Review by James Crowl
Photos coming soon
Anything that comes out of Portland, Oregon is bound to be experimental in some way, which is why it’s no surprise that The Portland Cello Project is probably unlike anything you’ve ever heard.
With their Wikipedia page listing their genre as literally everything from folk rock to heavy metal, The Portland Cello Project has three core principles when it comes to their approach to music: to bring the cello to places you wouldn’t normally hear it, to play music you wouldn’t normally hear played on the cello, and to build bridges between all different musical genres, all of which they carried out flawlessly during their Vega show on Sunday night.
While Vega has only been open for a little over a week, performances by the likes of Tommy Lee may cause some to question whether the Portland Cello Project truly fit into this venue, which is exactly what they want to do. The concert sold out fairly quickly, boasting an audience of individuals across all ages and social groups.
The Portland Cello Project gave the sold out crowd a thrilling, often eclectic show as they performed their own renditions of various songs across all genres. It is truly something else to hear a heavy metal song or a rap song be adapted to a cello ensemble, and everyone in attendance could enjoy each musical piece no matter what genre it originally came from. By the time they were done performing, even I was compelled to explore some of the musical genres I don’t normally listen to just because of the way they were masterfully adapted and presented during the show.
The Portland Cello Project stayed true to their philosophy, bringing cellos to one of the newest and most hip venues in town and bringing together an eclectic group of concert goers. Seeing as how The Portland Cello Project perfectly embodies the state of mind Portland, Oregon is famous for, it’s a real honor for Lincoln to have hosted such an innovative group of musicians, and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say they are welcome back anytime.