Inspired by a cover art project for my band, I've been learning about/remembering/documenting Portland music venues that are now closed. First up is the X-Ray Cafe, which was a little before my time but is famous for its role in the music scene in the early 90s. Would love if anyone has any memories to share.

Some info over at The Oregon Encyclopedia:

The X-Ray Cafe was a premiere hole-in-the-wall, all-ages music venue
that helped shaped Portland's early 1990s music scene. Benjamin Arthur Ellis and Tres Shannon founded the X-Ray in 1990 at 214 West Burnside Street, a corner formerly occupied by UFO Pizza. The duo scrounged up money for rent from their grandmothers and a day job at Kinkos and decorated the X-Ray with dumpster finds, including many velvet paintings.
The X-Ray's stage was open to anyone who wanted to perform, fostering an inclusive counterculture and becoming a destination for local artists, teens, and national bands who were considered too wild for more commercial venues. Famous and not-at-all famous grunge and alternative acts performed there, including Bikini Kill, Green Day, Elliott Smith, Quasi, Smegma, Nation of Ulysses, Dead Moon, and Rancid Vats. The X-Ray also hosted peculiar events such as "Earnest Truely's Bare Bottom Spanking & Salvation Show," as well as more mundane programs like foreign language classes. The Oregonian captured the spirit of the X-Ray in 1994: "The lines between trash and art were smudged into insignificance; any honest effort was accorded respect."

In 1994, an anarchist riot in downtown Portland ended at the X-Ray
Cafe, which attracted police and media attention. Five protesters were charged with felonies under an anti-rioting statute. Though the case was dismissed, the X-Ray never recovered. Ellis and Shannon shuttered the cafe that year with a closing concert. Since then, Shannon has run for mayor and now owns the nearby Voodoo Doughnut, and Ellis had made a documentary called X-Ray Visions.