Published: November 24, 2025
In recent years, there has been an uptick in nationwide tours of movie concerts, where a live band plays the soundtrack rather than the movie itself, with a few stopping in Portland. Complete with official merchandise, live musical performances, and a movie loved by its audience, all of it comes together to create a unique experience. On November 13, a fan-favorite film and an accompanying 12-person live band, consisting of rock and orchestral musicians, came to Portland’s Merrill Auditorium: the vampire love story Twilight. While I may not be a superfan like the rest of the attendees, the show was something different from what I’d previously seen in other movie concerts, and it was a good time. The stage was covered in hundreds of little (battery-operated) candles from left to right, front to back, complete with color-changing lights and a special lowered light set for the finale.
The show started at 7:30 PM and ended at 9:50 PM, with a 20-minute intermission, totaling 2 hours and 30 minutes. True to the name, the musicians played the soundtrack live, and the audience was loving it. Hoots, hollers, catcalls, and other exclamations filled the room, per the emcees’ directions at the beginning of the show. What made this rendition stand out was that it featured a vocalist, whereas most movie concerts like this tend to shy away from vocals. Due to the “hoa hoa hoa season” internet term that fans came up with for Fall (based on “Eyes on Fire” by Blue Foundation, on the soundtrack), after the debut of the film based on the vocals in the soundtrack, vocals were a necessity. While the microphone was at a low volume, he gave a great performance throughout the film, and the attendees cheered him on every time. Guitar, both acoustic and electric, piano, violin, trumpet, and cello were the instruments that were played throughout the evening. This band has been operating for a few years now, and the expertise was evident in the band’s performance.
Despite having only seen the movie once before, I could feel the love for this film in the room and remembered how I felt seeing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in this format. I truly advise anyone who can afford to attend an event like this to do so, as it presents films of all kinds in a whole new light that’ll make you appreciate them more, especially the soundtrack. Whether a rendition of Twilight or Home Alone, live-in-concert movies are a different kind of experience.
