25 Years of Live Music Along the River in Bend, Oregon

Twenty-five years of dancing by the river.

As Oregon’s largest outdoor music venue, nestled along the Deschutes River in awe-inspiring Bend, we can only do so much, you know? The rest requires full participation from the fans, the bands, the crew, our community, and we’ll even go so far as to say the weather. We wanted this year to be a memorable one, it being nearly 25 years since our first show, and let’s just say, y’all delivered!

We know we don’t need to explain why live music is important, and though, when Pulitzer Prize-winning, classically trained opera-singing, multiple Grammy Award-winning, MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grant award-winner Rhiannon Giddens opens her set with a Scottish Gaelic medley “Gaelic Song /Pipi Danga (Pompey Ran Away) / Irish Tune” to bring attention to where we are in American history, we remember.

How about O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) bassist Benj Gershman strumming a guitar made of Spalted Maple while covering Kings of Leon’s “Somebody” to a stunned, speechless crowd. The jury is still out whether it was his voice or that guitar that stole our attention.

Bleachers. Yep, a one-word statement, because it seems fruitless to try to describe the show they put on. We knew Jack Antonoff is an 11-time Grammy Award winner, but we didn’t predict multiple drum kits, dueling saxophones, a set designed so Antonoff can jump from tier to tier while alternating vocals, guitar, and harmonica while never missing a note. We caught nods to early Bruce Springsteen and East Coast origins but without an ego. The tour was called Bleachers Forever, and that’s how long we’ll remember this set.

Quick nod to the world-class comedy that graced our stage with the likes of John Mulaney, Mike Birbiglia, Fred Armisen, Jim Gaffigan, Trevor Noah, Matt Rife, and Nikki Glaser.

Now on to night one of Goose and their 108-minute set that consisted of exactly three songs. Show us you’re a jam band using only chord progression, won’t you guys? Some would say they redeemed themselves on night two when “So Ready” became Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” only to morph into “Good Times // End Times.” We can confirm that the noodlers in the venue were only experiencing good times.

We lost count of the number of tour managers, security managers, and artist from the stage who said, “This has been the best stop of the tour.” What did stick with us was the exclamation from The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, “We’ll come back soon, Bend! I didn’t know!” Folks, the freaking Strokes played in Bend!

We also remember ROLE MODEL admitting he almost canceled his show because he didn’t know where Bend was.

Well, ROLE MODEL, we didn’t know you had a commercial with Hydro Flask set to drop the same day as your show here, which was the launch of the tour, and you were hilarious in it! That, and those were some incredible dance moves. Thinking about it now, we can hear the high-pitched screaming from the superfans in the pit.

Need another “why”? How about a venue filled to the brim with EDM PLUR? No, our fingers didn’t get stuck on the keyboard. When Levity x Tape B debuted this summer, the venue experienced a record-setting laser show and an embodiment of electronic dance music’s ethos: Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. PLUR. Mix that with a dash of glitter and a sprinkle of bass and you’ve got yourself a massive dance party.

Speaking of dance parties, the Old Mill District 25^th Anniversary Dance Party takes the cake as one of the most feel-good, community-wide events the amphitheater has ever seen. Twenty-five years ago, Old Mill District founder Bill Smith said of the dirt field now home to Hayden Homes Amphitheater, “If we need to water the dirt from blowing dust across the river, we’re only grass seed away from a lawn, and if we have a lawn, we’re only a stage away from Willie Nelson.”

Well, Nelson has been here a few times, as have hundreds of other world-class musicians. At the anniversary party in June, local DJ SoMuchHouse opened for DJ Eric Rhodes, and the jubilation emanating from the venue was palpable. Families who’d never been here before frolicked on the lawn together, friends with different tastes in music showcased their dance moves, and we all took a collective beat (pun intended) to reflect on how special this place is and why sharing music with people is imperative for the well-being of a community.

For a moment we let whatever is happening “out there” stay beyond the gate, and for a few hours we celebrated the incredible evolution of the last 25 years and remembered why we’re here. That feeling still lingers months later, and we keep thinking, “We should do that every year.”

So, thank you. Thank you for appreciating the importance of live music, supporting the artists, and understanding what it means to be together in community.

We can’t wait to see what magic 2027 holds!

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