Friday, Feb. 17FearNoMusic Does Cage
[MUSIC] The terrific, local new-music ensemble marks the centenary of one of the 20th century’s most influential and thought-provoking artists, cultural figures and thinkers, with one of the most compelling Portland arts events of the year so far. This John Cage concert features Oregon Symphony music director Carlos Kalmar intoning Cage’s famous Zen-inspired
Lecture on Nothing (“I have nothing to say, and I am saying it,” it begins), the striking voice and piano piece
Litany for the Whale, 20 harpists playing an improvisation based on Indian ragas, a chance-derived work for strings and winds performed by the PSU New Music Ensemble, the landmark 1942
Credo in Us, a work for conch shells, an audio installation, a work to be performed by the audience and more—including, of course, those notorious four-and-a-half minutes that are not really about silence at all. BRETT CAMPBELL.
YU Contemporary, 800 SE 10th Ave., Portland, 236-7996. 8 pm . $12-$25.
Rose City Showdown IV Pinball Tournament[PINBALL]
This pinball tournament at the Slingshot Lounge will see two seperate
divisions—Open (playing on Iron Man, Dirty Harry, Twilight Zone, High
Speed, Beat the Clock and Skateball) and Classics (playing on Grand
Prix, Flicker, Big Casino and Volley)—battling it out for cash and
glory.
Slingshot Lounge, 5532 SE Center St., 445-6649. 11 am Friday-Sun. $3 per entry ticket or four for $10. See Rose City Pinball for more info. Portland Jazz Festival: Stevie Wonder tribute: Patrick Lamb, Nate Watts, Tyrone Hendrix, Liv Warfield, Paul Creighton, Jarrod Lawson [MUSIC] If there’s any vocalist in Portland who can hit Stevie
Wonder’s tremendous vocal range while still remaining in possession of a
set of testicles, it would be Intervision crooner extraordinaire Paul
Creighton. He’s proven it as part of tribute king Joey Porter’s
ensemble, and now he’s joining up with local sax phenom Patrick Lamb for
an all-star show featuring performers who have actually shared the
stage with the legend. AP KRYZA.
Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th Ave. $20-$25. 7:30 pm (all ages) and 10 pm (21+). See more Portland Jazz Festival shows at pdxjazz.com.
Chronicle
[MOVIES] Dopey in all the right places and
just mean enough to draw blood,
Chronicle strings together a series
of increasingly ludicrous set pieces
to frequently thrilling effect, and it’s
not too shabby as an all-purpose allegory
for every messy thing teens get
up to, either. Soon after massaging
a mysterious object found in a dark
hole behind a ridiculous rave—we’ve
all been there—three very cute guys
find themselves endowed with telekinetic
powers. Read it as a study of
sexual awakening or pubescent PTSD
or high-school hell or teen invincibility—it’s
all there—but try to enjoy it
first as a blast of pure visual pleasure.
PG-13. CHRIS STAMM.
Lloyd Center,
Living Room Theaters, City Center,
Tigard, Cedar Hills, Clackamas,
Eastport, Oak Grove, Bridgeport,
Cinema 99, Cinetopia Progress
Ridge, Cinetopia Mill Plain, Evergreen,
Division, Cascade, Sherwood.
Saturday, Feb. 18Zwickelmania[BEER] Breweries across the state open their doors to beer lovers for
tastings, classes, new releases, tours and other festivities, as part of
the Oregon Brewers Guild’s annual Zwickelmania brewery open house. For
those who can’t find a designated driver and don’t wish to die in some
horrific drunk-driving-related car accident, there will be several
shuttle-bus services driving around the Portland area. Check out
oregonbeer.org/zwickelmania for a full list of events and participating breweries.
PIFF
[MOVIES] The Portland International Film Festival continues. You should read
our
guide to week two here—but if you can't be bothered, just know that our favorite films
were:
Clown: The Movie (5:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 18. at Lloyd Mall),
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (
7:30 pm Sunday, Feb. 19. at Cinema 21), and Footnote (8:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 18. at Whitsell Auditorium, 5 pm Sunday, Feb. 19. at Cinema 21).
Chicharones, Cool Nutz, Vursatyl, ManimalHouse, Living Proof, DJ Spark, Eminent[MUSIC] The leading lights of Portland's hip-hop scene are playing an
old-fashioned superbill tonight in order to assist local booker
extroardinare Anthony Sanchez pay medical bills from a nasty fall he
took just after New Years' Eve.
Ted's (at Berbati's), 231 SW Ankeny St. 8 pm. $8 advance, $10 day of show. 21+.Writers Talking: Joe Sacco
[BOOKS]
Portland comic artist and journalist Joe Sacco is giving a free talk at
the central library about his latest work on the Suez War,
Footnotes in Gaza.
Mutnomah County Central Library, 801 SW 10th Ave., 988-5123. 2 pm. Free.
Sunday, Feb. 19Bob Mould[MUSIC] Bob Mould never had the best of timing. His ’80s hardcore band Hüsker Dü never quite capitalized on influencing a generation, and the melodic majesty of his alt-pop combo Sugar was somewhat lost in the endless distortion of early-’90s radio. A late-life embrace of gay identity led to ill-starred electronica efforts, and even his ’90s cable forays—appearing on Craig Kilborn's Daily Show (he wrote the theme) and choosing WCW ’midst a brief tenure as a wrestling scriptwriter—seem just a little off. It'd all make a fascinating book, you'd think, and this evening's concert combines solo acoustic numbers with readings from his recently published memoirs
. JAY HORTON
. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St. 9 pm. $16 advance, $18 day of show. 21+.Hot Chocolate: Forever Whitney![DRAG] It's a Whitney Houston drag-show tribute. We cannot think of a more old-school Portland event. It makes us happy that this exists.
Darcelle XV Showplace, 208 NW 3rd Ave., 222-5338. $10. 6 pm.
Music at Trinity
[MUSIC] In this benefit for programs serving homeless and needy Portlanders, musicians including the nonpareil vocal ensembles In Mulieribus and Cappella Romana, koto mistress Mitsuki Dazai, Portland Cello Project, players from the Oregon Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra and Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen offer words and music by Hildegard of Bingen, W.H. Auden, J.S. Bach and others, with special lighting effects in the gorgeous cathedral space that make this fascinating event more a performance installation than a concert. BRETT CAMPBELL.
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 147 NW 19th Ave., 478-1201. 5 pm. $10 donation.