Skip to main content
FRIDAY, FEB. 12
Wet, Kelsey Lu
[SILKY POP] It was a slow development, but certainly worth the wait. Wet, a romantic pop outfit from the East Coast, started out with a few catchy SoundCloud tracks. A few years later, the trio would drop its first proper LP in Don't You, to much acclaim. In the crowded field of indie R&B revivalists, the record still rises to the top as a saucy statue built of Sade, My Body and Autre Ne Veut. Kelly Zutrau sings with such finesse and measured confidence you'd think she was just crooning in the shower. Being backed by calculated effects, sharp beats and thoughtful electric guitar only enriches her innate talent. MARK STOCK. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 9 pm. Sold out. 21+.
Runaway Productions' 15th Anniversary
[HIP-HOP] Anthony Sanchez is the founder of local rap-focused concert promoter Runaway Productions, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this week. Sanchez has been working to put on the Portland hip-hop scene long before it had the eye of the music community at large. Here are five artists he feels still aren't getting the attention they deserve. Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash St., with Speaker Minds, Bad Habitat, Mic Crenshaw, Serge Severe and others. 9 pm. $7 advance, $10 day of show 21+.
Blasted
[THEATER] PTSD, brutal sex and racism rocket to center stage in plays by Sarah Kane, the English playwright notorious for staging graphic violence and creating "one of the most violent and racially offensive programmes ever," as one British critic called her 1995 TV movie, Skin. In Blasted, the repulsively offensive journalist Ian rapes an unsuspecting ingénue named Cate in his swanky Leeds hotel room, which is then stormed by an unstable soldier armed with a rifle. Scenes of anal rape, brutality and cannibalism earned Blasted harsh criticism and then strong praise from Harold Pinter. Not recommended for audiences under 18. Back Door Theatre, 4321 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 481-2960. 7:30 pm. $10-$25.
Brian Regan
[COMEDY] Comedy fandom tends to breed pretension. Brian Regan might be the exception to that rule. He's a big, physical comedian who practices the kind of observational comedy that was all the rage in the early '90s but has been replaced by jokes that are experiential and often deeply personal. And he doesn't swear. Basically he's the opposite of Louis C.K. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St. 8 pm. $71.
Skinner/Kirk
[DANCE] Portlanders contemporary dance duo Daniel Kirk and Eric Skinner twist traditional ballet by adding video, aerial stunts and props like plastic sculptures This two-work premiere is themed on spirituality and has a dance that looks like ballerinas playing Red Rover. BodyVox, 1201 NW 17th Ave., 229-0627. 7:30 pm. $25-$64.
Oregon Symphony presents Star Trek Into Darkness
[TREKKING] Boldly going where Kirk, Spock and Khan have been before, Star Trek Into Darkness was a sequel that boasted equally impressive music and visuals. Last year, Portland Trekkies and fans of symphonic music were treated to a hybrid performance of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot projected over a live score performed by the Oregon Symphony. With the dialogue submerged in lieu of subtitles and sound, every nuance of the soundtrack was emphasized, and each lens flare in the film became a richer visual experience. The Pacific Youth Choir continues its ongoing mission by joining the Oregon Symphony to transport Michael Giacchino's moody, melodramatic motifs to the stars and beyond. NATHAN CARSON. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 228-1353. 7:30 pm Friday, Feb. 12. Sold out. All ages.
SATURDAY, FEB. 13
Men & Chicken
[Portland International Film Festival] While watching their late father reading his own will on film—the camera accidentally pointed at his groin—brothers Gabriel and Elias (Hannibal's Mads Mikkelsen) find out the real truth: He wasn't their father, and they have different mothers. The danish film Men & Chicken is The Island of Dr. Moreau meets an irreverent slapstick comedy. Better yet, it's a version of Dr. Moreau that's intentionally funny. JOHN LOCANTHI. Fox Tower. 8:45 pm. $12.
Kevin Gates, Young Greatness, OG Boobie Black
[SOUTHERN GOSPEL] Kevin Gates doesn't care what you think. The Baton Rouge-bred rapper has made a lot of noise for his recent responses to a few offstage accusations, including a TMZ revelation that he slept with his cousin. But don't let any of that fodder detour you. Gates just dropped his debut album, Islah, and it's a total banger, a wide-scale introduction to one of rap's singular new talents. Gates' new-world gangster rap isn't far removed from the Fetty Wap orbit, with inescapable hooks (see great lead singles "Really Really" and "2 Phones") but also a lyrical density and vulnerability that rivals prime Weezy. This is a guy who should blow up soon, so hip-hop fans shouldn't miss this headlining slot before he's opening, like, the next Jay Z arena tour. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033. 8 pm. $20. All ages.
Amy Amy Amy! A Tribute to Amy Winehouse
[THE LADY IN BLACK] Instead of crying at home alone listening to Back to Black, halfheartedly bob your head to "Valerie" with a group of Portland singers who also wish Amy Winehouse was their Valentine. Moorea Masa is only 23, the same age as Winehouse when she released her breakthrough album in 2006. Portland-born Masa, who had a stint on American Idol a few years back, shares Winehouse's jazz sensibilities, effortlessly performing vocal flips and turns in her higher register. Masa will be joined by Michael Jodell and her soft, country-crooning voice, plus soul singer Erin Wallace and Devon Detweiler with her funk band, the Way Downs. SOPHIA JUNE. The Secret Society, 116 NE Russell St., 493-3600. 9 pm. $10. 21+.
Zwickelmania
[BEER] More than 120 breweries throughout Oregon will let packs of roving hopheads roam around the backs of their operations with cup in hand, begging for free beer. Join in on this best-loved (by drinkers) and deeply dreaded (by brewers) drunken shitshow, with Brewvana buses spinning around town between breweries. All disruptive souses ousted. Various locations. More info at oregoncraftbeer.org/zwickelmania. 11 am-4 pm.
The Budos Band
[RELENTLESS FUNK] A punishingly groovy Afro-soul group from Staten Island, the Budos Band will remind you of Wu-Tang Clan for more reasons than just its hometown. A body-shaking nine-piece amalgamation of brass tones and fuzzy guitars placed atop groove-oriented bass-and-drum beats, any of the band's songs could easily double as a backing track from 36 Chambers. And while the rough-and-tumble edge of the group's heavy soul funk is not a particularly new development in music, albums like 2014's Burnt Offering have a timeless staying power—offering a comfortable musical home to return to when you tire of neo-anything, and the perfect accessory to go with a leather jacket and aviators. PARKER HALL. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 8 pm. $20 advance, $23 day of show. 21+.
Magallanes
[Portland International Film Festival] In this Peruvian thriller, Magallanes, a soldier-turned-taxi driver, tries to help Celina (Magaly Solier), an Indigenous woman whom his superior kept as his sex slave for more than a year when she was 13. His amateur plan and bumbling demeanor set him up as a sympathetic character, but as the story goes on, he reveals himself as a complex antihero. Solier gives the best performance of the film as a realistically traumatized survivor who ends up being stronger than anyone. SOPHIA JUNE. Fox Tower; 6:15 pm. $12.
An Evening with Bill Maher
[ATHEISTS] Portland is a proudly godless city, and well it should be. When Glenn Beck and the Westboro Baptist Church think you're a morally destitute hellscape full of heathens and sodomites, that's an endorsement worthy of a tourist brochure.Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, on Saturday, Feb. 13. 8 pm. $35-$99.50. All ages.
SUNDAY, FEB. 14
King, SassyBlack
[ELECTRONIC SOUL] Five years after generating a ton of hype around its independently released EP, R&B trio King has finally released its debut album, We Are King. Lest the group's name throw off listeners, King actually comprises three very strong women—twins Paris and Amber Strother, plus their so-called "musical sister," Anita Bias. Influenced as much by synths as classic soul, Amber Strother and Bias serve as co-lead singers, while Paris produces and plays keys. We Are King builds layers of soulful dream pop atop a lush electronic base, the women's voices melding in transfixing harmony. Accompanying King here is Seattleite SassyBlack, a psychedelic soul singer, producer and DJ. HILARY SAUNDERS. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+.
CockTales
[REVERSE VAGINA MONOLOGUES] If a penis walked into a confessional, the result might be a slice of this no-holds-barred storytelling production. When Sean Bowie (who bears no small resemblance to a backwoods bear trapper) saw The Vagina Monologues performed, he felt like an outsider. So Bowie and his theatrical friends sourced schlong stories, held workshops that were a lot like therapy sessions, and launched a successful run of CockTales in Canada. The Portland reprise is tell-not-show, but it's still an intimate, touching and hilarious look at masculinity. Headwaters Theatre, 55 NE Farragut St., No. 9. 4 and 7:30 pm. $10-$20.
Pix Valentine's
[FREE DIAMONDS] As always, Pix knows how to do holidays. Among Pix's gift boxes stuffed with booze-stuffed chocolates called chardons—one with Laphroaig, and others with local aquavit, Clear Creek eau de vie and Aria gin—there will be a box that includes a pair of one-carat black and white diamond earrings. A tip? Pretend you knew they were there. Pix Patisserie, 2225 E Burnside St., 971-271-7166, pixpatisserie.com. 10 am-midnight.
Willamette Week