It is with sad regret that we must say goodbye to our beloved Fez Ballroom. For years, Portland’s Fez Ballroom has stood the test of time and was certainly one of the best places to go to hear amazing music and have a great night. In most recent years, Fez stood out by welcoming in the electronic music scene regularly and really honing in on what the local nighttime crowd wanted. From their newly introduced #RAGE Fridays to Housed Saturdays, and everything in between, Fez was definitely the local hot spot for music.
Going through a massive overhaul over the last year, Fez added more modern decor, an amazing sound system, and impressive lighting just to add to the overall experience. Needless to say, Fez was on the up and up and everyone was buzzing about it. The venue played host to a multitude of popular events and rendered a list of artists like you wouldn’t believe. From Seattle local DJs Johnny Monsoon and Darrius, to Michael Woods, and trance legend Christopher Lawrence, Fez was bringing in big names and packing the house consistently. Through it’s ups and downs, Fez persevered and made themselves a true Portland icon in the dance music scene.
If anything, everyone loved Fez not only because of the fun times but the amazing staff as well. We had the chance to speak with Fez Ballroom’s General Manager, Andrew Rotchford whom had some gracious things to say about Fez.
The entire staff, management, promotional entities and DJs worked very hard to make Fez the fun and exciting venue it was. I am extremely proud to have worked with them. They are a talented bunch of industry professionals, I wish them well and I am going to miss working with them.
Taking a look at Fez’s Facebook page, we can see that we aren’t the only ones that will miss this venue! It was noted by Andrew as well that affiliate restaurant and awesome pre-funk bar Sand Bar at Fish Grotto has unfortunately closed its doors as well. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, but we can most certainly say that the memories will forever live on.
From all of us at Dance Music Northwest we would like to give a very heartfelt THANK YOU to Fez Ballroom and everyone involved for the good times and epic memories.
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