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Posted inMusic

GZA Makes Up for Lost Time at Hawthorne Theatre

But he needs to buy himself a watch next time!

As Portland-grown rapper Vursatyl finished his set on May 12, he demanded the crowd get hyped for GZA, the Wu-Tang Clan deity visiting the Hawthorne Theatre in celebration of 30 years of his classic Liquid Swords album. The respectably sized crowd squealed with joyโ€”after all, itโ€™s not often you get to see one of the […]

Posted inTheater & Performance

Shaking the Tree’s Glass Menagerie Shines Despite the Darkness

Samantha Van Der Merwe delivers the feel-bad hit Tennessee Williams would have wanted.

Many, many years ago, I had my first taste of The Glass Menagerie, the foundational memory play by Tennessee Williams. My high school staged it. So as I entered Shaking the Tree Theatreโ€™s performance space, the gleeful words of our drama student aide rang in my ears: โ€œLetโ€™s get DEPRESSED!โ€  Itโ€™s always a crapshoot how […]

Posted inMusic

Concert Review: Riding the Synth Wave with Olivia Block + Pete Swanson + Seth Nehil

Compelling and confusing experimental grooves on a laid-back Sunday night at Holocene.

Southeast Morrisonโ€™s Holocene is easily one of the best places in Portland for music that feels like Capital-A โ€œArt.โ€ Artists like Chicagoโ€™s greatest unsung avant-garde pioneer Olivia Block, former Yellow Swans synth maestro Pete Swanson, and Hopscotch art installation contributor Seth Nehil are perfect for a space like this. Will you get to dance? Maybeโ€”but […]

Posted inPickathon

How to Conquer Pickathon (And Still Love It in the End)!

A guide to seeing every band—plus some—at Portland’s best festival.

To love anything is to be challenged by it. Love shouldnโ€™t hurt you, and at its best, it has the power to push you to your limits in pursuit of growing, changing, and learning something new about yourself. After all, as the late Andrea Gibson once said, โ€œIt hurts to become.โ€ย  Depending on what it […]

Posted inPickathon

Pickathon: A Friendly Guide to Portlandโ€™s Greatest Festival

So many stages! To camp or not to camp. What’s a dish token? 

Itโ€™s that time again, Portland: The 25th annual Pickathon music festival is upon us! Chances are, if youโ€™ve held court with any of Portlandโ€™s many, many music nerds and concert junkies, youโ€™ve likely learned a great many things about Pendarvis Farmโ€™s four-day, genre-agnostic blowout. Trying to describe Pickathon to people who havenโ€™t been is tough, […]

Posted inPickathon

Pickathon 2025: 15 Acts Not To Miss As Chosen By a Festival Vet and a Total N00b

Struggling with who to see? Let our most-anticipated acts this year help make it easier… or way, way harder!

Described by most who attend with an almost holy reverence, Pickathon is an immersive, magical, and otherworldly music festival, tucked back in the woods beyond Happy Valley. Hosted at Pendarvis Farm, the fest’s programming isโ€”year after yearโ€”some of the best in Oregon, 2025โ€™s lineup is no exception!ย ย  Itโ€™s pretty wild, but I (Nolan Parker, Music […]

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