Willamette Weekend: 16 Things to Do and See in Portland, May 30-June 1

Friday, May 30

Drunk Dad

[SCUZZZZZZ] Right down to its name, Portland’s Drunk Dad is a middle finger in the face of musical conventions. Although the band eschewed the handle “Meth Lab Blues Explosion” in favor of a moniker with more uncomfortable associations, singer-guitarist Dane Herrin explains the genre he self-applied to the band’s Facebook page in a way that’s undeniably punk as fuck. â€œWe were hanging out in my basement making a Facebook page,” Herrin says, “and one of the genres to choose from was ‘chillwave.’ I thought, how about ‘fuck you all wave’? So I wrote that in. When they add that one as an option to choose from, then we’re changing it.” In the tradition of the Melvins, the Wipers and modern contemporaries like Converge and High on Fire, Drunk Dad makes dense, bludgeoning metal that’s way too fast and pissed off to fall under the “doom” or “stoner” umbrella that’s attracted media attention to the Pacific Northwest since the ’80s. The Know, 2026 NE Alberta St., with the Great Sabatini and Rabbits, on Friday, May 30. 8 pm. $5. 21+.

Giasone and The Argonauts

[OPERA SETPIECE] In a brilliant pairing, Opera Theater Oregon yokes a live performance of Francesco Cavalli's rarely staged 1649 opera Giasone with a screening of the late, great Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts, complete with stop-motion skeletons and harpies. The singers, clad in baroque costumes, will perform in Italian (with English subtitles, of course), joined by a chamber ensemble and onstage foley artists. If all goes well, it should be the perfect union of class and camp. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 281-4215. 7 pm Friday-Saturday, May 30-31 and 7 pm Thursday-Saturday, June 5-7. $12.

Evian Christ

[MUSIC] The U.K. producer's harsh, minimalist aesthetic helped make Yeezus last year's most polarizing masterpiece, and Kanye's already tapped him to assist with the follow-up. On his own booming productions, the former Josh Leary deploys massive slabs of earth-shattering industrial bass that fight with distant gunshots and icy synth squiggles. Hopefully Rotture has reinforced its sound system. Rotture, 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $10. 21+. 

Homomentum Album Release Concert

[QUEER MUSICAL] The futuristic science-fiction plot may be intentionally preposterous, and who knows how the ultimate staging will look, but for this music-and-dance-only CD release concert showcasing the 21 sly, smart, often funny songs Portland composer Max Voltage composed for the musical-in-progress Homomentum, all we need to know is: The man can seriously write a hook. Shunning modern Broadway schmaltz and mixing genres—from rock to folk to Celtic and beyond—as unself-consciously as its characters transcend genders, Voltage's irresistibly melodic tunes sound like Ziggy Stardust meets Hair in South Park. BRETT CAMPBELL. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 719-6055. 8 pm Friday, May 30. $20 general admission, $30 preferred seating. Under 21 permitted with legal guardian.

Albert "Tootie" Heath

[JAZZ ROYALTY] One of the last surviving bop drumming legends is a member of one of jazz's noblest families. Growing up in the jazz cradle of Philadelphia, Albert "Tootie" Heath's late brother Percy anchored the bass slot in the Modern Jazz Quartet for decades, and sibling Jimmy's sax has graced classic albums from Miles Davis, Milt Jackson and many more. During his New York years, Tootie smacked the skins on John Coltrane's debut album and innumerable other classics by Wes Montgomery, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins and other legends— including, of course, the Heath Brothers band. On the eve of his 79th birthday, Albert Heath, now living in California, performs with onetime Bill Evans bassist Chuck Israels (who moved to Portland a few years ago, and who played with Heath in the 1950s and 1970s) and young L.A. pianist Richard Sears. BRETT CAMPBELL. Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th Ave., 295-6542. 8 pm Friday, May 30. $18 general admission, $22 guaranteed seating. Under 21 permitted with guardian under 9 pm.

Cameron Esposito

[COMEDY] The phenomenal comic— recognizable by her side mullet and omnipresent jean jacket and, oh yeah, her super-smart but conversational style of standup—is recording her second comedy album tonight, and the price of admission is likely to be less than the record will cost upon its release. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 7:30 and 10:30 pm. $5. 21+.

Cheers to Belgian Beers

One of Portland’s wildest, weirdest, most popular and occasionally most controversial beer fests returns for its eighth year. And this time, the yeast is back! Cheers to Belgian Beers is back to basics, if you can call it that: 50 Belgian beer-happy breweries will have 56 beers, all made from the same single strain of Wy’east yeast (Leuven Pale Ale 4Q12 has “distinct spicy character along with mild esters”), with color and strength for each beer that’s been chosen by a simple throw of the dart. Stay tuned for behind-the-scenes name-calling of brewers who opt out of the yeast and yet still win prizes. Or not! The unpredictability is part of the fun. There’s food on hand from Philadelphia’s Steaks and Hoagies (i.e., Thirteen Virtues Brewing), Urban German and Bunk. Metalcraft Fabrication, 723 N Tillamook St., oregoncraftbeer.org/ctbb. Friday (5-9 pm) and Saturday (noon-8 pm), May 30-31. $15 for a glass and five tastes, $1 each additional taste. 21+.

Saturday, May 31

Live Wire!

Variety show Live Wire! operates on a simple premise: Put a bunch of interesting and talented people on a stage together and interesting things are bound to happen. Testing the theory this week will be author and all-around robotics genius Daniel H. Wilson (whose best-selling novel Robopocalypse will soon be a movie under the helm of Steven Spielberg), Los Angeles-based comedian and Chelsea Lately regular Cameron Esposito, journalist David Kinney, and Seattle pop group Lemolo. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 719-6055. 7:30 pm. $20 advance, $25 day of. 21+.

Blood Red Shoes, Radkey

[TEENAGERS FROM MARS] It's not hard to pinpoint what has sent crazy-young brotherly trio Radkey barreling into the hearts of critics a generation or three older than its members: Its scrappy, melodic punk just recently became a conduit for nostalgia. With indie rock and EDM now the dominant sounds of millennial youth culture, the band recalls a time, not long ago, when being a teenager meant diving into the pit and screaming along to whoa-oh-oh choruses. Similarly fresh-faced English duo Blood Red Shoes also mines its sound from an earlier era forsaken by most of its peers, except instead of borrowing from the Misfits, the group references fuzzy-scuzzy grunge and post-hardcore. MATTHEW SINGER. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 894-9708. 10 pm. $10. 21+.

Khambatta Dance Company

[DANCE] Seattle's Khambatta Dance Company, a group of dramatic ballet and modern dancers that moved there from New York in 2001, are close to the end of a world tour that included cities in the Pacific Northwest and India. Here, the company performs its latest work Vice and Virtue, in which dancers strut and slither around a shiny apple in a push and pull of emotions and impulsiveness. The dancers also perform 2009's Interview With the American Dream, inspired by anonymous telephone interviews conducted during the Great Recession, and 2008's Love Story, which incorporates video interviews about love. The performance is preceded by a two-hour workshop at 11:30 am. Conduit Dance, 918 SW Yamhill St., Suite 401, 221-5857. 8 pm Saturday, May 31. $15 workshop, $17 performance, $27 both.

The Faint, Reptar, Fine Pets

[SYNTHPUNK] A decade ago, The Faint's synth-heavy post-punk was something of an anomaly, and the aptly named Danse Macabre was a massive breakthrough for Saddle Creek, the Omaha label known best for the navel-gazing of Cursive and Bright Eyes. But with synthpop serving as a corner of modern indie rock, this year's Doom Abuse finds Clark Fink and company as agitated caricatures of their former unlikely glory. They've ratcheted up their punk roots and kept the imploding keyboards omnipresent, sounding more like a pissed-off Devo cover band than the stylish, skinny-tie wearing disco punks they once were. PETE COTTELL. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 224-2038. 9 pm. $20. All ages.

Wolvserpent, Hell, Will O' the Wisp, Hail

[INTO THE WILD] To my knowledge, Idaho and Scandinavia don't possess many shared regional qualities, besides being two places with really shitty winters. But don't tell that to Wolvserpent, the Boise duo whose epic, droning black metal lullabies would provide the perfect soundtrack to watch churches burn in the snowy Norwegian woods. Last year's Perigea Antahkarana is a sprawling expanse, largely populated with groaning orchestral numbers and the whispering sounds of nature. It's a record that compels you to march into the woods to die peacefully and alone. But hey, maybe that's how you want to start your summer. SAM CUSUMANO. Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th Ave., 223-0099. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

BeerQuest Historic Bar & Brewery Tour

With all the buses and booze bikes roaming around, BeerQuest takes it back to the basics with a walking tour of Portland bars and breweries of the 1800s. Not literally, of course, but they'll give you a narrative tour around the spots where the breweries once were, stopping at modern-day breweries along the way. You'll get 12 sample beers from Pints, Rock Bottom and Old Town Pizza included in the price of the tour, along with a trip to Portland's oldest bar, Kelly's Olympian, which now hangs motorcycles from the ceiling.  Saturday, May 31. 2-5 pm. $49. 21+. Visit beerquestpdx.com to sign up.

Sunday, June 1

The Playboy of the Western World

[THEATER] J.M. Synge’s satirical masterpiece tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man who earns the admiration not only of the aforementioned Pegeen but of the entire populace of a tiny Irish hamlet when he announces that he has just murdered his father. It’s a decidedly odd premise, and when Playboy debuted in Dublin in 1907, it gave rise to riots in the streets. Synge wrote Playboy partially as an antidote to shallow musical comedy, which he saw as the enemy to the true joy that live theater should provide. He was sure that, by sticking close to reality, he could create something “superb and wild.” This production is both of those things. DEBORAH KENNEDY. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 241-1278. 2 pm. Runs Wed-Sun through June 22. $25-$55. 

Edna Vazquez

[MEXICAN FOLK] The astoundingly powerful Latin folk singer—who was born in Mexico but grew up in Hillsboro, playing at restaurants and quinceañeras before being adopted into Portland's indie-music scene—kicks off a weeklong residency that will see her joined, on different nights, by members of Pink Martini, Y La Bamba's Luz Elena Mendoza, worldly rockers Mbrascatu and the group she initially cut her teeth with, Mariachi Los Palmeros. Al's Den at the Crystal Hotel, 303 SW 12th Ave., 972-2670. 7 pm. Free. Nightly through June 7. 21+.

MØ, Erik Hassle

[POP'S NEXT UP] Karen Marie Ørsted, who goes by MØ on stage, bubbled under the radar for some time as one of those singer-songwriters with incredible talent but not quite enough guile to rise up the pop ranks. After her first full-length, No Mythologies to Follow, received acclaim from seemingly every corner of the Internet and endless remixes, she's finally hitting her stride. Ørsted's brand of  electropop is easily confused with many of her fellow Scandinavian vocalists, but she mixes a certain brand of old-school soul with new-school guitars and is steadily building a brand as Denmark's next big export. GEOFF NUDELMAN. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+.

WWeek 2015