Skip to main content
FRIDAY, JULY 7
David Lynch: A Retrospective
Feel like the only person in Portland who didn't go crazy for the return of Twin Peaks? Immerse yourself in David Lynch at NW Film Center's retrospective, which kicks off with Eraserhead and four of his shorts. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 SW Park Ave., 503-226-2811, nwfilm.org. 7 pm. $9.
Jaws
The summer blockbuster that was born on the beaches of Massachusetts. A film as famous for its production delays, technical wizardry and establishment of the big-money Hollywood blockbuster business model as it is for its great white shark, Steven Spielberg's story of an unseen terror on the beaches of New England is one of the most important films of the last 50 years. See it on 35mm as part of the Hollywood's Spielberg on Film series. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, hollywoodtheatre.org. 7:30 pm. $9.
Troilus and Cressida
Shakespeare's Trojan War tragedy is infamously bizarre and ambiguous. But this production is helmed by one of Portland's most trusted Shakespeare directors, plus, it will be performed in a cemetery while the sun goes down. Lone Fir Cemetery, SE 26th Avenue & Stark Street, portlandactors.com. 7 pm. Free.
Mutoid Man, Helms Alee, Norska, WORWS
Though it was first met with harsh opposition, Cave In's transition from punishing hardcore to introspective prog metal on their 2000 album, Jupiter, has since been recognized as one of the most bold and satisfying left turns the genre's ever seen. With the help of Converge drummer Ben Koller and veteran bassist Nick Cageao, Cave In's former guitarist and vocalist, Stephen Brodsky, formed Mutoid Man as an outlet for the stylistic overlap between these two eras, combining the white-knuckled tempos of the former with the spacey ambition of the latter. This year's War Moans excels in providing fans of modern prog-influenced contemporaries like Baroness and the Mars Volta with a melodically dense masterpiece that checks off all the boxes a headbanger could ever want, with intense breakdowns, thrash-inflected screeching and triumphant payoffs that turn out to be much smarter than their rockist delivery seems to indicate at first. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd., 503-233-7100. 7:30 pm. $15 advance, $18 day of show. All ages.
SATURDAY, JULY 8
Mississippi Street Fair
The Mississippi Street Fair is probably the most iconic of such events in Portland—a world of sushi, beer, designer kiddie clothes and strange art made from bird carcasses. North Mississippi Avenue between Fremont
and Alberta streets, mississippiave.com/streetfair. 10 am-9 pm.
Harriet Brown, Nite Jewel, Geneva Jacuzzi
In L.A.'s revivified funk scene, Harriet Brown is emerging as a potential torchbearer. On his debut full-length, Contact, Brown triangulates early Prince, a grown, sexy Janet Jackson and Mr. Contact himself—Carl Sagan, if you're nasty—connecting the corporeal, the spiritual and the extraterrestrial through vintage synths, bangin' drum machines and the occasional ripping guitar solo. Read our profile on Harriet Brown here. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., dougfirlounge.com. 9 pm. $14 advance, $16 day of show. 21+.
Thunderpussy, Cave Clove
Cynics who thought that rock died weren't betting on the new pussy paradigm. An all-woman quartet birthed in 2014 from Seattle's foggy depths, Thunderpussy isn't a girl band, but a rock band, snarling and jumping and pulsing with timeless leather bravado. Read our profile on Thunderpussy here. Dante's, 350 W Burnside St., danteslive.com. 9 pm. $12 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.
Jump Jack Sound Machine One-Year Anniversary
Who says there's such a thing as a Best New Band curse? Shortly after placing at the top of Willamette Week's annual local music poll in 2016, Chanticleer Tru and Natasha Kmeto, of throwback-R&B supergroup Chanti Darling, launched Jump Jack Sound Machine, a monthly dance party dedicated to house, disco, U.K. garage and more. One year later, both the group and the party are still going strong. Tonight's anniversary party features cameos from rapper the Last Artful Dodgr, electro landscape artists Waterbed and techno cosmonaut Orographic. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895. 10 pm. $7. 21+.
SUNDAY, JULY 9
Adaptation.
Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's meta-film stars Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman, who suffers through a series of personal crises as he struggles to adapt Susan Orlean's The Orchard Thief into a screenplay. Laurelhurst Theater, 2735 East Burnside St., laurelhursttheater.com. 4 pm and 9 pm. $4 general admission, $3 matinee.
Piccadilly
The student-run 5th Avenue Cinema is back for summer school, and they're kicking off their program with E.A. Dupont's proto-noir about an aging dancer in West London who must compete for stage time and her lover's (Jameson Thomas) attention with the scullery maid Shosho (Anna May Wong). 5th Avenue Cinema, 510 SW Hall St., 5thavecinema.com. 3 pm. $5.
Solomon Georgio
Standup comedian Solomon Georgio is taping his first comedy album here in Portland. Georgio's material often deals with his experiences as an openly gay Sudanese immigrant, and manages to seem upbeat even as talks about how fucked up Disney movies really are. Read our interview with Georgio here. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895, mississippistudios.com. 7 and 9 pm. $10 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.
Playboi Carti
Grumpy old-heads might dismiss him as a "mumble rapper," but Playboi Carti is Atlanta's freshest voice, mixing a less-is-more lyrical approach with jiggy swagger that elevates his booming, bouncing single, "Magnolia," to Song of the Summer status. Roseland Theater, 10 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033, roselandpdx.com. 9 pm. Sold out. All ages.