Skip to main content
FRIDAY, SEPT. 15
Feast Portland
Five years in, Feast remains the most monstrous and decadent and all-consuming festival Portland's ever seen—a mess of finger-food street bazaars, overblown industry parties and ultra-exclusive backroom dinners that overloads the imagination of every food whore in town for four straight days. Check out our Feast bing board here. Through Sept. 17. Mostly sold out. See schedule and buy tickets at feastportland.com. Various locations (see description). All day.
Tia Fuller
Saxophonist Tia Fuller is known in the jazz world as one of the heaviest-hitting reed players on Earth. Tonight, she leads an all-star quartet through a selection of tunes from her four solo albums, a musical assortment that will run the gamut from swinging bebop to heavy-hitting funk and beyond. Fremont Theater, 2393 NE Fremont St., 503-946-1962, fremonttheater.com. 7:30 and 9:30 pm. $25 advance, $30 day of show. All ages.
Deerhoof, Christina Schneider's Genius Grant, Mayya and the Revolutionary Hell Yeah!
All hail Deerhoof, the most underrated band to survive the aughts blog bubble indie-rock boom. Since forming in San Francisco in 1994, the prolific art-rockers have released 14 albums—all of them good, all different than the preceding record—with a few transcendent songs every year or so. Released this month, Mountain Moves is one of the band's more accessible jaunts, stuffed to the brim with spiky guitar lines, Greg Saunier's deceptively straightforward and funky drumming, and the clearest vocal melodies of its career. It's also jam-packed with guest appearances from friends, including Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner, Juana Molina, Xenia Rubinos and rapper Awkwafina, who finally helps push the band's love of hip-hop to the surface. Mississippi Studios, 3939 Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895. 9 pm. $15 advance, $17 day of show. 21+.
Bunny
Created by Australian dancers Luke George and Daniel Kok, Bunny is more like a plotless theater production or a public bondage ritual than a traditional dance show. They perform their kink-inspired trust exercise with the help of audience participation and lots of neon rope. Brunish Hall, 1111 SW Broadway, pica.org/tba. 8:30 pm. $25.
TOKiMONSTA
To understand the emergence of Jennifer Lee, aka TOKiMONSTA, one should consider the ongoing influence of the Low End Theory, the weekly DJ event in Los Angeles billed as "a showcase for glitch, IDM, avant-rap and more." With electronic-based music rooted in bugged-out samples and hip-hop beats serving as the event's umbrella, it's only natural that Lee's mind-bending palette of global rhythms, infectious earworms and sky-punching club bangers has fueled her ascent from dorm-room obscurity to opening slots for Grimes and Skrillex. Though they seem spastic at first, Lee has mastered the art of cranking out manically genius EPs that dance all over the line between meticulous, laptop-assisted assembly and the crackling analog warmth of forebears like J Dilla and Dr. Dre. Last year's Fovere glides seamlessly between the Anderson .Paak-driven trap cut "Put It Down" and the slow-burning anthem "Heart on the Ground." The EDM bubble is likely to burst any time now, but Lee's vast influences and impeccable taste have all but guaranteed her continued success. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639. 9 pm Friday, September 15. Sold out. 21+.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 16
Vegan Nigerian Brunch
Chef Salimatu Amabebe will be serving up a vegan BYO-booze breakfast feast featuring the flavors of her home country of Nigeria. This means collard greens and coconut gravy, cassava fries, black-eye pea stew, plantains and pineapple cornmeal pancakes, all for $35. Tickets at eatfeastly.com. Feastly PDX, 912 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 10:30 am-12:30 pm
Kells Summer Smoker
Watch Irish people and others knock the living crap out of each other with their fists at the first-ever summer smoker at Kells—it's apparently USA vs. the entire world, which lately seems to be what the USA is all about. Anyway: Boxing! Kells Irish Pub (back parking lot), 112 SW 2nd Ave., 503-227-4057, kellsportland.com/summer-smoker. 6 pm. $20-25 general admission.
The Holy Mountain
Alejandro Jodorowsky's nonlinear film is filled with the kind of freaky, unsettling imagery that will probably haunt your dreams for a couple of nights, if not for the rest of your life. Loosely about an alchemist's spiritual journey, The Holy Mountain is a masterful hallucinogenic vision. NW Film Center, 1219 SW park Ave., nwfilm.org. 9:30 pm Saturday, 9 pm Sunday. $9.
SZA
The first lady of Top Dawg Entertainment endured a long road of delays before her debut album CTRL arrived earlier this year. To say it was "worth the wait" is an understatement—taking a kaleidoscopic approach to her mix of funk, pop and soul, with lyrics that don't shy away from interpersonal drama, it's a frontrunner for R&B album of the year. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033, roselandpdx.com. 9 pm. Sold out. All ages.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 17
Stammtisch Oktoberfest
Starting Friday, Stammtisch will shut down the street and turn the German beer bar into a whole block full of sausage and picnic tables and dirndls. The best German beer in Portland Oktoberfest will be here. We're told there will also be face painting, as there was in more Teutonic times. Stammtisch, 401 NE 28th Ave., 503-206-7983, stammtischpdx.com. Starts September 15.
David Thompson at Pok Pok NW
The first Thai-food chef to score a Michelin-star was Aussie chef David Thompson at Nahm London, closely followed by Portland's Andy Ricker in New York (Ricker's star faded this year). Both Michelin stars will be cooking together at Pok Pok NW in a rare $120 Thai-food farangstravaganza that, at press time, somehow isn't sold out. So get some. Pok Pok NW, 639 NW Marshall St., 971-351-1946. 8 pm.
The Hamilton Mixtape Cabaret
A cabaret adaptation of a rap musical about a founding father sounds…interesting. But if anyone can pull it off, it's Portland company Miss Alex Kennedy's Burlesque, whose previous unconventional burlesque shows include a Bob's Burgers tribute. Dante's, 350 W Burnside, danteslive.com. 8:30 pm. $15-$20.
TBA: Death Dance
If you're not mad, you're not paying attention—or just too privileged to care. In either case, this TBA showcase, curated by indigenous activist and artist Demian DinéYahzi´, probably isn't for you. With sets from self-described "angry pop-punk" trio Weedrat and Chicano riot grrrls FEA, plus videos and poetry, it's a night dedicated raging against white supremacy in all its forms. PICA at Hancock, 15 NE Hancock St., pica.org. 10:30 pm. $5 sliding scale. All ages.