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Thursday and Friday, March 19 and 20
Promoters Gloomhouse have become a burgeoning presence in Portland’s DIY world, and they’ve thrown their scene connections behind a cause. The two-day Benifest supports local ICE protesters and the Dana Thompson Memorial Fund of Awesome, a Portland nonprofit providing arts resources to Black youth; the lineup is a local who’s who, with emo faves Swiss Army Wife headlining the first night and slacker-punks Heaven Skate topping off the second. Organizers ask that attendees mask up. Thursday: High Limit Room, 2nd floor, 720 SE Hawthorne Blvd. 6 pm. $7–$15. Friday: Ethos Music Center, 2 N Killingsworth St. 7:30 pm. $7–$15. All ages.
Friday, March 20
Mild Universe is one of San Francisco’s best party bands, a disco-funk juggernaut that’s just the right amount of kitschy, steeped in the vinyl-bar culture and resplendent nightlife of the Mission District. There’s something just the faintest bit Euro about their retro-lounge sensibility, though, and it makes sense that they should join forces with Theodor: a German combo whose ’70s film-soundtrack funk is hard not to enjoy, but whose work is more resonant if you know names like David Axelrod or Alain Goraguer. Swan Dive, 727 SE Grand Ave. 8 pm. $15. 21+.
Saturday, March 21
Nothing put out their debut, Guilty of Everything, in 2014, just half a decade too early for the still-snowballing shoegaze revival—and that’s far from the worst twist of fate these ex-hardcore punks-turned-dream-poppers, once dubbed the “unluckiest band in the world,” have suffered. Today, they’re something like godfathers despite their relatively recent formation, and their sound, which prioritizes heaviness over ambient gauziness, has never sounded more crushing than on this year’s excellent A Brief History of Decay. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. 7 pm. $34.41. All ages.
