METAL MEDAL—Don’t miss the second installment of the Portland Metal Winter Olympics, a 16-band, winter-long competition in which up-and-coming local metal bands (tonight’s competitors: Taurus and Foal) face off in a battle of metalosity. No curling, no luge, no biathalon, just pure heaviness. And tonight, the Mercury’s metal writer Aris Wales is a guest judge! (Hey bands, a bribe tip for ya: Aris just loves Eskimo kisses.) NL
w/DJ Nate C; East End, 203 SE Grand, 9:30 pm, $2
SANTAGATE!—Christmas is all about tradition—doing the same whimsical rigmarole every year. Change the tradition and children will burst into tears. Macy’s opened up the tearful floodgates this year by booting the Portland Santa who’d run Santaland for 28 years, opting for an East Coast contractor who uses—gasp!—fake beards! Catch the real Portland Santa in his new home in Pioneer Courthouse Square. SM
Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW 6th & Morrison, 9 am-9 pm, through Dec 24