Skip to main content
FRIDAY, JULY 14
Cathedral Park Jazz Festival
For 37 years, the annual Cathedral Park Jazz Festival has brought some of Portland's finest musicians out from their nocturnal haunts and into the sunshine and shadows of the St. Johns Bridge. Friday night's concert leans more toward blues and soul, with appearances from Rose City Kings and Andy Stokes along with jazz vocals from Julie Amici. Saturday afternoon, Bylines Quartet offers theatrical jazz songs by singer Marianna Thielen and pianist Reece Marshburn, plus Midnight Serenaders' Hawaiian-tinged retro swing and Shirley Nanette's tribute to the great jazz singer Ernestine Anderson. Cuban-born, New York-based pianist composer Manuel Valera's Latin jazz trio headlines. Sunday afternoon kicks off with current and alumni members of the Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra, and continues with frequent sideman pianist Clay Giberson's own quartet. The festival closes on a danceable note with funked-up jazz and R&B by Michael Beatzilla Whitmore & The Store of Funk. Cathedral Park, N Edison St & N Pittsburg Ave. 5:30. Free. All ages.
Harefest
Can't make it to Guns N' Roses in the Gorge? Your next best option is to catch Appetitetite for Deception, along with 17 other tribute acts, at the seventh annual Harefest, the only all-cover-bands festival we know of. Pat's Acres Racing Complex, 6255 S Arndt Road, Canby, harefest.com. July 14-15. $50-$100. All ages.
The Revolution
No group of musicians knows the music of Prince as intimately as his classic band, the Revolution, who reunited after his death and are touring the country, playing his most well-known material—plus some recently unearthed obscurities from the just-released expanded edition of Purple Rain. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033, roselandpdx.com. 9 pm. $35 general admission, $55 balcony seating. All ages.
Pharmakon, Caustic Touch
On Contact, her third "official" album as Pharmakon, New York-based noise magus Margaret Chardiet is intent on conjuring "moments of connection/communion/contact when the veil is, for a brief but glorious moment, lifted, and we are free." But Chardiet understands that freedom from illusion can be sublimely terrifying. Her journey beyond mere appearances evokes a Lovecraftian face-off with essential truths that can melt human minds. Pharmakon's soundscapes of foreboding electronics and haunted shrieks make for difficult listening. But consider what we're up against here—minds trapped in bodies trapped in time trapped in the infinite. We should be scared. High Water Mark Lounge, 6800 NE MLK Ave., 503-286-6513. 9:30 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+.
Wizards
Wizards is a strange movie. Using a combination of traditional animation, rotoscoping and stock footage, it loosely depicts the story of two wizard brothers in a world destroyed by atomic war. It was made on a shoestring budget by animation legend Ralph Bakshi, who created the first X-rated cartoon, Fritz the Cat. Hollywood will screen the film in celebration of the score's vinyl release. Composer Andrew Belling will attend. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, hollywoodtheatre.org. 7:30. $13.
SATURDAY, JULY 15
The Big Float
For the seventh year in a row, thousands of Portlanders agree the Willamette is clean enough to swim in, and are pretty excited to prove it by locking arms and floating around in inner tubes. It's still advisable to cover any open wounds, but we'll be damned if that water isn't refreshing! Starts from Tom McCall Waterfront Park at Southwest Columbia Street and Naito Parkway, thebigfloat.com. 11 am. $8 through July 14; $10 day of event. Discounted pricing under age 18. All ages.
Bastille Day
In honor of the day angry, hungry French people stormed the Bastille, Portland's Alliance Francaise will hold a waiter's race in which angry, hungry local servers win prizes for going really fast while balancing water on a tray. Also! Zydeco music, pétanque and shit-tons of wine and Hardy Cognac and French snacks from St. Honoré bakery, C'est Si Bon! crêperie and others. Jamison Square, 810 NW 11th Ave. Noon-6 pm. Free.
Unsane, Fashion Week, Norska
Unsane is an institution. Formed in New York in 1988, the power trio—led by guitarist and angry shouter Chris Spencer—welded heavy metal girth to pummeling noise rock. Their early heyday ended abruptly when drummer Charlie Ondras died of a drug overdose, but Spencer powered on by recruiting Vincent Signorelli from Swans. The lineup has been solid since 1994, and the band has issued seven studio albums in that time, with an eighth coming this fall on Southern Lord records. This Portland show is their tour kick-off for a run to the 17th annual AmRep BASH in Minneapolis, which continues to celebrate an aggressive style of American noise rock that built a foundation for latter day torchbearers like Converge. Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash St, 503-226-0430. 8 pm. $12 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.
Elephant Man
David Lynch's second feature film tells the tale of John Merrick (John Hurt), a man whose facial deformity was exploited for entertaiment in Victorian England. Even with Anthony Hopkins' killer performance as Dr. Treves, Elephant Man is perhaps the most understated work in Lynch's filmography. But it's still deeply haunting and blooms with Lynch's empathy for every corner of humanity. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 SW Park Ave., nwfilm.org. 8:30 pm. $9.
SUNDAY, JULY 16
Tastes of Spain
The final event in the La Ruta Spanish food festival that's been rolling since Thursday, this is also the biggest: 15 artisans and chefs from Portland and Spain kickin' out little bites of this and that, plus sidre and wine and beer, visiting Spanish chefs saying funny things onstage and, of course, plenty of flamenco sung and danced. Director Park, 877 SW Park St., larutapdx.com. 1-4 pm. $65, $20 for kids 12 and under.
Portland Queer Comedy Fest
Day three of Portland's first-ever Queer Comedy Festival features lineups hosted by long-time members of the local scene like D. Martin Austin and Belinda Carroll, plus out-of-town legends like Guy Branum. Go to portlandqueercomedyfestival.com for full schedule. $45 day pass, $65 weekend pass.
Deception Unit
Portland Experimental Theatre's newest creation is a madcap skewering of domestic life. With surreal staging, overlapping narratives and colorful balaclavas, Deception Unit mashes together banal dinner parties with the antics of a fake Polish punk band. Coho Productions, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 503-220-2646, cohoproductions.org. 7:30 pm. $20.
