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 love and gender are infinitely expansive, so is music taste. Check out something new, let your bestie drag you to see your old favorite band, whoop it up in the mosh pit and on the dance floor! We’re lucky to have such incredible access to so many kinds of music, take advantage of it!
Thursday, April 17
These Fucking Hands / Crowd Control / Guilt Tradition / Fate of Existence
For fans of Slime, Misery Whip, Aggro
I’m crushed to report that this will be the last show for one of Portland’s heaviest bands, These Fucking Hands. Though the band has only been around a couple years, they've garnered a cult following in various hardcore scenes up and down the West Coast. Dry your tears with their small but mighty discography, and say bye bye in the inevitably massive pit that will tear the crowd open. Speaking of crowds, Sacramento’s smackdown lords, Crowd Control are pulling up along with Portland’s Guilt Tradition and Fate of Existence. (ask a punk, Thurs April 17, 7 pm, $13, all ages)
Friday, April 18
Mangled State / Kevlar Upper / Lab Rat / 22RE
For fans of Lebenden Toten, Fashion Change, Help
BLACK WATER IS DEAD! LONG LIVE BLACK WATER! Thank god the vegan-hardcore-drag haven that is Black Water Bar wasn’t closed long between the shuttering of their Broadway location and opening their new Sandy digs. In profoundly BW fashion, the first show in the new space is noisy, distorted beyond comprehension, and does not give a fuck. Bring earplugs so your sound holes don’t fall off your head when Mangled State stomp through their set, playing their debut album Pain Incarnate. Kevlar Upper—signed to Seattle’s Iron Lung Records—ooze a slower hardcore groove than the rest of the bill that will see kids prowling the edges of the pit in search of their next victim. Portland’s Lab Rat and 22RE get this hedonistic party started. (Black Water Bar, 5115 NE Sandy, Fri April 18, 8 pm, $12, tickets at the door, all ages)
Saturday, April 19
Yelling Choir presents What Will Contain Us?
For fans of experimental vocal ensembles, femme/women’s/gender non-conforming liberation, yelling
It’s likely we’ve all felt the need to release through the cathartic act of yelling, but what if we yelled in community, with like-minded people? What if we yelled in an emotionally regulated setting with the intention of rejuvenating the nervous system and empowering femmes, women, and gender non-conforming people? The world would probably be a better place and, thanks to the Portland-based Yelling Choir’s founder Maxx Katz, we have access to such concepts and spaces. On this interactive night, Yelling Choir will be presenting their new work, What Will Contain Us?, along with hosting a yelling/vocal workshop after the performance in which yelling is encouraged but by no means required. (Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division, Sat April 19, 5 pm, $25, tickets here, all ages)
An Evening with Ida and Tsunami
For fans of Idaho, Rex, Low
The march of reunited ’90s slowcore bands upon Portland continues with Ida and Tsunami playing Polaris Hall (moved from Mississippi Studios, all tickets honored) on April 19. These two bands, hailing from NYC and DC respectively, were quintessential in developing the softer, more ethereal side of emo’s second wave, which we sometimes call slowcore. Intentional, humming, and often somber, Ida and Tsunami both perfectly soundtrack Portland’s lush first bloom of spring we’re currently experiencing. You better get to the gig early no matter who you’re most excited to see, as I believe that this is a co-headline tour and the bands are flipping a coin every night to see who plays first. (Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Ct, Sat April 19, 8 pm, $30, tickets here, 21+)
Extradition Spring 2025 Concert
For fans of Matana Roberts, Holland Andrews, Alice Coltrane
The Extradition music series is one of the pillars of Portland’s thriving experimental music scene, championing regional composers and musicians while regularly bringing artists and performances to town that otherwise would not be appearing in the city at the clip we have become accustomed to. Their spring concert will see works by both living and deceased composers, performed by some of the region's most luminary experimentalists. The crown jewel of the evening is the composition Score Against Sustained Ideas (Getragen) by Jennie C. Jones—a living visual artist and composer who is the first Black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. Fair Ellen by Barbara Benary will also be featured along with compositions by Malcolm Goldstein, Cat Hope, and Matt Hannafin. (Leaven Community, 5431 NE 20th, Sat April 19, 7:30 pm, $12, tickets here, all ages)
Safety Trance / Patrona / Gitanøs / Nene G
For fans of Arca, La Goony Chonga, MJ Nebreda
Venezuelan producer Safety Trance—aka Cardopusher—mashes reggaeton and perreo with body-rocking futuristic bass creating some of the sexiest, most deeply danceable music coming out right now. Safety Trance uses only top shelf melodies and samples that he then manipulates, creating sonic assaults driven by an unrelenting low-end and punctuated with glitches and a production style unmistakably his own. Warming up the dancefloor is a who’s who of Portland’s thriving Latinx DJs that includes Patrona, Gitanøs, and Nene G. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Portland is being put on rave and techno maps with nights like these. Big shouts to Global Based and 4x4 for being a huge part of Portland’s party renaissance and making this all-nighter happen. (Process, 5040 SE Milwaukie, Sat April 19, 10 pm, $20, tickets here, 21+)
Sunday, April 20
(happy holiday to those who celebrate)
Klonns / Gag
For fans of Hong Kong Fuck You, Bulma, Physique
All hail the return of Black Water! As we were shouting above, the Portland institution wasn’t closed long, but you never know in trying times like these… This is the second show in the new BW space and it'll see what is hopefully the first of many appearances by Japan’s Klonns and Seattle’s Gag. The two bands—who are on tour together—are the perfect complement to one another: Both are aggressive, face-paced hardcore, baring no holds and giving zero fucks. It’s not everyday we get Japanese beatdown legends pulling up—get to the venue nice and early to secure a spot and tuck into some of the city’s best bar food, vegan or otherwise. (Black Water Bar, 5115 NE Sandy, Sun April 20, tickets at the door, all ages)
Also very worth it…
Snõõper / Cherry Cheeks / Only Only at Polaris Hall - April 17, tickets here
Pussy Riot / Margø at Polaris Hall - April 18, SOLD OUT
Artur Zakiyan at Winningstad Theatre - April 18, tickets here
Niis / Kent Osborne / Machine Country at Show Bar - April 18, tickets here
Wly Mtn / Love Hiss / Perfect Buzz at the World Famous Kenton Club - April 19, tickets at the door
Big Soft Punch / Spyglass / Mirror Mirror at Kelly’s Olympian - April 19, tickets here
Lord Carrion / End of Small Sanctuary / Diositopes / Percolator at the Waypost - April 19, tickets at the door
Donnie Emerson & Nancy Sophia / Family Worship Center at Mississippi Studios - April 19, tickets here
Terror Cactus / Cuervo Cuervo / Dreckig at Lollipop Shoppe - April 20, tickets here
Ichiko Aoba / Owen Pallett at Revolution Hall - April 20, tickets here
Watch You Fall / Bare Minimum / Myst / Words of Scáthach at Pallet Portland - April 21, tickets here
L.A. Witch / Daiistar at Mississippi Studios - April 21, tickets here
Cloud Nothings / Slow Fiction / Generación Suicida at Hawthorne Theatre - April 21, tickets here
Juanita & Juan / Graveyard of the Pacific at Polaris Hall - April 23, tickets here
Deaf Heaven / Gatecreeper / Trauma Ray at Revolution Hall - April 23, tickets here
Friends Friends / Sunbathe at Showdown Saloon - April 23, tickets here
Portland Music News:
Our music columnist Jenni Moore does it again! Check out the most recent Hear In Portland to catch the buzz on some upcoming Portland shows including the deets on the Cinco de Mayo party of the year.
Record Store Day 2025 has come and gone. Though the day is over, it still may be worth it to tour Portland’s many record stores in search of RSD titles you're after. Check out our round-up of the top 10 titles this year.
Further tragedy has struck Portland’s music scene with the passing of Dave Allen. The 69 year old was the driving backbone of Gang of Four’s first two albums: Entertainment! and Sold Gold. Read our obit for whom the band affectionately dubbed the “Ace of Bass.”
