August is certainly stepping through the door with a swagger, boasting a week’s worth of amazing—and amazingly unique and original—comedy from the fastest, funniest minds in the city, as well as their more politically-minded brothers and sisters in the realm of stand-up; a pair of bonafide cinematic classics on the big screen—one starring a giant among gangsters, the other starring Andre the Giant; back-to-back hip-hop blowouts from a Rhymesayer and a disciple of J Dilla, followed by a pop-punk blowout from… a band named Blowout. Build yourself the best week possible from the menu below.
Jump to: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
Monday, Aug 1
Black Milk & Nat Turner Black Milk’s sixth studio album, If There’s a Hell Below, was one of the most slept-on hip-hop masterpieces of 2014. As a lyricist, producer, and protégé of fellow Detroiter J Dilla, Black Milk’s compositions combine the beats of Slum Village with the fusion of ’70s-era Miles Davis, harkening back to the much-missed “Soulquarians” era. For his latest project, The Rebellion Sessions, Black Milk enlisted frequent collaborators and live backing band Nat Turner, and recorded 10 all-instrumental tracks of stripped-down grooves. The songs—if they can accurately be called songs—have a loose, improvisational feel, as though they’re only snippets of much longer jams. With Black Milk assuming the role of conductor to the three-piece band, The Rebellion Sessions is not necessarily hip-hop (though you could rhyme over the tracks if you wanted to), but jazz-fusion and acid-funk, as conceived by one of its most visionary living practitioners. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY
Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9pm, $17
Hollow Sidewalks, Spindrift
Portland’s Hollow Sidewalks casually catch your ear and pull you in until you can’t get enough. It’s a feeling that lurks beneath the mystical tapestry of their psychedelic post-punk sound, as if there’s a bigger story waiting to be uncovered. Frontwoman Nora Murphy Hughes’ lazy drawl, reminiscent of early Siouxsie Sioux, is backed by solid rhythm and understated, wandering guitar riffs. Hollow Sidewalks’ music is easy to lose yourself in, and has that rare ability to speak to a child of rock ‘n’ roll of any generation. CHRISTINA BROUSSARD
Valentine’s, 232 SW Ankeny, 9pm, $7
Laurie Notaro
New York Times bestselling author and Laurie Notaro reads from her new book, Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life, a witty and humorous look at the author’s ability to weather chronic setbacks when it comes to her domestic life.
Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7pm
Curtis Salgado
A bonafide Portland music legend, and one of the best blues musicians to ever live. Part of Holladay Park’s summer concert series.
Holladay Park, NE 11th & Holladay, 6:30pm, free, all ages
The Moth StorySLAM
A spinoff of the successful nationwide storytelling series, in which potential soul-barers put their names in a hat, and once called, have five minutes to tell their tale. The theme of tonight’s StorySLAM is “Setback.”
The Secret Society, 116 NE Russell, 8pm, $10
Tuesday, Aug 2
Metz, The Ghost Ease, Tango Alpha Tango
Toronto noise-punks METZ play sludgy post-hardcore that’ll ooze out of your pores and stay under your fingernails long after they’re done. Live, the three-piece unflinchingly drenches you with sonic gasoline and then forces you to endure a pyrotechnics show. It’s both overwhelming and abrasive—but don’t worry, you’ll love every second of it. CIARA DOLAN
Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9pm, $3 w/ rsvp
B-Movie Bingo: The Magic Crystal
Your monthly opportunity to literally check off a bingo card full of B-movie clichés. This month’s entry: The Magic Crystal. To clarify: I didn’t say The Dark Crystal. This is not a movie about freaky Muppets hissing and clicking at each other while an aggressive pomeranian-thing yaps at everyone all fucking movie long. (Shut the fuck up, Fizzgig!) No, this is more or less what would happen if you asked someone recovering from massive head trauma to describe Big Trouble in Little China to you. You’d wind up with Cynthia Rothrock fighting for control of the Force as a green rock that lets you talk to E.T. telepathically while letting you get your Jean Grey on—but filmed for $5. BOBBY ROBERTS
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7:30pm, $9
AlunaGeorge, Kari Faux, Rejie Snow
AlunaGeorge brings a chill R&B vibe to their electro-pop, which also tends to incorporate hip-hop elements. The UK duo is the vibrant singer/songwriter Aluna Francis and George Reid, who provides production and instrumentation. In 2013 they broke the Top 40 with a cool collaboration with Disclosure called “White Noise.” A year ago they signed with Interscope Records, under which they’ll release their second studio album, I Remember, in September. For now though, you can enjoy the duo’s soulful songs like their radio-ready lead single “I’m in Control” featuring Popcaan, “My Blood” featuring ZHU, and the album’s emotional title track, which was co-produced by Flume. Earlier this month they dropped yet another fantastically danceable track, “Mean What I Mean,” featuring rappers Leikeli47 and Dreezy. JENNI MOORE
Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, 8:30pm, $20
Pecha Kucha Night PDX
Portland’s influential thinkers take to the stage to share their ideas with slides and 400 seconds worth of time. The theme for this Pecha Kucha Night is “Voyages.”
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 6:30pm, $5-10
Abstract Rude, Chicharones, B. Qsuid, Bad Habitat
One of the Rhymesayers clique’s most seasoned and celebrated emcees is joined by onstage by some of the Northwest’s best local hip-hop acts.
Star Theater, 13 NW 6th, 9pm, $10
Autumn Whitefield-Madrano
Writer Autumn Whitefield-Madrano reads from her new book, Face Value, a deep dive into the socially mediated ways we think and talk about beauty, and how beauty shapes our lives.
Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7pm
Wednesday, Aug 3
Revolution Comedy: Stand Up for Don’t Shoot PDX
Andie Main and Jason Lamb host the latest installment of Portland’s most politically-minded stand-up showcase, with performances from JoAnn Schinderle, Zak Toscani, Marcus Coleman, Brandon Lyons and Mohaned Elsheiky, as well as improv from Black by Popular Demand, and live music by Free Mason Jar.
Kickstand Comedy Space, 7:30pm, $10
Blowout, Walter Etc., Ali Muhareb, Riled
Portland’s best pop-punk band is Blowout, and tonight celebrates the release of their debut full-length. Despite its title, No Beer, No Dad greets sadness with fountains of Rainier and the company of buddies. Blowout captures the two-toned feeling of wrenching existential despair and unbridled exuberance, a combination that sounds fantastic. CIARA DOLAN
Black Water Bar, 835 NE Broadway, 8pm, $7, all ages
Whitney, Michael Rault
Whitney are a Chicago-hailing rock band formed by Max Kakacek shortly after the break up of his pervious band, Smith Westerns. Catch them tonight playing in support of their Secretly Canadian-issued debut, Light Upon The Lake.
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 9pm, $12-14
Music on Main Street: Eyelids, Denim Wedding
Two of the Northwest’s better-known and better-regarded indie rock bands lend their skills and sounds to this summer concert series.
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 5pm, free, all ages
Thursday, Aug 4
The Princess Bride
100% pure charm in film form. That’s The Princess Bride. Not to say that Rob Reiner’s adaptation of William Goldman’s bestselling novel isn’t also shot through with moments of real romance (“As you wish”) and cathartic satisfaction (“I want my father back you sonofabitch.”) but the reason this movie occupies such a precious place for so many is the charm radiating off its styrofoamy sets, through a score that sounds like it’s coming out of a Casio keyboard’s single built-in-speaker, humming under dialog written so beautifully the actors can’t help but smile at the magic flowing out of their mouths. It proves you don’t need $200 million and two years of post-production to realize pure imagination. Not if you’ve got a big heart and all the charm in the world. BOBBY ROBERTS
Various Theaters, see Movie Times for showtimes and locations
Stumptown Improv Festival
If you’re not paying attention to Portland’s improv scene, you’re doing it wrong—it’s one of the city’s most uniquely delightful and quickly growing arts communities, and the Stumptown Improv Festival is one of your best chances to see as much improv as you can handle—both local and imported—in one jam-packed weekend. After last year’s sold-out shows and packed performances, this summer the fest has a shiny, new, (and importantly, bigger) venue—Artists Repertory Theatre—and a stacked lineup. There shouldn’t be any duds on the docket, but you especially can’t go wrong with up-and-coming local jokesters Tunnel, Bang + Burn’s relentlessly hilarious mini-action-movies on demand, the improbably named and consistently great J Names Improv, local legends the Liberators, and the clever Canadian ladies of Virginia Jack, whose performance style is less comedy bro, more bookish cat enthusiast. MEGAN BURBANK
Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison, 7pm, $14-17 single show, $37-40 fest pass
Bitch’n, Smoke Rings, the Wild Body
Bitch’n is equal parts Fugazi and Tom Tom Club, with the playfulness of Dirty Projectors and Hot Chip, keeping it bumpin’ with catchy songs accented by dark bass, psych-pop guitars and keys, driving drum beats, and all five women’s voices singing and sometimes shouting in unison. Experimental in nature, Bitch’n expertly weave a tapestry through their songs, keeping the project from falling into a single box, while simultaneously following a cohesive thread. JENI WREN STOTTRUP
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8:30pm, $10
Key Largo
There’s just so much to get film-drunk on with John Huston’s 1948 noir Key Largo. There’s Karl Freund’s amazing black-and-white cinematography, of course. There’s the forever-mesmerizing chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, seasoned to perfection in their fourth and final team-up on film. There’s the amazing bounty of hard-boiled dialogue ripping out of everyone’s mouths like bullets spat from the business end of a tommy gun. But above all, there’s Edward G. Robinson as Johnny Rocco, soaking in a bathtub, chomping on a cigar, serving notice that while Sopranos and Corleones might rise in his wake, none will possess the lasting power of his swarthy, malevolent majesty. You wanna see some gangster shit? This is some gangster shit. BOBBY ROBERTS Part of NW Film Center’s Top Down: Rooftop Cinema series.
Hotel DeLuxe, 729 SW 15th, 7pm, $7-12
Jon Rudnitsky
Recently named as one of the New Faces at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Jon Rudnitsky became a featured cast member on Saturday Night Live in 2015. Catch the rising star tonight when he brings his stand-up show to Helium Comedy Club.
Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th, 8pm, $15-25
Lithics, Wave Action, OVVN, Fussy
Lithics minimalist post-punk pulses and chirps, manically pushing forward and pulling back, while building insistent loops before pretending to fall apart, as vocalist Aubrey Hornor brings an understated, bordering-on-spoken-word nonchalance. This restraint, at least on record, keeps the tension high, while also keeping something bubbling below the surface, waiting. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON
Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth, 8pm