Two Portland music rooms for a night of shows
A Portland pairing for live music, from an Old Town theater to a Southeast Powell Boulevard haunt.
📍 Two Portland music rooms
🎭 Star Theater, an Old Town stage
Star Theater sits in Old Town on Northwest Sixth Avenue, a former vaudeville and film house that now runs concerts and events across two levels. Regulars point to a balcony and main floor that keep sightlines close in a compact room, the kind of space that suits a mid-size touring bill. It works as the central, easy-to-reach start to a Portland music night, steps from the neighborhood's bars. It holds a 4.6 across 1,414 reviews at 13 Northwest Sixth Avenue.
🎸 The Showdown, a Southeast haunt
Across the river on Southeast Powell Boulevard, The Showdown is a smaller Portland music bar with a looser, later feel. The draw is a tight room where local acts and DJs share a close, no-fuss stage, a contrast to Old Town's bigger house. It reads as the second, more neighborhood-scale half of the pairing, deeper into Southeast Portland. It carries a 4.7 across 154 reviews at 1195 Southeast Powell Boulevard.
🧭 How the two connect
Put together, the night crosses from Old Town to Southeast Portland, two rooms on opposite sides of the river. Start at the Star for a fuller stage and a central spot, then head to the Showdown when you want something smaller and later. One is a restored old house, the other a neighborhood bar, and together they trace a Portland music night that spans the map without much effort.
