Events

FASHION & MUSIC—It’s not often that a retailer’s anniversary warrants a coveted spot on this page, but most retailers aren’t tomboy juggernaut Wildfang. To mark year two, they’re throwing a bash that begins at the shop and ends in a fireball of free awesomeness led by Summer Cannibals and Charts. Sold! MARJORIE SKINNERw/DJ Natasha Kmeto […]

Down Gown by Down Gown MUSIC—Ah, springtime! Fleeting armistice where every phylum takes up the dance of interspecies harmony! It’s the same deal with tonight’s De La Spring Happening, a blowout tribute to this most fecund season bringing together Máscaras‘ psych rock, the desert dirges of Ohioan, bemasked DJ sets, and much, much more. DIRK […]

MUSIC—Thankfully, we live in a time where only the most undignified troglodytes would attempt to claim, as our parents once did, that rap “isn’t music.” Pete Rock is one of the best beatmakers of the forever, and Slum Village’s constantly changing sound evolved from his influence. You see this show, you’re guaranteed to hear some […]

MUSIC—The eight-piece band ELEL isn’t the first thing you’d expect to come out of Nashville: radiant, electro-tinged pop with big beats, wide horizons, and a tinge of melancholy. It’s perfectly suited for either headphones or the dance floor, and their live show will allow their big sounds to be that much bigger. NED LANNAMANNw/John Appleby; […]

FRIDAY, MARCH 27 FOOTBALL—With rabid fans of the Timbers and the Blazers dominating the sports scene, it can be easy to forget that we’ve got an arena football team, too: the Portland Thunder. And tonight, they’re playing the LA KISS—Los Angeles’ arena football team that’s owned by (yep) KISS’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Seeing […]

COMEDY—Hot off her stint at the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber, the always hilarious (and glamorous) Natasha Leggero is a slam-dunk for comedy lovers. Armed with arm-length gloves and a faux sophisticated style, Natasha brilliantly skewers the narcissism of the upper class, and her crowd work is first rate. Miss at your own peril! […]

COMEDY—Since debuting last fall, the delightful $5 Bill Comedy Night’s flourished under the steady hand of Mercury friend Robert Ham, and for good reason: Five bucks gets you consistently great stand-up at adorable, record-filled Turn! Turn! Turn! Tonight, Caitlin Weierhauser, Brodie Kelly, Barbara Holm, Tim Ledwith, and host Jenna Zine will crumple your face with […]

BASKETBALL—Man, tonight’s matchup. So many threes. All those jumpers, blotting out the sun. Not a single light in the house will remain by the final buzzer when the Blazers take on the Warriors. “But like, can you imagine if Wesley Matthews was sti—” SHUT UP. It’s still too soon. Damn you, Basketball Gods. Damn you […]

MUSIC—One part funky brass outfit and one part Indian wedding band, Red Baraat’s sound is difficult to pinpoint but remarkably easy to like. With horns and dhol drums, this is music for straight-up partying—if you don’t feel like dancing, Red Baraat will change your tune in seconds flat. NED LANNAMANNMississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 8 […]

FRIDAY, MARCH 20 MUSIC—The Ceremony of Sludge mini-fest returns for the fourth year—and its first at the Tonic—of ear-melting aural lava, with two packed nights of some of the heaviest, sludgiest bands around. Tonight, don’t miss the firestone metal of Holy Grove, and tomorrow night Diesto detonate their explosive doom. Plus lots of other heavy […]

MUSIC—The criminally underrated Canadian metal band Anvil—subject of the must-see documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil—returns to Portland with another ear blastin’, roof burnin’ dose of heavy metal. Joining them will be the local and also underrated (in my mind) Lord Dying, whose reliable power sludge contains so many hot licks you’ll be tempted to […]