Whenever you ’re stroll the Pearl , Division St , or the perpetually under - construction Williams Ave , stop for a moment and listen carefully . You may discover shadowy sobs and sniffle or muffled wailing coming from a nearby bungalow . That ’s someone who ’s lived in the Old Portland of the ‘ 90s , and ca n’t help but be overcome with nostalgia about a city they once know , a grungier Northwest town that never wanted fame or splendor or their beloved quirks to be showcased in a nationally renowned sketch comedy TV show . We do n’t blame them for their sorrow . In fact , we ’d like to hook their heart by reminding them of the Old Portland keepsake that have resist all the alteration . We’ve already covered the dive bars . Now it ’s prison term to get even grittier for the relic of “ Old Portland . ” possibly go to a dive bar before the porn theater though .
Music Millennium
LaurelhurstAny record store that is still around in today ’s melodious climate of subscription streaming services is suitable of congratulations . How this 47 - year - former shop – whose sidekick in the NW is now a eatery – has continued to stay relevant to its customers is perhaps a mystery , but two affair that keep us move back are the eclectic selection and , mostly , the free in - shop performance from both local musicians and bands on the road . Take our advice and bookmark Music Millennium ’s events page . You never know who might be passing through for an uncommonly familiar show .
Movie Madness
SunnysideEven more than medicine computer storage , telecasting renting shops have choke the way of the VHS , but Movie Madness lives on as a true movie - lover dream , bringing us everything from new releases to out - of - mark nontextual matter picture to hard - to - get genres … sometimes on VHS ( those require a big deposit ) . Add to that the all-embracing collection of memorabilia – collectibles like aYoung Frankensteincostume and theFight Clubsoap – and Madness is more of a film library and museum than a memory board
Sinferno Cabaret at Dante’s
DowntownDante ’s in and of itself has become an icon of the weird , the demented , the debauched , and the gifted . And Sinferno Cabaret , the Sunday dark consequence that every Portlander must see , is a strident gothic variety show and sickeningly scintillating strip bug complete with fire and cage dancers . Sinferno is frightening , unapologetic , aphrodisiac , and absolutely not for the faint of essence – that ’s what make it such an avatar of this town ’s undercurrent , and a rite of enactment for all Portlanders .
Darcelle XV Showplace
Old TownDarcelle and Co have been entertaining Portlanders with their semi - every night comedic drag show for decades . This is a springy dinner party performance that , initially , will make your heteronormative friends squirm in their seats , but once they ’ve settle into the experienced hand of Darcelle , they ’ll be laugh merrily , and by the ending they just might be slip singles in the garter on a unusual man ’s haired leg . Here ’s to hoping that a new luxury apartment edifice will never take over this longtime icon of Portland ’s open - mindedness for all thingsscantily clad on stage .
Tin House Books and Literary Magazine
NorthwestJust before the start of the millennium , Tin House , whose headquarters is a revamped artificer home base , launched its first subject of refreshingly daring fiction and essays . The magazine , from the content to the eye - catching designing , promised that Portland would further establish itself as a literary hub . Now , after the addition of sought - after hebdomad - farsighted writers ’ seminars and Tin House Books , this publication house is an indie giant that will hopefully represent our townspeople well for another few decades and beyond .
Red Light Clothing Exchange
HawthorneOne of the defining characteristic of Hawthorne is the thrift shops – racks of pre - loved clothing one can compile into fetid outfit that might span multiple 10 of manner stylus . But these gems have been give fashion to boutiques where a T - shirt costs more than three getup and a pair of snakeskin boots at Red Light Clothing Exchange . This talkative space is especially bustling the week before Halloween , when outrageous old hat , cane , white gloves , furry boas , army fatigue , sailor causa , sequined vests , and anything else that might complete your costume personal credit line the walls .
Oregon Theater
Clinton / DivisionEven the unnerving military group that have utterly transformed Division St in the retiring few days will not be able to take down the Oregon Theater . Why ? Because every ‘ bonnet needs an unnoted pornography theater ( the foretoken above has since been gutted ) . Just two blocks up from the retentive line at Salt & Straw , you might see a halfway - cured human being seem from behind black - out doors in a bit of a daze , shirt untucked , squinting his eyes against the harsh streetlights . He correspond his scout . Is it dusk or dawn ? Eh , what ’s the difference , either way he ’s going home to finish what he started .
Sunlan Lighting
MississippiWhy , of course one of the old surviving businesses in one of the most rapidly evolve neighborhoods in Oregon is a place that sells faint bulbs . LED bulb ! Edison bulbs ! Black lights ! You name it , Sunlan has it , offer up up proof that Portland is a city that flourish on stores that sell one very specific thing ( across the street ? A synthesiser computer storage ! ) . The place is like a museum that draws world like moths . And there ’s often a LEGO display in the windowpane , too . Just for good , well - light measuring rod .
Fairley’s Pharmacy
RoselandSince 1913 , from its unmatched triangular construction on Sandy , Fairley ’s has provided prescription drugs and a family gather place for coffee , malt , and soda out of an honest-to-goodness - clip soda fountain . You might discover a few varlet spooning the last flake of chocolate shake from a blade cupful and joking with the apron - clothe proprietor like they ’ve sleep with each other all their lives . And then you suddenly feel Einstein ’s gravitative moving ridge and realize you ’re in a 1950s Midwestern town straight out of a picture . Do n’t be scared , just take a seat and grade a banana phosphate soda .
Independent Publishing Resource Center
Hosford - AbernathyThis metropolis has long been a champion of both literary and maker movements , and the IPRC fuse the two to make a welcoming and accessible quad for bud writer and publishers to acquire resources that are otherwise too expensive or simply unavailable . Through classes on both bookmaking and the craft of penning , conduct by notable local talents , tyro writer can transform scribblings in a notepad into dressed essays and story in a bind book . Are you ready to write that novel about the heartless transformation of a once - sleepy townsfolk by unobserved corporate interests ? come out at the IPRC .
The Clinton Street Theater
Clinton / DivisionPortland ’s not hurting forindie beer theaters , lord know , but the Clinton ’s its own monkey , a 100 - year - old landmark that just might contain the most gloriously schizoid programming in Ithiel Town . It ’s anchored by weeklyRocky Horrorevents – the longest continuously runningRockyevent in the land – but after that , anything sound . Maybe you ’ll watchBlade Runneror rove in for the annual Christmas cover ofThe Big Lebowski(robes included ) . Maybe it ’s a malarky documentary , or a vampire film fest , or a hugger-mugger debut of some crazy - keister newfangled movie that has n’t even rack up theaters . And if you still ca n’t find something you like , well , you could rent it and show anything you require .
Oaks Amusement Park
SellwoodContrary to what your neighbor who moved here from Minnesota in 1989 might have you consider via his " stop demolishing Portland " posts on Nextdoor.com , therewasa Portland before he moved here . And it was n’t all strip show clubs and touchwood rock . Since 1905 , Oaks Park has been a landmark of unembarrassed , childlike playfulness , with rickety rides and an air of innocence we incline to forget about when we talk about previous - schooltime Portland institutions . But if youmustprescribe some of that Portland stereotype , there ’s really nothing quite so ironic and old - Portlandy than going to the skating rink and dissemble not to have fun .
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Flickr/Jeff Muceus
Music Millennium
Flickr/a.z. chandler
Darvelle XV
Tin House Books
Red Light Clothing Exchange
Flickr/Todd Mecklem
Sunlan Lighting
Dan Schlegel/Thrillist
Courtesy of the Clinton Street Theater
Flickr/Adrian Black