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WATCH: Portland EcoFilm Festival
The films at the annual Portland EcoFilm Festival are as much about the beauty of the world as its fragility. Now in its 13th year, the festival remains the West Coast’s premier showcase for films focusing on environmental justice, and its annual Indigenous Voices series honors the communities who often find themselves on the front lines of the Earth’s climate battle, stewarding traditions that are in danger of disappearing as the planet seems to hurtle towards its doom. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. Showtimes vary Thursday–Saturday, May 1–June 21. Prices vary.
SEE: Baby Grendel’s EP release
The nature of the monster Grendel in the Old English epic Beowulf is notoriously murky. Maybe he’s a distant descendant of the biblical figure Cain, maybe he’s a troll-adjacent Germanic grotesque, but for Portland indie-rockers Baby Grendel, he’s an avatar for the feelings of being monstrous and misunderstood that have long driven the best indie rock. He’s also a perfectly adorable avatar for the cover of their brand-new EP, Hatch(l)ing, which they’ll celebrate at a release show with fellow local performers Heaven Skate and Johnny Raincloud. Dante’s, 350 W Burnside St., 866-777-8932, danteslive.com . 8:30 pm Thursday, May 1. $10.
SEE: Swamp Thing, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and RoboCop with Ray Wise
Ray Wise brought his acting chops and menacing, sharp-angled smile to some of the best films of the ’80s and ’90s, including Wes Craven’s 1982 monster movie Swamp Thing, Paul Verhoeven’s gory and socially conscious satire RoboCop, and—perhaps most infamously—David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, in which he channeled a demonic and disturbing energy in the crucial role of Leland Palmer. He’ll present all three films at the Clinton Street Theater. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 971-808-3331, cstpdx.com . 6 pm Friday, May 2 (Swamp Thing); 3 pm Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4 (Twin Peaks); 6 pm Monday, May 5 (RoboCop). $25 per show.
SEE: Tom Green’s 2025 Comedy Tour
Is Canadian comedian Tom Green a visionary whose Dadaist brilliance is too far ahead for the rest of the world to grasp, or just the epitome of Y2K-era gross-out comedy’s excesses? Could he be both? Does it matter? Make up your own mind as the Freddy Got Fingered auteur and star of MTV’s Tom Green Show rides into Portland for this 2025 Comedy Tour with support from Jill Maragos. Aladdin Theater, 530-234-9694, aladdin-theater.com. 6:30 pm Friday, May 2. $51.17.
WATCH: Deerhoof
Deerhoof approaches the art of music-making like a group of post-apocalyptic scavengers building structures out of whatever scraps of infrastructure are left. Led by drummer Greg Saunier and centered on the often incongruously sweet vocals of Satomi Matsuzaki, the long-running and prolific band has formidable chops and a fierce political streak; even when their music brings out the whole toy box, they’re as sharp as a scalpel. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St., revolutionhall.com , 971-808-5094. 7 pm Saturday, May 3. $28.10.
DO: Kidical Mass’ Star Wars bike ride
Adults may gripe for years to come that the Star Wars franchise has lost much of its magic and wonder in the Disney years, but good luck telling that to the young’uns, for whom (let’s face it) the franchise has always held the most appeal, and who are happy to have such a rich and ever-expanding universe to explore in their imaginations. For May the Fourth (i.e., “may the Fourth be with you”), young pedalers can pretend they’re running the Boonta Eve Classic podrace or navigating the canyons of the Death Star in a X-wing at Kidical Mass’ Star Wars bike ride. Wilshire Park, 4116 NE 33rd Ave., 503-823-2525. 1 pm Sunday, May 4.
DANCE: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love: Italo Disco
Italy’s homegrown disco movement of the early ’80s is renowned for its motley performers, mangled English, and outrageous sci-fi concepts. Yet the neon throb of the music itself is just as key to its appeal: slower than American disco, shorn of guitars, curiously brooding and apocalyptic at times. The Coffin hosts an Italo disco party on the first Wednesday of each month, whose name alone—Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love—encapsulates the transcendent cheesiness that drives Italo fans to spend hours diving down YouTube rabbit holes. The Coffin, 421 SE Grand Ave., thecoffinclubpdx.com . 10 pm Wednesday, May 7. Free.