Wonder Ballroom

Posting again as the first was reported for personal attacks… there is not a personal attack here now as I’ve altered a few things… it’s really not fair to censor honest reviews so please don’t report this. I will repost.
I fucking hate this place.
Sound is shit but that’s not the real deal breaker.
The problem for me is all the weird rules regarding where you are allowed to be. They section the main floor into 3 areas and have about 20 people standing around waiting to tell people they can’t be where they are.
Lady that looked like The Log Lady found it necessary to direct me away from an area I apparently wasn’t supposed to be in by pushing me out. Were I not completely dumbfounded by a stranger making physical contact with me I would have made it very clear to her that she was invading my space; not the other way around.
An old idiot standing on the stairs had a job that I can only assume was to stand there and let others know you aren’t supposed to stand there. Odd he gets paid to stand there and I pay to be told not to.
The door guys were nice. Actually all the under 50 employees were okay. The separated bar downstairs seems to be a great place to get a STD if you are a yuppie.
I would return to this venue if by chance 1 of about 5 people were in town. Luckily they would almost certainly be booked to play at better establishments anyway.

I really love the overall space, except they need to add bathrooms downstairs!
I love the up close intimate feel of this venue when musicians are performing. And I definitely prefer the general admission/​standing room only vs. some venues that crowd patrons in like sardines into tiny little cramped chairs all pushed up against eachother.
I was also pleasantly surprised about the excellent temperature control. Hot not, big crowd, but the venue never got hot or stuffy. Nice!
.
Parking in this neighborhood totally sucks! But can’t blame that on the venue.

Cool venue, good bar, cool place to hang and see a show. Every seat is a good one. I’d be back

This place, is, some of the time, a perfectly acceptable place to see a show.
I have been here several times, and have usually found the bass to be passable, and not significantly worse than the crystal ballroom. For rock shows, it is perfectly fine, and the staff are generally nice enough.
Unfortunately, a recent and otherwise great performance by esperanza Spaulding (a BASSIST) was ruined, by the simple fact that her bass (except during perhaps single solo, and a few specific notes) was conspicuously, virtually inaudible. Except, surprisingly, when she stepped behind the piano.
I have been to hundreds of concerts over the years, and rarely, if ever, has the sound been so bad as to actually make it difficult to enjoy the music. Luckily, much of the rest of the audience was (drunk enough?) able to enjoy the show based off the strength of the rest of the music.
Bass is often the worst part of concert sound and is difficult to get right I am sure, especially with a player like Esperanza or thundercat, but it seemed like no effort was made at all by the sound guys to get the star performers key instrument to even a fucking audible level.
So, if you want a nice sounding concert, with adequate bass, at least for now, don’t count on the wonder ballroom.
I otherwise like this venue pretty well. If the wonder reads this, please, PLEASE try and do a better and more consistent job with your sound, especially bass! It really can ruin a show!

Up on the higher end of best venues in Portland. It is much cleaner and cooler (temp) than some other big venues in the city.
Sound is pretty good here and they get such a great selection of bands, bands that are a bit too big for Doug Fir and just slightly not big enough for the Crystal. This is both good and bad in that shows often sell out here well in advance.
Good floor space, occasionally split for all ages shows (many people hate this but as a huge supporter of all ages music opps, two thumbs up for providing some all ages live music access). Balcony with some seating upstairs, and then a bar down below the venue, with access to the back patio.
More recent bonus is the Bunk Bar downstairs. Can’t go wrong with a Bunk sammy before a great show.

The Art Of Live Music
As a Musician myself sometimes the band
is only as good as the sound system and
venue we perform at. The Wonder Ballroom
is one of the better venues in Portland to
listen to live music or to play as an artist.
Sound~very full and balanced, absolutely
no dead spots and due to the high ceiling
and the hardwood floors the sound can change
slightly depending on where you’re standing.
So, if it’s too Bass heavy where you’re standing
try moving 10 – 15 feet away horizontally, this
might adjust to your liking. I tried this a couple
of days ago, but it was the guitar that
was really overpowering the band and so
I moved and it was way better. (main floor is
standing only) thought I would mention this.
The morning after. No, not the walk of shame.
I am talking about the ear ringing. I had NO
ear ringing and it was loud, but balanced,
that’s really important. I do however
bring a pair of ear plugs just in case. I
didn’t need them this time. You can get a
pair from the Wonder or try asking the sound man.
Yes, there are lots of places to eat and drink
within walking distance, but I wanted to
focus this review on the sound.
Thank God for live music !

Came here for a LongHorne Slim concert.
It was my first time at the Wonder Ballroom.
It was pouring rain and there was a line outside for the «bouncers» to check your ticket and ID. There is an overhang only over the door but not along side the building, so you just stood in the rain. Being it’s Portland and it rains all year long, an overhang wouldn’t be a bad idea.
After getting inside, you walk into a big standing room only ballroom. Upstairs there are some seats and more standing room (You have to get there early if you want to snag a seat).
There are two bars. So the lines were never that long.
A PBR was $ 4 and I believe a craft beer was $ 6.
The ballroom got more crowded as it came closer to the main act. Even though I was surrounded by tons of people I didn’t feel packed in like a heard of cattle. The ceilings are extremely high which makes the ballroom seem much more open.
There are garbage cans all throughout the ballroom which is good because it prevented people from just throwing their empty cups all over the floor.
They have a water station set up on the left side of the ballroom, something I haven’t seen at a concert venue but it’s a great thing to have.
It was an excellent concert. LongHorne Slim really knows how to out on a show.
The sound was perfect, you left being able to talk normally and not have to scream because your ear drums burst.
The lights were slightly blinding at times but other than that no problems.
Great concert venue! Hopefully they have another concert I want to attend soon!

Not being from Portland I had no idea what to expect at the Wonder Ballroom, when going to see a long-​awaited for concert. But this was one of the best places to see a band really take the roof off a joint. Great acoustics, helpful staff, and plenty of bar counters to keep you pumped for the show. One easy tip: once you get in and head to the bar standing room area on the right, don’t forget there are two other bar counters which (typically) have much shorter lines: one upstairs behind the balcony, and one downstairs from the right/​middle of the auditorium floor. When I’m next searching for indie concerts to hit up in PDX, I’ll start by looking at Wonder’s upcoming schedule and go from there…

Went to the Everclear concert. It was pretty sweet. Sucks I couldn’t have re entry. I did the meet and greet with Everclear then I was hoping to get some BBQ down the street but nope. So that sucked. Otherwise. Great venue. Really nice. Liked the seats and the three level bar areas. Would come to another show here for sure

This venue books some great, eclectic music. I have only been there a few times. I attended two 3-​night runs for Greensky Bluegrass (a year apart) with some friends who live in the area. I consider myself an informed patron, as I have been to many many music venues across the country, so I have a good idea of what things work and don’t work.
What doesn’t work at this venue? The bathrooms!!! It is absurd that there are not more stalls. Both bathrooms are in the lobby at the entrance, and sometimes the lines (for both women’s and men’s) are so long that the venue doors are blocked, and it’s so crowded that it is impossible to navigate into the ballroom. It must be violating some fire codes, not to mention common sense.
The other bad thing about this venue is the smell in the downstairs bar. The smoking patio is just outside the bar, and inside the bar it smells like a smoking lounge at the airport. They absolutely do not tolerate any marijuana (which I understand, given the legal ambiguity), but there are so many people smoking cigarettes outside that I usually can’t stand to be inside in the bar, and I hear many people say the same thing. I actually smoke cigarettes, but I can’t stand to be in that area because it’s so smokey.
That being said, the sound and lights are fine, and the staff is at least a little courteous (though not friendly, by any stretch of the imagination). The water cooler at the bar frequently is empty.
I do not live in Portland, so I don’t go to the venue frequently. Honestly, we will still attend the Greensky shows just because it has become a sort of tradition with our friends. But every year, we all complain about the same bad things about the venue (as do lots of people who do live in Portland, and only go to the Wonder occasionally). I know they won’t change anything, but thought I’d leave a review here in case it informs their management.

Good luck trying to get your money back when a concert is cancelled. We purchased tickets at the box office and they’ve done nothing but jerk us around trying to get our money back since the show was cancelled. Add to that the employees in the box office are rude, uninformed and the box office is only open on nights they have shows so you’ll have to plan ahead to get told wrong information and treated rudely.

I know some of the individuals that opened the Wonder though I believe it has been sold. It is a wonderful facility with good booking, in house for Monqui.
But it needs some management focus.
First the sound. The acoustics and perhaps the speakers need an upgrade. There is what appears to be acoustic treatment on the walls in large panels painted by artist Tom Cramer. Cool! But the entire ceiling is hard wood surfaces. That really needs acoustic treatment and the back wall too. The only live surface should be the floor. The speaker system sounds muddy. That should be upgraded to something more detailed or the mixer needs a better understanding of compression and limiting. There are speakers that cover the balcony, but they were not on for the show I attended. Finally the mix was too loud. It is a common problem that sound mixers lose their hearing, then compensate by turning it up. Management problem.
I have worked in recording and sound. Muddy and over loud is not OK.
I am not a big fan of the arrangement of the stairway in the middle of the show floor. It wastes space. Their design decision based on the structural orientation of the floor support.
One of the shows I attended there had a laser effect. The laser was scanning the audience in the balcony with the blue violet laser light at about ³⁄₈ inch diameter at a fixed point. That is a completely irresponsible safety issue with the lighting staff of the Wonder and the staff of the artist.
Professional laser standards are at
. Entertainment venues have the risk that an individual, altered or not, could stare into a laser effect and lose their sight.
On contacting middle management I got «don’t worry, be happy», rather than «we will make sure it does not happen again.»
Wonder is one of our better venues which is suffering from design, unsafe and unacceptable operations and significant management flaws. It could be a five star venue. But it is not. Unprofessional lighting operation in itself brings it to one star.
And Unilocalers, if you find yourself scanned by a laser effect that could hit you in the eye, Unilocal it, inform the venue and inform the Portland Fire Bureau which governs laser effects in Portland.

Let’s see:
* A solid lineup of entertainment. There are always upcoming shows that I want to see at Wonder Ballroom.
* Excellent sound, at least from what I’ve experienced
* A good size, where even from the very back you still feel like you have a decent view of the entertainment. There’s even a small balcony for those that want to sit.
* Never a huge bathroom line.
* The downstairs bar is spacious and thanks to the TV screens it’s a perfect place to hang out if you only kinda-​sorta care about the performance (i.e. opening acts)
* They don’t totally screw you on drink prices.
The only thing I really don’t care for is the split up floor for over/​under 21. I just don’t understand it, and its kind of a pain to keep having to go through the gauntlet.
Overall, a rock-​solid place to see a show.

I really like the Wonder Ballroom. It reminds me of a Portland version of the Fonda in LA, or a Portland version of the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The separate bar area thing is odd… would be nice to be able to drink your drink while watching the show. Come to think of it, this was my first show in Portland, so maybe that’s a law here? Dunno, but I’m sure I will be here for many shows in the future.

Worst staff I have ever came across. I’ve never been more disrespected by staff at a venue in my entire life. Completely ruined the show for me. I will never support a show at this venue again.

This is a fun music venue. 21 and over balcony seating with an upstairs bar. Main floor bar with an all ages section sometimes. Also a downstairs bar with seating and a smoking patio. The drinks are limited and about two dollars more expensive than the bunk bar next door. So make sure to drink first if you want to save your cash because there is no re-​entry if you leave the venue. I’m not sure if they offer food. Better eat first too!

Nice big venue, with good sound. Bar (inside) and smoking area (outside) are downstairs. Upstairs bar has good views, but this place is all about the floor show. Ample bike parking out front.

I am practically elderly and have been to hundreds of shows, and I have never, ever, nerver, nevernev seen the stage lights directed towards the audience more than once or twice during a concert in all my years. This guy aimed blinding lights at us about every 10 seconds, I kept having to look down and I saw a lot of people shading their eyes. You couldn’t even see the band throughout much of their set. Ended the evening with a searing headache. Thanks bro.
This venue would be great if it wasn’t for the amateur playing with the lights. Sound was excellent last night, bartenders were friendly, I didn’t see any security issues. The smell of young anarchists was a bit overwhelming, but that’s what you get at an AJJ show.

The venue itself is not so bad, but it’s the details that are severely lacking. They no longer own Bunk Sandwiches. What this means is that to get food at the venue, you’re stuck going to the bar, and the bartender calls in the order to Bunk, so no matter what you’re stuck eating out of cardboard boxes, even though you’re sitting at a table. If they had allowed re-​entry to the show, maybe this wouldn’t have been so lame, but it’s pretty unprofessional & they don’t have more than a handful of sandwich options listed.
So, no re-​entry means you’re stuck eating what they offer, which in-​house is technically nothing, and your wait time is at the mercy of not where you eat, but the place next to where you eat. Don’t come here on an empty stomach.
Parking for a show, as well, is kind of garish, which means you have to arrive early, fed, and with a dose of patience if you want to skip the openers.

Back in 2001, I had only been living in Texas for a few months and I got my first opportunity to see a show at one of the clubs down in Deep Ellum (Downtown Dallas). A band that I had seen twice in New York City (Nashville Pu**y) was opening for a band that I had never seen but only heard about, The Reverend Horton Heat. Texas Legends. Two great bands and some really cool music. It was the first of many shows and the first of now seven times I have seen the Rev.
Fast forward to 2013 and I just moved to Portland and guess who is on a tour and coming through to the Wonder Ballroom? The Reverend Horton Heat. This time with a different opening act, and a band I’ve wanted to see for some time, The Nec-​romantix. Great show and I even got to get a photo with Jimbo from Reverend Horton Heat.
The place itself was pretty cool. There’s a balcony for those that don’t want to deal with the mosh pit crowd. There’s a lower level and an upper level with bars and an outside area for the smokers. The place has a good design and the art on the walls was cool. The audio quality was pretty good too and I look forward to more shows here.
The only thing that sucked, which doesn’t really apply to the Wonder, was that by the time the show was over busses had already stopped for the night. Cabs were few and far between and I ended up walking home to Buckman from up there. 45 minute walk. Yeah, not too fun. Thankfully it wasn’t a bad night out.