Skip to main content
FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 3
Sabertooth Micro Festival
[GET PSYCHED] Yeah, the Sasquatch lineup is pretty bad. But big music festivals are all kind of terrible. For three years, the Crystal Ballroom's annual two-day garage-psych "micro festival" has operated on the idea that smaller is better. This year's installment features headlining sets by always-reliable Thee Oh Sees on Friday and Atlanta's Black Lips on Saturday, plus after-parties at Ringlers and comedy at Al's Den. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-225-0047. See sabertoothpdx.com for full schedule and ticket prices. Through Feb. 4. All ages.
Alcest, the Body, Creepers
[FRENCH POST-METAL] Alcest is a French post-metal outfit that ought to appeal to fans of groups such as Pelican, Explosions in the Sky and Russian Circles. Its raw instrumental builds and collapses have only sharpened since its inception in 2000. With climactic waves of death growls crashing into serene, finger-picked meadows of sound, Alcest displays an emotion and catharsis that can be traced all the way back to the masters of the blues. Dante's, 350 W Burnside St., 503-226-6630. 8:25 pm. $12. 21+.
The Prids, Daydream Machine, the Secret Light
[GLOOM FUZZ] Local gloom-pop outfit with ties to Built to Spill celebrates the release of their latest, Do I Look Like I'm In Love? Read our review of the album here. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
We're All Mad Here
[THEATER] An offbeat meditation on Alice in Wonderland devised by actor Matthew Kerrigan and director Samantha Van Der Merwe, the production relies on stream-of-consciousness storytelling divided into standalone vignettes that don't often make sense, but are compelling nonetheless. Shaking Tree Theater, 823 SE Grant St., shaking-the-tree.com. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Saturday-Sunday. Through Feb. 25. $10-$25.
27th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films
[FILM] The festival kicks off with a movie as unusual as it is special. Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, or Rain the Color Blue With a Little Red in It, is a remake of Purple Rain in the language of the nomadic Tuareg people, one without a word for "purple." Directed by Portlander Christopher Kirkley and starring Mdou Moctar as the Kid, Akounak kicks off a month of new African film. It screens at 9:15 pm, followed by a concert at 11:15. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, africanfilmfestival.org. Through March 4. Free.
The Flick
[META THEATER] Aiming to be as naturalistic as possible, Annie Baker's 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning production about movie theater employees talking amongst themselves in an empty theater is filled with awkward pauses and may not be for everyone. Read our full review here. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., thirdrailrep.org. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 2 pm Sunday. Through Feb. 11, $25-$42.50.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Stumptown Improv Festival Presents
[IMPROV] It's no secret that Portland comedy leans more towards standup than sketch comedy or improv, but Stumptown Improv Festival has been asserting improv's place in the scene since 2013. The festival isn't until August, but its curators have put together a triple bill of West Coast improv troupes in the meantime: Portland's Hawaiian Squirts, Seattle's Death and Taxes and Los Angeles' Summerland. Siren Theater, 315 NW Davis St., sirentheater.com. 8 pm. $15 advance, $17 day of show.
YGB Presents One
[RAP] Creating safe spaces for people of color to assemble, create and celebrate has always been important in a city like Portland, but it's especially crucial now. That's what art collective Young, Gifted and Brown has been doing for two years. Tonight, the group kicks off a full week of events with a party featuring DJ sets from Lamar Leroy and Fritzwa, performances from rapper Rasheed Jamal and dance crew Soul Trigger, and tarot readings for anyone brave enough to peer into our Trumpian future. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 503-239-7639, holocene.org. 9 pm. See ygbportland.com for complete schedule. $7 advance, $10 day of show. 21+.
Drae Slapz, Nick B, Lang, Mic Capes
[PARTY VIBES] Southern beats and verses from rising talent Nick B come together for one feel-good hit after the next on the first cassette release from local imprint Rare Vibes Records. Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington St. 9 pm. $6 advance, $10 day of show. 21+.
Dvořák's New World Symphony
[CLASSICAL] Czech composer Antonín Dvořák created his most famous and enduring work, the New World Symphony, while he was living in America. In those late-19th-century days, he became fascinated with Native American music and African-American spirituals. The pentatonic scales and non-Eurocentric emotions helped inform a wide-open work so beloved that Neil Armstrong brought along a copy on the Apollo 11 Moon-landing mission. Powerful pianist Yefim Bronfman provides the centerpiece to this evening with the Oregon Symphony, a spirited rendition of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. The night begins with a fascinating reduction, Sebastian Currier's "Microsymph," which distills a "minute waltz," a "nanoscherzo" and three other morsel movements into a 10-minute experiment in attention-deficit creativity. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 503-248-4335. 7:30 pm. $23-$105. All ages.
Vinolympics
[WINE AND TRIVIA] Have you ever thought: Man, this sporting and/or trivia contest would be better if everyone were wine-drunk and at a science museum, and the prizes were also really good wine, and somehow it cured kids with sick hearts? You're in luck! This is like that. Dress fancy, save the children, and crush your enemies, see them driven before you. Tickets are $70 per person and $135 per couple. OMSI, 1945 SE Water Ave., 503-797-4000. 6 pm. $70-$135.
Lunar New Year
[YEAR OF THE ROOSTER] Nothing says "party" like a huge, impersonal convention center hall, and thousands will roll into the Oregon Convention Center for not one, but two parties full of food, dance and song. The Chinese New Year is in Exhibit Hall B, while the Vietnamese Tet Festival is in Exhibit Hall C. If you like every single party, here's our advice: Go to the Chinese New Year during the day, and pop in for the big-ass concert next door after 8:30 pm. Chinese New Year: Oregon Convention Center, Exhibit Hall B, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-771-9560, portlandnyf.com. 10 am-5 pm. $6-$8. Tet Fest: Exhibit Hall C, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-235-7575, vnco.org. 10 am-5 pm, $5. 8:30 pm-midnight, $20 advance, $25 at the door.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5
The Murder City Devils, Constant Lover, Corey J. Brewer
[HORRORBILLY] Punk has seen its fair share of bands with a "Misfits-plus-X" gimmick come and go, but few gained as much cult appeal as the Murder City Devils. Adding creaking church organs to the tried-and-true West Coast punk sound of 1998's Empty Bottles, Broken Hearts solidified the group as one of the most exciting things happening during Seattle's grunge hangover. Although they split in 2001, with members going off to form both Pretty Girls Make Graves and Smoke and Smoke, 2014 reunion album The White Ghost Has Blood on Its Hands Again has repositioned them as the beating hearts of the horrorcore renaissance that a new generation of goth kids with pompadours is just now landing on. Dante's, 350 W Burnside St., 503-226-6630. 8 pm. Sold out. 21+.
Ice Princess, Ice Queens, Bleach Blonde Dudes
[D&D METAL] See our profile of Portland's hottest (err, coldest) new throwback fantasy metal band. Rontoms, 600 E Burnside St. 8:30 pm. Free. 21+.
Super Bowl LI Party
[SPORTSBALL AT THE PARIS] Have you heard the Paris Theatre is no longer a jack shack? Seriously! In addition to phasing out the sordid features of its past, the theater also claims to have the largest LED screen in Portland, making this the best place to don a trench coat and enjoy the greatest show on turf in complete anonymity. Paris Theatre, 6 SW 3rd Ave., facebook.com/TheParisPdx. 1 pm. Free admission.
Flip City 2016 Pinball Championship
[PINBALL WIZARDS] Spectators are invited to watch Portland's top 16 pinball wizards from the 2016 Flip City circuit duke it out for a shot at the grand prize, or enjoy the chef's burger and a round-robin tournament for the attendees who didn't qualify for the main event. C-Bar, 2880 SE Gladstone St., 503-230-8808, cbarportland.com. Noon. 21+.