20 Things To Do and See in Portland July 15-17

FRIDAY, JULY 15

Ghostbusters

[ALL THE HYPE] Thirty-two years after the original 1984 cult classic was released, it is apparently controversial that Ghostbusters is getting a reboot with an all-female cast and a noncontiguous story. Paul Fieg directs Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy in this comedy that has ghosts and middle-aged internet men running for the hills. Rated PG-13.

Aquavit Pairings

Get drunk, fat and happy the Nordic way: a taste of aquavit, with a little snack. Repeat. As House Spirits cancels its aged aquavit, Rolling River has quadrupled down with an aged and unaged dill-heavy Ole Bjørkvoll, a caraway-happy Stilar #3 and a Christmas-spiced Gamle Holiday. Nordia House, 8800 SW Oleson Road, 503-977-0275. 6 pm. $20-$25.

Cathedral Park Jazz Festival

[FREE JAZZ] That's "free" as in gratis, not in the Ornette Coleman sense. The oldest free-of-charge jazz festival west of the Mississippi continues for the 36th year at the alfresco venue under the beautiful St. Johns Bridge. Actually, the jazz doesn't start until Saturday, as Friday night's show offers a quintet of soul, blues and R&B bands including Sister Mercy and Ken Emerson. Saturday afternoon kicks off with the young jazz artists of Portland jazz legend and educator Thara Memory's award-winning American Music Program and continues with veteran guitarist Dan Balmer's Go By Train. (There's also an Earth Wind and Fire tribute.) Sunday's lineup features the reliably groovy Mel Brown Trio, a four-singer vocal jazz summit, and a closing set by Farnell Newton and the Othership Connection. It's a great free sampler of Portland's most stalwart, mostly straight-ahead jazz artists. BRETT CAMPBELL. Cathedral Park, North Edison Street and Pittsburg Avenue. 1 pm Friday-Sunday, July 15-17. Free. All ages.

Ed Wood

[SCHLOCK] The NW Film Center pays tribute to late schlockmeister Edward D. Wood Jr. with a screening of the granddaddy of "so bad it's good" cinema, Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Tim Burton's outstanding, loving biopic Ed Wood. Plan 9: Hotel deLuxe, 7 pm Thursday, July 14. Ed Wood: NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, 7 pm Friday, July 15.

Eugene Onegin

[80s OPERA] There is a moment in Eugene Onegin when you forget you're at an opera at all. At the beginning of the second act, Lensky wanders over to a lonely bench awaiting a duel with his best friend, the headlights from his '80s Volvo illuminating the falling snow against a black backdrop. It looks and feels more like something out of Tokyo Drifter than a nearly 140-year-old opera. Portland Opera's production of Tchaikovsky's seven lyrical scenes of romance, heartbreak, betrayal and loneliness set against the backdrop of the decaying Soviet Union in the 1980s is an indecently cinematic experience. JOHN LOCANTHI. Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway. 2 pm. $35-$200.

Fred and Toody Cole, Jenny Don't and the Spurs

[PUNK IN LOVE] In March, Fred and Toody Cole, the grandparents of Portland punk, officially retired from rock'n'roll. Following the death of Andrew Loomis, who played drums alongside them in Dead Moon for two decades, the 67-year-old couple announced that their days playing long, loud sets are over. But that doesn't mean they're done with music: As they've done the last few years, the Coles will continue to play career-spanning acoustic performances. Tonight, they kick off a season of shows on Revolution Hall's unbeatable roof deck. MATTHEW SINGER. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. 7 pm. $12 advance, $15 day of show. 21+.

Harefest

[ROCK-STAR MAKE BELIEVE] This weekend, at a racetrack in Canby, close to 3,000 people will camp out to watch the pretenders. Chrissie Hynde won't be there, but there will be a facsimile of Axl Rose, a faux Steven Tyler and a poseur Pat Benatar. Now in its sixth year, Harefest is the annual summit meeting for the Pacific Northwest's tribute scene. Pat's Acres Racing Complex, 6255 S Arndt Road, Canby, on Friday-Saturday, July 15-16. $40 Friday, $45 Saturday, $75 two-day pass, $100 with overnight camping. See harefest.com for complete schedule.

Rod

[STARFUCKER FANS] Rod's new EP, Pretty Much, heralds a songwriter and a band coming into their own. Although quickened by the spirits of '90s heroes like Teenage Fanclub, Sebadoh and the Breeders, Celt's recent compositions don't sound like nostalgia for a bygone soundtrack, but like the feeling of longing itself: pained and pissed, fucked up and pretty, relentlessly restless. Smart Collective, 6923 SE Foster Road, with Chugger, Glacier Veins, Two Moons and Lee Faulkner, on Friday, July 15. 9 pm. $2 with high school ID, $5 without. All ages.

SATURDAY, JULY 16

Genders, Divers, Public Eye

[JANGLE IN THE HAZE] It's been a bit quiet on the Genders front. Last we heard from the dreamy Portland pop group, it was early 2015, when it dropped a lovely Silver Jews cover as a teaser for an EP that's yet to arrive. But it's coming soon, they promise—and they've got a new single to prove it. "Life Is But a Dream" is another irresistible plume of jangle-pop smoke, rising up from wavy surf-rock guitars and swirling around Maggie Morris' appealingly whispy voice. Another local group not precisely known for the prolificacy, post-Replacements rockers Divers, might just lay waste to the place before Genders even has a chance to get onstage. It'll be worth it either way. MATTHEW SINGER. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave. 9:30 pm. $10. 21+.

Bob Ostertag

[ELECTRONIC IMPROV] Despite 20 CDs, two DVDs, five books, several electronic instruments he designed himself and four decades of performances around the world, it's still hard to figure out exactly where to categorize Bob Ostertag. The history books will credit the 59-year-old experimental sound artist for pioneering the live use of modular synthesizer in jazz and free improv on New York's rich, late-'70s downtown scene with John Zorn and others. Then he headed off to help rebels fight against oppressive Central American regimes and wrote books and articles about music, culture and sex. Whatever the legendary avant-gardist delivers in this rare Portland visit—whether it involves video, electronics, improv or some combination of all of the above—it's sure to be unclassifiable. BRETT CAMPBELL. Leaven Community Center, 5431 NE 20th Ave. 8 pm Saturday, July 16. $15, sliding scale.

Dälek, Drowse, Stöller

[WOKEN WORD] Dälek is experimental hip-hop's truest embodiment of the spoken word, delivering political commentary atop industrial beats since the late '90s and sharing stages with Melvins and Tool. The group's latest, Asphalt for Eden, released on Mike Patton's Ipecac label, was quickly recognized as one of Rolling Stone's Best Rap Albums of 2016 so far. It's a darkly optimistic takedown of the powers that be, with shards of ambient washouts and an onstage guitarist for added gravitas. Stöller, meanwhile, is the solo project of local drummer/MIDI wizard Ben Stoller of double-drum duo Hot Victory. WYATT SCHAFFNER. The Analog Cafe, 720 SE Hawthorne Blvd. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

Death and Delight

[DANCE] BodyVox partners with Chamber Music Northwest every year for a series of music and dance pairings. This rendition will feature two Shakespeare classics, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Piano soloist Melvin Chen will accompany the Romeo and Juliet ballet by Sergei Prokofiev. The Midsummer Night's Dream performance will be performed to compositions by Felix Mendelssohn. BodyVox, 1201 NW 17th Ave., 7:30 pm Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday, July 14-23.

Hands Up! 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments

[#BLACKLIVESMATTER] As a tribute to police shooting victim Michael Brown, the New Black Fest in New York commissioned seven black playwrights for seven monologues about race. This staging comes from the August Wilson Red Door Project and includes work from Nathan James and Idris Goodwin, whose How We Got On got a standing ovation at Portland Playhouse. Wieden+Kennedy, 224 NW 13th Ave., 503-937-7000. 7 pm Friday-Saturday, July 15-16. Free.

Pfriem Pairing Dinner

Five Pfriem beers, five food pairings, $50. Nothing can go too wrong here. The beers will include the Pilsner, saison and strong dark, plus the Flanders Blonde and potentially even a seasonal sour IPA, while the food ranges from roasted octopus, stuffed pork belly to tiramisu sworn to be made of magic. Hamlet, 232 NW 12th Ave., 503-241-4009. 5 pm. $50.

She Writes Press Spring Tour

Since 2012, She Writes Press has been uniting women writers across the country to help them overcome barriers to publishing. The organization brings its tour to Portland with founder Brooke Warner, as well as writers Patti Clark (This Way Up: Seven Tools for Unleashing Your Creative Self and Transforming Your Life), Ashley Sweeney (Eliza Waite), Katrina Anne Willis (Parting Gifts) and Hollis Giammatteo (The Shelf Life of Ashes). Another Read Through, 3932 N Mississippi Ave., 503-208-2729. 7 pm. Free.

West Side Story

[BIGGER SCREEN] The classic Jets-vs.-Sharks musical in 70 mm brings Robert Wise's classic golden-age masterpiece to the screen the way it was meant to be seen. Hollywood Theatre. July 15-17.

SUNDAY, JULY 17

CoHo Summerfest: When Thoughts Attack

[NYC THEATER] Kelly Kinsella's one-woman sketch is very meta. She plays an anxiety-ridden woman trying to present her play about anxiety while she herself has a panic attack. Dressed in thrift store styles she pulled together, Kinsella shows a sane professional coming unhinged. The actress, who admits to having stage fright herself,was once fired from acting at Disney World after of Goofy groping her boobs surfaced. Before that, she proudly did plays in a mud pit for an elite Renaissance Fair in upstate New York. Her last one-woman show won praise from The New York Times and Backstage New York. Even better, Kinsella has worked backstage on Jersey Boys for years, and the playwright endorsed her. CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 7:30 pm Thursday-Sunday, July 14-17. $21.

Collect Art

[GALLERY-HOP] If you are reading this, you are living in the single greatest city in the country to start an art collection. Nowhere else can you find such a high level of talent combined with criminally low prices. The show at Blackfish is a great example, but really, there's incredible value all over town. I see hundreds of pieces of art every month, and—with only two exceptions—all my favorite pieces have hovered under the $1,000 mark. Many cost half that. I'm going to let you in on a secret: If you live in Portland, you only need $90 a month to put together a world-class art collection. Here's how. The 21st Annual Recent Graduates Exhibition is at Blackfish Gallery, 420 NW 9th Ave., 503-224-2634. Through July 30.

Odysseo

[HORSE PLAY] If you traverse the Tilikum Crossing at all during the week, you've seen it—the world's largest big top tent. That's where Cavalia performs their spectacle of a horse circus. Under the tent, you'll find aerial acrobats, african rhythm players and over 60 ultra-trained horses and their trainers (who, as you'd expect, are some of the most gorgeous people the world has ever seen) dressed in flowing silks and bejeweled headdresses. Performers crawl around their horses' torsos as they gallop and stack themselves in human pyramids. The Arabic soundtrack is live, performed in two glass booths for you to watch. The level of control from these riders and acrobats demonstrates a company of entertainers with a lifelong pursuit and dedication to their craft. RUSSEL HAUSFELD. Zidell Yards, 3121 SW Moody Ave, 8 pm Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 8 pm Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, through July 24. $50-$120. Buy tickets.

Pickin' On Sundays: If Birds Could Fly

[VIRGINIAN FOLK] If Birds Could Fly is the kind of duo built for the Pickin' On series that takes place during the summer on the Doug Fir's patio. The Virginia-bred pair straddles the thin line between Americana and traditional country, with latest release Ghosts leaning more toward the latter. Frontwoman Brittany Carter's voice is as soothing and warm as a cup of tea, even when singing about moonshine, and her husband, Andrew Carter, serves up a steady stream of guitar and piano that rarely falters. The LP doesn't reinvent the wheel, but with two albums to date and one on the way, If Birds Could Fly have plenty to offer roots music fans. BRANDON WIDDER. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St. 3 pm. Free. 21+.

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