Willamette Weekend: 18 Things to Do and See in Portland Dec. 4-6

Shopping? Buy PDX's Best Events This Weekend

Marg-craving? Hunt for Portland best family mexican restaurant.

FRIDAY, DEC. 4

Mike Krol

Around the time he self-released his debut album, I Hate Jazz, in 2011, Mike Krol hatched an ambitious plan: He would record and release one 10-inch record every year for the rest of his life. But Krol did not put a record out in 2012. "It's really hard," he deadpans. "It's just really hard to do." Work on his second album stalled as Krol burned out because of his day job. "I was just sitting on this record that only needed a month of me working on it with full concentration," he adds, "and I would have finished it." Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., with Rupert Angeleyes and Landlines. 9:30 pm. $8 advance, $10 day of show. 21+.

Pass, Rod, Sabonis, Alien Boy

[THE NEW NOSTALGIA] On its new EP, Ways Out, Portland's Pass bullies '90s revivalism back into the noisy epoch ruled by the Replacements and Dinosaur Jr. The band is definitely up to the task of matching its ancient masters, with bleary and tangled anthems that demonstrate a wicked knack for lacing waves of distortion with fetching and affecting melodies. Like Pass, Rod evokes the fruitful period that peaked in 1991, but on its recently released debut EP, Where I Had Gone, the Portland quartet imagines a slightly sweeter alternate history, one in which Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque dug as deep into the popular consciousness as Nevermind. Here's to nostalgia trips with sneaky detours. CHRIS STAMM. Anarres Infoshop & Community Space, 7101 N Lombard St. 7 pm. $5. All ages.

Jake And Amir: If I Were You Live Podcast

[COMEDY]Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld are best friends. They live together, work together and make hilarious videos and podcasts together. The CollegeHumor duo are dropping into the Rose City to provide humorous advice to interested Portlanders while they record an episode of their podcast If I Were You. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez Blvd., 233-7100. 8 pm. $20-$25. All ages.

The Spin

[DANCE] Bodyvox might be the most well-balanced Portland company right now, with a crew of experienced dancers but enough quirkiness to keep it interesting. Artistic directors Ashley Roland and Jamey Hampton aren't new to this game, but every year their holiday show is completely different and unpredictable. With a game show-style premise, they prepare 20 dances for this one program, but what actually gets staged is up to the audience. Their first performance of the season—the company is finally back after losing its space and then touring places like Orcas Island—has a lot of potential. It's a bit like Wheel of Fortune, fingers crossed that the reward will live up to the risk. No 2 pm show Saturday, Dec 5. Bodyvox, 1201 NW 17th Ave., 229-0627. 7:30 pm. $25-$64.

Viva's Holiday

[STRIPPER OPERA] A pastor's daughter from Minnesota who moved west to build a music career, Viva Las Vegas is probably Portland's most famous stripper. She's also an internationally touring advocate for strippers' rights and the inspiration for local composer Christopher Corbell's Christmas-themed opera, Viva's Holiday, which debuted this Wednesday at the Star Theater. "I was dancing onstage at Mary's about three years ago, and this dude [director Christopher Corbell] comes in off the street holding my book and says, 'Can I make an opera about you?'" said Viva Las Vegas. "And I was like, 'Sure, you big nerd!'" Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., 248-4700. 9 pm. $20. 21+.

Pause

[IMAGISTIC CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL] Edward Steichen's 1955 The Family of Man is one of the most famous photography exhibitions ever mounted. Dedicated to showing the commonalities among people around the world, it opened at New York's Museum of Modern Art, toured the world, produced a popular book and is now permanently archived in Luxembourg. Pause—a subset of New York's new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound—commissioned five rising composers from around the world (including new Portlander Texu Kim, who is composer in residence with the Korean Symphony Orchestra) to write new music inspired by it and that is relevant to today. BRETT CAMPBELL. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 147 NW 19th Ave., 478-1236. 7 pm. $20-$50.

Entertainment

[NEIL HAMBURGER FILM] Entertainment is a blur. I don't mean it's too quick. I mean every part of it—the in-and-out-of-focus cinematography, the bilingual conversations characters may or may not understand, the fights and accidents we're dropped into with little explanation—is blurry. It's a gut-sick road-trip film that only goes around in circles, and a comedy (much like director Rick Alverson's last stunning film, The Comedy) that only a nihilist could mine for laughs. The film follows Gregg Turkington in costume as his sleazy nightclub comedian alter ego Neil Hamburger, touring dive bars in a seemingly endless desert wasteland. Read the full review. Entertainment is rated R. It opens today at the Hollywood Theatre.

Sage Hen Dessert Pop-Up

[DESSERT] The first weekend of every month at the Trifecta bakery, the Sage Hen pop-up revives seriously old-school sweets and serves them up with punch. This month, among other possible desserts and snacks, they'll be serving up "plum pudding with frothy vanilla sauce," following a recipe from Delmonico's Restaurant from the 19th century, and "Christmas cookeys" from the first American cookbook, published in 1798. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com. Trifecta, 726 SE 6th Ave., 841-6675. 8:30 pm. $35.

SATURDAY, DEC. 5

Quiet Riot, Bullet Boys, Jack Russell

[HEAVY METAL] I'll be real fucking clear with you right now: Quiet Riot is a great band, and you're a piece of shit if you don't like them. They embody the smiling hedonism of heroes like Van Halen combined with a sound that's pretty much like the Dictators if you squint. They're the soundtrack to the bad punk-type characters in those '80 movies that nerds like to watch. If listening to "Party All Night" or "Metal Health" doesn't get you hard for a Bushmills, then brother, you're dead. BRACE BELDEN. Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033. 8 pm. $17-$100. All ages.

A KBNB Kristmas Karol

[THEATER] Slapstick antics and pratfalls are second only to boob grabs in Bag & Baggage's holiday offering. It's a theater show about radio actors and their studio's final night before it's destroyed to make way for a greedy media tycoon's new TV sound stage. Hillsboro cast of eight tempers the verbose, extremely fast-paced farce with nonstop visual interplay and innuendo. They constantly collide (usually hand-to-breast) and fill the stage with raunchy sight gags in a Karol that boasts dropped pants aplenty, a three-girl nipple-twisting routine and at least six pelvic thrusts in the first act. They manage to sing a few Christmas songs, too! Read the full review by Mike Gallucci. Venetian Theatre, 253 E Main St., Hillsboro, 693-3953. 7:30 pm. $27.

Fred and Toody Cole

[PORTLAND PUNK] Nothing can stop Fred and Toody Cole—and the universe sure seems to be trying lately. But that doesn't mean Portland should take them for granted. Every time they do one of these acoustic sets—which often span from Dead Moon to Pierced Arrows to the pit-stops before and in between—it's a must-see…and especially when it's held in the glory of the Old Church. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave. 9 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show. All ages.

Molly 16's Rock n Roll Fantasy

[ART EXHIBIT] Honoring a local youth's mark on the rise of punk rock in Portland circa 1990, Molly 16's Rock n Roll Fantasy is a multimedia sidecar to the Pacific Northwest College of Art's Alien She exhibit, which centers on Bikini Kill. Molly 16 grew up in group homes in Portland in the '90s, singing in an all-girl band and critiquing society in her Rock n Roll Fantasy zine. She did the cover art for Bikini Kill's debut album, but later took her own life. This exhibit of archival videos, animations and music—curated by Molly's best friend, filmmaker Amber Dawn—is an homage to Molly and her Fantasy. ENID SPITZ. Through Jan. 29. Collection Studies Lab, 511 NW Broadway, 917-324-3179.

Library at the End of the World

[DANCE] 11:Dance Co. is one of Portland's most diverse dance groups. The pre-professional company's second-ever show debuts this week with choreography from big local names like Northwest Dance Project's Ching Ching Wong. "Sparking conversation—that's the goal," DeLano says. Set in a post-apocalyptic library where each dance opens a different chapter of social commentary, the hourlong show of nine dances covers serious topics like the male gaze and privilege, says DeLano, who co-produced with local breaker Huy Pham. But there will be whimsical topics, too—like dinosaurs and burgers and fries. Read the full article. CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 220-2646. 7 pm. $25.

The Comic Book Story of Beer

[BOOKS] Like a loyal dog, beer has been with humans since the very start: It began as a way for us to store grains between harvests. Crafted by a triumvirate of author Jonathan Hennessey, brewer Mike Smith and artist Aaron McConnell, The Comic Book Story of Beer traces our frothy friend from its earlier agrarian genesis to modern consumption. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.

SUNDAY, DEC 6

David Wax Museum

[MEXO-AMERICANA] David Wax, frontman and namesake of this Boston-based group, spent time studying in Mexico, and upon returning to the U.S. integrated some of the country's regional sounds into his original songs. On the band's latest LP, Guesthouse, DWM has expanded its palette, range and expectations to emerge with its most experimental record to date. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 8 pm. $10. 21+.

PDXtreme Fest

[HORROR FLICKS] When local filmmaker Jeremy Jantz's short film Heels was deemed too excessive to screen at his alma mater, the Art Institute of Portland, because of its rampant sex and violence, he decided to create an entire showcase for extreme horror, The kind of films so drenched in depravity, viscera, deviant sexuality and psychosis that you feel like taking a shower afterward. "Portland hasn't had the chance yet to mobilize [around extreme horror]," says Jantz. So he's turning the Academy Theater into a showcase of the nastiest of nasties for the PDXtreme Fest December 4-6. Read the full article. Academy Theater, pdxtremefest.com. $30.

Alice Gosti's Protecting the Herd

[PERFORMANCE ART] Protecting the Herd is one of those impossible-to-define, genre-defying performances that "focuses on questions of identity…and where art belongs." Following up spring's How to Become a Partisan in Seattle, Italian-American choreographer Alice Gosti and composer Benjamin Marx from Seattle created this hour-long dance-music hybrid to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Italy's liberation from Fascism. Marx remixed the five hour soundtrack for Partisan—a mix of WWII radio ads, 1943 political songs and organ music played in Saint Mark's Cathedral—to score a "herd" of performers. They'll move interpretatively amid Amiya Brown's light sculptures and spotlight effects for what sounds like a nostalgic fever-dream. Performance Works NW, 4625 SE 67th Ave., 777-1907. 2 pm (additional shows Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 3-5). $12-$15.

Black Laughs Matter: A Comedy Show Fundraiser

Black lives matter; black spaces matter; black laughs matter. The historically African-American Lodge of Freemasons on the corner of North Mississippi and Fremont has served the community since the 1960s, and is danger of closing its doors. In an effort to bring awareness to the lodge, and the raise money to keep it running, one of Portland's funniest comics, Nathan Brannon is hosting a special comedy event. The night's lineup includes comics Curtis Cook, Jeremy Eli, Alyssa Yeoman, Ed Black and the Real Hyjinx, along with music from Brannon Rockwell-Charland and the funk/soul duo Free! Mason Jar. St. Joseph Grand Lodge, 3505 N Mississippi Ave., 282-4468. 7:30 pm. $15.

Willamette Week