21 Things To Do and See in Portland Aug 19-21

Celebrate Portland's most legit record label, eat on Portland's hippest patio, and watch Portland's best rappers perform for free.

FRIDAY, AUG. 19

Brainwaves' Fan Appreciation

[IMPROV] Portland's longest-running improv ensemble has been doing long- and medium-form comedy for 30 years. This is a show for their friends. Free food, free drinks, old friends returning to stage and so many Easter eggs, you'll think Jesus is come again. Free food? That makes us friends. Portland Center Stage, 128 NW 11th Ave. 8 pm. $5.

Heatwave

(Meegan Barnes) (Meegan Barnes)

[FINE ART] I've been trying to come up with a demure way to describe the group show at Stephanie Chefas Projects this month, but nothing polite does it justice. So here goes: Heatwave feels like a hot fuck in the middle of an August afternoon in Los Angeles after you've come home sticky from the beach with the taste of salt still on your tongue. Meegan Barnes' high-gloss ceramic sculptures are female forms cut off above their tiny waists and below their sun-kissed thighs, leaving nothing but thong-clad asses that drip gold luster like sweat. Stephanie Chefas Projects, 305 SE 3rd Ave., Suite 202, 503-719-6945. Through Sept. 3.

Related: I like big butts and I cannot lie.

Kill Rock Stars' 25th Birthday Party

[FOR THE RECORD BOOK] When you pick up a record from Kill Rock Stars, you might have little idea what you're going to hear, but you know what you're going to get. Since it launched in Olympia, Wash., the year punk broke—and pretty close to the month—the label has prided itself on placing substance above style, emphasizing leftist political principles over any easily placed musical aesthetic. We asked Portia Sabin, who took over as president from founder Slim Moon in 2006, to name the records that have come to define Kill Rock Stars for her. Spare Room, 4830 NE 42nd Ave., on Friday, Aug. 19. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

Los Tigres del Norte

(Associated Press photo) (Associated Press photo)

[NORTEÑO LEGENDS] The U2 of Latin folk music is a five-piece accordion band famed for its stories of real people. On this year's release, Ataúd, the band continues its ballad-filled tradition, offering relatable songs about life's greatest struggles. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway. 8 pm. $35-$85. All ages.

Rack & Cloth Pop-Up

[DRINK] Rack & Cloth cider is both terrific and far up the Columbia River Gorge in a secluded farmhouse. Rev. Nat's will bring it close to home with eight taps, including three one-offs that have never left the farm. Expect a two-deep vertical flagship stony pig, plus peach and cherry cider, wild cider and others. Oh, and if you want farm-fresh eggs or peaches from the farm instead? It will sell those too. Reverend Nat's Cidery & Public Taproom, 1813 NE 2nd Ave., 503-567-2221. 4-11 pm.

Tomatofest

[SAMPLES] Turns out Green Zebra grocery is not named after a weirdly-colored animal. It is named after a type of tomato, a tomato whose season just started. To celebrate the arrival of green zebra tomatoes, the grocery is throwing a two-day party with tomato-tastings and a live chili roasting. Friday at Green Zebra Lloyd, 808 NE Multnomah Ave., 11 am-2 pm and Saturday at Green Zebra Kenton, 3011 N Lombard Ave., 11 am-2 pm. Free.

Workin' the Tease

[STRIP FOR PP] Burlesque is equal parts fundraising and therapy for Thomas, who goes by Kitty Kat DeMille when touring with her nonprofit pinup shows, Workin' the Tease, which is a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood. "We're really good at reining in money," Thomas says. The last time her company, Do Right Industries, came to town, it sold out the eastside's Crush Bar. Now, Thomas is bringing her crew back for a PP benefit at Dante's. Read about the 450-pound stripper who inspired Kitty Kat. Dante's, 350 W Burnside St., 9:30 pm Friday, Aug. 19. $20-$35. 21+.

SATURDAY, AUG. 20

Batman

[FLASHBACK FLICK] In Tim Burton's super film, Jack Nicholson pulled off the miracle of making a damaged gangster in clown makeup seem damaged without tattooing the word "damaged" on his fucking forehead. Academy Theater, showing Aug. 19-25.

Belly Dance Off

(photo by Casey Campbell Photography) (photo by Casey Campbell Photography)

[ROLLIN'] There are many secrets behind belly dancing. One is that there's a lot of improvisation behind those rolling umbilical regions. Here, a panel of judges gives constructive feedback while the audience gets to score dancers and shake their own stuff at intermission when the dance floor opens up. The live music from Ritim Egzotik melds Turkish classics with modern rock and jazz. But what the hell do we know about belly dancing? With a full, multicourse dinner included in the ticket price, at least there's no question that bellies will be satiated. Tony Starlight Showroom, 1125 SE Madison St. 6 pm Saturday, Aug. 20. $25 show only, $59 includes dinner.

The Body and Full of Hell, Thrones, Ruminant

[BUMPIN' GRINDCORE] Since Napalm Death invented the subgenre in the mid-1980s there has been, at any given time, exactly one good grindcore band. Currently, that band is Maryland's Full of Hell. Tonight, the group teams with Portland's own experimental punk act, the Body, bringing to life the two bands' excellent collaborative album, One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache, which shifts the gears slightly from unrelenting fury toward a more contemplative, electronics-driven miasma of noise, punk and oppressive filth. Two of extreme music's noisiest bands together on one stage—it's a match made in Hell. The Know, 2026 NE Alberta St. 8 pm. Contact venue for ticket prices. 21+.

Related: The Know is closing.

Classical Revolution PDX presents Music From Hell

[SINFUL SYMPHONICS] The concept: local classical music sophisticates hand-pick an array of performances too risqué even for purgatory, with 12 minutes of stage time to pay tribute to the underworld. Scheduled performances include cello-burlesque, Gregorian chants reinterpreted for electric harp and a demonic pianist. The Twilight Orchestra kicks the night off with a gothic symphony and DJ Kirin Moorty will no doubt wear out the grooves on "Enter Sandman," Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" and that Rolling Stones song from the end of Interview With the Vampire. Coat check will also be issuing tickets for anyone wishing to abandon all hope before entering. Dante's, 350 W Burnside St. 8 pm Saturday, Aug. 20. $10. 21+.

Related: We went for tacos and margs at the six most bougie taco spots in Southeast Portland—here's the Best of Everything.

Federale

[TAGLIERINI WESTERN] Ever since a handful of locally based, globally feted tastemakers first embraced the misterioso-profundo orchestral élan of Sergio Leone-styled film scores, discussions of Federale inevitably invoke "cinematic" as a key descriptor. True, the band's members insist each of their albums primarily exist as soundtracks for genre flicks of their own minutely detailed imagining. Still, in the laziest critical shorthand, cinematic music generally means instrumental music—approachable evocations of hummable, shimmering menace, particularly—and that no longer strictly applies to Federale. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 6 and 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. Early show all ages, late show 21+.

Friends with Benedicts

[COMEDY + COCKTAILS] Start Saturday with mimosas and Bri Pruett's brunch bunch of standup comedians. This month's lineup includes Seattleites Maddie Downes and Natalie Holt, plus local hairstylist Chris Ettrick, who was a finalist for Portland Funniest Person at Helium this year, and Paul Schlesinger of the sporadic Comedy Is OK show. The Lamp, 3023 SE Milwaukie Ave. 1 pm. $5 suggested donation.

Gold Panda

[BREXIT MUSIC] England's vote to leave the European Union hit producer Derwin Panda hard. To cope, he bottled his anxiety and looming fears into a surprise EP titled Kingdom, an album more downtempo and melancholic than its predecessors, reflecting simultaneously the nervousness of the time and the search for calm amid the chaos. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St. 9 pm. $16. 21+.

Sam Coomes

[NU-PORTLAND BLUES] Sam Coomes is not one to play it straight. A key fixture of the local scene since his time in Heatmiser in the early '90s, Coomes has helped create some of the finest music ever to come out of the Pacific Northwest, both with Quasi—his rocksichord-pop duo with drummer Janet Weiss—and through session and production work for the likes of Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney and Bugskull. He's a wicked guitar player and underrated songwriter, but on his debut recording under his own name, he veers sharply to the left, constructing an intentionally spooky, uncommercial album. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., with Clark and the Himselfs and Marisa Anderson. 9:30 pm. $10. 21+.

SUNDAY, AUG 21

Electric Summer

Thomas Teal, White Owl Social Club Thomas Teal, White Owl Social Club

[POP-UP] For years, White Owl's Tia Vanich and Departure's Gregory Gourdet have thrown blowout potlucks for the industry set—Electric Summer PDX takes it public with a fine food-EDM mashup on the White Owl patio with food from Bamboo, Biwa, Blue Hour, Chicken and Guns, Clyde Common, the Country Cat and the rest of the alphabet, plus shit-tons of music and a best-dressed contest, just to make sure you come dressed properly. $10 cheap. White Owl Social Club, 1305 SE 8th Ave., 503-236-9672. 3 pm-1 am. $10. 21+.

Becky Robinson

[STAND-UP] Becky with the good hair is in from L.A. This Portland native is back for one night, taking a break from MTV's Wild 'n Out. She hasn't made her big break yet, but she has Comedy Central credits on shows like Not Safe With Nikki Glaser and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and she reps Leslie Jones. That's enough. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave. 7:30 pm. $12. 21+.

Related: One of Portland's best standup comedians is leaving the city, so we asked him for a tour of his favorite spots.

Kubo and the Two Strings

[BLOCKBUSTER] Laika's late-summer bid for animation domination manages multiple triumphs. It's an original story that feels lived in, a kid-focused fable with real stakes, and it's a high-octane spectacle full of white-knuckle action and terrifying creatures that's matched every step of the way by heart. Read the full review and buy tickets.

The Lion King

[BROADWAY] The Broadway production never fully separates itself from the experience of watching the movie in a theater as a 6-year-old. That's because it doesn't want to. The play opens the same as the movie: the sun rising over the desert as animals from all across the savannah come to serenade the new king with "The Circle of Life." From birds that fly like kites at the end of a fishing line, to the two-person elephants stomping down the orchestra-level aisles, to the cheetah licking her paws—it's all really impressive stuff. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 503-241-1802. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday, 1 and 6:30 pm Sunday, through Sept. 4. $30-$150.

Mic Capes, Rasheed Jamal, Maze Koroma

PDX Pop Now Mic Capes (Megan Nanna)

[ACTIVIST RAP] Mic Capes and Rasheed Jamal are ruling the Portland rap scene right now. Capes' most recent single, "One 4 O'Shea," is a "fuck the police" anthem that's blisteringly poignant but also conveys a sense of frustrated exhaustion. Jamal has a lot to say, too, in his proudly twisted-up, Southern-rooted rap. "Can we please have a moment of violence?" he raps on "Urban Decay," a track from last year's Sankofa. Capes is still teasing his album Concrete Dreams, but he recently held a listening party in town, implying he's for-real close this time. Rontoms, 600 E Burnside St. 8 pm. Free. 21+.

Related: The time Mic Capes performed at City Hall.

Proscenium Live

[THEATER] Portland Shakespeare Project's annual festival of new works is just about as exciting as free theater extravaganzas get. Local stage icons like Tobias Anderson (King Lear at Post5), Orion Bradshaw, Michael Mendelson and Crystal Muñoz star in four nights of free shows. A highlight is Pericles Wet (7:30 pm Sunday), directed by one of Portland's top directors, Matthew Zrebski. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 503-241-1278. 7:30 pm Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 18-21. Free.

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