Project Pabst, courtesy.

By Ben Niesen

More than seven years after expanding to multiple cities before pulling the plug, Project Pabst is back in its original home of Portland, Ore. on July 27 and 28. The weekend festival is sponsored by primary backer Pabst Blue Ribbon, which teased the announcement at the beginning of the year. The San-Antonio-based beer company will host 20 artists—and Pepper, the event’s famous unicorn—over two days at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, along the Willamette River.

The last time the “love-letter to Portland” played out in 2017, the lineup paired stars like Iggy Pop, rapper Nas and rocker Beck with indie acts Father John Misty, Spoon and Noname. While organizers are moving the event up a month from its traditional dates in late August, they’ve kept the eclectic lineup selection for the lineup.

The festival will kick off on July 27 with headliners Billy Idol, T-Pain, the Violent Femmes and Gossip. Idol and Violent Femmes are still hot off the 40th anniversary re-releases of Rebel Yell and Violent Femmes, respectively. T-Pain, meanwhile, unleashed The Bluez Brothaz, a collaborative album with Young Cash, last April. His BottleRock Napa Valley performance in May was one of the Bay Area festival’s biggest highlights.

The undercard really cooks, with Portland icons STRFKR, Bay Area favorites Shannon and the Clams and Seattle’s La Luz. All three have released acclaimed albums this year and will bring the tunes for those who want to dance.

On July 28, the headliners will shift to the East Coast with Big Thief, Denzel Curry and Manchester Orchestra. Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker released Bright Future and will be rejoining the band for a swing of summer dates before she resumes her own tour in the fall. Rapper Curry will hit Portland right after releasing his next mixtape, King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 earlier this month.

Lower down the bill, Sunday’s lineup includes Portland’s hottest new group, Glitterfox, as well as Long Island, New York skate punk icon Jeff Rosenstock, Nashville’s Soccer Mommy and Militarie Gun and Miya Folick, both from Los Angeles.

Tickets are still available on the Project Pabst website and range from $115 for a one-day pass to $220 for the whole weekend.