Many concert venues rely on alcohol sales for revenue, meaning people under age 21 are often left out of shows. Not so at The Off Beat.

The all-ages venue in North Portland gives young performers and concertgoers a dedicated place to create and access live music.

Nonprofit Friends of Noise opened the venue after noticing a dearth of all-ages venues in the city.

“There was an amazing space called Backspace that closed down in 2015 and at that point, there were no all-age music venues in Portland, despite having a great history of them,” said André Middleton, executive director of Friends of Noise.

The Off Beat opened last fall and held a grand-opening show headlined by Team Dresch last month.

Clara Kornelis is a musician, sound engineer and booker for The Off Beat. Her band, They Shoot Horses, was first to perform at the venue’s inaugural show in November.

She said that DIY shows in basements and under bridges are still an important part of the all-ages music scene, but having a more professional space to perform is valuable.

“We always have The Off Beat as our comfortable space that’s always going to still be there,” Kornelis said. “It’s great now that I don’t have to rely on people to put it together in some parking lot. Now I can do both.”

The Off Beat also provides professional development by employing young sound engineers and bookers trained through Friends of Noise workshops.

“It’s an amazing thing at the end of the night… where the show’s over, the lights are on, and you see five to 10 young people look at each other and say, ‘We did this. We made this happen,’” Middleton said.

Kornelis said her experience with The Off Beat encouraged her to study music business when she attends college next year.

“I feel really lucky to be a part of it, and I’ve met some really great people through it,” she said. “It’s not just musicians or one specific sort of thing, but it brings a bunch of people with different skills together.”

Note: OPB engineer Nalin Silva is the booking, venue and production manager at The Off Beat.

André Middleton and Clara Kornelis spoke with “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller. Listen to the full conversation here:

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/15/portland-venue-the-off-beat-all-ages-music-fans-performers/