After a 7 Year Hiatus, Project Pabst Rocked Downtown Portland’s Waterfront

This past weekend Project Pabst made its triumphant return to Portland’s waterfront. The once annual festival returned for two days of live music and a beer that’s been proudly displaying its Blue Ribbon award for well over a century!

A few decades ago Pabst Blue Ribbon received a cult following here in Portland to lead a revitalization that spread across America. The brand saw an amazing uptick in sales with very little marketing efforts. And to honor this appreciation, Pabst began hosting a concert for us Portlanders beginning in 2014 at Zidell Yards. Then the final two years from 2016 – 2107 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Over the course of two music filled days, Pabst wrangled together a diverse lineup of musical talent across many genres. Billy Idol and T-Pain were Saturday’s headliners, while Sunday saw Big Thief and Denzel Curry. Saturday’s overall lineup brought the weekends largest crowd, as Sunday’s crowd was a bit more subdued. 

Though the festival is named after a beer brand, the big draws were the bands that Pabst curated. That’s not to say that we didn’t toss back a few Pabst Blue Ribbon beers!

And unlike most music festivals, the beers were much more wallet friendly. Tallboys of PBR were just $5, while a massive 24oz can set us back just $7.50! But it wasn’t just Pabst that was available as there was an offering from New Holland Brewing, El Jimador Cocktails, and a revamped lineup of Not Your Fathers Hard Soda. 

When curating this lineup, the musical talent crossed so many genres on each stage, Captain Pabst and Unicorn. It even brought in a handful of Portland based bands for a few of the early afternoon sets.

One band we were excited to see, Violent Femmes, has a long history with Pabst being that the bands from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area that the brewery called home for over a century. The Femmes performed all of the hits on the Captain Pabst Stage that brought back some great college memories. 

Violent Femmes’ bassist, Brian Ritchie, told its fans about how much Pabst they’ve consumed during their lifetime. We’re just glad to see that they’re still together after an internal lawsuit that nearly sidelined the band a few years back. 

But the biggest draw on Saturday was the headliner, Billy Idol. At 68 years old, he entered the stage shirtless under his customary leather jacket. He still has it and truly got the crowd moving as he and longtime collaborator, Steve Stevens, killed it on guitar! What a way to end a splendid Saturday! 

As mentioned earlier, Sundays crowd was a bit more chill, but as the day wore on the music really kicked things into high gear. Jeff Rosenstock led his band with some energetic punk that created a mosh pit up front. Even caught a few crowd surfers taking advantage of the crowd below. 

The two bands we were most excited to see on Sunday took place on the Captain Pabst Stage. Manchester Orchestra brought its atmospheric, lush sounds just as we entered the evening hours. 

Sunday’s headliner, Big Thief brought its Neil Young and Wilco infused rock n roll to close out the two day festival. It was our first time seeing this band led by Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek. The former married couple leads a band with two drummers, quite fitting as Adrianne Lenker wore a Grateful Dead tie dye shirt on stage. So glad we were able to catch Big Thief for the first time, it won’t be our last!

2024 Project Pabst Lineup:

Saturday 
Billy Idol
T-Pain
Violent Femmes
Gossip
STRFKR 
Shannon and The Clams
Dehd
La Luz
Home Front
Alien Boy

Sunday 
Big Thief 
Denzel Curry
Manchester Orchestra 
Jeff Rosenstock 
Soccer Mommy 
Militarize Gun
Kenny Mason 
Miya Folick 
Sweeping Promises  
Glitterfox

Here’s a photo recap from the 2024 Project Pabst….