BTW, Lane, you just missed the big Blues Festival in Waterfront Park in Portland, OR over the July 4th weekend. It's a four day event with all sorts of blues artists performing and fireworks on the 4th. Admission is real cheap--$5 plus 2 cans of food for the food bank is the suggested donation, I think--, and folks can get in free by doing some grunt work for the festival.

Both Seattle and Portland have concerts at their zoos on Wednesday, Thursday, and, I think, Friday nights during the summer. On Wed. and Thurs. in Portland, the admission is just the zoo admission ($7.50?), but some of the Friday night acts (e.g., the Chieftains) cost $20, I think, and tend to get sold out ahead of time. I've heard Tish Hinojosa, Maura O'Connell, and Miriam Makeba on Thursday nights (folk/bluegrass night) at the zoo in Portland. Sometimes if you don't get there before 7:00 (when the show starts), you may not get in, since the events are so popular. If you go earlier, you can see the zoo and then the concert for one zoo admission price.