Willamette Weekend: 14 Things to Do and See in Portland, March 28-30

 Friday, March 28

IPA Summit

[BEER] Still bitter after five years, Roscoe's is serving up its annual IPA Summit all day Friday. The usual suspects will be pouring 16 different specialty IPAs, including Fort George Omegatex, which sounds more like an evil Transformer than a beer, and will have a similar effect on your liver. Roscoe's, 8105 SE Stark St., 255-0049. 2 pm-close.

Slingshot

[COMEDY] For their regular comedy collaboration, Bad Reputation Productions and Portland Center Stage have again corralled a stellar lineup of very funny people, who'll all present solo comedy sketches. The bill includes Shelley McLendon, Tony Marcellino, Janet Rivera, Erin Jean O'Regan, Nicholas Kessler and Paul Glazier. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 8 pm Friday-Saturday, March 28-29. $12-$15.

Yob, Graves at Sea, Hot Victory, Death Grave

[DOOM METAL] Yob is generally known for being a major game-changer in the world of early doom metal and today's heavy-music scene in general, but locals know the band for so much more. The group, which hails from Eugene, features front-wailer Mike Scheidt, who might be the John Lennon of metal. At the very least, he's a shaman of some sort, known turning what seems like an average show into a spiritual experience. The group recently reissued its legendary and aptly titled album Catharsis and plans to release a new record within the year as well. There's a good chance we just might hear some new tunes at this show—as if you needed another reason to attend. CAT JONES. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 8 pm. $12. 21+.

New Expressive Works

[DANCE] Four residents of Studio 2's New Expressive Works program perform after six months of weekly rehearsals. Yulia Arakelyan, who uses a wheelchair, covers herself in medical tubing and white paint for a butoh-inspired duet with her husband, Erik Ferguson (see article on previous page). Lucy Lee Yim performs a meditative solo called Tunnel. Eric Nordstrom, a contact-improv buff, dances in a contemporary duet with Gina Frabotta. Finally, there's recent Portland transplant Luke Gutgsell, another contact-improv dancer who previously danced with David Dorfman Dance in New York. Studio 2, 810 SE Belmont St. 7:30 pm Friday-Sunday, March 28-30. $12.

Emancipator Ensemble, Slow Magic, Nym 

[ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE TRIPPY MIND] Going to an Emancipator concert is like watching an old movie reel of your life's more poignant moments, in slow-motion, backward, on acid. His talent for evoking nostalgia and that bottom-of-the-stomach tickling feeling through ethereal, downtempo trip-hop makes every live concert a highly personal experience. This time around, the young Portland producer presents the Emancipator Ensemble, a four-piece live band accompanied by extensive visuals sure to activate those introspective sensors. GRACE STAINBACK. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. $18.  All ages.

Saturday, March 29 

The Cocktail Demystified

[BOOZE] Holocene is hosting a cheap-ass how-to-impress-your-friends-at-home class sponsored by Portland’s Rolling River Spirits, a gin and vodka operation that advertises special help in bringing out “the bold flavors of vodka in classic cocktails.” The bold flavors of gin, presumably, need less help. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. Noon-5 pm. $7-$10.

Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival

[BEER] No fewer than 50 yeast-forward beers from 28 breweries will roll into North Portland’s most darling beer bar, Saraveza, this weekend—including an exclusive Ale Apothecary bottle release of “The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache,” a sour farmhouse peach ale fermented in a rum barrel. Entry includes 10 beer tickets and a tasting glass. Saraveza, 1004 N Killingsworth St., 206-4252, saraveza.com. 11 am-10 pm Saturday, 11 am-9 pm Sunday, March 29-30. $25.

Midsummer

[THEATER] In its decade of existence, Third Rail has never produced a musical. That’s about to change...sort of. Midsummer calls itself “a play with songs,” but, hey, baby steps. It centers on two Edinburgh 30-somethings—he’s a small-time crook and she’s a big-deal lawyer—who spend a rainy weekend together, to raucous results. CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 235-1101. 7:30 pm. $20-$27.

Duality: Andreilien, Thriftworks, the Human Experience, Plantrae, MiHkal

[GLITCH-HOP] It's hard to pass a torch when you're tripping balls, but early aughts psy-trance groups Shpongle and 1200 Micrograms have managed to pull it off, handing the flame of psychedelic dance beats over to Bay Area glitch-hop producer Andreilien, formerly known as Heyoka, and associates like the jazzier Thriftworks or the trappier Mihkal. They're all of the same vein, though: long hair, beats funky in a way James Brown wouldn't recognize and a friend or two with, like, really heady 3-D modeling skills. MITCH LILLIE. Branx, 320 SE 2nd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $25. 21+.

Kurt Braunohler

[COMEDY] So you might know about Braunohler from the skywriting prank he pulled last spring (if you missed it, he enlisted a professional skywriter to trace “How do I land?” into the Los Angeles sky), but the comedian also has a style of standup that’s high-energy and fully committed. And he has an endearing tendency to smile sweetly when his jokes succeed. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888-643-8669. 8 pm Thursday and 7:30 and 10 pm Friday-Saturday, March 27-29. $15-$25.

Black Lips, the Coathangers, Summer Cannibals

[BLUE-EYED PUNK] For a second there—namely, when the psychedelic slink of “Veni Vidi Vici” was featured in a Bud Light commercial—I worried that Atlanta’s notoriously nihilistic Black Lips would clean up all nice-like. With new album Underneath the Rainbow, the band proves the jagged edges of its cranky “flower punk” are still sharper than hell. But a growing affinity for classic Stones leaves the group in an odd place, making eviscerating garage punk that’s too ADD to stay put in its own insular genre. PETE COTTELL. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave., 233-7100. 8 pm. $16 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.

Shantala Subramanyam, Akkarai Sornalatha, Melakkaveri Balaji

[CARNATIC FLUTE] Portland's oldest Indian music presenter, Kalakendra, previously focused more on North Indian music but has recently brought in more music from the rich South Indian tradition. This concert is unusual in another way, too, as it features a front line of two female soloists: acclaimed Bangalore-born bamboo flutist and singer Shantala Subramanyam and young violinist and vocalist Akkarai Sornalatha. Accompanied by Melakkaveri Balaji on the double-headed mridangam, they'll perform the seductively sinuous carnatic music of southern India. BRETT CAMPBELL. First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Ave. 7:30 pm Saturday, March 29. $10-$25.

Sunday, March 30

Jimmy Carter

Former president, Nobel Peace Prize winner and all-around likable guy Jimmy Carter has long spoken out against the abusive treatment of women and girls, particularly in religious societies, and has been an advocate for women taking on leadership roles to quell a culture of violence. Carter will be at Powell's to sign his new book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 2 pm. Free.

The War on Drugs

[MUSIC] Lost in the Dream, the latest outstanding release from the Philadelphia classic-rockists, finds singer Adam Granduciel's voice migrating away from the timbre of his former bandmate, Kurt Vile, toward the realm of '80s radio-god territory. Close your eyes and, amid the shimmers of chorus-heavy guitars and smoky organs, you'll hear Don Henley on Ambien. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 8 pm. $16 advance, $18 day of show. All ages.

Carcass, Black Dahlia Murder, Gorguts, Bastard Feast

[DECIBEL TOUR] Once upon a time, four lads from Liverpool began writing their own songs and created a sound the world couldn’t ignore. In this version of the story, those boys were fans of gory horror movies and, after perusing a nurse’s dictionary, named themselves Carcass, gave songs titles like “Excoriating Abdominal Emanation” and basically pioneered the grindcore genre. The group received radio support from John Peel, released a series of cult albums on the Earache label and folded in 1995. During its absence, Carcass had an inestimable influence on the melodic death-metal scene, and now, the band is back out on the road. It’s quite an event to see the reunited Carcass in Portland, as Seattle is the closest it’s come since ripping La Luna way back in 1994. NATHAN CARSON. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 224-2038. 6 pm. $25 advance, $28 day of show. All ages.

WWeek 2015