Willamette Weekend: 17 Things to Do and See in Portland April 29-May 1

Forecast says sunshine on Sunday. Time to drink vodka.

weather for may day

FRIDAY, APRIL 29

Dance of the Dream Man photo from Dance of the Dream Man

Dance of the Dream Man: A Twin Peaks Story

[DANCE/THEATER] Trip the Dark's theater-dance hybrid should hold diehards over until the Twin Peaks reboot, which is haunting the internet with rumors of a 2016-17 release date. This show, staged in a theater that looks like a railcar next to North Portland's train tracks, includes tap dance, burlesque on Fridays and the show's token drink: coffee. With an extra performance by Black Lodge Burlesque (21+). The Headwaters Theatre, 55 NE Farragut St., No. 9. 7:30 pm. $15.

Kyle Craft

[DYLAN OF THE DIVE] You can take a man out of Shreveport, but whatever's in the water there tends to stick. The Louisiana town is the birthplace of Lead Belly and helped nurture Jerry Lee Lewis, and it's also where troubadour songwriter Kyle Craft started out. Now he's settled in Portland, where he realized his first full album, Dolls of Highland. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., with Máscaras and Animal Eyes, on Friday, April 29. 8 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.

Mike Lawrence and Nathan Brannon

[COMEDY] Curious Comedy Theater and Kill Rock Stars are coming together to bring a whole bunch of funny folks to Portland. This new series kicks off with New York City-based comic Mike Lawrence and ex-portlander Brannon as a special guest. A performer of standup on Conan and Late Night with Seth Meyers and a staff writer for the upcoming season of Inside Amy Schumer, Lawrence is the kind of comedy that serious comedy fans should probably get to know. Curious Comedy Theater, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-477-9477. 7:30 and 9:30 pm Friday, Apr. 29. $12.

Peter and the Starcatcher

[THEATER] Portland Playhouse packs a belly-laughing Broadway show about Peter Pan's origin story. It's all pirates gags and mermaid coves, with the Playhouse decked out like the decks of two ships, The Neverland and The Wasp. Co-directors Brian Weaver and Rebecca Lingafelter pilot a cast including Third Rail leader Isaac Lamb, Crumpet the Elf aka Darius Pierce, Duffy Epstein and the infallible Chip Sherman. Portland Playhouse, 602 NE Prescott St., 503-488-5822. 7:30 pm. $20-$36.

The Sound of Music Sing-Along

[SCREENING AND SINGING] Four great-grandchildren of The Sound of Music's Georg and Maria make up The von Trapps, a Portland-based quartet that started touring internationally when the youngest, August, was just 7 years old. The von Trapps' 15-year run ends in Portland this spring, culminating in a sing-along Sound of Music at Cinema 21 and one last concert at Star Theater in May. Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave. 7 pm Friday-Saturday, April 15-16, and 2 pm Saturday-Sunday, April 16-May 1. $15.

Tortoise, Life Coach

[POST-ROCK PIONEERS] The breezy, enigmatic, mostly instrumental groove Tortoise has employed through almost three decades is a genre completely its own. Combining elements of post-rock, dub, jazz and electronic music, the band has released inventive and wholly original records consistently throughout its career. Spoiler alert: Tortoise's latest, The Catastrophist, is another dense, rewarding masterpiece. With its back catalog recently reissued on vinyl, it's an optimal time for anyone unfamiliar with them to dive deep into a stellar discography. CRIS LANKENAU. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St., No. 110. $18 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.

SATURDAY, APRIL 30

(Thomas Teal) (Thomas Teal)

Cultivation Classic

[ORGANIC HERB] The Cultivation Classic is the first statewide competition for organic-style, no-synthetic weed—certainly the first judged by both Duane Sorenson and a Dandy Warhol—and there will be beer within 10 paces, along with a lot of tacos, burgers, beet wraps and a U.S. congressman. The North Warehouse, 723 N Tillamook St., wweek.com/cultivationclassic.com. Noon. $40 advance, $55 at the door. 21+.

Bleached, No Parents

[RAW POWER] The three women of Bleached pride themselves on the three-chord simplicity of their music. That's not a slight, but a compliment, rooted in Jessica and Jennifer Clavin's keen ability to pair direct melodies with feel-good mantras that tackle disillusioned youth, like a modern Joan Jett hell-bent on exposing the clichés and follies of L.A. millennials. There's a steely confidence to the group's second garage-pop venture, Welcome the Worms, which, when pitted against the crunching guitars and the album's surprising optimism, might lead one to believe they've been at the game longer than just a few years. BRANDON WIDDER. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 503-231-9663. 9 pm. $12. 21+.

Bechdel Test Burlesque

[LADY THINGS] Naked and nerdy touring strippers perform a body-positive strip show at Portland's clown-themed bar, celebrating "thrill-joy feminism." Bechdel herself said it was "fucking awesome"—while talking to another woman about women. Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11th Ave., 503-841-6734. 9:30 pm. $15-$25. 21+.

Homebrew Battle for the Columbia

[BEER FOR HERE] To benefit the Columbia River Estuary Program, 15 homebrewers will bring their hard-brewed concoctions to Columbia River Brewing. Taste beers, vote for winners, and some water maybe stays cleaner. Columbia River Brewing Company, 1728 NE 40th Ave., columbiariverbrewpub.com. $15 for tastes. 21+.

International TableTop Day

[BOOKS] Shut up, books: It's time for games' moment in the sun. Presented by Geek and Sundry, actress and writer Felicia Day's media company, International TableTop Day is a day to celebrate RPGs, board games and the like—you know, games that can be played atop a table. You are not too cool for it—even the Green Bay Packers play Catan. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 800-878-7323. 11 am-7 pm. Free.

Jen Kirkman

[COMEDY] Jen Kirkman's comedy bona fides are second to none: a regular on @midnight, writer and frequent guest on Chelsea Lately, voiced Nurse Kirkman on Home Movies. Kirkman comes to Portland to promote her newest memoir I Know What I'm Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself in a special-release extravaganza that will include readings from the book, stories not from the book, and a Q&A. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128. 7 pm. $20.

SUNDAY, MAY 1

Headout_Socialist_Art

Bloody Mary "Bloc Party"

[DRINK, EAT, RISE] Socialism is having a moment. Bernie Sanders has been the first credible socialist U.S. presidential candidate since Eugene V. Debs. A generation of Americans is waking up to the fact that the whole system is rigged to screw them out of money and power. And yet, this neosocialism is different from the old paleosocialism we learned to fear in grade school. For May Day, the day of the worker that is not Labor Day, we have created a list of what's so hot right now in proletarian spring fashion. Now you know what to rep at Katchka's Bloc Party. Kachka, 720 SE Grand Ave., kachkapdx.com. 11 am-2 pm Sunday, May 1. $30 for five bloody marys and five breakfast bites at bars along Southeast Grand Avenue.

Floating Points

[GROOVE SWEET] Though technically dance music, this ensemble project's new album, Elaenia, finds the project realized as a full-fledged band, and the result is a dance-funk masterpiece that electrifies as a future shock in the vein of Herbie Hancock's astral jazz. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 503-231-9663. 9 pm. $15. 21+.

Saola

[HEAVY METAL] Once upon a time, being a teenager in a heavy-metal band would have been a cause for alarm for parents and schools. Not anymore. "It's still kinda cool to be in a metal band, but it's not the same effect as it used to be," says Ethan Conrad, 17, "especially in Portland, because everyone is in a metal band." Still, Conrad's metal band, Saola, is pretty special. In an age bracket that considers the compact disc a medieval format, these four young men have forsaken metalcore and thrash to focus on de rigueur leaden riffage with a level of musicianship far beyond most shredders 20 years their senior. Black Water Bar, 835 NE Broadway, with Year of Nothing, Gidrah, and Where Lovers Rot. 7 pm. $5. All ages.

Wayne Pacelle With Earl Blumenauer

[BOOKS] Business relies on the exploitation of animals, argues Humane Society president and CEO Wayne Pacelle. But, in his new book, The Humane Economy, he argues they don't have to. He'll speak with Portland's congressman, Earl Blumenauer, who was voted "Most Likely to Get Shoved in a Locker by That Republican Rep Who Used to Play for the Eagles" for three straight sessions. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 800-878-7323. 2 pm. Free.

Worth My Salt

[ON STAGE] Drag-clown queen Cherdonna Shinatra puts on a spectacle of dance-theater-comedy. Wearing a wig that looks like a troll doll, a crocheted gown with pom-pom breasts and glitter eye shadow up to her hairline, Shinatra seems like an explosion of kitsch. The premise is deeper, though; inspired by Carl Sagan and Diane Keaton, this Seattle act is meant to explode gender norms. Portland Center Stage, 128 NW 11th Ave., 503-445-3700. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday and 5 pm Sunday, April 29-May 1. $15-$40.

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