Aladdin Theater

In the scheme of moderate sized local venues, The Aladdin comes out in my top three favorites. It’s easy to get in touch with the box office if you have to; although, you may sometime get a voicemail, I’ve always had a callback.
As for the Venue itself, it’s a gorgeous old theatre set up and those are hard to beat — lush carpeting, tapestries and seating. Cool paint jobs and just a great, well-​kept up space.
Most people fight to get on the lower level but I prefer the balcony. Unless you get someone super tall in front on you on a crowded night, it’s hard to find a bad seat in the house. The sound quality is good and they have a booking manager that books everything to great spoken word (Can you say Henry Rollins?), to fun comedy to just about every genre under the sun — folksy stuff, alternative music, straight up rock and roll. a little something for everyone.
They have a terrific website that helps you see exactly who’s coming and they always announce their shows in a timely manner on their calendar. Get on their list and you won’t miss a thing. They also do great bios of the artists who do come to add that extra something special.
They have beer and wine, snacks and pizza during shows — but do bring cash or risk the attack of the ‘other’ atm fees.
Come early, hit The Lamp (their bar and restaurant) next door and see a great show in a great venue.

I love this old movie theater which for The last 15 or 20 years has been a very active venue for a wide variety of entertainment. They have beer, wine and snacks. They book entertainers who are not as well known as some, by many are on their way up. My only complaint is that the old movie theater seats are a little small and uncomfortable.

Here now to see Asleep at the Wheel. So hot in here sweat is running down my back and whoever is running the mixer board should be shot. Sound is muddy and can’t understand any of the words. Have been here before and it’s been great. The band is tanking themselves with the guy on the board. Wish I had stayed home!

Have say the security there are extremely rude had no respect for me even though was vip too and they need fix them old chairs mine almost broke

Aladdin security needs a complete overhaul. Awful night tonight at the Junior Brown concert. Witnessed a 60 year old man get bullied, shoved and choked by three larger, drunk 30 year old men. The music stops, people shout, and finally security finally steps in — but no one is booted.
Security did an excellent job, however, of making sure absolutely no one was taking short video clips on their phones. They were on those attendees in a second’s notice. An older man getting choked, though? Nah, no problem — apparently.
It was so uncomfortable I couldn’t enjoy the show and I had to leave. As I see it Aladdin is responsible for creating as safe of an environment for its patrons as possible so we can all enjoy great music in a beautiful venue. Tonight it failed horribly.

Came here for an Adam Corolla show and it was just okay.
Pros: They have a good selection of beer/​wine on their menu and serve a variety of snacks, including Hot Lips pizza all at a good price (Starting at $ 4 for beer and wine).
Cons: It’s definitely an outdated theater and the seats are pretty uncomfortable and tightly packed in — i.e. you’re practically sitting on your neighbors lap. This theater also is in a not-​so-​happening area, so you will probably have to drive to get food/​drinks before/​after catching a show here.
Overall: I’m a bigger fan of the McMenamins theaters around town (Mission, Kennedy, Baghdad) and the Living Room theater downtown.

I love the Aladdin Theater. I’m always relieved when I see a show I want to go to will be there. There is something very intimate about the Aladdin. It could be because there is very little room between you and your neighbor. Seating is tight and I wouldn’t call it comfortable or uncomfortable, but if you have long legs prepare to be cramped. As I get older I’m increasingly thankful for shows with seating. Most of the space is seated, for some shows they leave the space in the front for standing.
Sound is great. The theater acoustics work in their favor. The décor is that of an old theater which I appreciate. Not a lot of newfangled things going on.
I don’t love that there is one restroom — upstairs! The drink line is always obscene before shows. I might suggest getting your pre-​funk on if you wanna turn up.
Buy a ticket. Enjoy the show — it’ll be a good time.

Old school, makes you feel like an old friend venue. no hype, no police dogs howling at your feet to clear the aisles, no dancing there, hey stay off the phone camera kind of place like some of the other venues here in P-​town. Just laid back and decent vibe going on here.
I guess it holds 600 people but it still feels really intimate and you can get pretty close to the stage all the same. You can even grab a beer/​wine and a slice of pizza as you watch your favorite concert. There’s even «The Lamp» next door that will feed you and open their door that connects in to the theater to keep you warm and full while you wait for the music to begin.
The acoustics. well, like I said, it’s old so in this case it works well. Lovely sound coming out of the air for you. Stage is good sized and easy to watch from your seats. And you have a balcony to choose seats from as well.
Speaking of balconies, I am not positive but I believe there’s only 1 bathroom area and it’s at the top of the stairs. These old buildings do seem to have their own secret rooms though so there may be another one that I just don’t know about.

I love seeing shows at the Aladdin. It is a great old building, a smallish venue which makes for great shows. I really enjoyed the Calexico show.

***be careful when purchasing tickets online***
Purchased a pair of tickets to a comedy show and selected best available, wanted to purchase two more tickets and called to verify if it was assigned seating.
As it turns out, tickets are assigned seating and the two additional tickets I almost purchased were far better than the tickets I had purchased weeks prior…
Box office showed zero sympathy and was not willing to make any adjustments and didn’t even let me buy the better tickets and return the old ones.
Hopefully they don’t have any future shows I would like to attend because let’s be honest I would still go to them because I wouldn’t have a choice but would prefer not to

I think this place just made it to my top Portland venues list. Been here a number of times (first concert in Portland way back when). But I kind of forgot how great it is! Maybe because the ticket prices are a bit spendy so I don’t go very often.
Not a bad seat in the house, really. And the front open area is small enough that you can usually wiggle your way into the crowd when it really matters. Beers are about $ 5.50 but they don’t take cards! There’s also lots of food options available.
he sound was a little off at the Furs show, but I’m not sure that wasn’t them… so in sum — love this place. Cheaper tickets might get them a 5 stars — but it’s close already.

I get that this venue is old, and I’m cool with that but the sound system needs to get upgraded. Every band I see here the Vocals are always distorted. Drums are rarely mixed well. I also feel they over sell tickets, because when the artist «sells out» you can’t even walk up and down the Isles. Maybe it’s my paranoia …
The restroom upstairs… Only

The Aladdin is my absolute favorite concert venue. The intimacy is unsurpassed. I have had the pleasure of seeing Toad The Wet Sprocket and Suzanne Vega there and the access is unsurpassed. An artist appearing at the Aladdin can sometimes actually be a motivator to attend. Highly recommended!

I really liked this theater. I started out upstairs and the seats were awesome. And then we moved downstairs to get a good spot for our band. You can stand in the front and get near the band. But, if you are near the aisle, move over because at some point bouncers/​ushers someone will come and clear the aisles so everyone in the way will be pushed in so tightly that you can’t stand! That was the only thing I didn’t like. I heard the seats were really bad but upstairs they aren’t uncomfortable. I have huge hips and ass and I was comfortable.

The Aladdin Theater has been my favorite music venue for the last 20 years. I’d say a I frequent the place about 12 times a year. One of the main reasons i chose to be so loyal to the Aladdin was because the way you were treated like a welcomed guest, as well as, the consistently high quality music.
Due to the rude and overly aggressive Security Team, I will no longer be going to shows at the Aladdin.
The Security needs to work on their tact and communication skills with the patrons. Instead, patrons are treated like inmates at a minimum-​security Prison. I’d rather stay home than to be treated so poorly again.
It was a good run, but it seems times have changed.

The best has-​been house ever. This theater has the dubious honor of the longest running showing of Deep Throat in the country. It can’t get any worse.
You can call it what you like but it is a has-​been house. I’ve seen Joe Jackson, Greg Brown, Colin Hay, & Jon Anderson (YES). Coming attractions include Stephen Stills, and Arlo Guthrie. As you can see (or hear), the Aladdin has redeemed itself.
The Aladdin Theater in itself is a throwback to a bygone era. The stage is small, barely enough for a full band. The décor could use a little help but they try. Then there are the seats. Oh the seats. If you don’t mind a bunch of broken springs in your ass, you’ll make the 2 hours with no problem.
There’s a great concession complete with beer & pizza so you won’t go hungry.
So bring your appetite & your age. This place will rock you out!

It’s old-​school theater style, which means if you have long legs, you might be a tad uncomfortably squashed. However, the sound-​quality, and the quality of artists that perform here have made it worth while for us more often than no.
There isn’t really «dancing» room — unless you want to stand with your butt in somebody’s face in the front row, or stand in the aisles. Me, I prefer just to listen to the good music — and leave the dancing to those that are less considerate to those people seated to enjoy the show. I’ll just sit in the back and we’ll all be happy.

I love this theater! Just the right size to where there really isn’t a bad seat around. The balcony is nice too. I wish they had a better selection of drinks. I will say the bathrooms are actually clean and there’s never a wait. What a blessing!

Very good music venue in Southeast Portland
Aladdin theater has long had bands I’ve wanted to see, just not on nights that I could see them, so I was glad I got to come here during MusicfestNW 2013 to catch local band Helio Sequence.
It was nice that the venue sloped downward so those in back could still see the acts over taller people in front of them (this is surprisingly rare at most Portland music venues I have noticed, ie: Roseland Theater, Mississippi Studios, Crystal Ballroom…).
There are seats in the back and space for people to stand in front of the stage, which worked really well for my group as we were all tired and preferred to stand. There is additional balcony seating with great views of the stage too.
Despite the ornate neon sign and façade, the inside struck me as kind of plain, especially in comparison to Crystal Ballroom and Mississippi Studios, but it was far from bad. For those from Seattle, it reminded me a lot of Neptune Theater.
The bathroom was located upstairs which seemed weird, but it didn’t really bother me too much.
The event staff were all very friendly on the day I went.
All in all, I had a great time at the Aladdin and I look forward to seeing another show here.

I had never been to the Aladdin theater before. It was pretty much what I expected, which I loved. An older theater with great décor. We got in early and landed ourself a front row seat. I appreciated that someone came around and warned us that once people start standing that we would lose our view. We quickly changed seats and had an awesome evening.
We did order drinks or food but the beers on tap looked great.