The Thesis
Cheap hip-hop! Every month the Mercury and a bunch of other great organizations help bring you a delightful sampling of local acts, and we’ll be damned if July is any different. This month’s Thesis features the happy-go-lucky rap of local emcee Mighty, a music video premier from Raquel Divar and Cory O, and lots more. DIRK VANDERHART
9 pm, Kelly's Olympian, $5


YGB: Two Year Retrospective
In celebration of the two-year anniversary of local parties that center the music, movement, art and energy of Portland’s Young Gifted and Black/brown people, here’s a gallery show that’ll feature the work of the artists who capture these functions. There’ll be photo/video work by the likes of MissLopezMedia, RoseLéon, Tojo Fotos, Tiki Mon, and more. As per usual, DJ Lamar LeRoy will provide the tunes, in addition to a live performance from rapper Wes Guy. JENNI MOORE
6 pm, UNA Gallery, free, all ages

Briana Marela, Mini Blinds
Olympia-based musician Briana Marela brings her mesmerizing experimental pop sound back to Portland for a free show at the White Owl in support of her forthcoming Jagjaguwar-issued full-length, Call It Love. Be sure to arrive early to catch a set of infectious indie pop from local trio Mini Blinds.
8 pm, White Owl Social Club, free

The Districts, The Spirit of the Beehive
The Spirit of the Beehive is a strange name for a band, but it’s the perfect name for the buzzy little combo opening for not-bad Philly rock act the Districts tonight at the Doug Fir. They’ve got a considerable talent for writing fine indie-pop songs and then dressing them up in weirdness. Their new album, Pleasure Suck, delivers one gentle banger after another. It’s always hiding out under a layer of fuzz, occasionally pitch-shifted, and often shares space with distorted percussion, burbling synthesizer, distant fiddle, squealing feedback, or a spoken-word sample. Despite the sonic wanderings, the Spirit of the Beehive’s melodic sensibility always comes through. They’re kind of like a cross between Beck and Neutral Milk Hotel, and that’s not a bad place to land, friends. BEN SALMON
9 pm, Doug Fir, $15-17

Awesome Tapes from Africa, Jason Urick
In a time when so many music-focused websites cover artists you can hear on all the other music-related websites, Brian Shimkovitz's Awesome Tapes from Africa is truly an overflowing source of magnificent sounds that would otherwise be unheard beyond the borders of their home countries. Shimkovitz has grown his hobby into a business: He started a record label, splitting profits from label releases 50/50 with the artists and helping African legends like organist Hailu Mergia transition from cab driver to viable touring act in his 70s. Shimkovitz has also established an in-demand DJ career, with upcoming dates in New York, Paris, and Morocco. But tonight, he stops at Holocene to showcase a bunch of his latest tape-based cosmopolitan jams. Awesome. BEN SALMON
9 pm, Holocene, $8-10

Russell Peters
The international comedy superstar returns to Portland with his latest tour, Work in Progress, the follow-up to his 2016 Netflix special, Almost Famous.
8 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $35

Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Lithics, The Lavender Flu, Mattress
Enigmatic 9th Ward art freaks Quintron and Miss Pussycat have been staples of the Big Easy’s experimental scene since the early ’90s. Quintron’s infamous club, the Spellcaster Lodge, has played host to many a late-night rager since its inception and rebuild following Hurricane Katrina. Their live shows typically feature some of Quintron’s own musical inventions, like the Drum Buddy—a mechanically-rotating, five-oscillator, light-activated drum machine—as well as his custom-made Hammond organ/Fender Rhodes synthesizer contraption, made to look like the front end of a hotrod. It’s largely a one-man band operation, with Miss Pussycat providing backup vocals and various percussive elements, but the sheer eccentricity of the project is about as kitschy and party-ready as anything you’ll ever hope to hear or see. RYAN J. PRADO
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $12-14

Post Moves, Sawtooth, Gulch
A release party for Boogie Night at the Edge of Town, Post Moves' follow up to last year's wonderful Mystery World Science Show, adding a new layer of instrumentation and texture to that LP's bedrock of amiable grooves.
9 pm, Bunk Bar, $5

Jessica Dennison & Jones, Lentils, Bed Bits, Mike Sherk Group
Local folk-rock and pop duo Jessica Dennison & Jones return to the Turn! Turn! Turn! stage to perform a selection of tunes off their Party Damage Records-issued self-titled debut.
8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!

Éowyn Emerald & Dancers
Portland gets a goodbye performance from this dance troupe before it packs up and heads to Scotland to continue their physical interpretation of classics by composers such as Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Greig, and more.
7:30 pm, PSU Lincoln Performance Hall, $10-25

Atriarch, Haunted Horses, Marriage & Cancer
Portland death-rockers Atriarch make hypnotic, cathartic doom metal, with the power to ease even the most tortured of souls. KELLY O
8 pm, The Know, $7

Spielberg on Film: Something Evil
After making the 1971 marvel of suspense Duel, young Steven Spielberg returned to the TV-movie well with Something Evil, in which a family moves into a farmhouse crammed with demons. Spielberg directs like a man possessed, finding strange shapes lurking in the corners of the screen and some ferocious, pre-Evil Dead camera swoops. After years of it only being available via smudgy bootlegs, the opportunity to see Something Evil on 16mm may be the highlight of this series. ANDREW WRIGHT
7 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9

Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!