Mercury Music Picks

Thursday, June 12 City Cast Portland ft. Nolan Parker I’ve been listening to the City Cast Portland podcast for a minute now, and what a sweet surprise that they’ve asked me to come on the pod! I’ll be talking about the best outdoor music happenings popping off in Portland over the summer—of which there are many—along […]

I usually try to save the Mercury Music Picks intro for joy… This week’s a little different. I am so tired—exhausted even—of people using the r-word thinking it’s somehow subversive and edgy when it’s actually completely fucked up and ableist. You know what’s actually subversive under an administration that’s currently demolishing resources for disabled communities? […]

This past weekend I was afforded the opportunity to see two bands that I never thought I would have the chance to experience live: Rilo Kiley and American Football. The audiences at both shows knew every word to every song—it was emotional to say the least. Youthful heart break energy and nostalgia coursed powerfully through […]

As I’m writing this, I’m still buzzing after seeing Lambrini Girls at Mississippi Studios on Sunday. Their politics are abolitionist, their energy was off the charts, and they cajoled concert goers into building a human pyramid with ten people that the rest of the audience then started a circle pit around. It was one of […]

Well well well, what do we have here? Why, it’s the relaunched Portland Mercury Spotify account of course!  We’re dropping three heater playlists on you today with many more coming down the pipe in the weeks/months/years to come! These highly curated playlists have been pulled together by real Portland humans who care deeply about your […]

Jesus, it’s already mid-May! Time’s not linear but this year is just whizzing by! I hope everyone kissed their mammies, buried the hatchet, or were able to do something nice for themselves on Sunday! Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays are celebrations of life that—even if you don’t get on with your parents or dislike […]

God damn, god damn, god damn—as Beyoncé would say—there’s a lotta stellar music being made in Portland right now! Longtime Rip City psych-outs, Grails drop their new album May 16 while up-and-coming pop-punkers Alien Boy drop their new one May 9. And while that’s all well and good, whose idea was it for them to […]

Mercury Music Picks is all-city, baby! There’re shows represented in this week’s MMP in all five quadrants. There’s not much better in this life than catching an early show, jumping on your bike to mash across town, and arriving just in time to catch another band you’ve been dying to see. We rag on our […]

On god, this is the last time I claim this to be the most poppin’ week for live music in Portland! Because I reckon every week from now until October will be The Most Poppin’ week for live shows in Portland. That said, this coming week does have one of the gigs of the year, […]

Remember when I called last week the busiest week in Portland music of the year? Well, that was last week and this is this week, hunnies! The next seven days are beyond packed with potential gigs to see, and we’ve got the cream of Portland’s crop laid out for you below. Don’t forget: Just as […]

It’s really starting to feel like Portland spring up in here: One day you’re hiking Dog Mountain in short shorts, hitting Sugar Pine and the Sandy River on the way back into town. The next day, it’s head-to-toe rain gear hustling yourself down to Holocene to catch Crystal Quartez’s record release show after Kraftwerk at […]