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Friday, June 20
Portland Cider Summit
[CIDER] In its fourth year, Portland's Cider Summit moves to the Pearl. Visit with 120 cider makers from across the country and enjoy sips of 4-ounce samples—be warned: Cider gets you a lot drunker than you expect. The Fields Neighborhood Park, Northwest 10th Avenue and Overton Street, cidersummitnw.com. 2-8 pm. $25 in advance, $30 at the door.
Swahili, Midday Veil, Spectrum Control
[HEAVY GROOVE] Seattle's Midday Veil exists in that part of the experimental rock wormhole where krautrock meets bludgeoning psych. The band, led by singer Emily Pothast, takes all the weirdest parts of a stoned record-store clerk's vinyl collection—the motorik grooves of Can, odd Karlheinz Stockhausen scores…basically anything German—and adds a dose of heavy, almost headbanging rock to the mix. These are long songs meant for late-night listening, either on headphones or in a humid, sticky bar. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 894-9708. 9:30 pm. $5. 21+.
The Minders, Eyelids, Spookies
[ELEPHANT SIX] The Elephant 6 Collectiveâs tendrils stretch across the country, with the Minders having brought its loping â60s schtick from Colorado to Portland around the turn of the millennium. The bandâs catalog, beginning with a series of mid-â90s singles, doesnât describe a dreamy world of two-headed freaks, but its take on pop still wavers toward the affected. The Mindersâ latest effort, a two-song seven-inch released in April, finds the band in a less precious state than the past. But all the strings any rock band could ever want accompany âItâs Going To Break Out,â while the B-side gets through an ambient passage and wades into a tripped-out surf instrumental. Still weird. Still grand. DAVE CANTOR. The Know, 2026 NE Alberta St., 473-8729. 8 pm. $5. 21kknd.
Levon's Helmet, Jesus Miranda, Tiger Face
[PUNKY POWER POP] Not punky enough for punk but not polished enough to be pop, the music of Levon's Helmet falls somewhere in the brash, raucous and pretty darn catchy middle. A definite change from founding members Gordon Keepers and Jason Oppat's previous work—the two formerly played in local bluegrass group Water Tower—Levon's Helmet crafts shouted, power chord-heavy ballads for weekend warriors everywhere. The trio releases its newest set of songs tonight, and if they follow the same formula as last year's S/T EP, you can probably expect to get a whole batch of fresh tunes stuck in your head. KAITIE TODD. The Firkin Tavern, 1937 SE 11th Ave., 206-7552. 9 pm. Call venue for ticket information. 21kknd.
Kevin Nealon
[COMEDY] As a âWeekend Updateâ anchor on Saturday Night Live, Nealon had problems following the teleprompter and stammered through jokes, but he was the last anchor to approach the position with Brokaw-esque faux gravitas. And while his days of pumping iron (as Franz, also on Saturday Night Live) and toking up (as Doug on Weeds) might be over, heâs still making the comedy-club rounds with his dry, down-to-earth sense of humor. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888-643-8669. 8 pm Thursday and 7:30 and 10 pm Friday-Saturday, June 19-21. $25-$37. 21kknd.
Saturday, June 21
Spaceballs Cider and Pizza Feed
Pay $10, get all the Sizzle Pie pizza you can eat and sit on the folding chairs in front of the movie projector and watch Spaceballs. Freaking Spaceballs! It'll totally be like a classroom party in the 6th grade, except this time if you're lucky when the lights go down, you might actually get to make out with Susie or Bobby instead of just nervously touching their knee with your knee. Also, the apple cider? It totally has alcohol in it. Reverend Nat's, 1813 NE 2nd Ave. Movie starts promptly at 9 pm. $10.
Geek Olympathon
[GEEKS!] Shine up your vorpal sword: The Portland Geek Olympathon pits teams of five against each other for tests of video-game skill, comic-book knowledge and zombie-slaying ability. Winners receive Comic Con passes, gift cards and good old cash—which can be easily exchanged for Dogecoin. Opening ceremonies at Guardian Games, 345 SE Taylor St., 238-4000, pgc3.org/events/olympathon. 11 am. $5 individuals, $20 teams.
Orpheus Academy Orchestra
[YOUNG CLASSICAL] The Oregon Music Festival opens its second summer of giving promising young musicians an intensive two-week training experience. Conductor Travis Hatton (who also directs the Beaverton Symphony) leads the young players in Arnold Schoenberg's transcription for chamber orchestra of Mahler's emotionally charged, late Romantic song cycle, Songs of a Wayfarer, featuring rising young operatic baritone Harry Baechtel. BRETT CAMPBELL. First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Ave. 7:30 pm Saturday, June 21. $10-$40.
One Radio Host, Two Dancers
[DANCE RADIO] Ira Glass said it best: âWe know nobody listens to my radio show thinking, âYou know what this needs, is some dancers. Nobody sits through a dance show thinking, âYou know what this needs, is a guy talking and playing clips of audio.ââ But thatâs exactly what the host of This American Life does with this show, even though the dancing here has enough narrative on its own. (For one act, it will have no words.) The dancers, New Yorkâs Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass, arenât exactly the abstract, fluid contemporary types. Theyâre more known for vaudevillian humor, using sparklers and batons, balancing chairs on their faces and bringing stories to life as costumed characters. The three performed the first ten minutes of the show during the annual Tibet House concert at Carnegie Hall last year, which Vanity Fair said was âthe highlight performance.â Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 8 pm Saturday, June 21. $41.50-$62.50.
Wussy
[MUSIC] Since the release of fifth album Attica!, the Cincinnati quartet's hardscrabble, countrified guitar-pop has been lauded by tastemakers and glowingly namechecked in the unlikeliest venues, including the Los Angeles Review of Books and Robert Christgau's Lou Reed farewell. Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd. 9 pm. $8 advance, $10 day of show. 21kknd.
The XRAY.fm Boom Mic
[VARIETY SHOW] The low-wattage community radio station XRAY.fm throws its first summer party, featuring comedy from Shane Torres and Kristine Levine, stories from Back Fence PDX's B. Frayn Masters and the Moth's Arthur Bradford and music from Vursatyl of Portland hip-hop institution Lifesavas. Hosted by Carl Wolfson. Wear a band shirt or an election shirt and get free raffle tickets. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 719-6055. 8 pm. $15-$35 sliding scale. 21kknd.
Merle Haggard
[COUNTRY] The grizzled country legend sings for the elephants, and presumably a few humans. Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon Rd., 226-1561. 7 pm. $32.50-$62.50. All ages.
Sunday, June 22
Daniel H. Wilson
If there's anything more terrifying than the zombie apocalypse, it's the robot apocalypse. Praying on our fears that our smartphones will one day be smarter than us, robotics expert and best-selling author Daniel H. Wilson is releasing the follow-up to his thriller Robopocalypse with Robogenesis. Yup, we're doomed. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.
Risk/Reward Festival
[THEATAH!] The annual Risk/Reward Festival is like a salad bar of genre-busting contemporary performance, with six West Coast artists each given 20 minutes to impress you. Four of the performers this year are from Portland, including the always visceral Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble and a new group, the Neutral Fembot Project, which will explore the mind-bending work of portraitist Cindy Sherman. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1516 SW Alder St.,risk-reward.org. 5 pm. $18.
Sherryfest Afterparty
Bar Vivant/Pix is throwing an afterparty for a party there's almost no chance you attended: Sherryfest West in San Francisco. But true pros always skip straight to the afterparty anyway, especially when there'll be a tasting of over 40 sherries for about $25. A pack of Spaniard Sherry experts—Jaime Gil of Valdespino, Jan Pettersen of Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla and Lorenzo Garcia-Iglesias of Bodegas Tradicion—will be on hand as well. And if you're super gung-ho, there'll be a $130 sherry pairings dinner at the excellent Davenport, just next door, at 8 pm. Bar Vivant, 2225 E Burnside St., 971-271-7166. 4-7 pm. $25.
Night Movies at Cartopia
Appropriately enough, as Cartopia starts projecting Sunday movies for one last summer in the party pod, they'll be showing the movie Attack the Block. It double features with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It's hard not to see a last-stand theme in Cartopia's programming: Next up on June 25 is Independence Day, and the week after that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid will get surrounded by the whole ding-dang Mexican Army. Sadness and sweetness, all at once. Save us a crepe, or one of those fine fried pies. Cartopia, Southeast Hawthorne Blvd. and 12th Ave. 9:30 pm.
Emily Wells, You Are Plural
[MULTI-MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST] Emily Wells puts on one of the busiest live shows around. The Texas native stitches loops together live, bulking them up with percussion, classical strings and her own ghoulish vocals. A modern composer in every sense of the phrase, Wells is well-versed in multiple instruments. Last year, she released Mama Acoustic Recordings, a record that reimagined earlier material on a quieter, folkier front. While known widely as âthat girl who plays hip-hop violin,â Wells offers much, much more. MARK STOCK. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21kknd.
WWeek 2015