The unofficial national holiday for advertising and gluttony, the Super Bowl, is sitting at the end of this weekend like the 30-pound lump of half-digested cheese and chicken wings will sit on your large intestine by the time 9 pm Sunday rolls around. It's pretty unavoidable, but there are alternatives to the pageantry available. You can catch a Kurosawa classic, the Wine Olympics (there's a wine olympics!?), an improv comedy festival, a winter luau fueled by Portland Cider, a conscious hit of history courtesy a Black Power Mixtape, and a chance to witness honey-dipped sex in song form via the one and only Ro James. There's a lot to do this weekend that isn't football related, and even if you are sucked into that marketing black hole—at least Gaga will welcome you at the event horizon. Click the links below and load that plate accordingly.
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Ro James, Candice Boyd
The Merc can get behind any R&B singer whose biggest song, drizzled in a voice of solicitous honey, is all about seeking verbal consent from a prospective romantic partner. And while Ro James’ hit track “Permission” will certainly be on display as he kicks off a tour in Portland this evening, there’s plenty more where that came from. DIRK VANDERHART Read our story on Ro James.
8 pm, Star Theater
Sabertooth Micro Fest Night 1: Thee Oh Sees, Moon Duo, Skull Diver
If you missed out on catching psych-rock juggernauts Thee Oh Sees when they leveled Revolution Hall back in November, the Sabertooth Micro Fest is giving you another chance. Frontman John Dwyer and his ever-evolving band will hoist the freak flag high in honor of the Crystal Ballroom’s psychedelic celebration, and they’ll do so with help from a pair of Portland's own cosmic voyagers in Moon Duo and Skull Diver. CHIPP TERWILLIGER
7:30 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $29.50-35
Carnivora
Theatre Vertigo's Carnivora opens with a lady climbing out of a burlap sack and screaming bloody murder, and the fact that she isn’t dead is about the cheeriest thing that happens in this macabre tale of a poor Southern family strong-armed into unspeakable violence. MEGAN BURBANK
7:30 pm, Shoe Box Theater, $10-20
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 bears the pros and cons of its titular format: It never dwells overlong on any one subject, but it also sacrifices depth and cohesion. This mishmash of vintage footage of speeches, interviews, rallies, and rioting culled from various Swedish news organizations and recent interviews with black musicians like Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson chronologically—and sympathetically—examines the movement’s triumphs, defeats, and tenets. Director/writer Göran Olsson admits his film isn’t comprehensive, but his outsider’s perspective lends BPM a piquant slant unavailable to American filmmakers. He devotes almost as much time to ordinary black citizens dealing with injustice, drugs, and poverty as he does to leaders like Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Eldridge Cleaver. And given the current Occupy Wall Street protests, Olsson makes us realize that black people’s grievances resonate as urgently today for all downtrodden Americans as they did 40 years ago. DAVE SEGAL
7 pm, 9:30 pm, Fifth Avenue Cinema
Portland Cider Company Winter Luau
Just because the city seems to keep freezing over every other week doesn't mean you still can't liven things up a little. Portland Cider Company celebrates their first seasonal bottle release with a winter luau for their pineapple cider, including a Hawaiian menu and a tropical photo booth
11 am, Portland Cider House
Alcest, The Body, Creepers
Let’s start by defining the word “blackgaze.” It might sound like an awkward portmanteau—because it is—but it’s also a really succinct and accurate way to describe the music of Alcest. For more than 15 years, the French band has been on the bleeding edge of blending harsh black metal (“black-”) and dreamy shoegaze (“-gaze”) into one gorgeous, soaring sound. Alcest’s early days were pretty balanced between the two styles, but 2012’s Les Voyages de l’Âme seemed to signal a shift, with lighter sounds all but squeezing the dark out of the frame. And 2014’s Shelter took that shift to its logical conclusion, delivering 45 minutes of pure, pillowy dream-pop and essentially leaving metal behind. Which brings us to Alcest’s outstanding 2016 album Kodama, which finds the band circling back to its blackened roots by including some hissing howls here and there. Wherever their focus lies at any given time, Alcest is one of the best heavy guitar bands on the planet, and their visit to Portland is not to be missed. BEN SALMON
8:30 pm, Dante's, $12
The Prids, Daydream Machine, The Secret Light
The Prids might be one of Portland’s longest-running bands, having overcome a number of setbacks throughout their two-decade tenure that would’ve had lesser groups calling it a day. That tenacity carries into the band’s music, as they continue to defy trends in a city and music scene that continues to change. The Prids occupy a corner of music where heartbreak and sadness exist under the hue of sunlight breaking through gray clouds. Do I Look Like I’m in Love?, the band’s first full-length since 2010’s Chronosynclastic, is another batch of bleak yet hopeful songs that reflect the Prids’ long and winding path. “English Treasure” is hazy, with guitars and synths washing over a sturdy bass line and ghostly vocals. The entire record feels dreamlike, and when listened to in this current political nightmare scenario, it feels even more surreal. I’m not sure if that’s what the band was going for, but I can say it might be exactly what we need. MARK LORE
9 pm, Doug Fir, $8-12
Big Jay Oakerson
An evening of stand-up with the Philadelphia comedian and actor who's opened for the likes of Dave Attell and Korn, currently stars in Big Jay Oakerson's What's Your F@%king Deal?! on the NBC's Seeso streaming service, and co-hosts The Bonfire on Sirius XM's Comedy Central station alongside comedian Dan Soder.
7:30 pm, 10 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $15-23
Secret Drum Band, Dubais, Mattress, Steve Reich's Drumming
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, The Fixin' To, $5
Portland Seafood and Wine Festival
Sip a lotta wine, eat a lotta fish! Sounds pretty simple, right? This year's annual celebration of coastal drinking and dining falls in the middle of Dungeness crab season, too, so there's definitely gonna be some seasonal delicacies to trie, as well as face painters, balloon artists, and other family-friendly activities.
2 pm, Oregon Convention Center, $12
Illuminated Bike Ride
One of the most fun parts of the Portland Winter Light Festival, where cyclists make their rides glow in amazingly creative ways, and provide their shine to a three-mile loop around the waterfront.
8 pm, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, free
Steph Jagger
Steph Jagger reads from her new book, Unbound, a continent-spanning memoir of adventure and self-discovery chronicling Jagger's journey through the snowy mountains of North and South America, Asia, Europe, and New Zealand.
7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free
Blackstar Rising: Low 40th Anniversary David Bowie Tribute
The Alberta Rose presents a tribute to the life and music of David Bowie in celebration of the 20th anniversary of his 1977 studio album, Low. Featuring performances by Ariel Bittner, Ben Blechman, Nate Pazzo Bocchicchio, Aniana McConnell, and members of Chervona, Emulator, Sneakin' Out, Love Gigantic, Shafty, Bridgetown Brass, Cherimoya, Just Pretend, Wanderlust Circus, Soriah, and Fresh Track.
9 pm, Alberta Rose Theatre, $10-40
The Gateway Show
It begins as a standard-issue stand-up showcase, with Matt Eriksen, Brent Flyberg, Becky Braunstein, and Anthony Lopez all doing their regular sets. And then... they get ripped out of their fucking gourds, and go back onstage.
9:30 pm, Funhouse Lounge, $12
Daft Punk Tribute Night
Tribute Night and Ante Up pay respects to the influential French electronic music duo with an all-night dance party featuring music selections from throughout the group's two decade plus year career.
10 pm, Holocene, $10-15
The Stumptown Improv Festival
Comedy is at peak blowup in Portland, and the Stumptown Improv Festival in August has been pushing it forward. But why wait until summer to see great improv? Stumptown Improv Festival Presents shoves great comedy into your face NOW when you need it most. So don’t miss these three great troupes: Portland’s Hawaiian Squirts, Seattle’s Death and Taxes, and the brilliant Summerland (who killed at last year’s Stumptown) from Los Angeles. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
8 pm, Siren Theater, $15-17
Sabertooth Micro Fest Night 2: The Black Lips, Boogarins, Ezra Furman, Máscaras
Ezra Furman seems to relish in every faction of the broad “rock” genre. Listeners can hear everything from doo-wop to glam to blues to country twang in his music, sometimes even in the same song. Furman pairs this genre-crossing energy with an endearing croon that sounds like he’s an over-caffeinated Warren Zevon. Brazil’s Boogarins play stuff that’s pleasant without being passive, bathing audiences in sunlight, tropicalismo, and soft guitar shredding. EMMA BURKE
7:30 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $29.50-35, all ages
Y.G.B. Presents: One
After a short time off, YGB is back! The Young Gifted and Black party provides some of the most consistently dope soul-infused dance nights in town, and it’s staying true to its identity: an inclusive space for joyful movement, free Tarot readings, community-building, incense-burning, and a variety of sound-providers. In addition to resident DJ Lamar LeRoy, Soul Trigger will be in the house with unscripted tap routines incorporating live drumming and DJing. The vibe will be further elevated by the stellar and succinct rhymes from Rasheed Jamal. Saturday is just the first of several YGB-produced events; Sunday there’s a semi-closed “healing vibrations” brunch that you can request an invite by emailing ygbportland@gmail.com. JENNI MOORE
9 pm, Holocene, $7
Eyelids, Denim Wedding, The Loved
Eyelids are no longer the parts of their sum, they're just the kind of killer all-star group that sometimes serendipitously springs up here in Portland. BEN SALMON
9 pm, The Fixin' To
Portland Winter Light Festival
OMSI and PGE help present this showcase for over 40 visual artists and performers to celebrate the light and the love of winter.
6 pm, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), free, all ages
Kulululu, Loveboys, Toothbone
Portland’s Loveboys have generated notable momentum since their 2016 inception. The trio of grunge punks has enjoyed a steady diet of live dates, as well as the December release of two songs from an EP that’ll come out early this summer. The third song, “Racecar,” comes swimming in the reverb-heavy clang of guitarist Adam Fight’s six-string wranglings. The song’s anti-consumerism explosion folds into the four-on-the-floor rhythmic barrage of drummer Elly Swope (Focus! Focus!) and bassist Victoria Valenz-uela. Loveboys’ grungier foundations are best exemplified in the sneering “Tender Branson,” a tune that unabashedly waves a flag for the Pacific Northwest of the past. “Sew” ushers in the kind of head-banging nuance of Bleach-era Nirvana or Suicide Invoice-era Hot Snakes. If that doesn’t compel you to shower this band with every ounce of your adoration, chances are you voted a turd into office. RYAN J. PRADO
8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!
Dvořák’s New World Symphony: Carlos Kalmar, Yefim Bronfman, Oregon Symphony
With its unusually subtle entrance and heartbreaking middle chapter, Beethoven’s most emo piano concerto is his Number 4—a work that Rip City’s biggest band performs tonight through Monday with legendary pianist Yefim Bronfman providing virtuosic command of the Schnitzer’s concert grand. Antonín Dvoák’s magnificent Symphony No. 9 (another work in heavy rotation around the world’s concert halls) also appears on music director Carlos Kalmar’s set list tonight, making this program an ideal choice for folks who want to witness two perennial masterworks for the price of one. But it’s not all old school: The show kicks off with Sebastian Currier’s intriguing 1997 composition Microsymph, which cleverly compresses a large-scale five-movement symphony into the space of 10 minutes. BRIAN HORAY
7:30 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $23-105
Mayhem, Inquisition, Black Anvil
The career of Norway’s legendary black metal band Mayhem can be divided into two parts: the primal beginnings, embroidered with the frighteningly visceral lo-fi recordings that initiated a global phenomenon, and the turn of the century rebirth, highlighted by an inventive brutality that seeks to challenge the genre’s limits. A tumultuous history decorated with macabre stage names (Necrobutcher, Dead, Blasphemer, Euronymous, etc.), legitimate connections to church burnings, and actual murders/suicides solidifies the group’s status as the truest disciples of death, which any one of the seething legions of fanatics who cover themselves in “corpse paint” and absorb every facet of their Until the Light Takes Us DVD with biblical infatuation will attest. This deification will turn Mayhem’s notorious live shows into a punishing form of anti-church, where masterfully harsh ablutions are blasted into an adoring hesher congregation. CHRIS SUTTON
8 pm, Hawthorne Theatre, $25-28, all ages
Write to Publish 2017
Ooligan Press' conference aims to demystify the publishing process through a series of panel discussions, talks, and workshops with industry professionals. Visit http://ooligan.pdx.edu/writetopublish for more information.
All day, PSU's Smith Memorial Student Union
TV Girl, Poppet
The Los Angeles-hailing trio consisting of Brad Petering, Jason Wyman, and Wyatt Harmon bring their blend of sample-loaded pop and soul music to the Liquor Store to celebrate the re-release of their 2014 studio album, French Exit.
8:30 pm, The Liquor Store, $10
The 3rd Annual Vinolympics
An olympics, but for wine? Why the hell not? Proceeds benefit the Children's Heart Foundation, so you're helping kids while also competing for the gold in categories such as palate, wine knowledge, and physical coordination. And instead of medals, you win wine.
6 pm, Theory, $60-70
Missy & Luda: A Hip-Hop Party: Anechoic, B. Hammer'd, Threadcount, Duncan Gerow
A night dedicated to two of the Dirty South's brightest stars in all their quirky, funky, silly, saucy glory.
9 pm, O'Malley's Saloon & Grill
7:30 pm, Keller Auditorium, $35-80
Haley Heynderickx, Lola Kirke, Wyndham, Johanna Warren
You might know Lola Kirke from her role as an oboist on the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, or the 2017 Golden Globes, where she famously sported a magnificent pink pin that read “Fuck Paul Ryan.” But she’s also a real-life musician, and a dang good one at that—her self-titled debut EP is four tracks of dreamy Americana that kicks off with a delightful song called “Baby Butt.” CIARA DOLAN Read our story on Lola Kirke
8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!
Super Bowl LI
My colleagues would really like me to point out the highlight of Sunday will be the magnificent Lady Gaga performance (with an appearance from Tony Bennett) that’ll be sandwiched between a couple hours of grown men violently hurting each other for money. If you still hate football but love capitalism, all the “best” commercials for the upcoming year will come out today. But, really, the football is the main event here—the pinnacle game to determine the champion of America’s biggest sports league. If the New England Patriots win, 39-year-old Tom Brady will have his fifth Super Bowl ring, the most for his position in NFL history, cementing his place as the greatest quarterback of all time (I played catch with him once when he was in college, where he starred for my hometown Michigan Wolverines, so I’m trying my best to overlook his friendship with Donald Trump). If the Falcons win, it’ll be Atlanta’s first ever Super Bowl title. A lot is at stake. So break out the cheese dip and tortilla chips and have your friends over, head to your local bar, or check out one of the watch parties around town (we recommend watching on the large screen at Revolution Hall). DOUG BROWN
3:30 pm, Revolution Hall, free
Throne of Blood
Hidden in the long and amazing filmography of legendary director Akira Kurosawa is a trilogy of Shakespeare adaptations that aren’t really adaptations of the Bard, but more like cover versions using the original melody to spin off intricate and powerful compositions. The trilogy includes 1985’s Ran (adapting King Lear) and 1960’s The Bad Sleep Well (adapting Hamlet), but the first of these—1957’s Throne of Blood—not only takes Macbeth and drops it feudal Japan, but easily improves it in the telling. Of course, you put Toshirô Mifune in anything and you’ve improved whatever you’re watching twofold at minimum. BOBBY ROBERTS
7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $9
Ice Queens, Ice Princess, Bleach Blonde Dudes
The first Rontoms Sunday Session of February keeps things frosty with night of free music from experimental rockers Bleach Blonde Dudes, fantasy metal outfit Ice Princess, and indie rock shredders Ice Queens.
8:30 pm, Rontoms, free
The Murder City Devils, The Constant Devils, Corey J. Brewer
Frontman Spencer Moody and his garage rock rippers the Murder City Devils get 2017 started right with a west coast jaunt that stops off at Dante's tonight.
8 pm, Dante's, $14.50
Control Yourself
JoAnn Schinderle's weekly stand-up showcase is now also a podcast, featuring sets from local and national comedians followed by an open mic.
8:30 pm, Alberta Street Pub, free
Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!