Torment is Flesh Fest
The final night of the new local music festival focused on bringing some of the harshest, sludgiest, spikiest sounds of Portland’s underground into the light. Read our story on the Torment is Flesh Fest
9 pm, Tonic Lounge, $13-50
No Pants MAX Ride
It’s time for the yearly No Pants MAX Ride! One suggestion: How about along with taking your pants off on a MAX train every winter and doing the can-can, you also make TriMet’s services a regular part of your life? Bus ridership is down and MAX ridership is stagnant, even as our city sees unprecedented growth. Meanwhile, traffic congestion is worse than ever. Public transit has to be part of the solution—pants or no. DIRK VANDERHART
2 pm, Various Locations, $2.50-5
Rufus Wainwright
In an era when feigned lo-fi dominates the zeitgeist and “bedroom pop” has supplanted “indie” as the most spurious and meaningless genre descriptor, listening to Rufus Wainwright is refreshing. The son of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III—two incredibly accomplished musicians in their own right—Rufus was never one to shun his showy predilections. His self-titled 1998 debut, which spent two years in gestation and cost nearly $1 million to record, established Wainwright’s trademark of entwining operatic bombast with Tin Pan Alley tradition. His newer records are also great—in particular, 2012’s Out of the Game, which cheekily acknowledges and revels in its irrelevance. MORGAN TROPER
8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $60
Emily Wells, Like a Villain
Multi-instrumentalist/composer Emily Wells brings classical elements to electro-pop melodies, allowing strings and hip-hop beats to exist within the same song. Her experimental approach results in lush arrangements that’re orchestral but rooted in solid rhythms. Wells’ last studio LP was 2016’s Promise—an expansive, folksy, meditative, and beautiful piece of art. CIARA DOLAN
8 pm, Doug Fir, $14-16
Worws, Squalor, Ruined It, No Trial
It’s safe to say that everybody hoped the fire and brimstone of 2016 would improve this year, but 2017 whipped its way through each month with a series of face slaps. Thankfully, this energetic thrashcore lineup can help alleviate our collective angst: Salem’s No Trial will open the show with short bursts of power-violent relief. The blistering hardcore of WORWS will release any pent-up aggression boiling deep down inside, as will shouting along to songs from Squalor’s 2016 album Brain Dead Generation. A few laps around the pit might be just what the doctor ordered.
8 pm, The Know, $6
The Biggest Clothing Swap in the NW
Fact: Your closet is filled with nice but old stuff you don’t wear anymore. That’s why you should bag up your quality goods, and bring ‘em down to the Biggest Clothing Swap in the Northwest. Around a thousand other people will be bringing in their clothing too, so you can rummage through and SWAP clothing and accessories for women, men, and plus-size people—with all leftover clothes going to local charities. Plus there will be music, mimosas, AND Bloody Marys? Prepare to look and feel fabulous! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
noon, Crystal Ballroom, $8-9
DOA Pro Wrestling: Portslamdia
DOA Pro Wrestling sets up shop at Harvey’s Comedy Club to kick-start 2018 with “Portslamdia,” featuring a Lucha Libre Match, a 6-man Tag Team Match, and a DOA Grand Championship bout between Ethan HD and Schaff.
2 pm, Harvey’s Comedy Club, $15, all ages
Sad Horse, The Gutters, Plastic Harmony
Sad Horse makes some of the best punk to come out of Portland since Dead Moon’s heyday. It’s clear Elizabeth Venable and Geoff Soule draw creative inspiration from Fred and Toody—their releases play like short jolts of unbridled weirdness (“You Are Idiots” and “Old Daze”) cut with sweet, jangly duet interludes (“If I Was a Duck”). The pair’s 2015 Greatest Hits LP is a jarring listen; each of its 26 tracks packs a unique punch, with riffs that feel like they shouldn’t be where they are but work anyway (“Coyotes” and “Loafer”). Though Sad Horse hasn’t come out with any new music since Greatest Hits, their elusiveness makes these rare live sets even more special. CAMERON CROWELL
8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!
The Florida Project
Awards season is nigh, and headlines are already using “front-runner” and “Willem Dafoe” in the same breath. Dafoe has been lauded for showing his “softer side” as Bobby, a kind but no-bullshit manager of a budget hotel in Sean Baker’s latest indie gem, The Florida Project. The Oscar buzz is understandable—Dafoe is an acting wizard—but the real reason The Florida Project is a breakout success, and the reason everyone should see the film, is the rowdy, previously unknown seven-year-old actor Brooklynn Prince. CHASE BURNS
Various Theaters, see Movie Times for showtimes and locations.
Control Yourself 4th Anniversary
JoAnn Schinderle’s stand-up showcase turns four, and to celebrate she’s turning the stage over to her personal favorite established and up-and-comer local comedians.
8:30 pm, Alberta Street Pub, free
Don’t forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!