Willamette Weekend: 17 Things to Do and See in Portland, August 29-31

MAD SONS PUB

Friday, Aug. 29

The Both

[MUSIC] Ted Leo's jumpy punk rock meets Aimee Mann's signature melancholy in this all-star indie-rock duo, producing surprisingly dynamic duets, in which Leo's foot-tapping riffs are given a soothing counterpunch only Mann could provide. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-9694. 8 pm. $25. Under 21 permitted with legal guardian.

Bards & Brews

[BOOKS] Author and book-cover designer Jason Gurley's newest novel,  Eleanor, has been in the works for 13 years, and is now being compared to tales like The Neverending Story and Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Joining Gurley for a reading at the last-Friday series Bards & Brews will be noted author J.C. Andrijeski, whose new book, Revik, adds to her collection of more than 17 young-adult novels, thrillers and sci-fi serials. Primrose & Tumbleweeds, 248 E. Main St., Hillsboro, 703-8525. 7-9 pm. Free. 21+.

Sour Beer Summit

[BEERS] Tart, sour, and wild—if beer were people, it'd be the stuff of wistful poetry. Roscoe's is filling its taps with 14 different sours all weekend, from Gigantic's goofball strawberry rhubarb gose to Double Mountain's now-classic Devil's Kriek. Russian River's Supplication/Consecration will also make the trip north. A couple of spare IPAs will also be on tap, if you refuse to join the fun. Taster trays and representatives from some of the breweries will be on hand. Roscoe's, 8105 SE Stark St., 261-9535. 2 pm-close Friday-Saturday and 2 pm-11 pm Sunday, Aug. 29-31.

Naomi Punk, Broken Water

[EXPERIMENTAL SHOEGAZE GRUNGE] Although the band refuses to create a Facebook page and its website is out of date, Naomi Punk's sophomore album, Television Man, is all over the Internet. Pitchfork gave it a good review. Rolling Stone says it's worth risking tinnitus for. After gushing over the Olympia natives' 2013 SXSW performance, Stereogum premiered the album's title track. Television Man, released on Captured Tracks, went public in August, displaying the band's signature, minimally tense grunge. The syncopated and downtrodden sound is achieved by sparse-yet-hard-hitting drums that dissipate into driving guitar work and Ty Segall-esque vocals. This is the kind of stuff I moved to the Pacific Northwest for. Tonight, Naomi Punk is paired with the ever-evolving raw power of fellow Northwesterners Broken Water. LYLA ROWEN. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., 894-9708. 9 pm. $8. 21+.

Negativland, Daniel Menche, Cascadian Knights

[SAMPLE CULTURE] Bay Area ensemble Negativland isn't frequently discussed in concert with its Mills College antecedents like Terry Riley and Morton Subotnick, but the same sense of electronic exploration pushes both cohorts. Coming along at the tail end of punk's first wave, Negativland began sampling and cutting up audio during the late 1970s, issued its opening salvo in 1980 and eventually hooked up with SST Records a few years later. Since then, there have been lawsuits and acrimony surrounding the troupe's occasionally liberal use of source material. But it hasn't stopped Negativland from persevering and lobbing pointed criticism at well-established musicians and pols. Religion is set to face the ensemble's satire with the pending It's All in Your Head, due out in the fall. DAVE CANTOR. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 7 pm. $15 advance, $20 day of show.

Eyes Edge Presents Futro Records, Epp, Mic Capes, Maze Koroma, Jon Belz, D Worthy, YUNG ROB, Soar Losers

[PDX HIP-HOP] As Portland's hip-hop scene continues to garner acclaim (finally!) within the city and nationally, it's about time a proper all-star collective came together to change the game. Soar Losers combines the talents of a few of PDX's best MCs—Stewart Villain, Tre Redeau, Myke Bogan, Manny Monday and Spoon—and though each rapper offers his own style, the crew is united by its logo (thumbs down) and a love of weird, corkscrew beats. Villain's production, which hints at trap and cloud rap but is definitely its own thing, moves this crew outside the world of backpackers and into the future. Tonight's show celebrates the release of the debut print issue of Eyes Edge, a new magazine focusing on lifestyle, streetwear, music and Pacific Northwest living. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave., 233-7100. 7 pm. $8 advance, $10 day of show. 18+.

Bath Night

[THEATER] Enter the world of Bath Night and you'll find a Miss America stage mom, a '90s pop Pandora station that keeps interrupting a torture session and a poker-illiterate James Bond. This 90-minute sketch comedy show, written and directed by Sean McGrath (whom you might remember from the recent stage adaptation of Weekend at Bernie's), is a side-splitting, jaunty ride. One minute, we get a surprisingly amusing mash-up of Milk and The Dark Knight Rises. In the next, an airplane pilot regales with his confusion over his sexual identity via loudspeaker. Sometimes, things crash: In one sketch, a sloth's ear-splitting scream proves more painful than amusing. In another, a referee's off-the-wall penalty calls ("illegal cushion for the pushin'!") miss the mark. Nonetheless, most of the sketches get you laughing, and the performers are superb: When Brooke Totman, a former cast member of MADtv, plays a middle-aged woman hosting a "Christmas party/wake," she matches Kristen Wiig in both inflection and charisma. Andrew Harris' portrayal of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the infamous James Bond villain, is equally on point. And in what might be the funniest vignette of the bunch, Lori Ferraro strips off layer after layer of spandex in front of an anxious date, resulting in chuckles that, at least on a recent evening, lasted well past the end of the sketch. KATHERINE MARRONE. Shaking the Tree Studio, 1407 SE Stark St., 235-0635. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays through Aug. 30. $17-$20.


Saturday, Aug. 30

Uncommon Wine Festival 

[WINE] Vista Hills Vineyard in Dayton will host seven wine producers who make less than 200 bottles of wine a year, with tasting and purchasing opportunities that usually don't make it anywhere near a market. Vista Hills Vineyard, 6475 NE Hilltop Lane, Dayton, 864-3200. Noon-5 pm. $30.

Cappella Romana

[RENAISSANCE CHANT & CHORAL]  When the capital of the old Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, political boundaries couldn't stop musical mixing and matching, as demonstrated by this concert of 15th-century Greek and Latin church music. It will include a pair of deeply poignant laments for the fall of Constantinople by the great Franco-Flemish composer Guillaume Dufay, and Manuel Chrysaphes, the last cantor of Hagia Sophia. The plangent mixture of Byzantine chant and Renaissance polyphony, all written at the volatile crux of Europe and Asia, East and West, should win new fans for the Portland vocal ensemble Cappella Romana as it takes this powerful program to Chicago, Boston and the most prestigious of early music festivals, in Utrecht, the Netherlands. BRETT CAMPBELL. St. Mary's Cathedral, 1739 NW Couch St. 8 pm Saturday, Aug. 30. $22-$44.

Richard Bain and Ira Novos

[COMEDY] Matt Braunger isn't the only hometown hero returning to Portland this week—Richard Bain brings his absurdist-leaning standup back to Stumptown. He'll be appearing with comedian Ira Novos, as well as several other locals and a few, ummm, mystery guests. Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11th Ave., 841-6734. 10 pm Saturday, Aug. 30. $5-$10.

Jade Night Market

[PARKING LOTS!] In the Fubonn parking lot, there'll be an Asian-inflected night market every Saturday till Sept. 13, complete with hot street (or parking lot) food, live entertainment from lion dancing to Gypsy dancing to Chinese opera, a beer garden and craft vendors. The idea is to celebrate the newly christened "Jade District." Fubonn Shopping Center, 2850 SE 82nd Ave., 517-8877. 6-10 pm.

City Nightclub Reunion

[MEMORIES] The old gang gets back together. Rotture, 315 SE 3rd Ave., on Saturday, Aug. 30. 9 pm. $12. 21+.

Corrosion of Conformity, Bl'ast!, Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, Lord Dying

[ALL KINDS OF METAL] With a lineup like this, it's tough to pick one band to spotlight, because every last one of them is worthy of a headline spot. First, you've got the legendary sludge-punkers Corrosion of Conformity, which has three decades of legendary riff-based heavy rock 'n' roll under its belt. Then you've got Bl'ast!, the iconic L.A. hardcore punk band that recently picked up ex-Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri. There's also Brant Bjork, ex-Kyuss drummer, with his new solo project, the Low Desert Punk Band. And of course, opening the whole thing is Portland's own thrash-doom up-and-comers Lord Dying, which brings the teeth-gnashing riffs even harder on its home turf. CAT JONES. Dante's, 350 W Burnside St., 226-6630. 8 pm. $20. 21+.

Mission of Burma, The Woolen Men, Chris Brokaw

[POST-PUNK LEGENDS] Is there a better indie-rock comeback story than Mission of Burma's? After releasing a few landmark records in the early '80s—notably the seminal Signals, Calls, and Marches EP and the equally great follow-up full-length, Vs.—the band broke up and got back together in 2002, before it was the cool thing to do. Burma isn't simply in it for the money, either. Last year's excellent Unsound was the band's fourth new album in a decade, as Burma's members are far from the kind of dudes willing to play the same-old-hits set every night. In 2009, the band's hometown of Boston declared Oct. 4 "Mission of Burma Day," but that designation should really extend to every other day of the year as well. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $16 advance, $18 day of show. 21+.


Sunday, Aug. 31

Abna Tijoux, Magic Mouth

[GLOBAL BOUNTY] Vengo, the latest album from French-Chilean singer-rapper Ana Tijoux, is a boundless, worldly collection, weaving together everything from hip-hop to cumber to jazz to folky funk in support of her soulful vocals. It's expressive enough to cross the language barrier—though given Tijoux's social consciousness, shooting the lyrics through Google Translate isn't a terrible idea. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. $15. 21+.    

Porter Robinson, Giraffage, Lemaitre

[EDM] At age 22, North Carolina’s Porter Robinson has been an EDM star long enough that his new album, Worlds, is already being called “a departure”—despite the fact that it’s his first full-length release. Rather than trading in his peers’ Sturm und wub, Robinson has drawn back and damn near made a neo-trance record. New-jack ravers might be confused, but Robinson manages to communicate an emotional depth beyond “sick drop, bro.” Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., (971) 230-0033. 7 pm. $31. 18+.   

Bachelor 'n' Bachelorette Square Dance Club

Old people hold hands with young people, rockers hold hands with country fans—square dancing has a way of mixing people. There's still a lot of plaid, though. The Portland chapter of this international square dance club demonstrates the form in this 30-minute performance. The group, which is for singles and couples, also holds square and round dances every Wednesday night at Abernethy Grange in Oregon City. Director Park, 815 SW Park Ave. Noon Sunday, Aug. 31. Free.

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