Well, this week pretty much constitutes the last of September. The first month of fall is about to go on the history books, but before that chapter closes out, there's a whole bunch of good times to be had. The prime minister of partypartyparty is in Portland, so that alone elevates the week's entertainment value, but there's also a stirring storytelling showcase for Black Portlanders, a spacey edition of the Mercury's Sound + Vision that will put ears in orbit, a book launch that doubles as a cannabis festival, Sturgill Simpson sweeps through the city, and Ben Folds makes his last pop stand before spending the next few years advising the National Symphony Orchestra. Send September out on a high note—hit the links below and load your plate accordingly

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Monday, Sept 25

Japanese Breakfast, Mannequin Pussy, The Spirit Of The Beehive
Last year Japanese Breakfast (AKA Michelle Zauner) dropped “Everybody Wants to Love You”—the lead single from her debut LP, Psychopomp—like an electro-pop glitterbomb. With her gorgeous new record, Soft Sounds from Another Planet, Zauner swan dives into the cosmos with zero-gravity melodies that float and expand while she sings about everything from road head to a sci-fi love story of her own creation. CIARA DOLAN
9 pm, Holocene, $12-24, all ages

Andrew W.K.
America’s favorite party enthusiast is still partying, traversing North America and Europe with his full band for the first time in five years for The Party Never Dies Tour. You may only know him from his 2001 song “Party Hard” (he really, really likes parties) with its iconic nose-bleed album cover that thousands of millennials try to replicate every year at Halloween, but he’s a legitimately great musician, a hell of an entertainer, and a good dude (look up his Village Voice and Vice advice columns). And I’m not just saying all this because I grew up down the street from him in Michigan (shout out to Bader Park and the Wilkes-Krier family!). DOUG BROWN
8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $25

Brockhampton, Romil
It might sound like a snooty country club, but Brockhampton wants you to think of them as a boy band. Actually, the LA/San Marcos collective is one of the most progressive and inclusive forces in hip-hop right now, taking a top-down approach on everything from production to visuals. Brockhampton released the first two installments of their Saturation trilogy earlier this year, and now their first official North American tour brings them to a Portland stage. NED LANNAMANN
8 pm, Peter's Room at the Roseland, all ages

Oh Sees, Dreamdecay, Arrington De Dionyso
Prolific singer/songwriter and guitarist John Dwyer and his unrelenting noise, pop, and psych rock outfit return to the Crystal Ballroom for their second headlining show at the venue this year.
9 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $19.99-25, all ages

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Spielberg's acclaimed and beloved 1977 classic about an obsessed asshole who abandons his family.
6:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9

Death Valley Girls
Death Valley Girls’ hellish punk is inescapably magnetic, like running into a tornado and relishing the hair-whipping chaos. CIARA DOLAN
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $10-12

Shandytown
Pono Brewing hosts six bartenders, five restaurants, and a long list of cocktails at Shandytown, a party honoring one of the best things you can do with a beer: Add spirits and mixers to it. Admission includes six shandys and food, and when the night is done, you will help decide which bartender hooked up the best Shandy in Portland.
5 pm, Taqueria Nueve, $45

Josh Ritter
The Moscow, Idaho born and raised singer/songwriter brings his sweet and heartfelt blend of storytelling-driven Americana to Music Millennium for an intimate in-store performance supporting his latest full-length, Gathering.
7 pm, Music Millennium, free, all ages

Tuesday, Sept 26

A Joint for Black Portland
SuperThank, a non-profit that fosters “radical community gratitude” events, presents A Joint for Black Portland to give thanks to the organizations, people and events that make living in Portland as a Black person enjoyable (and tolerable). The event seeks to un-erase the experiences and community of Black Portlanders by featuring live storytelling from speakers like economist/entrepreneur Stephen Green (Pitch Black), and photographer Intisar Abioto (The Black Portlanders), both of whose storytelling has been featured at TEDxPortland. Then DJ Klyph will play the cuts until 10 pm. JENNI MOORE
6 pm, Pensole Footwear Design Academy, $5-10, all ages

INVSN, Darkswoon
Sweden’s INVSN has been something of a work in progress. Starting out as the demure, folksy cousin to the furious hardcore pioneers of Refused and Lost Patrol Band, Dennis LyxzĂ©n’s side project morphed to Invasionen, then just INVSN. With the evolution of the name came intense stylistic progressions, as heard on the band’s second full-length, The Beautiful Stories, released in June. Armed with a post-punk cowl, INVSN’s industrial sheen reflects LyxzĂ©n’s devotion to groove-oriented rock, whether it’s as destructive as it was with Refused, or as soulful as it was with the (International) Noise Conspiracy. Here, songs like “Immer Zu” approach NIN territory, with factory metal pings and darkwave repetitions. The LP is just seven tracks long, but what it lacks in duration, it makes up for on swelling post-rock bangers like “This Constant War,” which sounds like it could’ve been a Freedom B-side. RYAN J. PRADO
9 pm, Doug Fir, $13-15

Emo Nite
Dust off your My Chemical Romance T-shirt, apply excessive eyeliner, and get ready to shamelessly scream Dashboard Confessional lyrics at Holocene's bi-monthly emo night (FKA Taking Back Tuesday). Know all the words to "Sic Transit Gloria"? You're ready. XxscenexX forever. BRI BREY
9 pm, Holocene, $10

Grindhouse Film Festival: Deep Red
This month’s entry in the Hollywood’s celebration of Grindhouse cinema is a rare 35mm print of Dario Argento’s 1975 giallo classic, featuring the hallmarks of a great time with the Italian madman: garishly beautiful cinematography, innovative and disturbing kills, and of course—that synthy, sleazy, serpentine sound of Goblin poured all over the soundtrack. A carefully curated reel of Italian horror trailers precedes the feature. BOBBY ROBERTS
7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9

The Portland Mini Maker Faire
Check out the thriving community of people who make things in Portland, from 3D printing robots to sustainable artists to blacksmiths, jewelers, and rocket builders. The Portland Mini Maker Faire has a making mode for everyone, and should serve as a serious shop of DIY-project inspiration. MARJORIE SKINNER
Sept 26-27, 9:30 am, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

Angélique Kidjo & the Oregon Symphony
Renowned Beninese singer/songwriter and activist Angélique Kidjo brings her powerful voice to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall to perform a career-spanning set of favorites with backing from conductor Gast Waltzing and the Oregon Symphony.
7:30 pm, Arlene Schniter Concert Hall, $35-95, all ages

City and Colour, David Brazan
When he's not helping front the Ontario-based post-hardcore band Alexisonfire, Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green can be found performing blues rock and folk with his solo project, City and Colour.
8 pm, Roseland, $35-50, all ages

Wednesday, Sept 27

Alien
Once upon the ’70s, before there were doll-eyed albino Michelin Men, before fanged vagina-mouth Rasta-monsters from outer space barged in for a good rassle, before all the Winona-ing and cloning and sad Muppet Baby abominations, before the AIDS allegory and the Vietnam metaphors, before the titular nasty became just a screeching bug you can run over in your car, there was Alien, a movie about tired space truckers stuck in a floating haunted house with an unknowable, unbeatable Freudian nightmare made of genitalia, teeth, and KY Jelly. It is probably the best horror movie ever made, and it’s screens this week in tribute to Harry Dean Stanton, who counts among his myriad indelible movie moments the first ever on-screen death via full-grown xenomorph. A death witnessed only by Jones the Cat, who basically got him killed and didn’t do shit to stop it because cats are dicks. BOBBY ROBERTS
9:35 pm, Academy Theater, $3-4

Sound + Vision: Dan Dan, Wet Fruit
A love letter to Pittsburgh synth duo Zombi, Portland band Dan Dan is a soundtrack-y prog trio with NO VOCALS. Do not even try to expect vocals. Just be chill—but also full of high-tempo energy, like Dan Dan. SUZETTE SMITH
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, free

Sheer Mag, Tenement, Tony Molina
The Philadelphia-based punk outfit bring their infectious '70s classic rock sound back to Portland for an all ages show supporting their debut full-length, Need to Feel Your Love, the follow-up to the trio of EPs that garnered them plenty of well-deserved attention.
8 pm, Hawthorne Theatre, $12-15

Re-run Theater: Irwin Allen '60s Sci-Fi
The Hollywood’s tribute to classic television. This month: A pair of hour-long episodes from super-producer Irwin Allen. Best known for his paint-by-numbers disaster films of the ’70s (The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno), Allen got his first taste of serious shlock success in the ’60s, producing Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. One episode of each will be screened, with period-appropriate (and slightly psychedelic) commercials played during the commercial breaks. BOBBY ROBERTS
7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9

Grow Your Own Book Launch
Book launches tend to feature the author reading a couple passages, signing a couple copies and answering a couple questions. This book launch features an entire cannabis fair, with opportunities to meet the people helping transform cannabis cultivation into a legitimate industry.
6 pm, Holocene

The Cool Kids Patio Show
The Doug Fir patio hosts one of the finest free stand-up showcases in town, paired perfectly with some of our city's best singer/songwriters. This time, Emily Overstreet provides the sounds while David Mascorro, Dylan Jenkins, and Amanda Arnold bring the jokes. Hosted by Andie Main.
6 pm, Doug Fir, free

Thursday, Sept 28

Sturgill Simpson
This is the concert I’ve been most looking forward to since I moved to Portland—this 39-year-old progressive southern country singer/songwriter is just awesome. Check out his last two albums: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (“Turtles All the Way Down” is one of the best modern country songs, and his cover of British new wave song “The Promise” is so good), and last year’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, which won a Grammy for best country album. DOUG BROWN
8 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $39.50-69.50, all ages

Portland EcoFilm Festival
Considering the Trump administration's relentless assault on natural resources and national monuments, the Portland EcoFilm Festival is more important than ever. With a bunch of carefully curated features and shorts—many of which examine the land, people, and livelihoods of Oregonians—the fest boasts films about everything from river conservation to wilderness rock climbing to light pollution. Oh, and Chinatown—because this whole thing about America running out of water has been in the works for a while. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Sept 28-Oct 1, Hollywood Theatre, click here for titles and showtimes, $6-60

Landlines, Mini Blinds, Honey Bucket
Portland's premiere lo-fi indie rock and pop trio Landlines play a release show for their infectious new self-titled full-length. Like-minded locals Mini Blinds and Honey Bucket round out an all-around excellent bill with some catchy tunes of their own.
9 pm, The Fixin' To, $5

Taxi Driver
FUN FACT: Taxi Driver was originally titled Bickle's Pickle.
7 pm, Academy Theater, $3-4

Ben Folds, Tall Heights
The renowned singer/songwriter and producer brings his brand of piano-driven power-pop back to the Roseland for the Portland stop on his "Paper Airplane Request Tour."
8 pm, Roseland, $33-55

Todd Glass
People who know comedy, know and love Todd Glass. The stand-up legend—who’s also the host of the great The Todd Glass Show podcast and the writer of a critically acclaimed and revealing 2014 memoir about his intense life, the LA comedy scene, and his sexual orientation—brings his trademark high-energy act to town. He’s doing five shows, so you have no excuse not to go to at least one of them. DOUG BROWN
Sept 28-30, Thurs 8 pm; Fri-Sat 7:30pm, 10 pm; Helium Comedy Club, $17-33

Frankie Rose, Suburban Living, A Certain Smile
Need a soundtrack for rainy-day baking? Something for dancing around the kitchen licking cookie dough from spoons with your beloved, the precursor to a hot ’n’ heavy makeout sesh followed by a melancholy afterglow about this moment slipping into the past? Sure, you could put on the Cure, but Frankie Rose’s lovely echoing, gossamer dream-pop is the exact-perfect soundtrack. COURTNEY FERFUSON
9 pm, Doug Fir, $12

Dave Mason
The Australian singer/songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall Famer returns to the Aladdin Theater for a headlining performance celebrating his acclaimed 1970 album, Alone Together.
8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $42.50-65

Thirsty City
Another month, another ThirstyCity, spotlighting some of the best up and coming hip-hop from around the country. This installment's featured headliner is Seattle-hailing producer and emcee Akira Gautama, with Alex Meltzer, Crocket King, Uglybootleg, and Billy Soul rounding out the bill.
8:30 pm, The Know, $5-10

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