Northern Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance explores Oregan's capital, Portland, a city renowned for its sustainability efforts, and its unique take on art, food, and live music.
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00:00 My name's Foy Vance.
00:01 I'm a singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland,
00:03 and I've toured all over the world,
00:04 but there's one place where the music
00:06 keeps pulling me back for more, the USA.
00:09 So I'm on a journey to visit different cities
00:11 across the country to experience the best music,
00:14 food, and culture that's on offer.
00:16 This is Notes from the USA.
00:19 Today, I'm in Portland, Oregon,
00:24 a city well-known for its sustainability creds
00:27 and unique culture surrounding coffee, art, food,
00:30 and live music.
00:31 It's a major city with all the charms of a small town,
00:35 but I'm keen to understand why this city
00:37 and the country's Pacific Northwest
00:39 has become renowned for its alternative approach
00:41 to, well, everything.
00:43 Arriving into town, I'm ready to explore
00:46 Portland's alternative approach to music,
00:49 and for me, there's no better place to do this
00:51 than at Music Millennium in Portland's East Side,
00:54 a legendary live space and the oldest record store
00:57 in the Pacific Northwest.
00:59 Owner Terry Currier aims to continue the store's legacy.
01:02 This is the live room here, right?
01:04 That's the next-- - Yeah, we're gonna go
01:05 into the room where the live music happens.
01:08 We've done over 4,500 live performances.
01:11 We try to get a lot of developing artists
01:14 that are out there that are touring through in the store.
01:18 It's giving them an opportunity
01:20 so the younger audience could see them play.
01:23 Portland is a great place for live music.
01:26 The Aladdin Theater is a great 600 sit-down club.
01:30 Doug Furr down the street,
01:32 and Mississippi Studios holds about 250.
01:36 People that come to Portland, they're pretty open-minded.
01:40 I mean, the alternative sound in Portland
01:44 isn't the same from one band to another.
01:47 - The other word other than alternative,
01:49 an endy, that comes up is punk.
01:51 I grew up through the first wave of punk.
01:53 That was never a sign either.
01:54 It was an ethos.
01:55 It was a way of being.
01:57 It was a way of thinking.
01:58 - You'd have a country punk band.
02:02 You'd have a noise band.
02:04 You'd have bands that created big mosh pits out there.
02:10 Portland never really had a sound.
02:13 You just had a lot of people with open-minded ideas.
02:17 - Bands can have a sound, but the songs really matter.
02:21 - Amen.
02:22 - My stop at Music Millennium made me hungry
02:27 for some more live music,
02:28 and luckily in Portland, that's easy to find.
02:32 To learn more about the live music scene here,
02:34 I speak to those who are living it first-hand,
02:36 local punk band, Spoonbenders.
02:40 - What do you think it is that makes Portland a hotbed?
02:42 - Everybody knows everybody, and it's not genre-specific,
02:46 which makes for a better music scene.
02:49 You can come to Portland and have a really good time.
02:51 There's really good country, hardcore, psych, obviously.
02:56 Really cool noise.
02:57 Electronic bands are coming up.
02:59 - Pretty much find a show or something every single night.
03:01 - People are amazing here.
03:04 Everyone's really friendly, and they'll help you out,
03:07 and they'll tell you where to go,
03:08 and you just gotta go to the local shops,
03:11 talk to the local people, and support the local businesses.
03:15 - It's also one of the best places
03:17 that you can appreciate local music.
03:20 - And what's your sound, then?
03:21 - Usually it's rowdy, and usually it's loud,
03:25 and it's really fun.
03:26 - Portland's alternative music scene is thriving,
03:31 but that counterculture attitude
03:32 isn't exclusive to the music.
03:35 Vegan food is huge in Portland,
03:37 and from food trucks to taquerias,
03:39 it feels like you can make it vegan anywhere in the city.
03:42 - We're Box Curve Pizza.
03:43 We opened in 2020.
03:44 We're a vegan and choice-style restaurant.
03:46 Portland has always sort of had that culture
03:49 of alternative food styles.
03:52 I've been here for about 12 years.
03:53 I've just seen the scene blow up.
03:55 Just a lot of cool people coming to town, opening up.
03:59 Any kind of non-vegan food you could imagine,
04:01 we're doing it vegan.
04:02 - It's not all about the city center, though,
04:13 so I take advantage of Portland's close proximity to nature
04:16 and head out to Multnomah Falls
04:18 to meet with Good Trip Adventures guide,
04:20 Lauren Skonitzny.
04:21 - Hi, Foy.
04:22 - Nice to meet you.
04:23 - Great to meet you.
04:24 Welcome to Portland.
04:25 - Oh, thank you very much.
04:26 - Yeah, this is the Columbia River Gorge.
04:27 We're here at Multnomah Falls.
04:29 - It's incredible to have this so close to your city.
04:32 - It's only about 30, 40 minutes outside of Portland.
04:34 We have all this beautiful nature.
04:36 - Do you get many artists coming out?
04:38 - We do, yeah.
04:39 I think a lot of people draw inspiration
04:40 from places like this.
04:41 It's so dramatic, so inspiring.
04:43 There's something about just watching water fall
04:46 that I think appeals to a really deep part of ourselves.
04:50 - So tell me a bit about Good Trip.
04:51 What is it exactly you do?
04:52 - So Good Trip Adventures is a guiding company
04:54 that I help run and that I work for as a guide.
04:57 So we take folks out to national parks,
05:00 national recreation areas,
05:01 everything from a single day to come out to hike,
05:04 all the way up to multi-day backpacking tours.
05:06 We also teach about geology, human history,
05:09 natural history, really try to add a full picture
05:12 of these places that folks are visiting.
05:14 It's a women and queer owned company.
05:15 I'm one of those owners myself.
05:16 Places like this, waterfalls, rivers,
05:19 have inspired generations and generations
05:22 of indigenous people as well,
05:23 and the music and the culture that they draw
05:26 from that connection to the land.
05:27 Being unique, being alternative,
05:29 it's something we do really well here in Portland,
05:30 from our waterfalls and our natural spaces
05:33 to our music, to our food and our culture scene.
05:36 - Maybe your waterfalls, sport and a pride.
05:38 - Yeah, heck yeah, man.
05:39 - Well, before you leave, why don't we head up to the bridge
05:41 and get a closer look?
05:42 - I'd love to.
05:43 - For my last stop in Portland,
05:51 it felt only right to meet a local sports team
05:53 that embodies Portland's unique approach to life.
05:56 Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport
05:59 that fuses music, lights and skate action
06:02 into one epic experience.
06:05 Local team, the Rose City Rollers, gave me the lowdown.
06:09 First things first, I call you by your names
06:11 or your skate names.
06:12 - In this building, it's derby names.
06:14 So I'm Darth Molly when I'm here.
06:16 - I'm Love Regulate here.
06:18 - I am DomestiSkated.
06:19 - That's pretty good.
06:21 Honestly, that's pretty good.
06:22 - It's very open and welcoming to anybody and everybody,
06:25 whether you've been to 100 Games
06:27 or never even heard of the sport before.
06:29 - Portland's music scene is very diverse,
06:31 along with the same as derby, there's a diverse community,
06:34 and music is very integrated
06:36 'cause it just changes the way
06:38 you're feeling about a game.
06:39 - Is there a key song that gets played?
06:41 - Each team has a rollout song that they'll skate to
06:44 that they pick that encompasses what their team's about.
06:48 The music connects the crowd a lot too.
06:50 Our DJ is very good at, he plays music
06:53 that sets with the vibe of the game.
06:55 So when it's that last jam, that last minute,
06:59 there's gonna be an intense song that's playing
07:01 that's getting everybody all hyped up.
07:03 - You can listen to somebody talk about derby all day.
07:06 You can try to watch it on a computer screen,
07:08 but it's not gonna feel the same.
07:10 You have to be here in person
07:12 to truly appreciate what derby is.
07:15 - I'm joining the team.
07:16 It's official.
07:18 Let's go.
07:19 I'm wrecked already.
07:20 - Yeah, you're going fast.
07:22 (laughing)
07:25 (upbeat music)
07:27 (crowd cheering)
07:30 - After visiting Portland myself,
07:36 I understand why this city is renowned
07:38 for its alternative way of doing things.
07:40 It's a place that celebrates individuality and creativity
07:43 and makes a point of doing everything
07:45 just a little bit different.
07:47 From the food and music to sports and art,
07:50 and even just city life itself,
07:52 Portland's unique approach to everything
07:54 makes it a must visit.
07:56 (upbeat music)
07:59 (upbeat music)
08:02 (upbeat music)
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