Crystal Ballroom
Crystal Ballroom
4
11:00 AM - 2:30 AM
Monday
11:00 PM - 2:30 AM
Tuesday
11:00 AM - 2:30 AM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 2:30 AM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 2:30 AM
Friday
11:00 AM - 2:30 AM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 2:30 AM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 2:30 AM
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Crystal Ballroom and nearby attractions
The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Pearl
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
1,859 within 3 miles
Attractions
597 within 6 miles
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
72 reviews
Excellent
27
Very good
24
Average
10
Poor
5
Terrible
6
Scott M
17 contributions
Feb 2020
Attended the Marcus King band show. Bands started 45 minutes late and the venue was so crowded that it became quite uncomfortable. Unable to move, very rude people pushing through the crowd. much too warm inside (even in Feb). Peoples tempers began to flare with all the pushing and tight quarters. I have no idea what the capacity of the venue is but it sure seemed to be way overcrowded. It became unbearable and we left, went downstairs into Ringler's bar and watched the live feed from the show. We love concerts and attend 10-12 a year, this was far and away the worst concert experience in our memory. Hope it was an isolated incident.
Written 10 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
vittono t
Seattle, WA3 contributions
Jan 2020
This was the worst concert experience we have ever been to. The entrance process was very disorganized and people were pushing and shoving to get in and staff did nothing to prevent this mess. The security gate was also a mess. As we attempted to go through it., the crowd was actually pushing at our backs and again, staff only made the situation worse. It was so unsafe that we chose to leave and never saw the concert. We were not the only ones to leave. We had never been tot this concert venue before and will never go again.
Written 11 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
greenergrannie
Centralia, WA8 contributions
Jul 2024 • Family
I went to a concert Red Clay Strays. The band was excellent but the venue, not so much. It was small, hot and way too crowded. Standing room only. The stage is not elevated so I couldn't even see them. If I was lucky and kept moving my head around other people, I was lucky to get to see the singers head. Parking is a nightmare and expensive. I don't know if they over-booked or if it is always like that but I would not go there again for any concerts.
Written 26 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
gmiche_73
Irvine, CA4 contributions
Aug 2018 • Friends
Don't accompany your women friends out so that they can be safe, especially toward the end of the night. They won't let you back in. Actually, we hadn’t even walked out the door. So much for ensuring safety of women in a sketchy neighborhood of town. Ruined a perfectly nice night otherwise, just because the staff was unaccommodating to a simple request to go get our friends upstairs. Despicable.
Written 12 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ronni V
15 contributions
Jul 2017 • Friends
Went to see George Clinton the other night with a friend. The sound was terrible. Couldn't hear anything but bass and drums. After a few songs, we went downstairs to the bar and watched the video stream. Very disappointing.
Written 2 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
gavinjd68
Georgetown, Canada18 contributions
Dec 2016 • Couples
We travelled to Portland to see the new years show by Brandi Carlile who always seems to pick cool venues and this is no exception.
My biggest complaint is that the stage is too low, and while I'm 5'11" and didnt really have too much of a problem, my wife is 5'4" and couldnt see the stage for the majority of the night. There were many people complaining about the same thing.
There is a balcony, but in this particular case they strung a net full of balloons across the front of almost the entire balcony rendering it almost completely useless. While this might have been the decision of the artist, I'd expect the venue to point out that they were blocking the balcony.
I was ver disappointed in this venue overall.
My biggest complaint is that the stage is too low, and while I'm 5'11" and didnt really have too much of a problem, my wife is 5'4" and couldnt see the stage for the majority of the night. There were many people complaining about the same thing.
There is a balcony, but in this particular case they strung a net full of balloons across the front of almost the entire balcony rendering it almost completely useless. While this might have been the decision of the artist, I'd expect the venue to point out that they were blocking the balcony.
I was ver disappointed in this venue overall.
Written 8 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Satdiver
Coquille, OR127 contributions
Dec 2016 • Friends
A group of us from several different states decided to get together for the Brandi Carlisle concert on New Year's Eve at the Crystal Ballroom. General admission tickets were all that were available at about $90 a piece. Not a problem, or so we thought.
Doors were to open at 8 PM, we were told. Of course, Dec 31st in PDX can be wet & cold, so we all dressed approximately. Then we stood in the pouring rain and snow until they finally finished letting the "VIPs in at somewhere around 8:45. When they finally opened the doors, all seating was taken and they proceeded to pack the place to the rafters. How the Portland Fire Marshal allows this is beyond me.
The performance was excellent. That said, the acoustics were horrible.
We will never go back. And I would suggest that any sane person go elsewhere to see your favorite performance.
Doors were to open at 8 PM, we were told. Of course, Dec 31st in PDX can be wet & cold, so we all dressed approximately. Then we stood in the pouring rain and snow until they finally finished letting the "VIPs in at somewhere around 8:45. When they finally opened the doors, all seating was taken and they proceeded to pack the place to the rafters. How the Portland Fire Marshal allows this is beyond me.
The performance was excellent. That said, the acoustics were horrible.
We will never go back. And I would suggest that any sane person go elsewhere to see your favorite performance.
Written 5 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ron C
6 contributions
Jan 2018 • Couples
Came here for the Steel Panther show. We stayed at thw Crystal Hotel which gets you in 15 minutes before the show. The venue is pretty cool , has seating in the balcoy and lots of bars with cold beer and drinks . I will definitely be back.
Written 16 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
_jakevanwinkle
Portland, OR110 contributions
Sept 2016 • Couples
Went to a concert (Explosions in the Sky) on labor day weekend. Had a wonderful time and thought the venue was great, at least from the front row.
There are a few caveats though.
1) Parking downtown is a nightmare. My wife and I solved this by coming down 90 minutes before doors opened to pick up a street parking spot around the block from the venue. We spent the time grabbing a relaxed bite to eat before the show. Well worthwhile when the concert got out later that evening.
2) The venue was good, but 30 minutes into the opening act the whole ballroom was much too hot and the portable AC's and fans did little to cool the place down. After the show it was a nightmare trying to get down to the street level through the narrow hot stairwells.
3) The venue is split down the middle for concerts with the right side having access to the bar, and the left side being right in front of the stage. There is also a balcony seating section in the very back - but sitting isn't very necessary on the springloaded floor and if I pay for a show I'm going to see them up close! The alcohol drinkers didn't have as easy of access to see the stage in the corner.
There are a few caveats though.
1) Parking downtown is a nightmare. My wife and I solved this by coming down 90 minutes before doors opened to pick up a street parking spot around the block from the venue. We spent the time grabbing a relaxed bite to eat before the show. Well worthwhile when the concert got out later that evening.
2) The venue was good, but 30 minutes into the opening act the whole ballroom was much too hot and the portable AC's and fans did little to cool the place down. After the show it was a nightmare trying to get down to the street level through the narrow hot stairwells.
3) The venue is split down the middle for concerts with the right side having access to the bar, and the left side being right in front of the stage. There is also a balcony seating section in the very back - but sitting isn't very necessary on the springloaded floor and if I pay for a show I'm going to see them up close! The alcohol drinkers didn't have as easy of access to see the stage in the corner.
Written 7 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Susie1028
San Diego, CA1,938 contributions
Nov 2019
The Crystal Ballroom is one of the best venues in PDX to see a show.It's a historical music venue with a floating wooden floor. They had fast entry with plenty of security and metal detection. There are several stairs up to the stage and a small elevator for those who need it. Street parking only, free meters after 7pm.It's such a fun venue for events, from 90s night at Lola's Room, a holiday event, or a concert. I love the bouncy dance floor.
Written 13 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Do they check ID for tickets? I'm giving mine to a friend and making sure they are able to get in without any issues.
Written 19 November 2022
Where can you wait in line? Can you go inside and wait in the ballroom or do you have to sit outside
Written 17 November 2022
I’ve never been here before, I don’t mind paying for parking at all where is a good place to park? And how long should I expect it to take us to get out of Portland? Does traffic get really bad? Thank you in advance
Written 12 May 2022
Yes, if the show is all ages.
there is the area in front of the stage that is general. and an area where people over 21 can go if they wish to be able to drink
Written 16 June 2019
MojoMike-ta
Nashville, Tennessee
Going to sold out colter wall show tonight. Hoping like hell there are seats upstairs... or somewhere.
I need to sit. Not handicap, just beat up a little... sore hips, back and feet.
Can’t reach CB by phone of course, and (because it’s sold out on day of show?) the event has dropped off the website where it might say if Show is “seated.” Which it should be, as Colter Wall plays down-tempo figure picked country-folk.
We are Tourists enjoying long weekend - lots of old time music and nouveau eating in Portland. Standing for 3 hours will hurt.
Written 18 January 2019
The only seats they have are upstairs in the balcony. Its' first come first serve so if you get there early and wait in line you should be good. OR if you have dinner downstairs they will come in and stamp your hand to avoid the line and waiting. They move you up when doors open. Hope this helps
Written 18 January 2019
Could I get picked up there I'm a male that's never been with a male before but would like to try it I believe I would really like it
Written 20 October 2015
Portland likes to think of it's self as lgbt friendly . not familiar with community but , you would have no problem with whatever it is you prefer. good luck and happy motoring.....
Written 21 October 2015
Showing results 1-7 of 7
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing