Willamette Weekend: 20 Things to Do and See in Portland Jan. 29-31

Great things to see, lick or listen to this weekend—like new brews and Trillblazin shoes.

FRIDAY, JAN. 29

Saintseneca, Des Ark, Haley Heynderickx

[FOLK ROCK] Saintseneca is an interesting study in mixed genres. Formed in 2007 by singer Zac Little, the quintet mixes elements of high-energy, radio-ready folk anthems with grungy, hazy, bellowing rock. Little groans, mutters and slurs his way through most songs, musing on themes of human thought, doom, gloom and nature. Not unlike the band's past work, Saintseneca's third album, Such Things, dwells only briefly in twee-folk instrumentation. Instead, the group fine-tunes its fuzzier side, swiftly alternating between bright, optimistic melodies and gloomy, rolling buzzes, warbles and riffs. KAITIE TODD. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St. 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show.

Bridget Everett

[FEMALE HUMANS ARE FUNNY] Called one of the "Funniest People in New York," by Time Out, Bridget Everett has been on Two Broke Girls, Inside Amy Schumer, and the Sex and the City movie. Along with her band, the Tender Moments, Bridget Everett puts on an edgy, sexed-up, punk rock cabaret show that has sold out venues across the country. Bridget Everett and the Tender Moments released their debut album of original music, Pound It!, in 2013, and have worked with a number of special guests including Fred Armisen, Flea and Peaches. Alberta Rose Theater, 3000 NE Alberta St., 9 pm Friday, Jan. 29. Sold out. 21+.

I Hate Positive Thinking

Faith Helma Faith Helma

[SELF-HELP SHOW] Local actress Faith Helma's 70-minute one-woman manifesto, which debuted last week at the Fertile Ground Festival, centers on the concept of positive thinking as a navigational tool and how much Helma hates it. With rage screaming, charts, personal stories and free-form "failure" dancing, Helma cuts to the core of her beef with self-help methodology. At one point, she flow charts all the way to "I hate Oprah Hitler" (no disrespect intended to Oprah, of course). The irony is that Helma is a life coach herself. Shout House, 210 SE Madison St., No. 11., 971-266-1765. 7:30 pm Friday-Sunday, Jan. 29-31 and Feb. 5-7. $16.

I Have Love in My Heart as a Thief has Riches

Mike Rathbun Mike Rathbun

[PUBLIC ART] For its inaugural site-specific exhibition, Front of House is showing a monumental installation from sculptor Mike Rathbun. The enormous vertical ring, made of laminated raw poplar, curves through the space in defiance of our expectations about how wood should behave. If you're riding the MAX down Southwest 1st, look out the window between Pine and Ash and you will see Rathbun's creation overtaking the gallery with graceful arcs and crisscrossing lines. JENNIFER RABIN. Through March 30. Front of House Gallery, 112 SW 1st Ave., 548-4984.

Thara Memory and Bobby Torres Present "Harlem in Havana"

photo from The Bobby Torres Ensemble Facebook photo from The Bobby Torres Ensemble Facebook

[MICHAEL JAZZSON] Now's your chance to hear "Thriller" with some clave! Trumpeter and educator Thara Memory and legendary percussionist Bobby Torres cannibalize and combine orchestras for the evening, focusing their energies on perfect south-of-the-border interpretations of Michael Jackson's pop hits. This isn't hotel lobby music: expect soaring horn solos, grooving rhythms and stacked vocal harmonies. With most longtime MJ fans singing the praises of Quincy Jones—and most longtime jazz fans singing the praises of Jackson—the show should be original enough to please both camps, even if nobody on stage can moonwalk. PARKER HALL. Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th Ave., 295-6542. 7:30 pm Friday, Jan 29. $20 general admission, $25 reserved seating. Under 21 permitted until 9:30 pm.

Son of Saul

[SOUL-WRENCHING CINEMA] Son of Saul may be the most visceral, intimate take on the Holocaust ever made, and Hungarian-Jewish director László Nemes sets the tone early in what's become the most-hyped foreign film this year—it's the first Hungarian movie to win a Golden Globe and the country's Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. It's also Nemes' directorial debut. Critic's Grade: A-. Son of Saul is rated R. It opens Friday at Cinema 21.

Roscoe's New Breweries Summit

photo from Roscoe's Facebook page photo from Roscoe’s Facebook page

[NEW BREWS] It's been a damn good year for new breweries in Portland. Roscoe's will host taps from Coin Toss, Labrewatory, Great Notion, Ruse Brewing, Culmination, Montavilla Brew Works, Rosenstadt and others. Roscoe's, 8105 SE Stark St., 255-0049. 2 pm.

SATURDAY, JAN. 30

Trillblazin and the Portland Trail Blazers present In Case You Missed It

photo from Trillblazin Facebook photo from Trillblazin Facebook

[SNEAKER CON] In this week's print edition, Willamette Week took a deep dive into Portland's shoe culture, but Ira LaFontaine and Keith Kunis have been living it since childhood. Last year, the avowed sneakerheads and founders of the streetwear brand Trillblazin fused their interests, partnering with the Trail Blazers for In Case You Missed It and bringing dozens of brands and vendors to the Moda Center for what they called "Portland's highest profile sneaker summit." They're doing it again this weekend, with over 40 vendors selling, trading and showcasing their sneaker collections. Moda Center, 1 N Center Ct. 1-6 pm. $23 (includes ticket to a Blazers game). Get tickets here, use code ICYMI.

Jessica Lea Mayfield

[HEARTBREAK JAMS] Seemingly everyone in the Pacific Northwest loved Elliott Smith for his honest songs and heart-wrenching lyrics. So, Portland should especially love singer-songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield, as her most recent studio effort was a collection of Smith covers with Seth Avett. Outside of her love of Portland's favorite adopted son, Mayfield's own original music details heartbreak in its range of forms. Her earliest work, dating back to 2008, the Dan Auerbach-produced With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt, features more acoustic interpretations, while her sound grew more aggressive leading up to 2014's Make My Head Sing. Though her means of delivery continue to evolve, Mayfield's message and mystique remain constant. HILARY SAUNDERS. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., 231-9663. 9 pm. $13 advance, $15 day of show.

Gilmore Guys Live: A Stars Hollow Town Meeting

Photo by Maggie Grace Photo by Maggie Grace

[MANSPLAINING] Two 20-something guys who recap every Gilmore Girls episode for their Gilmore Guys podcast are on their way to Portland. Girls went off the air in 2007, but the show's Internet cache recently reached new heights thanks to Netflix picking it up for a limited series revival, and to Kevin Porter and Demi Adejuyigbe, who will record a live podcast about the episode "Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out!" from season 6 at the Aladdin on Saturday. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave., 234-9694. 8 pm Saturday, Jan. 30. $18. All ages.

Great Expectations

Stephen Stocking as Pip, Maya Sugarman as Estella and Dana Green as Miss Havisham - Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv. Stephen Stocking as Pip, Maya Sugarman as Estella and Dana Green as Miss Havisham – Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv.

[CLASSIC] The downtrodden orphan Pip has the worst type of life—his brother-in-law abuses him and a convict threatens to kill him—but things change when an anonymous benefactor puts him down as their heir. PCS is borrowing the adaptation and director from Seattle, where Book-It Repertory Theatre premiered the play in 2011. Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave., 7:30 pm Tuesday-Sunday, 2 pm Saturday-Sunday, noon Thursday, Jan. 27-Feb. 14. $25-$70.

Artisinful Beer and Chocolate Fest

Photo from Culmination Brewing Facebook page Photo from Culmination Brewing Facebook page

[INDULGE] Portland artisan chocolatiers will hand out samples of their fine chocolates, which you can then pair with 5-ounce pours of appropriate beers. Culmination Brewing, 2117 NE Oregon St., 971-258-2808. $12 for cup and five tasters.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Lower Dens

[FADED IN THE MORNING] Like many bands of the 2010s, Baltimore drone-pop quartet Lower Dens changed face on its third record by joining the crowd. At least that's the press angle touted on Escape from Evil, where the group, led by Jana Hunter, subtly explore electronic sounds and '80s pop by replacing some of the guitars with synthesizers. This is no dance remake, though. Hunter's stunning monotone croon is still the centerpiece of these tangled, mesmerizing songs, but there's more light in the mix thanks to co-producer Chris Coady. It should be the perfect intro to Unknown Mortal Orchestra's blue-eyed funk, highlighted by one of last year's best albums, Multi-Love. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St., No. 110, 288-3895. 9 pm. Sold out. 21+.

The Lavender Flu

[POP DREAMS] As the guitarist for Portland's beloved and bedeviling Hunches, Chris Gunn helped create some of the last decade's most memorable garage rock, the vim and venom of which struck the same raw nerve as Jay Reatard's best work. Heavy Air is an intimate, 30-song headphone epic comprising sparkling pop gems, off-kilter covers, druggy soundscapes, abstract digressions and buzzing fragments. Although Gunn had plenty of help with Heavy Air, the Lavender Flu's sprawling double LP coheres as a portrait of a lonesome lo-fi perfectionist, a dude obsessed with shrinking the distance between the primal sounds in his head and the tape that awaits them. CHIRS STAMM. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., with Patsy's Rats, on Friday, Jan. 29. 9:30 pm. $5. 21+.

SUNDAY, JAN. 31

Godheadsilo

Godheadsilo IMAGE: Dave Wallis.

[REBIRTH] Taking cues from scene luminaries such as Melvins, Hammerhead and Steel Pole Bath Tub, Godheadsilo formed in Fargo, N.D., using stacks of amps, a variety of stomp-box effects and a Frankenstein's monster of a drum kit to abuse the eardrums of anyone who wandered into their path. The duo worked with heavyweight indie labels such as Kill Rock Stars and Sub Pop, released three full-length albums and broke up in 1998, placing the band firmly in the post-grunge, pre-Internet moment. Now, Godheadsilo is coming unstuck from time, and getting back on the road. Read the full article by NATHAN CARSON. Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water Ave., on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 30-31. 10 pm. $15. Saturday's show sold out. 21+.

À Reading No. 24

Michael Harper - photo from A Reading Facebook page Michael Harper – photo from A Reading Facebook page

[READ YOUR HEART OUT] À Reading, which is, surprise, a reading series by local poet/writer/art guy Robert Duncan Gray, enters its third year. This reading will feature local writers Dao Strom, Georgia Wood and Manuel Arturo Abreu. Valentines, 232 SW Ankeney St., 248-1600. 5 pm. Free.

New Move

Jesse Bettis of New Move. IMAGE: Courtesy of Bug Hunt. Jesse Bettis of New Move. IMAGE: Courtesy of Bug Hunt.

[POP OF AGES] Jesse Bettis knows how to get inside your head. A high-order pop technician, he builds songs using only the finest parts, rummaged from the universal pleasure chest of 20th-century sounds—the Beatles and Beach Boys, doo-wop and glam rock—and refinished with modern production gloss. Whether that makes him a well-studied classicist or a historical scavenger depends on how much innovation you demand of your songwriters, but you can't come away from New Move's debut full-length without at least a few tunes tunneling through your heart and burrowing into your brain. It hums like a classic car, and in some cases like the Cars—the fizzy "No One But Her" even nicks a melodic phrase from "My Best Friend's Girl." "Stegosaurus" is more T. Rex, the heated guitar acting as Bettis' wingman as he asks to "taste your honeydew," while "Don't Wanna Lose" is a master class in soul-pop buoyancy, all plinking keys and horn accents and sweet falsetto. MATTHEW SINGER. Rontoms, 600 E Burnside St., with Lola Buzzkill, on Sunday, Jan. 31. 8:30 pm. Free. 21+.

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper The Yellow Wallpaper

[MIND GAMES ON STAGE] Things get animalistic and filthy by the end of this stunning world premiere adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic short story, When a new mother is prescribed a "rest cure" for nervousness and begins imagining a woman living in her wallpaper, the psychological twists roll in fast. Imaginative staging plays with your head, as wallpaper projected around the theater twists like a psychedelic screensaver and a woman (Diana Schultz) weaves in and out of panels around the stage. "Looks like a lot of cleanup," said a patron leaving opening night. The set, yes. The production itself is near-perfect. ENID SPITZ. CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 220-2646. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Through Feb. 6. $28.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

[SQUATTER POST-ROCK] With a live show reputed to be more religious experience than rock gig, GY!BE bas been moving crowds to tears since its hiatus ended in 2010. In the time since, it's made two more albums of slightly darker, orchestral post-rock, won a Polaris prize and been detained as a possible terrorist threat by police in Ardmore, Okla. The band's impassioned live show features looped film projections and almost zero visibility of the musicians onstage but will probably be remembered as a high point of your concertgoing life. I speak from experience. CRIS LANKENAU. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 8:30 pm. Sold out. 21+. Through Feb. 1.

Between Worlds

photo by Arnista Photography photo by Arnista Photography

[CIRCUS PROJECT] Three contemporary circus companies combine to show their work-in-progress pieces that fuse aerial dance, acrobatics, theater, music and puppetry. Superhero Old Folks Home is Aaron Wheeler-Kay's comic book version of a retirement home, the Circus Project tells a story of the seven deadly sins that channels Bob Fosse, and Tempos stages the hero's journey detailed by Joseph Campbell as an aerial dance. Echo Theater, 1515 SE 37th Ave., 8 pm Friday-Saturday, 4 pm Saturday and 1:30 pm Sunday, Jan. 29-31. $25-$28.

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