One of the best things about art: it can give voice to the things you're feeling but don't quite know how to say. This week's worth of events in Portland features a ton of that, not just brilliant comedian Jen Kirkman personifying what you're feeling via live podcast, but Boyz II Men unlocking your middle-school heart with melody and harmony, Bloc Party reviving your high school indiscretions, Luke Wyland, AU, and the Camas High School Choir giving beautiful voice to your childhood hopes, and Kung Fu Theater allowing you an outlet for the all rowdy and rambunctious that you typically need to keep on a leash. But this week isn't all about letting things out. It's also about packing things in, what with Oktoberfests, Harvest Festivals and other feasts inviting you to dive headfirst into succulent decadence. It's a very busy week. Hit the menu below, load up your plate, and dig in.
Jump to: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
Monday, Sept 12
Moor Mother, Astral Tempest, Daniela Karina
The genres under which Camae Ayewa categorizes her music are as poetic and transfixing as the sounds themselves: “slave ship punk,”“black ghost songs,” and “witch rap” don’t and shouldn’t act as points of reference for listeners new to Moor Mother (Ayewa’s musical activist moniker), for she’s twisting familiar noises to a point beyond recognition and into an uncharted auditory plane. Moor Mother is protest music at its best and most contemporary—Ayewa uses oral history (ranging from political speeches by Angela Davis and Assata Shakur to punk samples) and cacophonous, industrial noise to reflect on and get riled about what still hasn’t (but desperately needs to be) changed. Perusing Moor Mother’s extensive digital discography is a mental trip to a world where all bodies move free, where all bodies can be angry, emotive, and erratic, and where the voice of the black woman is heard. MORGAN TROPER
S1, 9:30pm, $8, all ages
Print the Legend
So there's this competition-style reality show on. It’s the one that pits the bloviating, orange-haired pustule who spouts incoherent, racist free verse against a grandparent with the temerity to possess a vagina. The show asks America to make the agonizing decision: Which one’s worse? Well, according to several sources, this is no mere entertainment: In just a few short weeks, the results will be used to determine which striver will occupy the most important job in the country for the next four years (or until he gets bored and quits). As usual, one can turn to H.L. Mencken: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” The fact that electioneering and entertainment have become so incestuously linked is the subject of the NW Film Center’s fall series Print the Legend, which lines up 17 movies between now and Election Day that tackle the intersections of politics and mass media. MARC MOHAN Also see "Print the Legend: Cinema, and Politics, at the NW Film Center"NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, see nwfilm.org for titles and showtimes
Sally Jane Thompson
The illustrator of The Ruby Equation and the creator of the coming-of-age story Atomic Sheep sits down for a post Rose City Comic Con signing session.
Books With Pictures, 6pm, free
Juliette Lewis
Star Theater hosts an evening of alt rock and garage punk with the American actress and musician who has been splitting her time between stage and screen since the early 2000s.
Star Theater, 8pm, $16
Roy Scranton
War veteran, journalist, and author Roy Scranton reads from his debut novel, War Porn, which offers readers an intense and in-depth look at the relationships and experiences formed during war in the age of the War on Terror.
Powell's City of Books, 7:30pm
Puddles Pity Party
Need more proof of the power of the internet: In 2013, an unknown seven-foot-tall clown set down his lantern (?), looked disdainfully into a camera, and boomed out a Lorde cover. Then reflect on how Puddles the Clown and his Puddles' Pity Party are playing the Alberta Rose three years later. The guy’s talented as hell, but INTERNET. DIRK VANDERHART
Alberta Rose Theatre, 8:30pm, $32.50
Don't Get Me Started
Andrew Dickson hosts this special one-of-a-kind therapy session for everyone who has looked around and noticed 2016 seems to really fucking suck for the most part. Featuring rants crafted by artists, stand-ups, activists, and audience members.
PICA at Hancock, 10:30pm, $8-10, all ages
Tuesday, Sept 13
Boyz II Men
A memory I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: One day back in Philly, four guys wanted to sing. They came up to me, I said, “What’s your name?” They said, “Boyz II Men!” Hey. You know what I’m saying. Then I said, “All right fellas. Let’s see what you can do.” And now they’re playing with the Oregon Symphony, so it all worked out. DIRK VANDERHART
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 7:30pm, $40-120
Black Sabbath, Rival Sons
Dinosaur bands announce farewell tours all the time, but I’m inclined to take Black Sabbath at their word. Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler are without founding drummer Bill Ward on this final plunge into the void, but that’s only a small nit to pick when confronted with the LAST. CHANCE. EVER. to see one of the most revolutionary and influential bands of all time. Sabbath’s Brummie-inflected take on blues and boogie rock was like the earth cracking open, drenching us with molten heavy-metal lava. NED LANNAMANN Also read our story on Black Sabbath.
Sunlight Supply Amphitheater, 7:30pm, $20-300
Bomba Estereo
Colombian band Bomba Estereo makes psychedelic electro-cumbia, ranging from tropical party-starters to champeta-influenced folk ballads. Charismatic singer Liliana Saumet and multi-instrumentalist Simon Mejía are pioneers in the scene that also spawned acts like Dengue Dengue Dengue and Chancha Via Circuito. They’ve been working together for 10 years, combining traditional Colombian instrumentation with modern electronic sounds. Bomba Estereo’s latest album, Amanecer (their first on a major label) pushes their experimentations even further, taking influence from their international tours and fusing their electro-tropical sound with kwaito, global bass, dancehall, and juke. Their live show promises vivid jungle visuals, pulsing Latin beats, and plenty of costume changes. DANIELA SERNA
Wonder Ballroom, 8pm, $20-23
Kung Fu Theater: Five Masters of Death
This month’s installment in Dan Halsted’s ongoing celebration of all things whoop-ass is a super-rare 35mm print of 1974’s Five Masters of Death, choreographed by legend Lau Kar Leung. The story is about students plotting revenge against evil oppressors, just like almost every classic kung fu film ever made, but it’s the way these Shaolin students decimate their enemies that makes it a must-see, with amazingly painful deployment of martial arts weaponry, the kind of stuff that would have had your seven year-old self rummaging through drawers for things to injure yourself and your siblings with. BOBBY ROBERTS
Hollywood Theatre, 7:30pm, $9
Carl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen, author of the bestselling novels Skinny Dip and Bad Monkey, reads from his latest novel, Razor Girl, a fast-paced thriller that features some of the wildest characters Hiaasen has ever put to page.
Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 7pm
Welcome to the Neighborhood
A live episode of Klyph's weekly hip-hop show, with guests including Omega Watts, Brookfield Duece, MC Matty, and Trox.
PICA at Hancock, 10:30pm, $8-10, all ages
Wednesday, Sept 14
Luke Wyland, AU, Camas High School Choir
Back in April, AU teamed up with the Camas High School Choir for an amazing, one-night-only performance. AU’s Luke Wyland spent a year writing music specifically for the show—and specifically for the talented, charming-as-fuck kids in the choir—and the result was the kind of majestic, inventive, uplifting, fun experience that makes you glad to live in Portland. So, good news: That one-night-only gig is now two nights only, with the band (and choir!) getting back together for the Time-Based Art Festival. Go to this. ERIK HENRIKSEN
PSU Lincoln Performance Hall, 7:30pm, $15-30, all ages
Adam Ruins Everything Live!
The host of the popular webseries turned truTV hit brings his jovial, soul-crushing schtick to the Alberta Rose stage, revealing all the unsavory truths behind some of your favorite things.
Alberta Rose Theatre, 8pm, $32.50, all ages
Orquestra Pacifico Tropical, Buyepongo, DJs Opt 'N Crew
Portland’s premier cumbia band will make you shake body parts you didn’t even know you had.
Bunk Bar, 9pm, $10
Hella Sketch
Hella Sketch is a Portland's own absurdist sketch show and comedy open mic. The show runs about 90 minutes, and features a mixture of character work, unorthodox stand-up sets, musical numbers, and whatever the hell else the performers might have hidden up their sleeves. The only thing certain is that the show goes down every Thursday at 10pm at the Kickstand Comedy Space.
Kickstand Comedy Space, 10pm, free
Coheed & Cambria, Saves the Day, Polyphia
Sci-fi concept rockers Coheed & Cambria bring their pop-tinged progressive rock to the Roseland. Princeton, New Jersey emo and pop-punk purveyors Saves the Day provide support.
Roseland, 7pm, $28.50-103.50, all ages
Harvest Festival
The People's Food Co-op hosts their biggest party of the year, a farmer's market and street fair with live music, local craft vendors, food, cooking demos, beer garden and more. Bring canned goods from home for the harvest swap, and a light colored t-shirt to take advantage of the fest's indigo dyeing station.
People's Co-Op, 2pm, free, all ages
Thursday, Sept 15
Bloc Party
I bought a ticket to this show to attempt to atone for the illegally downloaded Bloc Party albums I had on repeat in high school—Silent Alarm and A Weekend in the City were just so damn good and I was broke, my bad—and I’m pumped to finally see the great British band live, touring on the back of their fifth studio album, Hymns. Frontman Kele Okereke is an international treasure. DOUG BROWN
Roseland, 8pm, $25, all ages
I Seem Fun - The Diary of Jen Kirkman Live
She’s the patron saint of grumps, and I am a true believer. If you’ve ever been accused of resting bitch face, Jen Kirkman’s good-hearted, zero-fucks-given comedy’s just for you. Fair warning: She’ll probably also take the chance to remind you that everyone dies alone, regardless of relationship status. Somehow you’ll leave smiling anyway. MEGAN BURBANK
Helium Comedy Club, 8pm, $15
Mount Angel Oktoberfest
For four days out of the year, the town of Mount Angel essentially transforms itself into Little Germany, full of lederhosen, tuba music, sausages, and an absolutely astounding amount of beer of all kinds and varieties, to be drank out of all sorts of steins, mugs, cups and boots. Plus there's other attractions, including weiner dog races, a car show, dancing, live music, and much more.
Sep 15-18, Mount Angel, 11am, $5-30, all ages
Legendary Pink Dots, Orbit Service
Anglo-Dutch goth-psychedelic group the Legendary Pink Dots have been haunting the musical fringes for over 35 years, accumulating a significant, cultish fanbase despite little commercial airplay and releases on small labels. Through the band's staunch devotion to their brand of pastoral, spacey, polyglot rock and vocalist Edward Ka-Spel's dramatic, enervated spiels, LPD appeal to melancholy dreamers. Ka-Spel's voice bears a Syd Barrett-like lugubriousness that complements LPD's rambling, often disorienting excursions into the Floydian slipstream. DAVE SEGAL
Doug Fir, 9pm, $20-22
CFM, Sleeping Beauties, Mope Grooves
Bay Area multi-instrumentalist Charles Frances Moothart is best known for his collaborations with garage rock musicians Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin. Tonight he hits the Know with his own band, CFM, who are currently touring in support of their debut album, Still Life of Citrus and Slime.
The Know, 8pm
Feast Portland
The fifth annual food festival that transforms the city of Portland into one big dinner table, with a wide variety of presentations, lectures, tastings, chef competitions, and of course, amazing, one-of-a-kind breakfasts, lunches, and dinners brought to you by culinary masterminds, paired perfectly with spirits, wines and beers.
Sept 15-18, Various Locations, see feastportland for a full list of venues and times.
Adam Bray
Writer and journalist Adam Bray presents his latest book, Marvel Absolutely Everything You Need To Know, which offers readers an in-depth look into some of the lesser known details about everyone’s favorite Marvel comic characters.
Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 7pm