El Pueblo Unido: Portland Mercado 2 Year Anniversary
A daylong celebration of Portland Mercado making it to 2 years old, transforming 72nd and Foster into a bustling, busy community for neighbors and over 50 small businesses. Admission is free, but a $5 donation to Hacienda CDC and Causa of Oregon is suggested. Read our story on El Pueblo Unido.
Apr 15, noon, Portland Mercado, $5 donation suggested
Ora Cogan, Johanna Warren, Red Steppes
Vancouver, BC, psych-folk musician Ora Cogan has been releasing hauntingly beautiful albums since 2007, most recently last yearâs Shadowland. Its 11 Americana tracks arenât earth-shatteringâthey might slip between your fingers if not for Coganâs bright voice, which cuts through the spacy, slow-burning instrumentals like sharp glass. She sounds kind of like Portlandâs own Alela Diane, the way her seemingly simple songs unfold and expand. Last month Cogan debuted âThe Light,â the first single from her forthcoming release Crickets. Itâs notably more up-tempo than her previous work, with heavy synth and multi-layered percussion weaving complex melodies like a spider tending to its web. Last time I went to a show at the small-but-cozy Beacon Sound the audience sat on the floor, which will be the ideal setting to see Cogan perform. CIARA DOLAN
Apr 14, 8 pm, Beacon Sound, $10, all ages
Spring Beer & Wine Fest
Featuring over 160 vendors, and over 70 different selections at the growler filling station, as well as the opportunity to take home bottles and cases from a whole bunch of Northwest wineries, breweries, and distilleries.
Apr 14-15, noon, Oregon Convention Center, $10
Slay: DJ Ronin Roc, DJ Automation
Slay is a hip-hop party for LGBT, minorities, and open minded people, providing yet another safe space to twerk, blow off steam, and be yourself in our little sanctuary city. JENNI MOORE
Apr 15, 9 pm, Holocene, $10
Samurai Sundays: The New Tale of Zatoichi
The Samurai Sunday series continues with a 35mm screening of 1963's New Tale of Zatoichi, the third chapter in the long-running, always satisfying series of films charting the stabby, slicy adventures of cinema's favorite blind swordsman.
Apr 16, 7 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9
Golden Retriever, WL, Ilyas Ahmed
The sounds of Portland duo Golden Retriever can be hushed and delicate or rumbling and dramaticâthe sonic possibilities posed by modular synth player Matt Carlson and bass clarinetist Jonathan Sielaff are endless. Tonightâs the perfect chance to crawl inside their thrilling world of avant-garde sound. NED LANNAMANN
Apr 14, 8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!, $7
Gentle Bender, Plastic Weather, Drunken Palms, Dr. Burtrum
Pop Tavern hosts an evening of dancy electro-punk and rock, headlined by the catchy drum- and bass-driven garage sounds of local duo Gentle Bender. The donation based admission and a portion of all bar sales will go to benefit Freeform Portland, a volunteer-run, non-profit radio station bringing music to the airwaves here in town.
Apr 14, 8 pm, Pop Tavern, $5-10
Oh Rose, Little Star, Blackwater(Holylight)
The Pacific Northwest looks like was made for hiding secrets, with dense green forests, foggy valleys, and jagged mountaintops. Tucked away in Olympia, Oh Rose is making some of the regionâs most captivating music. Listen to 2015âs Sevenâthe bandâs primal folk reflects the surrounding landscape in guttural yowls, murky bass lines, and droning synth that hangs in that background of songs like something sinister lurking in the woods. CIARA DOLAN
Apr 14, 9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $5
Dreckig, Havania Whaal, Vog
Local music shop Mothership Music celebrates its 3-year anniversary with a stacked show headlined by Dreckig, the local psych-trip-hop duo comprised of Papi Fimbres and Shana Lindbeck.
Apr 15, 8 pm, Mothership Music, $5
Hoop, Briana Marela, Brumes, Cave Cricket
Over the next few years, weâre going to start hearing a lot of Northwest artists under the influence of the roughshod and tuneful indie pop of the â90s born from labels like K, Yoyo Recordings, and Kill Rock Stars, itself a scene marked heavily by the post-punk sounds of the UK. That could result in music suffering from literal and figurative generation loss, but hopefully weâll get more bands like Hoop. This Seattle-by-way-of-Anacortes quartet has steadily built momentum over the past three years when it began as a bedroom recording project of Caitlin Roberts. In that time, she has fleshed out the sound from its slight and shaky but absolutely compelling beginnings to a gently powerful expression of her oft-vulnerable emotional state, complete with icy hot guitar tones and fragile vocals that express a multiplicity of ache and delight. ROBERT HAM
Apr 14, 7 pm, Mother Foucault's, $5 suggested donation
