Nolan Parker by Nolan Parker Festival announce season is in full swing. Not to be left out of the frey, PDX Live announced their Pioneer Courthouse Square summer lineup and dates this morning. TrueWest—hot on the heels of announci ng their 2026 debut programming collaboration with the Waterfront Blues Festival—the booking and promotion heavyweights behind the series have done it again this year, delivering a lineup rocking the world of many a Portland music lover, this PML included.  The biggest come-up of the 2026 series is that there’s a more robust lineup of heavier-hitting acts coming to demolish the Square. A sure sign that lead TrueWest talent buyer Trevor Solomon is feeling more comfortable and tapped in with what Portland is wanting to see on a larger scale.  As with every series and festival, PDX Live can’t be everything to everyone—nor should it be. There are many concerts in the series to get gassed about, while there will likely be a few that you won’t care much for. The beauty of a series as opposed to a festival is that you only pay for the artists you want to see, instead of paying for Moby and Justin Bieber at Coachella when I’m just tryna see Lambrini Girls and The xx.  Below are the 2026 PDX Live picks of one humble Portland music lover, head to the bottom of this round-up for the complete lineup and festival poster.  Right out the gate, PDX Live swings for the fence with Ani DiFranco on August 4. Since her decade-defining 1990 self-titled debut, DiFranco has continually set the bar sky-high for dynamic, angsty femme singer-songwriters the world over. Ani DiFranco lamented so Alanis Morisset could rage. The anti-cop protest songs of her early records address misogyny, racism, homophobia, classism, and ableism—timely tunes reminding us of our creative and collective power. Valeria June opens the entire series with her incredible vocals and folk-pop stylings.  Though I haven’t personally locked in with Muna yet, I respect the enduring love my boyfriends Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers have for the trio. Blowing through the Square August 6, the indie-pop LA queers unabashedly cop the sonic and visual aesthetics of late-’90s, early-2000s acts like t.A.T.u. and Robyn—similar to what Haim and Maggie Rogers have been up to the last few years.  Forever festival favorites Modest Mouse are on hometown turf playing the Square August 9. Though I never served lead singer Isaac Brock when working service in Portland, I have heard horror stories from a handful of industry friends who have. Though we do expect our money-making Portlanders to treat hospo staff with respect AND a better-than-20 percent-tip, I can’t imagine being clocked as an indie icon since your early 20s. All that to say, the Mercury loves Modest Mouse—Isaac, if you’re reading this, please release a new MM album with the energy and prose of Good News For People Who Love Bad News and before.  God hates cowards according to Tomahawk, remember this. Fronted by my birthday twin Mike Patton, Tomahawk pull up to the Square August 10 to make a meal of our assholes. Whether or not the supergroup—consisting of Mike Patton, Duane Denison, John Stanier, and Kevin Rutmanis—actually intends on tossing the salads of everyone in attendance has yet to be confirmed, the band will destroy the eardrums of those without (ear) protection. This is post-hardcore dude rock of the highest order, not for the faint of heart or easily offended. Opening, and sharing members with Tomahawk are PNW noise legends The Melvins. With all of this in mind, please actually bring ear protection to this one… Returning to her home bioregion for her second Portland show in as many years, Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast are at the Square August 11 for a palette cleanser after Tomahawk and The Melvins. Chatting with her backstage before her Project Pabst set opening for Death Cab For Cutie last year, Zauner lit up, saying she used to read the Mercury religiously, coming up to Portland for shows shouted in our pages. We already loved Japanese Breakfast’s chamber-pop swooning, now we’re in love with them.  Worshipping at the altars of Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost, Louisiana’s Acid Bath play the Square for an extremely rare live appearance in the PNW August 16. Originally active between 1991 and 1997, the sludge-grunge soothsayers have only played a handful of dates since reforming in 2024. Portland is being treated to this Square show right after Acid Bath get back from their sold out European tour opening for System of a Down and Queens of the Stone Age. There’s nothing better than a tour-hardened band with just a touch of rest before the particular show you’re attending. Portland-Eugene band Yob have the indescribable honor of opening for a band that no doubt have always had a big impact on them.  It’s hard to underestimate the impact The Breeders, and their collective members, have and continue to have on alternative music. The band—formed by members or ex-members of Pixies, Slint, Throwing Muses, and more—is hailed as one of the defining groups (and sounds) of the ’90s. Breeders frontwoman Kim Deal alone changed the face of music, alternative or otherwise, with her bass playing on Pixies albums Surfer Rosa and Doolittle. Their 1990 debut album Pod earned them a devoted fan in Kurt Cobain, while their 1993 sophomore album Last Splash put the band on the map as a sonic force to be reckoned with. They play the Square August 18 with Portland-by-way-of-Olympia queer punks Team Dresch in the opening slot. Team Dresch just played the grand opening of The Off Beat earlier this month and has been back on the scene the last year or so, which rules.  The last Square performance of PDX Live’s 2026 summer lineup is Vince Staples on August 20. Staples—the series' sole Black headliner—spits bars with speed and vocabulary envied by the most seasoned of vets. Though he’s only 32, Staples has been doing it for more than 13 years, collaborating with the likes of Earl Sweatshirt, Mac Miller, Gorillaz, and more. If you’re looking for a several thousand person outdoor party in deep summer, this is the one.  As of the posting of this article, a bunch of shows don’t have openers listed. Let’s write our politicians and get some local heat going in those opening slots. Maybe Dreckig or Half Shadow opens for Modest Mouse, with Bocha or Keeks for Vince Staples? Either way, see you at the Square in August!  PDX Live takes over Pioneer Courthouse Square select dates August 4 to August 20. Tickets and more info here.   ...read more read less