Willamette Weekend: 15 Things to Do and See in Portland May 26-28

Watch some fireworks, search for the Sugarman or take a DIIV at the Rose Festival.

FRIDAY, MAY 26 

Rose Festival Opening Fireworks

Portlanders are known to split hairs over when summer officially begins, but the fireworks display marking the start of the annual Rose Festival is as good a kickoff as any. It really doesn't get much more summery than posting up on the Hawthorne Bridge and clandestinely downing a Radler while a burst of colors explodes overhead. Tom McCall Waterfront Park, rosefestival.org. Fireworks start at 9:45 pm. Free. All ages.

Nate Bargazte

Nate Bargatze could technically be called a "clean" comic, but the Maron writer doesn't overcompensate for the lack of curse words with disturbing subject matter, like others do. His material is dry in a way that makes anything ordinary deeply absurd—see his bit on the differences between Target and Kmart. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895, mississippistudios.com. 8 pm. $15. 21+.

Jagwar Ma

The "Animal Collective + X" formula has seen its fair share of failures since both the Baltimore group and its various solo projects transcended the indie ghetto in the late aughts. But the Day-Glo ruckus created by Australia's Jagwar Ma is simply too much fun to be written off as yet another bland attempt at marrying bouncy dance-pop with otherworldly psych. The blizzard of harmony and delay trails that propel Gabriel Winterfield's yearning vocals off into space will sound familiar to anyone with an active Pandora account—but it's the relentless big beat grooves and jangly samples of 2016's excellent Every Now & Then that joyously bridges the gap between modern globetrotting opportunists like Yeasayer and the shuffling club cuts of Primal Scream and Happy Mondays. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., dougfirlounge.com. 9 pm. $16 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.

Summer Squash and Hercules Didn't Wade in Water

Now in its second year, the Vanport Mosaic Festival puts together theater, film screenings and art that deal with an Oregon town that was decimated by a flood in 1948. The two plays premiering in this year's festival aren't literally about Vanport. Summer Squash and Hercules Didn't Wade in Water (directed by festival co-founder Damaris Webb) are about Hurricane Katrina and the displacement of black communities. But the analogy is clear: Built as a temporary solution to the 1940s Portland's housing crisis, Vanport was home to a large, culturally diverse community of mostly migrant workers, many of whom couldn't afford to move to Portland after their town was destroyed. Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N Interstate Ave., vanportmosaic.org. 7 pm Friday-Sunday, May 26-June 4. $5-$25 sliding scale.

The Language Archive

(Brud Giles)

What makes Portland Playhouse's productions so special is their imaginative staging that adapts to their non-traditional space, and the rom-com plot of The Language Archive is already fairly tame. George (Greg Watanabe) is a linguist who can speak several languages, but can't communicate with his wife, Mary (Nikki Weaver). It's the company's most detailed set this season: Behind a spiral staircase and balcony, there's a floor-to-ceiling shelf packed with tapes. See our preview hereCoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., portlandplayhouse.org. 7:30 pm Wednesday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, May 17-June 11. $25-$34.

SATURDAY, MAY 27

What Was Sound

(Sandy Kim)

Skipping Sasquatch this year? Good idea. But if you're still jonesing to stand in a field watching bands play in broad daylight, What Was Sound should help ease any residual FOMO. This "casual" music festival brings indie-rockers DIIV, psych-folkies Woods and locals Bed and Sunbathe, among others, to the waterfront as part of the Portland Rose Festival. Best part? Not a single Twenty One Pilot anywhere! Tom McCall Waterfront Park, rosefestival.org/event/whatwassound. 2 pm. $28 advance, $32 day of show. All ages.

Stoner Karaoke

If you're tired of getting your request for Cypress Hill mysteriously moved to the bottom of the queue every night at Chopsticks, NW Cannabis Club has the event for you! Operating under the mantra, "Dab until it sounds right," expect a much warmer and hazier reception for all the reggae, bluegrass and Dead jams your wandering mind can muster. NW Cannabis Club, 1195 SE Powell Blvd., 503-206-4594, nwcannabismarket.com. 9 pm. 21+.

The Postcards, Small Field, Body Academics

On their latest, This Green Hill, Portland baroque pop the Postcards have created a joyous hodgepodge of quirky vignettes that recalls the bumbly old-time feel of Van Dyke Parks' Discover America. See our review of This Green Hill here. Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington St., link phone tk 9 pm $5. 21+.

Constellations

(Patrick Weishampel / blankeye.tv)

To an extent, the stubborn simplicity of Constellations—it's confined to a single set and a single pair of actors—is enjoyably intimate. Green and Weir Mitchell speak in British accents and bumble their way through a sometimes touching romance. When they first meet, Marianne flirts with Roland by telling him that licking your elbow is the key to immortality (Green makes a valiant attempt). If that isn't weird enough, the scene eventually restarts with tweaked dialogue. See our review of Constellations herePortland Center Stage, 128 NW 11th Ave., pcs.org. 7:30 Tuesday-Sunday, 2:00 Saturday-Sunday, noon Thursday, through June 11. $25-$70.

Hands Up

(courtesy of RedDoorProject.org)

After several performances throughout last year, the August Wilson Red Door Project is bringing back its production of Hands Up for 2017. Commissioned by the New Black Fest after the death of Michael Brown, Hands Up is seven monologues by black playwrights about their experiences with institutionalized racial profiling. It's an intense collection of monologues that all seven actors in Red Door's production deliver with deeply visceral performances. Wieden+Kennedy, 224 NW 13th Ave., reddoorproject.org. 7:30 pm Saturday, May 27 and 2 pm Sunday, May 28. Free, donations accepted.

SUNDAY, MAY 28

Digable Planets

(Erik Voake)

In the early '90s, Digable Planets were spiritual cousins of De La Soul, bringing an earthy, jazzbo soul to hip-hop. Last year, the trio got back together for a string of well-received reunion shows, and apparently had enough fun to keep rolling. But don't take this show for granted. With member Ishmael Butler's current project, Shabazz Palaces, preparing a new album, the opportunity to see one of the underrated acts of rap's golden age is fleeting. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-225-0047, crystalballroompdx.com. 9 pm. $29.50 advance, $32 day of show. All ages.

Rodriguez

(Doug Seymour)

You should know the story by now. In the '70s, Detroit songwriter Sixto Rodriguez released two albums of post-Dylan folk and then retired in obscurity, unaware that he'd somehow become a hero in South Africa. Since the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man revived his career, the 74-year-old has been in no rush to write new material, which is understandable. Why spoil the myth? Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 503-248-4335, portland5.com/arlene-schnitzer-concert-hall. 8 pm. $39-$65. All ages.

Bob Dylan's 76th Birthday Bash

Every baby boomer's favorite folk hero may be sliding out of his prime, but that's not to stop younger, more able-bodied musicians like Portland Country Underground and the Quick and Easy Boys from reimagining his many classics with the youthful vigor that made Dylan's music so vital the first time around. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., mississippistudios.com. 8 pm. $12 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.

Sparkle Bitch Ball feat. Skull Diver, Foxy Lemon, Rare Monk and Buckmaster

IMAGE: Sam Gehrke.

On Chemical Tomb, Portland gal-goth trio Skull Diver explores the poppier side of the doom and gloom that's surgically attached to their aesthetic. See our review of Chemical Tomb here. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., holocene.org. 8:30 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.

Pantha Du Prince, SciFiSol

Constructing mostly trance-like washes of beat-based music often clocking in around seven minutes, German producer Henrik Weber fits right into a typical image of Berlin's ecstasy-fueled nightlife. The songs are colorful, shimmering and unrelenting in their foundational beats and bass lines. But Weber, whose stage moniker, Pantha Du Prince, came to him in a dream and translates to "the prince's panther," is set apart by a taste for the voluptuous, the gilded and the strange. Every so often, Weber's soundscapes are dotted with plinking thumb piano or layered with lush, discordant strings. The songs' lengths, as well as their fearless plunging into dissonance and exhaustive repetition, give away Weber's unique soft spot for late '80s shoegaze. Consider this an odd but very happy meeting point between My Bloody Valentine and TOKiMONSTA. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside St., dougfirlounge.com. 9 pm. $14 advance, $16 day of show. 21+.

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