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FRIDAY, APRIL 7
Wham City Comedy
Baltimore is a weird city full of weird people, including the comedy branch of the arts collective Wham City. Best known for its Adult Swim sketches, Wham City takes off-putting humor a step further than contemporaries like Tim and Eric with stuff that's overtly disturbing—often in the form of sickly, violent creatures. Siren Theater, 315 NW Davis St., sirentheater.com. 8 pm. $10 advance, $15 at the door.
Out From the Shadows III
Creatures of the night, rejoice! This three-day festival spotlighting the emerging post-punk and darkwave scene returns with nearly two dozen acts from as far away as Norway and as close as the basement down the street. Hot tip: Make time for Salt Lake City's Sculpture Club, which killed at Treefort this year. Tonic Lounge, 3100 NE Sandy Blvd., tonicloungeportland.com. 9 pm Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8. $10 per day, $23 three-day pass. 21+.
Moon Hooch, Animal Eyes, the Lucy Ring
The pervasive storyline following Moon Hooch is its rise from literal underground sensations, performing in New York subway stations, to the kind of indie breakthrough NPR salivates over. This is all true, but the pedal-assisted tone-bending that the trio (two saxophonists, one drummer) brings to proper club performances is what truly leaves an impression. The songs quickly weave around conservatory-kid song structures stuffed with jazz and funk licks that crash headlong into dance rock and tongue-in-cheek EDM drops before you can assess what hit you. The sounds conjured by Moon Hooch on its recent Joshua Tree EP are as impossible as they are danceable, creating a strong case for Moon Hooch as prospective mid-level festival headliners now much too accomplished to ever revert back to playing in the subway. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., dougfirlounge.com. 9 pm. $15 advance, $17 day of show. 21+.
Hollywood Theatre's 70 mm Weekend
The 70 mm format is beloved by cinephiles because it's the rarest and highest quality film experience that exists. To put it plainly, if you give the slightest shit about movies and haven't seen a film on 70 mm, you're missing out. Which makes this weekend's sci-fi program at the Hollywood a must-see experience. Read our preview here. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. Visit hollywoodtheatre.org for ticket prices and showtimes.
Portland Underground Film Festival
Digital technology means anybody can make a film, and those budding filmmakers must compete for Vimeo views with thousands of others who shoot, edit and distribute strange pieces of art on their phones. This makes the Clinton Street Theater's Portland Underground Film Festival, or PUFF, which kicks off this Friday, all the more essential. Read our preview here. The Portland Underground Film Festival begins at 5 pm Friday, April 7. See cstpdx.com for a full schedule and tickets.
Saving His Music, featuring Naomi LaViolette, Oregon Repertory Singers, Ethan Sperry and David Goodwin
When 64-year-old Wilsonville composer-pianist Steven Goodwin was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's three years ago, his family wanted to preserve his music. Unfortunately, many of his songs were never recorded or even notated, and he was losing the ability to perform or recall them. Enter veteran Portland pianist, singer and songwriter Naomi LaViolette, a friend of the family who also accompanies the Oregon Repertory Singers, and who agreed to learn Goodwin's music and write it down for posterity. After years of meetings and "filling in the musical potholes," in Goodwin's words, she recorded an album of Goodwin songs called The Nature of Love, which the family is releasing at this concert featuring LaViolette, the Oregon Repertory Singers and their director, Ethan Sperry, and David Goodwin. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., theoldchurch.org. 7:30 pm Friday, April 7. $18 advance, $22 day of show. All ages.
Deathlist, Bombay Beach, Point Juncture, WA
On her new eponymous album, Deathlist's Jenny Logan tries to forgive—but not forget—her upbringing. See our interview with Logan here. The Know, 3728 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-473-8729, theknowpdx.com. 8 pm. Contact venue for ticket prices. 21+.
Nike Hoop Summit
March Madness is over, and the NBA playoffs have yet to begin. What's a hardcore hoops head to do? In this period of basketball stasis, thank Chilly Tee Sr. for the 20th annual Nike Hoop Summit, which pits the nation's best high school seniors against the top young international players in an exhibition that's twice as entertaining (and more competitive) than the All-Star Game. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St., rosequarter.com. 7 pm. $10-$60.
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence
For the last show in their series featuring prominent black American choreographers, White Bird is bringing Ronald K. Brown's company to Portland. The New York-based choreographer has been creating critically acclaimed fusions of contemporary dance and forms of African dance for over 30 years, and the bill for their Portland is show is a sort of sampling of the company's fruitful history of exploring the African diaspora across cultures. Along with an excerpt of "Life," which is set to the words of of Martin Luther King Jr., the company will perform "On Earth Together" (set to Stevie Wonder) and "Why You Follow/Por Que Sigues" (set to Belgian-Congolese musician Zap Mama). Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, whitebird.org. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8. $26-$64.
Omar El Akkad
Portlander Omar El Akkad's debut novel, American War, inverts the Golden Rule by asking how Americans might feel if we treated ourselves the way we treat the rest of the world. It's 2074, and Sarat Chestnut is forced to live with her family in a refugee camp under a sky thick with drones. She quickly realizes she can't even trust the people she meets, as the camp has been infiltrated by deep state agents. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., powells.com. 7:30 pm.
SATURDAY, APRIL 8
Sensory Gymnastics
Guest curator Michele Fiedler's last exhibit at Disjecta is a whopper of sensory overload and wrestling of meaning, with works from late Portland folk preservationist and animator Harry Smith, local music and art impresario Eric Mast, and interdisciplinary works from Puerto Rican international art star Radamés "Juni" Figueroa. Anyway, there are movies for blind people and an indoor treehouse. Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate Ave., disjectaarts.org. 6-10 pm. Free.
Entrance, Hollow Sidewalks
If there's one dude who can command a stage almost entirely on his own, it's Guy Blakeslee. Normally playing alongside the rest of his menagerie of talented musicians in the Entrance Band, Blakeslee's solo work is equally captivating. With the release of his first album in a decade, Book of Changes, Blakeslee opens up a chapter of intimacy Entrance fans have never really heard from him before. A classic story of love and loss is told through what, for him, is an atypical folk-pop lens. For those of us who have wondered what's been going on with our beloved Blakeslee over the past 10 years, Book of Changes tells it all, and tonight, he'll be the one reading it aloud. High Water Mark Lounge, 6800 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., highwatermarklounge.com. 9 pm. $13. 21+.
Dude York, PAWS, Talk Low
Mostly hard-strummed guitar chords and kick drum, Dude York would certainly be playing bigger venues than the Analog Theater, if only it had been all born 10 years earlier. Being from Seattle, it's odd the band isn't more popular, even here. But the songs do feel out of touch with the rock tastes of 2017, mostly because they're strong and convicted, lacking the Car Seat Headrest-style self-deprecation that's regrettably replaced Weezer-style overconfidence in most contemporary guitar rock. Dude York's musicians sing about how they feel—in one case on a song actually titled, "The Way I Feel"—without over-intellectualizing it or even trying to make it funny. It's sad how incredibly refreshing that is. "All my friends are out there," they sing on "Something in the Way," "acting like they don't care/But I just don't wanna go." Dude York may be throwing its own party instead of joining yours, indie bro, but trust me—next time, you're better off going to it. The Analog Cafe, 720 SE Hawthorne Blvd., analogpdx.com. 6 pm. $10. All ages.
Lauren Weedman Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Lauren Weedman is back in Portland to debut another show, Lauren Weedman Doesn't Live Here Anymore, a country musical in which she imagines her alternate reality as Tammy Lisa, the name her birth parents gave her before putting her up for adoption. See our Q&A with Weedman here. Portland Center Stage, 128 NW 11 Ave., pcs.org. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Sunday, through April 30. Additional show noon Thursday, April 6. No show Friday, April 7. $25-$70.
This Random World
Through a series of miraculously made and hopeless missed connections, This Random World examines the role of chance and fate in our lives. Portland Actors Conservatory is staging the play less than a year after it got some national critical attention at last year's Humana Festival in Kentucky. As the title implies, the comedy/drama is intended as a meditation on life's randomness, so the plot weaves together several different storylines dealing with love and self-discovery. Portland Actors Conservatory, 1436 SW Montgomery St., pac.edu. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, April 6-23. No show Sunday, April 16. $18.
April Sours
Both days this weekend, Hoplandia will fill its taps—16 of them at a time—with sour after sour, whether the excellent Sur Amarillo from To Ol, De Garde's new Petit Blanc, Cascade's Sang du Chêne, or Lost Abbey's Cuvee de Tomme. It's not a wealth of obscurities, but it's a nice collection. No tix, just show up and drink. Hoplandia Beer, 8600 N Ivanhoe St., hoplandiabeer.com. All day.
4th Annual Hopped Cider Fest
Reverend Nat's, Portland's original home to the many variegated possibilities of hopped cider, will host a festival devoted to at least 36 of the many variegated possibilities of hopped cider, from all over the country. $25 nets a glass and seven tasting tokens. Reverend Nat's Cidery & Public Taproom, 1813 NE 2nd Ave., reverendnatshardcider.com. Noon-9 pm.
SUNDAY, APRIL 9
Mitski
Couldn't score Radiohead tickets? If you're still in the market for smart, evocative pop music, here's your next best option tonight. Mitski Miyawaki's fourth album, Puberty 2—a multidimensional portrait of millennial malaise set to killer guitars—was one of last year's biggest breakthroughs. You've heard "Paranoid Android" enough, anyway. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., wonderballroom.com. 8:30 pm. $15 advance, $17 day of show. All ages.
Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk already had a comic book and a Fight Club 4 Kids trailer featuring crying children, so why the hell not a coloring book? Get a $20 ticket in advance, and it'll net you a copy of Bait: Off-Color Stories for You to Color, which the famously fan-friendly Palahniuk will dutifully sign along with any other item of your choosing, which presumably could include parts of your body. Memento PDX, 3707 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-235-1257. 10 am. $20. Call for tickets.