ScanFair
Trust me when I say the Scandinavians know how to do the holidays—which is why the annual ScanFair is such a holly-jolly blast. Eat your fill of Nordic delicacies such as aebleskiver, lefse, krumkake, Swedish meatballs, pickled herring, rice pudding, and lotsa COFFEE, you betcha! Plus expect tons of vendors, a Pippi Longstocking kids area, a meatball eating contest (!!!), and a very special visit from Joulupukki—the Finnish Santa Claus! Uff da, that’s a lot of fun and entertainment. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
10 am, Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, $7-17, all ages
Wake the Town
Wake the Town comes bearing gifts. For December, the monthly bass/hip-hop/reggae night features local standouts The Last Artful, Dodgr and Neill Von Tally, whose Bone Music collaboration turned heads earlier this year, and who are guaranteed to bring enough heat to dry out those rain-soaked galoshes you’ve got on. DIRK VANDERHART
9 pm, The Liquor Store
2017 Holiday Ale Festival
For the 22nd straight year, Pioneer Courthouse Square gets tented, heated, and filled with over 50 specialty winter ales from some of the best brewers in the country. Come down spread some holiday cheer while indulging in an array of delicious Belgians, barleywines, stouts, and sours you won’t find at the supermarket.
11 am, Pioneer Courthouse Square, $35
Pere Ubu, Diminished Men, Lithics
Born from the same Midwestern subversion of fellow musical weirdos Devo and the Waitresses, Pere Ubu has been making compelling, existential art-punk since 1976. Since then, the band’s gone through multiple lineup changes—lead singer David Thomas is the only original member remaining. But his presence, along with the distorted noises lining each melody, is what defines Pere Ubu’s avant-garde existence. Thomas sings with frenzied desperation, his voice an emotional current rippling throughout his whole body during live performances. It’s impossible to hear the group’s early releases and not feel as though you’re listening to the source material for contemporary alt-rockers. But Pere Ubu hasn’t aged out—if their debut, The Modern Dance, were released today, it’d sound just as fresh and exciting as it did in 1978. EMMA BURKE
9 pm, Star Theater, $23-25
The English Beat, DJ Dr. Wood
The influential new wave, ska, and punk band out of Birmingham, England bring their energetic genre-hopping sound to the Aladdin stage for the Portland stop on a North American tour.
8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $35-40, all ages
Sugar Town Sno-Ball
We adore the semi-regular queer dance night, Sugar Town, which spins the most foot-stompingest classic soul. What could be better? The Sugar Town Sno-Ball: a semi-formal (or dress-to-impress) holiday party crammed with ’50s and ’60s R&B and ’70s soul, all spun by DJ Action Slacks and her special guest DJ Larsupreme! Ho-ho hit the floor! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
9 pm, The Spare Room, $10
A Perfect Circle
It’s tough to pinpoint what makes any Maynard James Keenan project so polarizing. His most popular creative vehicle, Tool, spawned a million pseudo-metalheads who probably had a hard time reconciling the band’s aggressive prog dalliances with Keenan’s emotional, nuanced vocals. When A Perfect Circle formed in 1999, it was billed both as a super-group, which it ostensibly was, and as something new, which was highly debatable. Despite the quality of the group’s 2000 debut, Mer de Noms, there was little to differentiate the music from Tool’s AEnima. A Perfect Circle recently released the lone single “The Doomed” to tease its as-yet-untitled forthcoming album. Some will probably hate the shit out of it—this first track includes strings, heavy metal flourishes, and xylophones—but that won’t stop thousands of fans from packing Memorial Coliseum. RYAN J. PRADO
8 pm, Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, $39-375, all ages
Bell Witch, Monarch, Usnea
Seattle duo Bell Witch crafts colossal funeral doom that’s as brooding and glum as a Pacific Northwest winter. The group dropped its self-titled demo in 2011, and most recently released Mirror Reaper, its grisliest work yet. The record’s format is unconventional, to say the least—it’s not broken up into tracks, and instead stretches across one epic, 83-minute-long journey of ambient ruin. It honors the band’s former drummer and vocalist, Adrian Guerra, who passed away in his sleep last year at the age of 35. There’s a heart-wrenching section of the album that incorporates some of his unused vocals from past releases. With Aerial Ruin’s Erik Moggridge providing guest vocals, Mirror Reaper is a fitting tribute to Guerra and Bell Witch’s most darkly beautiful composition yet. CERVANTE POPE
9 pm, Tonic Lounge, $10-13
PDXtreme Film Fest
’Sup gorehounds? Portland’s popular genre film festival, the PDXtreme Fest, has returned for a third year to treat audiences to a three-day glut of indie horror. There are guts, suspense, ill-advised amateur surgeries, and the devil, in all his many guises! So many devil’s guises this year! There are a few surprises and developments, too: First, PDXtreme has moved to the Laurelhurst Theater… to be closer to you! Mua ha ha. Second, there are even more features and shorts this year than in the past—61 total. The last surprise is likely mine alone, as I’m new to covering this festival: PDXtreme has some straight-up quality films! SUZETTE SMITH
Laurelhurst Theater, click here for titles and showtimes.
Skating Polly, Starcrawler, Skelevision
The Oklahoma-hailing “ugly pop” and rock trio spearheaded by the stepsister duo of Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse headline an all-ages show in support their new EP, New Trick, which features contributions from Veruca Salt’s Louise Post and Nina Gordon.
6 pm, The Analog Cafe & Little Theater, $10-13, all ages
Mope Grooves, Charlie Moses, Mersky, Scorch
Evan “Maus” Mersky is one of Portland’s busiest behind-the-scenes players. He was an original member of Portland power pop band the Cry! and is an engineer at Red Lantern Studios, one of the city’s best and most affordable recording studios. With his eponymous project, Mersky is stepping into the spotlight for the first time. His debut EP is a collection of indie pop songs that bring to mind the hazy nonchalance of early Grandaddy, and predictably, it’s great. Also performing is Charlie Moses, whose new album, Figurine, sits at the unique intersection of jazz and singer/songwriter pop. This show serves as the tour kickoff for both artists. MORGAN TROPER
8 pm, The Know
Sylvan Esso
The rise of electro-pop acts like Odesza, Tycho, Chvrches, Purity Ring, and Sylvan Esso as ticket-selling powerhouses is one of the more interesting recent trends in the music business. Not because these bands are connecting with throngs of people—it’s no surprise that young folks dig electronic sounds plus catchy tunes—but because they’re all so darn likeable. Sylvan Esso pairs Nick Sanborn’s glitchy, burbling sounds with Amelia Meath’s warm voice and lively vocal melodies. Plus they keep it low-key on the personality/spectacle front—it’s not that bands have to be boring to be enjoyable, I’m just saying there’s obviously a huge market for danceable electro-pop without all the whomp and glitter of the Electric Daisy Carnival. BEN SALMON
8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $27
Giants in the Trees, The Wild Body
Kris Novoselic’s latest band, Giants in the Trees, bring their blend of Pacific Northwest-rooted pop and indie rock back to the Fixin’ To stage.
9 pm, The Fixin’ To, $8
Gran Ritmos & Club Tropicana
Gran Ritmos and Club Tropicana join forces in an effort to pull you up from out of the depths of winter and into a bright and sunny paradise, with disco boogie, Latin house, and tropical bass sounds courtesy of 2TABS (Michael Bruce + Coast2c of Gran Ritmos) and Baby Mango and Jonny Guava (of Club Tropicana).
9 pm, Holocene, $5-7
White Christmas
Maybe consider doing something nice for once and take your grandmother to a Bing Crosby movie, you ungrateful, selfish little jackass.
1 pm, Hollywood Theatre
Don’t forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!