THURSDAY, JUNE 7

SWEET RELEASE—Compilations are a tricky thing but PDX Pop Now! always puts out a great collection of songs to accompany their super fun weekend fest of local Portland talent that happens in July. This year's album release party has live performances by Sun Angle, Wild Ones, and more. SS
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 7:30 pm, $10 (includes CD), all ages

BURP—What goes better with summer weather than ice cold pints of beer? Not much, which is why Portland Beer Week starts today, kicking off with a party for the release of official beer Deschutes/Hopworks India Red Lager. Look for tons of prizes, a Pop-a-Shot tournament, beer and food pairings, a whole week of sudsy fun. MS
Spirit of 77, 500 NE MLK, 6-10 pm, $5-25, pdxbeerweek.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 8

PUPPET PUNKS—Billed as a "shadow puppet punk rock micro-opera," The Revenge: Japanther vs. Night Shade sets the clever, high-concept puppetry of Night Shade against the rowdy art pop score of Japanther for three nights of intricate, avant-garde spectacle. AH
Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate, Fri-Sat 7:30 & 10 pm, Sun 7:30 pm, $8-10

BOPPIN' BIRTHDAY—In the Cooky Jar, the fantastic soul and R&B night by DJ Cooky Parker, has reached its two-year anniversary! What better way to celebrate than getting down to some of his best new records at the monthly show's newest home, the Eagles Lodge. AZ
Eagles Lodge, 4904 SE Hawthorne, 9 pm, $5

SATURDAY, JUNE 9

DANCE OFF—This weekend offers something for dance lovers of any income bracket: Oregon Ballet Theatre's annual fundraiser, Dance United, showcases world-class talents like New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan, while a more experimental (and frugal!) night out comes courtesy of local favorites Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner on Friday night. AH
Dance United, Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay, Sat 7:30 pm, $49-125; Woolly Mammoth at Nationale, 811 E Burnside, Fri 7 pm, $3

DRAGON PARADE—It's the biggest day for the 2012 Rose Fest, featuring two of its heaviest hitters: The Grand Floral Parade and Dragon Boat Races. Thrill to marching bands, floats, crass commercialism, and morbidly obese Greshamites, and then dash over to the Waterfront for the (actually thrilling and culturally awesome) Dragon Boat races. WSH
Grand Floral Parade, Memorial Coliseum to downtown Portland, 10 am; Dragon Boats, south end of Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Sat & Sun, 8 am–4 pm

SUNDAY, JUNE 10

ROSY—What better way to send the Rose Festival off in style than to see the Thermals tear through a set at the Waterfront? Plus performances by the Corin Tucker Band, the Robinsons, and Radiation City, and it's looking like your weekend will end just fine. Now grab a funnel cake! CF
Tom McCall Waterfront Park, SW Naito, 3:30 pm, FREE with $5 admission, all ages

DON YOUR DRAPER—It's been a fantastic season for your fave TV show Mad Men, and tonight's season finale should be a barnburner. Everyone's paid dearly (especially Joan) for the Jaguar account, and now opportunity abounds—so how's Pete gonna fuck it all up? Let's find out! (Oh, and watch out for that elevator shaft, Don!) WSH
Bagdad's Backstage Bar, 3702 SE Hawthorne (or AMC at your house, also see Movie Times), 10 pm, FREE, no excess chitty-chat!

MONDAY, JUNE 11

SANDSTORM—The agile, earthy Tuareg blues of Tinariwen have sent the sounds of the Sahara all around the globe. The group's last album, the exquisite Tassili, displayed a stripped-down, acoustic-oriented sound, but one no less rhythmic—and tonight their soulful, desert-wind tunes mesmerize a Portland crowd. NL
w/Piers Faccini; Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, 8 pm, $22-23, all ages

WILD—Local author Cheryl Strayed's touching memoir about her solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail is inspirational and harrowing as get-out. Go listen to Strayed read from Wild—hopefully she'll read the parts about dodging rattlesnakes, bears, and hillbillies, or the time she loses her hiking boots. CF
Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol, 7 pm, FREE

TUESDAY, JUNE 12

DEAR SUZY—Here is my plan. We pair off into teams of Sams and Suzys and run away to a nearby cinema to see Wes Anderson's new film, Moonrise Kingdom, about two 12-year-olds who fall in love and ditch camp, while the all-star cast of Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, and Edward Norton gives chase. SS
Various Theaters, see Movie Times

DROIDS—You don't need much of an attention span to listen to Canadian rock duo Japandroids. Their new album, Celebration Rock, boasts catchy drum riffs and sporadic vocals that yell youth anthems to inspire you to burn shit down. There's no doubt they'll keep your ADD in check and your body jamming all night long. LC
w/Cadence Weapon; Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $13-15

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13

SLEEK SIDE—I'd originally pegged Sarah Jaffe as a songslinger in the folky, alt-country vein—and a damn good one at that—but her exceptional new album The Body Wins reveals an altogether new side: a versatile, modern musician whose songs are no less heartfelt even after she's kicked off the dust to reveal something much sleeker. NL
w/Secret Colours, Ryan Stively; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $10-12

FIVE BY FIVE—Having written everything from the X-Men to The Authority, comics writer Christos Gage is currently pumping some much-needed freshness into the world of Buffy with the surprisingly fun team-up book Angel & Faith. Tonight, he swings by the new Things from Another World to sign comics and talk all things slayer. EH
Things from Another World, 2916 NE Broadway, 7 pm, FREE