Mercury Music Picks: The Front Bottoms, Ali’s Indonesian Disco Psych, and a Little Bit of Everything Everything
Dearest music freaks and fans, This is Starly of the past coming to you live in the future. While I’m off gallavanting around the Midwest on my Dream Big Tour (I’m dreaming big), I cooked up some must-see recs that future (present) you have to know about! Keep Portland weird while I’m gone, and I’ll be sure to fill you in on all the hot tour goss when I return. Until then, please leave a message at the beep. I’ll be back before you know it! Music recs coming right up. Get ’em while they’re hot! Friday, September 18 Ali…
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Good Morning, News: Macklemore Speaks Out, Supreme Court Weighs In on Mail-In Voting, and Mitch McConnell Lives
If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution to the Mercury, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good morning, Portland! If you need the weather report: Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-60s, with a possible shower. It’s expected to heat up starting tomorrow and lasting through the weekend. But fall is in the air—the leaves are starting to change colors and fall into the bike lanes. Get your rakes ready, people. But first, read the news. IN LOCAL NEWS: • Oregon is partially responsible for…
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Chelsea Wolfe Offers a Dark Night of the Soul to Portland
We humans have an innate fear of darkness. The dark signifies the unknown, that which lurks within the shadows. But to be in the dark does not mean to lose oneself, nor does it represent danger. It can instead mean possibility, a simple change of perspective. For Chelsea Wolfe, darkness is a gift, and that has been the crux of Wolfe’s conceptual work for years. Her recent release, The Dark, serves as a love letter to the mysteries that thrive in obscurity. Wolfe’s ninth studio album released August 21, one week before the lunar eclipse was visible in the West…
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The Mercury’s Do This, Do That: Your Top Events for Sept 14-20
Good news for people who love poetic gravitas, horses, and the Oxford comma: Patti Smith will stop by the Schnitzer this week. Plus, a new silent film festival at the Hollywood turns up the volume with live scores. The fall run of the HUMP! Film Festival offers a reminder that your filmmaking neighbors are very sexy, and Circle V proves that vegan food rules, actually. Eat up! MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 Spectrum Between: Zorns Lemma on 16mm Under-the-radar screening collective Spectrum Between—known for holding avant-garde film programs featuring experimental directors like Stan Brakhage and Barbara Hammer—will present Hollis Frampton’s nonnarrative 1970…
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Good Morning, News: The I-5 Apocalypse Is Underway, RIP Beloved Comedian Nariko Ott, and AI Bosses Want to Tap the Brakes on AI
If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution to the Mercury, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Just in time for the I-5-pocalypse (more on that below), you can expect those morning clouds to fade away to sunshine this afternoon with a high of 70—just in time for your afternoon commute, may god have mercy on your soul. And now let’s get into survival mode for the NEWS-pocalypse! IN LOCAL NEWS: • And so the first day of commuting under the…
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Portland Comedian Nariko Ott Has Died at Age 46
Portland’s comedy community was devastated to learn Friday that Nariko Ott has died. He was 46. Ott’s colleagues and contemporaries began offering testimonials on Friday afternoon, many calling him a mentor and supportive presence in the city’s comedy scene. Kickstand Comedy postponed Saturday night’s Comedy in the Park wrap party until September 26, writing: “We are shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of a beloved member of the Portland stand-up community. At this time it feels appropriate to give ourselves and each other space to process and grieve.” Ott was a co-host of the “comedians vs. the news” monthly…
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Spin Cycle: Feel Good In Your Own Skin
The world seems mired in a perpetual scheming to dash you this way and that, to discard the intended path of your momentum, and leave a great big sinkhole in the road. The older you get, the more it appears that little clouds follow you around, ready to sprinkle all over your best-laid plans. And maybe that’s just the residue from a week of unseasonable rain and overcast doldrums that hit Portland in early September, well before any of us were ready for it. But that’s why having a nice stockpile of tunes to sidekick your ruminations is important—to fill…
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The Best Bang for Your Buck Events in Portland This Weekend: Sept 11–13, 2026
A little rain never stopped Portland from being weird, and this weekend offers plenty of reasons to brave the drizzle. On the docket: witness forgotten media at the Found Footage Festival, peek into some feline-friendly backyards on the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon Catio Tour, clown around at Clownfest, and cross the river for two days of free tunes at the Waterfront Vancouver Bluegrass Festival. For more ideas, check out our top picks of the week. FRIDAY FILM Found Footage Festival Volume 11Comedians Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher are the purveyors of some of the most ridiculous found footage known to man. Since launching their festival in…
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Practical Magic 2 Returns With Even More Pinterest Witch Adventures
First of all, the magic in Practical Magic (1998) was never practical. Who among us, if faced with the corpse of our sister’s bad boyfriend, would try necromancy to beat a murder charge? Literally no one. But herbal lotion entrepreneur and reluctant witch Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) was like: Yes, let’s Reddi-Wip a pentagram onto this man’s chest. What could possibly go wrong? Answer: He could possess your sister Gillian (Nicole Kidman), is what. Critics hated Practical Magic. Roger Ebert deemed it “too scary for children and too childish for adults.” But viewers watched it again and again, because what they wanted…
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Good Morning News: I5 Southbound Closes Today, 25th Anniversary of 9/11, and South Park is now SOUTH AMERICA
If you appreciate the Mercury‘s interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can also subscribe and have our papers delivered! Good morning, Portland! This app tells me it’s going to be a bit overcast today with a high likelihood of rain over the weekend, and I’m inclined to pass that info on to you for your planning purposes. Don’t shoot the messenger if we end up with sunny skies—I depend on this dumb app as much as the next person. Let’s get to the news. 📰 IN LOCAL…
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Meet the Candidates For City Council District 4
City Council District 4 encompasses most of Northwest and Southwest Portland, as well as a swath of Southeast from Macadam Avenue to Campesinos Boulevard (recently renamed from Cesar E. Chavez Blvd). Twelve candidates are running for three seats in District 4. It’s one of two Council districts in which those elected in 2024 are serving two-year terms under Portland’s new city charter, rather than a standard four years, to allow for the 12-person City Council to have staggered terms. The Mercury tracked each candidate to find out who they are, why they’re running, and who’s backing their campaign. Timothy TJ…
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Alleged Transphobes Kicked out of Providence Park and The Sports Bra
Sunday’s Portland Thorns match against the Washington Spirit came with a side of controversy after a woman, who claimed to be a fan of the professional women’s soccer team, said she and her friends were removed from Providence Park. According to Amy Sousa, an unidentified stadium employee told the group they’d been notified of something “transphobic.” Sousa also said she and her friends were asked to leave Portland’s The Sports Bra—a sports bar showcasing women’s athletics—because they were wearing XX-XY shirts. While ostensibly a clothing brand, XX-XY Athletics has found itself at the center of the controversy surrounding the inclusion…
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Coming Soon: The Mercury’s Finger-Lickin’ WING WEEK!
We’ve waited all year, and it’s finally here: Portland Mercury’s Wing Week is BACK, and it’s going to make every other wing week you’ve ever experienced pale in comparison. That’s right—from Monday, September 21 to Sunday, September 27, the Mercury’s Wing Week returns with one-of-a-kind chicken wings available at more than 100 (!!) of Portland’s finest bars and restaurants. And even better? Each order of six wings will cost you $10. (Oh, and a big, saucy thanks to our buddies at Jim Beam, Travel Portland, and Freight Beer for their help in bringing you Wing Week!) You’re in for a…
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FREE TICKETS THURSDAY: Win Tix to Grace Cummings, Marc Price, Perfume Genius, and MORE!
Who’s ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland’s best concerts and events; our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst… if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin’!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events coming at ya this week! CHECK IT OUT! (Note: This contest is active from September 10 through September 14). You can find our contest rules here. Join us for a month-long exploration of…
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POP QUIZ PDX: Drunk and/or Disorderly!
WHAT’S UP, SMARTY BUTT? It’s time to put that brainy-brain to the test with this edition of POP QUIZ PDX—our local, sassy-ass trivia quiz. And this week we’ll see how much YOU know about Portland’s drunk ancestors, currently breathing drunk politicians, and which drunk celebrity you’d most like to get drunk with! (Are you sensing a theme here? 🍸) But first, how did you do on our last quiz? Wow, I love how your brain works! And I completely understand your majority choice for who (or what) should’ve been taken from us rather than Dolly Parton! (French fries are overrated anyway. 😢)…
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