Crystal Ballroom

Neighborhood: Downtown

1332 W Burnside St
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 241-5084

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Buzz about Crystal Ballroom

  • eh
  • don't like it

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JStreckert wrote about Crystal Ballroom

I'm not a huge fan of McMenamins' food (it's fine) or their beer (again, it's fine, but pedestrian as far as Portland beer goes) but I am a big fan of the Crystal Ballroom. The Ballroom has had several lives over the course of the past century. It's been a home for social dances, jazz, debutante balls, and at one point was shut down because jazz was seen as corrupting Portland's youth. Yes- that happened. It was just like Footloose, except real. Today the Crystal is one of the better-known venues in Portland, and the most notable thing about it is that the floor bounces.

It's known as either a "sprung floor" or "floating dance floor." The various planks are on ball bearings, and the slats bounce up and down as various patrons dance about on them. On more than one occasion I've been to a show there where the performers tried to get the crowd to jump in unison, and make all the boards bounce at once. So, despite being part of a local chain, it is great, and I jumping up and down on the floorboards never really gets old.

posted on January 24, 2012

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The Buzz Snapshot

  • eh

    What exactly is 'eh?'

    Eh. I don’t feel strongly about it either way. I don’t hate it or love it, I wouldn’t recommend it or dismiss it, it just is.

  • don't like it
  • 0
  • 0