Willamette Weekend

Friday, May 25

Here We Go Magic
[MUSIC] Luke Temple, long one of the finest unheralded singers and songwriters of his generation, is on a particularly hot streak. Last year's solo comeback record, Don't Act Like You Don't Care, was his best album to date, and the former Seattleite's third record with his excellent Brooklyn-based band Here We Go Magic, A Different Ship, is a downright masterpiece. It doesn't hurt Temple and company that famed Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich is along for the ride here (his touch, heard especially in the sound of the band's shifting and intricate rhythm section, is unmistakeable). If you were looking for a bandwagon to hop on, this one is going all the way to the top. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

Trannysnatchers!
[FILM] If John Waters made a Satanic horror flick, he’d still have to drop some serious acid to come up with Trannysnatchers. Cheekily dubbed “an occult classic,” the locally produced horror-comedy centers on a gang of transgendered hitmen (er, hit-people?) attempting to summon a hermaphroditic being that, when conjured to Earth, will allegedly bring about “the end of gender.” Let’s just say the “sex change via hacksaw” scene might be only the second-nuttiest thing in the picture. It’s crazed, but also deeply angry—at homophobia, the so-called “gender binary,” even the conservatism within gay culture itself—and releases its frustrations via plasma-drenched satire. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St. 11:30 pm Friday, May 25.


Saturday, May 26

Memorial Weekend in the Wine Country
[WINE] Pat Andre. Saturday-Monday, May 26-28, throughout the Willamette Valley. Info at willamettewines.com.

Multnomah County Fair
[FAIR] Bumper cars are out. The new thing at the Multnomah County Fair? Enclosing yourself inside a 7-foot plastic sphere and rolling around the surface of a giant kiddie pool. Be Jesus—or that poor little Bubble Boy, God rest his soul—for a day. Multnomah County Fair, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way. Noon-7 pm through May 28. Free admission to fair, $8 for water balls. 

Connect
[VISUAL ART] Laura Ross-Paul confronts our logged-on, checked-out zeitgeist with refreshing nuance in her series Connect. In paintings that marry expressionistic brush strokes with a palette by turns muted and jewel-toned, she depicts young people staring into laptops, iPads and cellphones, oblivious to the natural and human-made wonders that surround them. The teenagers in Light Up and Streaming couldn’t care less about fireworks and bonfires during a nighttime beach party; they’re too busy IM’ing their friends. Ditto for the girl in Night Lights, who ignores not only her family, but a night sky spectacular enough to rival van Gogh’s The Starry Night. Froelick Gallery, 714 NW Davis St., 222-1142, through June 2.

Boat, The Angry Orts, Zoo Animal, Orca Team
[MUSIC] Whereas Boat's 2009 album, Setting the Paces, was an instant singalong classic, last year's Dress Like Your Idols was a bit of a grower. Though "Changing of the Guard" and "(I'll Beat My Chest Like) King Kong" were stirring, ballsy acceptances of the dreary realities of suburban life, a lot of the latest album's tunes were harder nuts to crack (I'm still not quite sure what "Classically Trained" is all about). That's OK: Boat's increasingly upbeat, sports-and-diet-cola-obsessed catalog probably needed a few nods to the slippery subject matter of its first record, Songs That You Might Not Like. The more I listen to Idols, the more I feel like I'm being let in on Boat's inside jokes. And this band has yet to write a song I can't sing along to until my voice goes out. Boat is the best. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave. 9 pm. $12. 21+.

Bill Plympton Day
[FILM] They’re giving Bill Plympton a day here in Portland. It’s May 26. If you can’t make it down to see the Adventures in Plymptoons! documentary making the rounds at McMenamins movie theaters, we advise you to get very drunk and celebrate the holiday on YouTube. Adventures in Plymptoons! screens at the Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., at 3 and 7 pm, preceded by a community event outside the theater at 2 pm.


Sunday, May 27

Kurt Vile and the Violators, Black Bananas, True Widow
[MUSIC] Jennifer Herrema had been doing just fine continuing on with the classic rock-inspired spirit of her band Royal Trux, but the 40-year-old vocalist wants to prove she still has some original spark with new project Black Bananas. The group's debut, Rad Times Xpress IV, is some of the most unhinged, funky rock around, akin to the work of ’70s icons like Betty Davis and Parliament. The mix of sounds is dizzying: Auto-Tune, chugging metal guitar leads, splashy disco beats and good old-fashioned noise all make appearances. Herrema holds it all together with her signature tossed-off sexy flair. This is hot stuff, Jack. ROBERT HAM. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave. 9 pm. $12. 21+.

Point Break in Hecklevision
[FILM] “If you want the ultimate, you have to pay the ultimate price.” It’s one of the many pearls of wisdom Patrick Swayze’s Zen-surfing/bankrobbing/skydiving/beach-footballing villain Bodhi spouts over the course of Point Break, and it’s apt for Hecklevision. The ultimate is a rare big-screen showing of Kathryn Bigelow’s true masterpiece. The price you pay is dealing with a sea of people texting wiseass remarks to the screen, their cellphones acting as a horde of blinding fireflies so distracting, you probably won’t notice that, yes, Keanu Reeves just drop-kicked a pit bull. What’s to heckle here, anyway? This should be shown nightly, in a dark theater to maximize the rush of watching the Swayz and Johnny Utah blow a bunch of shit up while almost kissing at every turn. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. 7:30 pm Friday.

Next to Normal
[THEATER] The Tony- and Pulitzer-winning musical questions the way mental illness is perceived and makes tangible the destruction it can have, both on the person suffering with it and the people who love her. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St. 7:30 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 pm Sundays. $25-$50.