Shows of the Week: Puddles Pity Party Covers Pop Standards and Ballads With a Gravitas to Rival Late-Period Johnny Cash

What to see and what to hear.

Puddles Pity Party (Puddles Pity Party)

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 10:

Puddles Pity Party is the kind of act so simple yet so outlandish most singers and comedians must be kicking themselves for not coming up with it earlier—but not all singers and comedians are 6-foot-8, nor do they have a voice as rich and velvety as that of the project’s mastermind, 58-year-old Pennsylvania native Mark Geier. Dressing up as a depressed clown with a Jughead-worthy crown and a perpetual frown, Geier covers pop standards and sentimental ballads with a gravitas to rival late-period Johnny Cash. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. 8 pm. $35. All ages.

FRIDAY, JAN. 12:

Portland artist (and sometime WW contributor) Mo Troper is a pillar of the West Coast underground rock community, producing punchy albums for projects like Stoner Control and Diners while regularly releasing records of short, concise power-pop songs—and flexing his formidable scholarship of rock history with lovingly crafted tribute albums like his full-length cover of the Beatles’ Revolver and this year’s collection of Jon Brion interpretations. Bory, fronted by Troper guitarist Brenden Ramirez, opens. Show Bar at Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. 9 pm. $16. 21+.

SATURDAY, JAN. 13:

If helping bring house to the East Coast and producing hit remixes in two separate decades (Jungle Brothers’ “I’ll House You” and EBTG’s “Missing”) weren’t enough, Todd Terry is still an active DJ nearly 40 years after he first started making the rounds in New York City clubs in the 1980s. Supporting his upcoming set at 45 East is Ferreck Dawn, a Dutch house producer who’s been in the scene long enough to be a veteran but was barely walking when Terry was cementing his reputation as a dance-floor deity. 45 East, 315 SE 3rd Ave. 10 pm. $25. 21+.

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