Drizzle getting you down? Fed up with puddles? Try live music, it's sure to put the pep back in your step this rainy December. Local, national, and international heat this week includes two "Christmas concerts," jungle acid trumpet from Tokyo by-way-of NYC, an actual Christmas concert celebrating John Prine, some real deal Texas shoegaze, and the unbelievably chill hip-hop of Earl Sweatshirt.
And don't snooze on our impossibly large gift guide! I recommend subscriptions to Mississippi Records Community Supported Record Club, a subscription to the Mercury, and donations on behalf of conservative family members, enjoy!
Wednesday, December 10
Pop + Puppetry #10
For fans of the art of puppet making
Never ones to be upstaged (their last show featured a glowy, articulated octopus roaming the crowd), event organizers Bog Monster fill Holocene with another edition of Pop + Puppetry on December 10. The concert series is, at least partially, exactly what it sounds like—a showcase of local bands and puppeteers. But it's also more than that, and by "more than that" I mean you'll see three wildly original puppet shows synced to the lineup's music. When will you have this chance again?? Hopefully at next year's Pop + Puppetry, but... you should catch this one, right? Queer and sincere quartet New Here open things up for kitschy pop-punkers Creature Party and spacy wife-and-husband duo Dreckig. (Holocene, 8 pm, more info here, 21+) LINDSAY COSTELLO
Thursday, December 11
A John Prine Christmas
For fans of John Prine and Christmas
The winter holidays are often bittersweet, we revel in coziness and connection while pining for another year lost to time. It can be lonely, and there are few musical artists who capture loneliness better than good ol’ John Prine. In 1994, the singer-songwriter released A John Prine Christmas, an album of original holiday hymns including “Silent Night All Day Long,” and “Christmas in Prison,” alongside classic carols “Silver Bells” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” The album is filled with heartbreak, solitude, and plenty of the singer-songwriter’s double-edged storytelling—every tune imbued with his signature twang and a little giddy up. Folk composer Jenner Fox, a storyteller in his own right and noted “Prine scholar,” will be joined by a handful of special guests to revisit the record in tribute to the legendary balladeer, and this poignant season. (Showdown, 8 pm, more info here, 21+) BRI BREY
Friday, December 12
Dying Wishmas
For fans of Dry Socket, Move, Spy
Have you been a good slam dancer this year? Santa has heard our pleas and is rewarding us with an impossibly heavy, nine-band showcase featuring both touring and local crushers, largely fronted by femmes and/or queers—Santa’s (and Jesus’) favorite! Headliners Dying Wish are touring behind their massive new album Flesh Stays Together (did you know they were originally from Portland??); the Big Boy dudes come strapped with three EPs, including their ripper new Love Songs EP; Gouge Away (now partly Portland-based) released one of 2024’s best albums with Deep Sage; and our neighbors to the south, Eugene’s Boltcutter absolutely have one of the best albums of 2025 with Still Broke (featured in Mercury’s Best Portland Albums of 2025). Static Dress, Gridiron, Orthodox, Misery Whip, and End of Dayz pull up to round out this bill that might just entice Mrs. Claus out of pit retirement. (Roseland Theater, 4:15 pm, more info here, all ages)
Takuya Nakamura / Jesse Sugar Moore
For fans of Moor Mother, Portishead, Jamie xx
Ever wonder what it would sound like if Don Cherry and Aphex Twin had a baby? Japanese trumpeter, DJ, and ambient producer Takuya Nakamura may be our salvation from this impossible question. Moving to the US in ’90 and NYC in ’94, Nakamura’s resume is immaculate. The pantomath has lent his artistry to projects helmed by Quincy Jones, David Byrne, CocoRosie, and more. On his solo output, jungle and breakbeats drive and merge with bright trumpet for acid trips unheard of outside the deepest jazz and hip-hop circles. (Swan Dive, 10 pm, more info here, 21+)
Friday, December 12 & Saturday, December 13
Festivale Cool Nutz
For fans of the best hip-hop Portland has to offer
Good news for Portland hip-hop fans in search of a couple nights out on the town this winter: On December 12 and 13, veteran Portland emcee Cool Nutz is putting on two nights of his namesake holiday showcase—Festivale Cool Nutz. In addition to Cool Nutz himself, night one lists Mikey Vegaz, Maniac Lok, and Northside Tego will be playing, while night two will see Vary, DBOI Ltd, King Wess, Bobby Barrz, along with DJ Danny Merkury, and DJ Fatboy. There will also be a “Fashion Village,” including pieces from Bryan Walden’s local streetwear brand Black Mannequin, sneakers and gear from Stackin Kickz (usually located inside Lloyd Center), and merch from Profit + Loss Lifestyle (TrapKitchen’s brand curated by Mikey Vegaz), and Jus Family PDX, AKA the lifestyle and apparel brand of Cool Nutz’ hip-hop label Jus Family Records. (Alberta Street Pub, 9 pm, more info here, 21+) JENNI MOORE
Sunday, December 14
Glare / glixen / MSPAINT
For fans of Slowdive, Trauma Ray, L.O.T.I.O.N.
“Everything’s bigger in Texas” is a motto Glare seem to have misunderstood as a challenge. Hailing from the mean streets of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, the band has somehow hacked the Kevin Shields code, continually pulling out wall-of-sound shoegaze deeply akin to the original stuff in the last ’80s and early ’90s. It's hard to stand out in the sea of noisey pop music being made today, but Glare (along with the other two bands on the bill) make it look easy. Reno, NV’s glixen have pulled through town a couple of times this last year and continue making an impression, turning the distortion up on their ironically named Quiet Pleasures EP out earlier this year. And MSPAINT? IDK what to do with them, they used to be like hyper-pop Locust, but are now doing the Turnstile thing. It’s interesting for sure, and maybe seeing them like will make it make sense. (Holocene, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)
Monday, December 15
Earl Sweatshirt / Liv.e / Zelooperz / Cletus Strap
For fans of Freddie Gibbs, Madlib, Pusha T
Emerging as one of the best rappers attached to the Odd Future hip-hop collective, Earl Sweatshirt has been through the wringer: Addiction, sobriety, relapse, Buddhism, fame, marriage, fatherhood, et al. fray lesser artists, but not this Sweatshirt. His pains and struggles, his life, have crystalized the rapper into an immovably chill force in alternative hip-hop. His new Live Laugh Love album goes hard in Sweatshirt’s clockable low, stream of consciousness timbre. Voir Dire, Sweatshirt’s 2023 collab album with Alchmist, is especially ripe with aural juice. (Crystal Ballroom, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)
Also very worth it…
Holiday Hits vol. 4 at Mississippi Studios - Dec 10, more info here
Senses Fail / Story of the Year / Armor For Sleep at Revolution Hall - Dec 10, more info here
Monsterwatch / Perfect Buzz / Tiny Holograms at Dante’s - Dec 13, more info here
Portland Music News:
The new Sun Ra: Do The Impossible documentary has now screened twice in Portland. The Mercury sent Jesse Carsten to the first screening at Hollywood Theatre, read what they—a Sun Ra scholar of sorts—made of the documentary.
Prolific Portland concert photographer Holly Hazelwood has hit a couple goodies in the last weeks, check out what she thought of Primitive Man and Otay:Onii at Star Theater, and Olivia Block with Pete Swanson and Seth Nehil at Holocene. Get used to seeing Holly’s byline, she’s got a full concert calendar in the coming weeks.
Looking for stuff to stuff your hunny's stocking with? Portland's Hex Records just released the second installment of their Hex Zine. This issue features interviews with FACS, Helms Alee, Giants Chair, and more. Pick that up—along with the first Hex Zine and heaps of good records—over at their Bandcamp.
