It’s not typical for the Portland City Council to have an opening act, but the local band Shank Painters was testing its mics outside City Hall on Monday evening. Nyx Leibiger, Fairn Stark and Charlie Swerdlow played while people streamed into the building for the meeting.

Next to their speakers was a cardboard sign with the message, “Say no to Live Nation!”

“We’re playing to lift hope,” Stark said.

“And remind people what’s at stake,” Leibiger added.

At stake was the fate of a new concert venue in the heart of downtown Portland.

At 9:30 p.m., the Portland City Council was still hearing public comment about a moratorium on new theaters and performance halls with a capacity over 2,000 people. The proposal grew out of the opposition to Live Nation, the concert giant that has partnered

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