Crystal Ballroom - Historic Music Venue located in Portland, Oregon

McMenamins

Crystal Ballroom

Where On Any Night, Anything Can Happen!!

Box Office Info

Box Office Hours

2pm on concert days

Call the Box Office

1-855-CAS-TIXX

Email the Box Office

boxoffice@mcmenamins.com

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Full Event Calendar

Upcoming Shows

Hanabie

Thursday, May 30

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SABERTOOTH 2024, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Black Mountain

Friday, May 31

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SABERTOOTH 2024, Elder, Blackwater Holylight

Saturday, June 1

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Kamasi Washington: Fearless Movement Tour

Sunday, June 2

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Taking Back Sunday

Tuesday, June 4

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PVRIS

Wednesday, June 5

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Buckethead

Thursday, June 6

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Madison Beer

Friday, June 7

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Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls

Saturday, June 8

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Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton

Friday, June 14

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Jacquie Roar

Saturday, June 15

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Iron & WIne, Light Verse 2024 Tour

Friday, June 21

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Iron & WIne, Light Verse 2024 Tour

Saturday, June 22

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Portland Craft Beer PRIDE Week, Closing Party presented by McMenamins Crystal Ballroom

Sunday, June 23

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Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey

Wednesday, June 26

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Shinyribs

Friday, June 28

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Nite Wave's 80s Party with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's, Featuring: Nite Wave (80's New Wave) (Nitewaveparty.com)

Saturday, June 29

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Drive-By Truckers

Monday, July 1

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Common Girl and Twistur Tour Kick off show

Friday, July 5

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The Church, The Afghan Whigs

Saturday, July 6

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Red Fang

Friday, July 12

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Lucky Daye

Saturday, July 13

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Rise - Pride Weekend Kickoff Party, with DJ Dawna Montell (resident @ The Abbey West Hollywood)

Friday, July 19

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ASCENSION

Saturday, July 20

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Pride T-Dance , with DJ Josh Peace

Sunday, July 21

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The Red Clay Strays

Thursday, July 25

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The Aquabats!

Tuesday, July 30

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Tinariwen

Saturday, August 10

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Streetlight Manifesto

Sunday, August 25

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Me First & The Gimme Gimmes

Monday, September 2

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OSEES

Thursday, September 5

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Pub Choir

Friday, September 6

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Passenger

Monday, September 9

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Jazmin Bean

Tuesday, September 10

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Chinese Fountain 10th Anniv Show, Brooks Nielsen

Saturday, September 14

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Everclear

Sunday, September 15

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Nate Smith

Thursday, September 19

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Tori Kelly

Friday, September 20

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L’IMPÉRATRICE

Saturday, September 21

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Johnny Marr, James

Sunday, September 22

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Peter Hook & The Light

Thursday, September 26

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Cornelius

Friday, September 27

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Santigold

Thursday, October 3

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Griff

Friday, October 4

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Lamp- Future Behind Me Tour

Saturday, October 5

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Marky Ramone

Wednesday, October 9

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The Sisters Of Mercy

Friday, October 11

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The Sisters Of Mercy

Saturday, October 12

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The Airborne Toxic Event

Sunday, October 13

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Lorna Shore

Monday, October 14

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The Dip

Wednesday, October 16

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Sleeping with Sirens

Thursday, October 17

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Marianas Trench

Saturday, October 19

Event Details On sale 5/31

ROYEL OTIS

Sunday, October 20

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Alec Benjamin, 12 Notes Tour

Tuesday, October 22

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Erotic Ball 2024

Saturday, October 26

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DAYSEEKER

Sunday, October 27

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The Lox

Sunday, November 10

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Palace

Wednesday, March 26

Event Details On sale 5/31

Crystal Ballroom

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Crystal Facts

Opened in 1914 as Cotillion Hall, the dance hall was rechristened in 1950 as the Crystal Ballroom. It wasn’t until 1997 that McMenamins took stewardship of the legendary building.
After being shut down by the city in 1968 due to “code violations,” the Crystal was dark for nearly 30 years, despite failed attempts to revive it. Then, in 1997, McMenamins Crystal Ballroom was born.
Heard about the Crystal’s “famous floating dance floor”? It's ball bearing and rocker design, first patented in 1905 by Charles R. Hunt, brought a whole new sensation to Portland dancing.
An early 1900s guest said of the dance hall’s floating floor that it made “a good dancer out of a bad one.” Another recalled that it made dancing “almost effortless.”
The Crystal’s famous “floating” dance floor’s bounce factor could originally be adjusted using a racheted gear. Appropriate to each dance, the floor could be made rigid or wide open.
The Crystal is said to have a strong “sense of place,” a phenomenon defined as an energy that affects the quality of the experience and its outcomes for the group that is gathered within.
Just a few of the performers who have graced the Crystal stage: Ike & Tina Turner, the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, James Brown, Wilco, B.B. King, Sleater-Kinney, Motorhead -- and the list goes on….
The Crystal’s vibrant energy attracted Mike McMenamin for years. After its purchase, Mike said, “It’s one of those places that deserves to live forever [but] we just have custody for awhile.”
During the 1950s, the Crystal might have hosted a high-society old-time dance, a sorority pajama party, a Gypsy wake, and James Brown, all in one week.
Gary Ewing was the Crystal’s legendary light show artist in the late ‘60s, filling the space with transcendent color and images in “harmonic totality” with the music.
“My ambition is to fill a volume, that is a ballroom, with color the way a glass is filled with water. The people would be dancing in color, covered with color.” – Gary Ewing, light show artist, 1967
The building’s first owner, Montrose Ringler, is credited with bringing the new-fangled sport of “basketball” to Portland.
During the Grateful Dead’s 1968 set at the Crystal, the power cut out mid-song. Strangely, that track is the one that ended up on Anthem of the Sun, one of Rolling Stone’s “500 greatest albums.”
Early 1910s reformers (including Lola Baldwin, namesake of Lola’s Room) sought to curb the vices of dancing and drinking. Headlines included DANCEHALL HELD EVIL and HUGGING BARRED AT PUBLIC DANCES.
Portland’s Lola Baldwin, the nation’s first policewoman, sought to curb the evils of dancing, drinking and loose morals in the 1910s. Naturally, we named a bar for her. Raise a glass at Lola’s Room.
At one 1967 show at the Crystal, guests saw The Warlocks, Mr. Lucky & The Gamblers and The Weeds before headliners Buffalo Springfield. Ticket cost? $2.25 for a single, $4 for a couple.
In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, colorful Gypsy wakes were held at the Crystal as part of that populations’ funereal traditions, complete with food, beer, music, dancing and more.
One long-running rumor is that, during a Crystal show in 1965, Little Richard fired his guitarist in a fit of pique and ego. That guitarist, it is said, was none other than Jimi Hendrix.

True Story. Be Part of it!

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