Downtown Music Venue the Jack London Revue Will Reopen Next Month

Capacity will be capped at 25% at the small, seated venue.

Jack London Revue (Sofie Murray)
By Shannon Gormley

In-person concerts are slowly coming back to Portland.

In less than a month, the Jack London Revue will begin hosting concerts again. The downtown music venue has announced a slew of sets by local jazz, soul and R&B artists. More than a year after it closed to patrons, the club will reopen on April 9 with a concert by singer-guitarist Ron Artis II.

"Restrictions are easing, vaccines are being distributed, and musicians from coast to coast are warming up for their first live shows since last March," reads a press release from the venue. "The energy is in the red zone, and that's why we've brought some of your favorite artists for the reopening of the Jack London Revue."

To be sure, things aren't exactly going back to normal. Capacity will be capped at 25% at the small, seated venue. Tables will be spaced according to state and federal guidelines, and patrons will be required to wear masks when they're not seated at their table. Jack London will also continue to livestream all its shows for would-be concertgoers who aren't yet ready to hang out with strangers in enclosed spaces.

Located in the basement of the Rialto, the Jack London Revue opened not long after the closure of longtime jazz venue Jimmy Mak's. It's become Jimmy Mak's de facto successor, hosting regular sets by Portland jazz legends and former Jimmy Mak's mainstays, in addition to featuring a genre-fluid, up-and-coming generation of Portland jazz.

Tickets are on sale now for the nine newly announced shows.

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