Christmas continues to pile up around us in a blizzard of tweaked takes on the season, including a holiday opera based on the life of a superstar stripper, a solo showcase from one of the city's most unique performers, and of course, a drunken ugly sweater party (the first of many, to be sure.) But the season is also about giving, and there are plenty of opportunities to do that as well, including a benefit concert for the protesters at Standing Rock, a Holladay Park sit-in to show solidarity with those protesters, and a benefit concert for the Victory Academy. And if you just wanna say fuck it and laugh because goddammit you need to laugh, Joe Mande and Gary Gulman will be in town, and our local scene is holding a League Night where you can see our best stand-ups try out their new stuff. There's a whole lot more to keep you entertained this weekâhit the menu below and load your plate accordingly.
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Monday, Dec 5
Joe Mande, Anthony Lopez
From LaCroix selfies to an excellent anti-Trump Twitter feed (seriously, read it, it is a balm), comedian and Parks and Recreation/Kroll Show writer Joe Mande is essential now that we live in (FUCK!) the dark timeline. Let Mandeâs furrowed brow contain your despair, as his humor brings you natureâs medicine: face-wrinkling laughter. MEGAN BURBANK
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $14-17
Lee Fields & the Expressions, Lady Wray
âBoth country music and rhythm and blues are the same stuff,â Lee Fields once said in a 2012 interview with Soul Express. Fields, who spent his childhood in the North Carolina countryside, modeled his music after Otis Redding. After losing the late, great Sharon Jones, those of us who get down to funk, soul, and R&B can look to him to fulfill our funky urges. Fieldsâ influences range from Earl Scruggs to Rihanna to James Brown, and in his nearly 43-year career heâs played with many funk and soul greats like Kool and the Gang, Sammy Gordon and the Hip-Huggers, and Little Royal. His bandâs latest album, Special Night, is a seasoned, thoughtful venture into love and loss, where we realize that while rhythm and blues and country arenât the same, they can certainly get along. ROSE FINN
9 pm, Aladdin Theater, $16-18, all ages
Jimmy Eat World, Divers
How can they revive you if you were never dead? Thatâs the crucial question for Arizona pop-rock band Jimmy Eat World, who released their ninth studio album, Integrity Blues, in October. With a good-sized chunk of the underground rock scene engaged in a revival of the classic emo sound, itâs reasonable to revisit Jimmy Eat Worldâs influence on said scene. After all, kids who grew up with the impeccable songs on Clarity (1999) and Static Prevails (1996) are at a prime music-making age now. But 2016âs Integrity Blues proves that Jimmy Eat World has plenty of its own story left to write, as frontman Jim Adkins spends 11 tracks expertly unfurling pillowy melodies over the bandâs familiar, polished churn. Like fellow emo granddads Braid a couple years ago, itâs nice to have a terrific new Jimmy Eat World album in 2016. But unlike Braid, Jimmy Eat World never went anywhere. Theyâve been doing this all along. BEN SALMON
8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $37, all ages
Jewish Voices 2016
The return of the Oregon Jewish Museum's annual showcase for Jewish poets and writers, featuring pieces read by Willa Schneberg, Harriet Fasenfest, Cari Luna, Jon Raymond, Robin Romm, and Carla Perry.
7 pm, Literary Arts, free
Evict Them, Face Us
A stand-in/sit-in in solidarity with those fighting the Dakota pipeline at Standing Rock. This local arm of the protest will be targeted at the nearby U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwestern Division on 12th and NE Lloyd Blvd.
3:30 pm, Holladay Park
Shawn Levy, Peter Ames Carlin
A joint reading from two former Oregonian contributors who have since become acclaimed biographers, with Carlin reading from Homeward Bound, his look at the life of Paul Simon, and Levy reading from Dolce Vita Confidential, a history of Rome's 1950s cultural heyday.
7 pm, O'Connor's Vault
League Night
A stand-up showcase featuring some the city's best stand-ups giving their newest material a run, including sets from Becky Braunstein, David Mascorro, Mohanad Elsheiky, Kate Murphy, Thomas Lundy, and James Barela.
8 pm, Sam's Billiards
Standing Rock Benefit Concert
A fundraiser to support efforts at Standing Rock, featuring performances from local bands Three for Silver, Taylor Kingman, Sequoia, and Benny Gilbert.
9 pm, Kelly's Olympian
Tuesday, Dec 6
Ear Candy: Ice Queens, The Wild Body
The holidays are upon us, so consider Ear Candyâthe Mercuryâs free monthly music showcase in partnership with Mississippi Studiosâour first gift to you. On deck this evening? Rough-and-tumble guitar rockers Ice Queens, whose riffage will ease the early winter bleakness as we slump-shuffle toward 2017. DIRK VANDERHART
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, free
Fitz & the Tantrums, Saint Motel
Yet another case study in the old lesson that you shouldnât let a bandâs success stand in the way of taking them seriously. This massively talented group offers a rich marriage of soul, rock, dancehall, and pop sounds, and puts on a dazzling, energetic show. Itâs a pleasure to see a band work this hard for your good time. SEAN NELSON
8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $40, all ages
Helmet, Local H
Helmet is not the band it was in the early '90s, when the New York City bruisers released seminal records like Strap It On and Meantime. In fact, guitarist/vocalist Page Hamilton is all that remains, and he's trotted out a crew of freshly shorn musicians in recent years that don't resemble John Stanier, Peter Mengede, or Henry Bogdan. That's okay; those songs still deserve to be heard. MARK LORE
9:30 pm, Dante's, $20
B-Movie Bingo: Never Too Young to Die
Your monthly opportunity to literally check off a bingo card full of B-movie clichĂŠsâbut good luck remembering to even play the game while hypnotized by the intense animal majesty of John Stamos in Never Too Young to Die. Stamos is some sort of butt-rock James Bond, with Vanity as his his sexy sidekick, doing their heavy metal best to stop the outlandish plans of Gene Simmons as some sort of butt-rock Frank N. Furter. Who needs plot, or quality, or even coherence when you have a sweaty, leather-clad Uncle Jesse filling all five senses, right? BOBBY ROBERTS
7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $9
Portland Brewing's Ugly Sweater Party
It's time to break the fuzzy fugliness out of your closet and use it as a full-body bib to catch any spare drops of Portland Brewing deliciousness that might miss your mouth as you enjoy live music, raffles, and a drunken Santa! And if you donate a clean coat or jacket, you'll get a free six-pack in return.
5 pm, Portland Brewing Co.
Willy Vlautin, Patterson Hood
A reading from two of Portland's most well known musician/authors (or authors/musicians, however you prefer to look at it), sharing passages from the new anthology The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers, and Dark Roads.
7 pm, Broadway Books
Wednesday, Dec 7
Matmos
Experimental electronic musicians Drew Daniel and M.C. SchmidtâAKA Matmosâhave incorporated everything from the amplified neural activity of crayfish to the snips and slices of plastic surgery into past releases. The duoâs latest album, Ultimate Care II, was constructed entirely out of sounds pulled from a Whirlpool washing machine of the same name, and yes, the machine will be accompanying Matmos tonight in their attempt to transfix an audience with the powers of a mundane household chore. CHIPP TERWILLIGER
8:30 pm, Holocene, $14
Viva's Holiday: An Opera in One Act
Last December, original opera Vivaâs Holiday became a lone bloom amid the fallow field where good art goes to die during the travesty known as Holiday Theater Season. Based on the memoirs of Portland stripper/gadabout/author Viva Las Vegas, itâs a story about the stress of going home for the holidays when your family doesnât share your values. Essential viewing in a post-Trump world. MEGAN BURBANK
9 pm, Star Theater, $25
Golden Hour, Dr. Identity, Conditioner
The High Water Marks hosts a benefit show for the Trans Assistance Project featuring sets from a trio of local DIY punk and rock outfits. Suggested donation is $6, but attendees are asked to give all they can as all proceeds will be donated.
9 pm, High Water Mark, $6
Cirque du Soleil: Toruk
Cirque du Soleil performs Toruk, inspired by James's Cameron's Avatar. The performance is a prequel, and is "definitely part of the canon,â according to Jon Landau, James Cameronâs production partner, so here's hoping the Cirque clowns somehow make their way into the upcoming sequels.
7:30 pm, Moda Center, $27-110, all ages
Storm Large Holiday Ordeal
The renowned local singer-songwriter and Pink Martini vocalist brings her annual holiday show to Revolution Hall for a two-night stand.
8 pm, Revolution Hall, $36-50, all ages
Jim James, Twin Limb
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James plays a solo show at the Roseland in support of his new solo record, Eternally Even, his first solo release since 2013âs Regions of Light and Sound of God.
8 pm, Roseland, $30, all ages
Reluctant: Tales of Apprehension in Words and Music
Courtenay Hameister hosts a night of song and storytelling based on her Reluctant Adventurer column, with storytelling by authors Chelsea Cain, Daniel Wilson, Lidia Yuknavitch, John Henry, and Christine McKinley.
7 pm, Siren Theater, $20-22
Grouplove, Wild Ones
The Los Angeles-based indie rock and pop outfit return to Portland for a "December to Remember" performance in support of their 2016 full-length, Big Mess.
8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $37, all ages
Thursday, Dec 8
Young Thug
Young Thug dropped Jeffery in August, a fantastic preview to his forthcoming and oddly named debut studio album, Hy!ÂŁUN35. Though the Atlanta rapper (whose full name is Jeffery Lamar Williams) used his own name to title the hook-heavy mixtape, its tracks are named after his âidolsâ: âFloyd Mayweather,â âKanye West,â and âHarambe,â among others. CIARA DOLAN.
8 pm, Roseland, $35-100, all ages
Colin Meloy, Edna Vasquez
A benefit solo show from the Decemberists' frontman, raising awareness and support for the Victory Academy, a school for kids on the autism spectrum.
8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $35-65
Sløtface, Blowout
The Norwegian pop-punk quartet formally known as Slutface hit Portland in support of their debut EP, Sponge State. Local DIY stalwarts Blowout provide support.
9 pm, Holocene, $12
Gary Gulman
Gary Gulman is a New York City-based comedian who honed his act on high school students as a gym teacher before bringing them to the stage. He's performed stand-up on every single late night talk show, and finished third on season 2 of NBC's Last Comic Standing.
8 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $15-33
Porter Robinson, Madeon
Fresh off a successful collaboration powered by the magic of anime, Robinson and Madeon bring their high energy Shelter stage show to Portland.
8 pm, Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, $35
Phantogram, My Body
Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter of Phantogram have a lock on nonchalantly cool rhythm and slightly druggy mystique. Their electronic music is well suited to similarly beat-driven pursuits like walking purposefully or swaying knowingly at one of their spacily transportive live performances. MARJORIE SKINNER
8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $35.50, all ages
Breakbeat Party
For once the Liquor Store is kinda/sorta a liquor store, hosting this party for Elysian's latest IPA release from their Manic series, with Takimba, the Pariahs, and Vinylogy taking turns behind the decks all night long.
8 pm, The Liquor Store
Bubble Cats, Dusty, Small Field
Bubble Cats are not a joke band. Despite their adorable moniker and their Tumblr full of strange feline memes, the genre-bending Portland quartet is less concerned about the perception their artistic motif might give off, and more focused on their somewhat overlooked cache of up-tempo post-rock outbursts. RYAN J. PRADO
9 pm, (The World Famous) Kenton Club
Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!
