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Dynamite PDX
If you've never seen NYC hip-hop improv troupe North coast do their high-energy, show-stopping freestyle rap comedy show (with mind-blowing-sounds-coming-out-of-her World Beatbox Champion Kaila Mullady) make it YOUR BUSINESS to check out this rare Portland appearance—they're in town because their teammate Rachel Rosenthal's doing a monthlong residency at the Siren. Portland-based improv crew Broke Gravy also performs, bringing it PDX style—nerdy and documentary influenced. SUZETTE SMITH
9:30 pm, Curious Comedy Theater, $10-12
Summer Cannibals, Gazebos, Hurry Up
I'll start with the bad news: Summer Cannibals singer/guitarist Jessica Boudreaux is moving to LA. That'll probably mean fewer Portland shows, but it's okay—at least they're not b reaking up. Don't mis this glorious sendoff, as the three-piece plays molten rock songs from last year's excellent LP Full of It. CIARA DOLAN
9 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $13-15, all ages
Friday the 13th Double Feature
Every time the 13th day of any month lands on a Friday, people’s thoughts turn to Jason, that charming murderer of oversexed ’80s teens. This Friday is just such a Friday, and the Hollywood wants to scratch that killing itch with back-to-back 35mm screenings of the first two films in the looooooooooong-running slasher series—neither of which are much like the Jason movies you probably have in your head. Friday the 13th Part 2 features Jason rocking a burlap sack and a jaunty jog when chasing camp counselors, and he’s only in the original Friday the 13th for maybe about 20 seconds. But: Young Kevin Bacon gets his shit wrecked with something pointy, so there’s that. BOBBY ROBERTS
7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $9
The Flat Five, The Jenny Conlee Quartet
After 10 years of touring with acts like Iron and Wine, the Decemberists, Mavis Staples, and the New Pornographers, in October the Flat Five finally dropped It’s a World of Love and Hope. The Chicago pop-vocal supergroup consists of Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor, Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough, and Alex Hall, each in-demand musicians in their own right. Their full-length debut comes chock-full of saccharine harmonic pop vittles, replete with tongue-in-cheek fun and addictive melodic flourishes, as heard on the jazzy “You’re Still Joe.” The group’s diverse musicianship band touches on folk, Americana, ’60s pop, and more, with each shapeshift culminating in a new shade of hilarity, perhaps best exemplified by the funny but spiteful breakup track “I Could Fall in Love with You.” RYAN J. PRADO
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $12-14
Joe Pug, Hip Hatchet
Joe Pug’s third full-length, 2015’s Windfall, is an understated masterpiece and a worthy addition to the mega-talented folksinger’s oeuvre. We’re lucky it even exists—as Pug was recording brilliant albums like 2010’s Messenger and 2012’s The Great Despiser and touring the holy living heck out of ’em, he was also wearing himself down on all fronts. “My relationship was in shambles,” he’s quoted on his website, “and creatively I was at a dead end.” So Pug took a break, cleared his head, reconnected with real life, and refueled his artistic tank. The result is Windfall, a barebones singer/songwriter album that showcases the man’s seemingly bottomless supply of memorable melodies and hyper-literate lyrics. If you’re fond of fellas like Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter, and Ryan Adams but haven’t yet dug into Pug’s work, do so immediately. BEN SALMON
9 pm, Doug Fir, $15-17
Dowager, Dranky Skelerton, The Carotids
Ben Relampagos brings his emo-tinged post hardcore outfit to the Plew's stage.
9 pm, Plew's Brews, free
New Year's Disillusion
The Brody offers up a sketch comedy catharsis for those entering the new year still skeptical of what's going to make 2017 so much better than the last.
7:30 pm, Brody Theater, $8-12, all ages
Radler, Two Moons, Lubec, Clovver
Local emo and pop-tinged rock trio Radler kick-start the new year with an all ages release show in support of their brand new album, Cool.
7 pm, Black Water Bar, $5, all ages
Franz Nicolay, Cari Luna
After parting ways with The Hold Steady in 2009, Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Franz Nicolay spent the next half decade touring and performing at anarcho-punk squats and DIY spaces around the world. The Humorless Ladies of Border Control chronicles his time on the road and simultaneously explores the past and future of punk rock culture. Nicolay will be joined in conversation by Portland-based writer Cari Luna, author of The Revolution of Every Day.
7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books
Ah God, Jackson Boone, K. Skelton, Headband
Jackson Boone's self-described wizard rock is as cosmic and mysterious as the stretch of Oregon Coast he calls home. CIARA DOLAN
8 pm, American Legion Local 134, $3
Pillow Fight!
A one-night only improv showcase featuring some of Portland's finest comic performers, including Rachel Rosenthal, Shelley McLendon, Laura Sams, Erin Jean O'Reagan, and Kara Moore.
8 pm, Siren Theater, $8
Walter TV, Tonstartssbandht, Jerry Paper
Lose Yr Mind Fest and Next Northwest present a Friday night warehouse party with Canadian indie rock trio Walter TV.
8 pm, Information Warehouse
18th Portland Old Time Music Gathering
Portland non-profit Bubbaville hosts a giant-size celebration of fiddlin', banjo-playin', square-dancin' old-timey fun, featuring some of the regions best musicians and performers, and offering opportunities for attendees to learn a little more about the traditions in the music, and how to dance to it!
Jan 13-14, Fri 7pm, Sat noon, $20-38, all ages
Girl Fest 2017
This year the third annual Girl Fest, a concert celebrating and showcasing talented female artists in Portland, is hosted by the city's very own Blossom. The neo-soul singer was on the bill for the first two Girl Fests, so it's only fitting she'll still have a big presence this year. The 2017 lineup is significantly beefier and more diverse than last year; we'll hear hip-hop from Neka & Kahlo and Karma Rivera, indie from Courtney Noe, pop from Haley Heyndrickx, and modern jazz from headliner Coco Columbia. Make sure you come out and show love to the ladies. JENNI MOORE Read our story on Girl Fest.
7 pm, Lola's Room, $8-10, all ages
Rose City Rollers
Aw shit yeah! The Rose City Rollers are back, fresh from skating and elbowing their way to a second world championship. For all that success, Portland roller derby bouts are still fairly cheap, and delightfully violent (we recommend sitting as close as possible to the mayhem). Tonight's season opener features two bouts between some of the league's best squads. DIRK VANDERHART
6 pm, Oaks Amusement Park, $18-24, all ages
Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour
There are people whose living consists of competing to see how long they can ride and stay on a ferociously bucking bull before they get violently thrown off of it. Those people, with the Professional Bull Riders' Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour, will be at the dirt-filled Moda Center on Saturday night and, if nothing else, it'll be highly entertaining as they put their own safety aside to try to win. DOUG BROWN
7 pm, Moda Center, $15-155, all ages
Fruit Bats, Springtime Carnivore
Waking up in the middle of the night can feel like an intrusion, as though you’re rudely interrupting the world’s few peaceful hours of deep, rich silence with your sudden consciousness. Greta Morgan’s latest under the Springtime Carnivore moniker, Midnight Room, dwells in the stillness of these witching hours. Its 10 indie-pop tracks center on the aftermath of a breakup, specifically the unexpected shock of waking and realizing you’re completely alone. They’re set against an overwhelming sense of unsettling quiet, where even the smallest noise registers as an avalanche of sound. Throughout Midnight Room, the cold discomfort of newfound solitude softens into into hip-swinging celebrations of being alone in the dark. CIARA DOLAN
8 pm, Revolution Hall, $20, all ages
First 100 Days: United in Resistance
PICA hosts a weekend's worth of workshops helping attendeeds learn valuable organizing, safety, and protest skills to be used in the ongoing resistance against the Trump administration. Visit pica.org to rsvp and for more information.
Jan 14-15, PICA at West End
The Pines of Rome
Here’s a tip for folks who want to hear some classical music, but might be overwhelmed by the choices out there: Any program with Franz Joseph Haydn is worth checking out. Lucky for you, Portland’s biggest unplugged band has an utterly delightful late symphony by Papa Haydn on tap tonight through Monday, and as if that weren’t enough, the orchestra pairs this 18th-century gem with A Whole Distant World, a cello concerto composed in 1970 by Henri Dutilleux. In an average lifetime, one’s chances to witness an enigmatic concerto inspired by alcohol, drugs, and sex are relatively few, and the fact that cellist Alban Gerhardt will be in the soloist spotlight and maestro Carlos Kalmar will be on the conductor’s podium pretty much seals the deal. BRIAN HORAY
7:30 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $23-105
Piff the Magic Dragon
An evening with magician and comedian John van der Put, who performs under the stage name Piff the Magic Dragon. After breaking out as the stand-out star on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and nearly winning season 10 of NBC's America's Got Talent, Van der Put opened a solo stage show in Las Vegas at The Flamingo. This weekend's 4-night stand at Helium offers the chance to catch Piff's act right here in Portland.
7:30 pm, 10 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $20-28
Rebellion & Revolution: The Battle of Algiers
Where's the line? When a reality TV villain wins the presidency, and news reads like dystopian science fiction, the line between fiction and reality gets blurry. And when—and if—we manage to unplug, entertainment gets dicey: Is it okay to enjoy HBO’s soap operas while the world goes to shit? Where’s the line between letting ourselves engage with art and forcing ourselves to pay attention to the real world? The truth, of course, is that there is no line—art feeds on reality, and reality is affected by art. Which brings us to the Hollywood Theatre’s timely film series Rebellion & Revolution: Insurgent Cinema. Tonight: The 1966 Italian neorealist saga The Battle of Algiers, focused on guerrilla warfare. ERIK HENRIKSEN
7 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $9
John Doe & Exene
Fresh off their band's headlining show at the Crystal Ballroom, punk legends John Doe and Exene of X return to Portland for a rare and intimate acoustic show at the Old Church.
8 pm, The Old Church, $23-26, all ages
John Paul White, The Kernal
John Paul White will forever be associated with the Civil Wars, the country-folk duo he and singer Joy Williams formed in 2008. Together they’re known for transcendent harmonies, four Grammy Awards, and their abrupt, public, and acrimonious split. But as a songwriter, White’s among the best, and his career began well before the birth of the Civil Wars. With the August release of his latest solo album, Beulah, on his own Single Lock Records, he’s returning to his roots as a songwriter’s songwriter. It’s his first solo record since the breakup of the Civil Wars, and the music is in many ways familiar, though suffused with more Southern gothic darkness and damnation. Titles like “Make You Cry” and “I’ll Get Even” make it difficult not to think of these songs as coded references to his falling out with Williams, and especially “Black Leaf” with lyrics like “So bitter, in my heart and in my mouth/She’s a quitter, but I guess we’re both quitting now.” The Civil Wars may have officially ended in 2014, but White is only now beginning his period of reconstruction. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY
8 pm, Dante's, $17
Marching Church, Bernardino Femminielli, Public Eye
Like David Bowie on shrooms or a drunk Win Butler, Danish musician Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s bellowing croon is impossible to get around, whether he’s fronting Iceage or his solo project turned full-blown band, Marching Church. 2016’s Telling It Like It Is finds Rønnenfelt pushing further into ’80s avant-garde dance, particularly on songs like “Up for Days,” which could be an outtake from Scary Monsters-era Bowie or Public Image Ltd in its Metal Box period. The decadent hot pulse of Iggy Pop surges through “Information,” and “Heart of Life” echoes Bruce Springsteen—that is, if the Boss were from the cold, frozen North. Throughout Telling It Like It Is, there’s something about Rønnenfelt’s anti-singing that strikes a balance between unlistenable and inspired. WILLIAM KENNEDY
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $12-14
Mall Caste, Bobby Peru, Mr. Wrong
Mall Caste's unique sound samples from styles including punk, mod, dub, and power pop.
8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!
Miz Kitty's Parlour
Miz Kitty resurrects the spirit of real old-timey vaudeville as she transforms the Alberta Rose into her own parlor, with song, dance, burlesque, and other alluring entertainments from unique Portland performers.
7 pm, Mission Theater
Tropitaal: A Desi-Latino Soundclash
Anjali & the Kid are masters at setting the dance floor on fire with sustained bassy Bhangra explosions.
9 pm, Goodfoot, $5
Peaches Christ's Mister Act
San Francisco-based drag performer, emcee, and actor Peaches Christ presents a new parody of the '90s Whoopi Goldberg movie, Sister Act. The Portland premiere of the show features performances from RuPaul's Drag Race favorites Latrice Royale and Willam Belli, as well as appearances by Abbey Roads, Sylvia O'Stayformore, La Gaviota, Fraya Love, Tipsy Rose Lee, Isabella Extynn, Leicester Landon, and Strawberry Shartcake.
7 pm, Aladdin Theater, $30-80, all ages
Bearracuda
One of Portland's biggest and best gay dance parties brings their big beats, furry go-go dancers, circus acts, laser lights, and a clothing-optional upstairs area into 2017.
9 pm, Bossanova Ballroom, $6-8
Dad Works Hard, Tomber Lever, Birote the Musical
I wouldn't have expected to enjoy the fusion of disco and scuzz-rock as much as I enjoy Dad Works Hard's debut album, The Saturday Nite Movie. But there's something to this unlikely combo meal that brings to mind shag-carpeted vans, bowling-alley chicken fingers, primitive video games, and really bad weed—in other words, an eternal adolescence stranded in late-'70s middle America. NED LANNAMANN
9 pm, (The World Famous) Kenton Club
Old New Year's Snow Ball
Celebrate the New Year with local Russian ensemble Chervona's "signature party," the Old New Year's Snow Ball, where you'll dance the night away to an energetic set of gypsy punk and rock sung in both English and Russian.
9 pm, Star Theater, $15-30
Dear Sugar Radio: The Writers Resist
When it comes to the podcast advice racket, you can't do better than Dear Sugar's good cop-bad cop duo Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond. They're essential listening for anyone invested in becoming less of an asshole. This special live episode benefits human rights and the environment, and features writers opposed to the Trump doctrine. Go. It'll make you feel better. MEGAN BURBANK
6 pm, Aladdin Theater, $30, all ages
Dear Nora, Stephen Steinbrink, Dragging an Ox Through Water
XRAY and Turn! Turn! Turn! present a rare hometown performance from musician and songwriter Katy Davidson and her influential and beloved indie pop project, Dear Nora.
8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!
Susan DeFreitas
From Jonathan Franzen to small press titles, activist lit is having a moment right now, but Susan DeFreitas’ debut novel gets it right.
While an author like Franzen might make bemusingly unexamined digs at his squatters and freegans, DeFreitas depicts social agitation as, really, what it is: a gradual, infuriating, complex effort performed by smart, dedicated, flawed humans to varying degrees of commitment and success. Hot Season’s world of political activism is one in which there are no shortcuts, and nobody is a hero. MEGAN BURBANK
7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books
King: A Filmed Record—From Montgomery to Memphis
A digital restoration of Sidney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1970 documentary, using testimonials from well-known supporters (including James Earl Jones, Ruby Dee, and Paul Newman) to supplement the mountain of archival footage tracing the man’s arc from regional activist in the ’50s to leader of the Civil Rights movement in 1968.
7 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $9
Chrome, Soriah, Death of the West
Chrome was one of the most terrifying acts to emerge from the post-punk era. Formed in 1975 by the beautifully named duo of Damon Edge and Helios Creed, the group boiled together the dark side of psychedelia, the fury of punk, and the strange delights of analog synthesizers and tape music. The resulting soup, as heard on albums like 1977’s Alien Soundtracks and 1980’s Red Exposure, was black, viscous, and hallucinogenic. Chrome has since gone through various permutations, with Edge leading the charge through the ’80s and ’90s, up until his death in 1995. The mantle was quickly assumed by Creed, who has kept the spirit of the band alive through his solo work and new Chrome recordings, including the sexy beast that is 2014’s Feel It Like a Scientist, which sounds as sinister and intoxicating as ever. ROBERT HAM
9 pm, Star Theater, $12
Secret Drum Band, DoublePlusGood, Abronia
Anything Lisa Schonberg touches is gold. More than just a great drummer, she uses drums as compositional tools that have made bands like Explode into Colors and Kickball great. Always in demand, she's drummed for Mirah, Tune-yards, Tara Jane O'Neil, the Need, and Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, just to name a few. But it's the rare Secret Drum Band performance that brings her into the spotlight. Composing with the space in mind, Schonberg brings together a surprise star-studded cast of five drummers and two noise/tone/sound makers to create an experience unlike any other. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $8-10
Reel Music
For more than three decades, the NW Film Center's Reel Music series has assembled some of the best contemporary and classic music documentaries. This weekend, Reel Music kicks off its 34th installment with 1972's Cocksucker Blues—which the Film Center calls "The best Rolling Stones movie you've never seen"—before moving on to such fare as Blackhearts, about Norway's black metal scene; One More Time with Feeling, about the creation of Nick Cave's latest album, Skeleton Tree; and Contemporary Color, about that time David Byrne rounded up St. Vincent, Nelly Furtado, Ad-Rock, and Ira Glass to create a "one-of-a-kind color guard extravaganza." Also worth checking out, Vince Giordano: T here's a Future in the Past, about the jazz saxophonist and band leader who's lent his talents to films from Scorsese and Allen; Bobby Womack: Across 110th Street, a profile of the soul icon; and a free screening of a NW Music Video Showcase program, offering a slew of music videos made in the Pacific Northwest. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Jan 13-Feb 5, NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, $8-12 per film, see nwfilm.org for complete schedule
Skipping Bedtime
Skipping Bedtime is a monthly dance party for parents and other tired people. Dance and mingle to your heart's content and still make it home by 10:30pm. This month, DJ Paul Donald will be holding down the tables, and all proceeds will go to the Baby Blues Connection.
6 pm, Holocene, $7-10
Pickathon XIX 2017 Kickoff Party
To kickoff the 19th iteration of Portland's premier local festival, Pickathon is throwing a party at Revolution Hall. The event promises live music from special guests, 2017 line-up reveals, Pickathon archive video highlights, raffles, prizes, and more!
7 pm, Revolution Hall, free w/ rsvp
Marriage + Cancer, A Volcano, Born a Lot
Once in a while, a power duo comes along that can shred on guitar and slay on drums hard enough to melt your face. Johnny Brooke and Jesse Chambers write thrashing, in-your-face songs that allow space to appreciate both the intricacies and rawness of metal. RACHEL MILBAUER
8 pm, The Fixin' To, $5
The Variants, Tallwomen, Sweeping Exits, Dogtooth & Nail
An evening with the local quartet who describe themselves as "Queer Frontier rock" and play a blend of alternative rock, spaghetti western, and soul.
9 pm, Ash Street Saloon, $5
Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!