Jermaine Malone is a dad who plays music.
He moved to Portland in 2008 on a recommendation from his roommate in the Marine Corps, hoping to become a musician. Since then, he’s played pre-game shows for the Portland Trail Blazers with his band, The Kinky Brothers, and worked with MusicPortland and the Portland Bureau of Transportation to host performances across the city.
Now also father to a 2-year-old son, Malone said he pulled from past experiences to create a space he wished existed in the city.
“What would a parent want?” he asked himself. “What would a musician want? And what would a normal person coming in off the street want?”
The Heights Lounge and Event Space, Malone’s new all-ages music and events venue in Southeast Portland, attempts to address all three.
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Located at 8000 S.E. Foster Road, The Heights aims to cater to a young audience — students grabbing an after-school bite to eat, teens interested in pursuing music or parents bringing their children along to concerts when they don’t have a babysitter lined up.
Since opening in April, the venue has hosted weekly events like karaoke and live music. At about 4,000 square feet, it includes an indoor stage, covered patio and kitchen serving up “big Southern portions” inspired by Malone’s own recipes. He’s also building a recording studio.
Venue exterior
The Heights, Portland's new all-ages venue, is located at 8000 S.E. Foster Road.Veronica Nocera
The Heights opens at 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and it stays open past midnight. Unless a performer requests a 21-or-older restriction, the venue is all ages all the time — a feature Malone was adamant about.
A common complaint among Malone’s friends with kids, he said, is that venues often close to minors by 6 or 9 p.m., effectively locking them out of any nighttime concerts.
The Heights does the opposite: It encourages younger visitors to tag along for some tunes.
There’s a mocktail menu for all-ages shows and a cooler of free sodas and sparkling water available to patrons under 21. Malone plans to offer discounts on food for students who swing by after school, and there are table games to keep children entertained.
“ There were places when I was a kid … that really catered to the youth that me and my friends still talk about today,” Malone said. “People want to be known for their music, but I really want to be known for what I was able to do for the community.”
Venue interior with bar
The Heights Lounge and Events Space is a a new all-ages venue in Southeast Portland.Courtesy of Keaveny Co. Photography
It’s a hard shift for the Foster Road building, whose past lives include two stints as a strip club — which made it difficult for Malone to secure approval to allow minors from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, he said.
Having won the agency’s approval, there’s little left of the building’s sordid past. The Heights doesn’t post beer signage or promote heavy drinking, and Malone rejected suggestions to install video poker machines, he said — even if those additions would turn a profit.
“I know that I’m taking a different approach than most people would,” he said. “But I believe in it so much that I’m willing to put everything that I have into it.”
Malone said he’s also focused on making The Heights affordable for all. High ticket prices — coupled with pricey drinks and bar food, Malone said — often discourage patrons from attending shows, especially younger people.
“You’re 18. You might work at some fast food spot. You don’t get a lot of money,” he said. “But you’re like, ‘OK, the ticket’s 10 bucks. I can do that. I can get a mocktail for $8, grab a free soda and just enjoy this band … and dance and have a good time.’”
Man posing on stage in squat
Local musician Jermaine Malone opened The Heights, Portland's newest all-ages venue, in April.Veronica Nocera
Giving back to the Portland community has always been a priority for Malone. He’s one of the city’s Black Santas and owns a company called Black Santa Trees, which delivers hundreds of free holiday trees across the Portland area. The Heights, too, is community-oriented.
Every vendor — “down to our security, down to the people that come in to spray for ants,” Malone said — is a small Portland- or Vancouver-based business. Instead of Ticketmaster, he uses local company Ticket Tomato. The venue doesn’t even stock big-name sodas; drinks are supplied by Portland Beverage.
Malone also takes pride in operating a musician-owned venue, he said. Having been part of the music industry for 15 years, Malone said he strived to create a space where musicians can count on earning a fair wage.
“A lot of places don’t see musicians as an actual job,” Malone said. “Musicians, on the pay scale of independent contractors, (are) a lot lower than a plumber or an electrician or anybody who does trade work — and music is a trade.”
He turned down offers for potential partners, he said. Keeping The Heights 100% Black owned was non-negotiable.
Malone is Afro-Filipino, but he was adopted by Black parents. He grew up in a small Kansas town, he said, and was raised in a “traditional Black household” in a majority-white community where the only other Black students at school were related to him.
The Heights, he said, is an homage to his upbringing.
“When the Jackson 5 movie came out, the whole family came and gathered. When we had the first Black Cinderella with Whitney Houston, the whole family gathered,” Malone said. “When people see this space, I want people to gather.”
—Veronica Nocera covers retail and recalls news for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Is a business in your area opening or closing? Reach Veronica atvnocera@oregonian.com.