pop rarely let up as he plowed through beloved favorites as well as a few new tunes. By the time he closed out with the synth-heavy “Punkrocker,” playing it for the first time ever, and keeping the audience in the palm of his hand the whole damn time.
Built to Spill
Few acts are as reliably good as Built to Spill. Over the course of more than thirty years, frontman Doug Martsch has reshuffled the lineup numerous times. For the past five or so years, the Boise indie stalwarts have played as a lean trio with Melanie Radford and Teresa Esguerra holding up the rhythm section on bass and drums. Their Sunday evening set at Pabst provided more evidence that this iteration of Built to Spill is among the strongest to date. Martsch and co. floated through songs from across the Built to Spill catalog, giving a stretched-out treatment to songs like “Fool’s Gold,” “Goin’ Against Your Grain,” and “Distopian Dream Girl.” With no other guitars to blend with, Martsch was able to showcase his talent as one of indie rock’s most underrated players as he stepped into the spotlight with frequent solos and jams. He was propelled by the powerful backbone of Radford and Esguerra, who injected enough power into songs like “The Plan” and the urgent folk-rock of “Carry the Zero” to connect with every member of the crowd. Even casual fans couldn’t help but be pulled in by the balance of incredible songwriting, unmistakable vocals, and musicianship on display.
Japanese Breakfast
One of this writer’s favorite acts of the weekend was Japanese Breakfast, who was also one of the poppiest acts on the bill. Playing on a stage adorned with a giant seashell and under-the-sea decorations, Michelle Zauner led her musically gifted band mates through a wide-ranging set swirling with stunning textures and emotional high points. While Japanese Breakfast has rarely, if ever, released a lackluster studio album, their Pabst set was a reminder of how much they shimmer in the live setting. On songs like “Honey Water,” “Heft,” and “The Body Is A Blade,” they flowed from moody shoegaze to vibey synth-pop. Slower fare like “Men in Bars” was contrasted with more danceable tunes like “Picture Window” and “Slide Tackle.” Zauner charmed the audience with her tales of coming to Portland to catch formative shows like Death Cab for Cutie and Built to Spill, whose sets she was sandwiched between, and owned the stage whether she was shredding her guitar or singing from atop her clam shell. Her band provided a dazzling array of beautiful sounds, layering in strings, horns, synth, and sharply complex guitar lines to accentuate the sweeping beauty of the music.
All photos by Greg Homolka
