Happy Birthday, Dolly
The Fixin’ To fixes up a birthday party for country music’s sweetest, boldest, and brassiest queen, courtesy of local all-star supergroup Doll Parts (members of Havania Whaal, MELT, and Wampire), Matty Charles & Katie Rose, and Dead Lee. Plus the audience gets in on the fun too with Dolly karaoke on tap.
Jan 19, 9 pm, The Fixin’ To, $7
Chapter Mag‘s Creative Cultivation Dance Party #4
Holocene hosts the fourth installment of Chapter Mag‘s recurring hip-hop and R&B dance party focused on spotlighting PDX music and culture. This time around VNPRT, Grump, Vkiah, and Eric Fury lend their talents to the proceedings.
Jan 19, 9 pm, Holocene, $7-10
Psychomagic, Aan, Numb.er
Named after filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s book about shamanic psychotherapy, Psychomagic has been making trippy psych-rock for years. But the Portland band’s new EP, Pop Occultism, sounds less like the 13th Floor Elevators and more like the Blade Runner soundtrack—there’s lots of synth, and not much wah-wah whammy bar action. In a 2014 interview with Eleven PDX, Psychomagic said, “We are dancing space hippies, with lots of sea witches, guard dogs, astral projection, meatballs, séances during performance…” I can’t say I know what that means, but head over to Black Water if you’d like to find out. ISABEL LYNDON
Jan 21, 8 pm, Black Water Bar, $7
The Boxtrolls
While there are still slightly grotesque, strangely alluring creatures at the heart of Laika’s The Boxtrolls, this time they’re the heroes, unlike the undead of ParaNorman or the Other Parents of Coraline. While the elaborate set pieces get bigger and bigger as the film moves along (including a dazzling, dizzying dance sequence), the story gets muddled. Laika animators in attendance. ROBERT HAM
Jan 21, 2 pm, NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium, $6-9, all ages
Plastic Weather, Star Club, Nick Normal, Lost Nerves
Portland’s premiere “death disco” band Plastic Weather is finally unveiling its self-titled debut EP, a four-song testament to the power of synth-pop. Add a dash of post-punk, a sprinkle of dark distortion, and a smidge of glam rock, and you’ve got the ’80s-inspired goth dance party of your dreams—the perfect spooky soundtrack for the afterlife, when we’re all ghosts partying together. Noelle Magia channels Kate Pierson of the B-52’s with her dissonant, reverb-heavy vocals against thick synth and thrashing drums. Plastic Weather’s love of the bizarre is obvious, but it’s oddly inviting, carving out a space and sound for those of us on the fringes of traditional hyper-masculine punk. DELANEY MOTTER
Jan 20, 7 pm, Black Water Bar, $6, all ages
Lithics, Abronia, The Woolen Men, Mr. Wrong
This city’s been feeling pretty crowded lately, but fret not—the second installment of Get Outta Town is here to remind you that there are escape routes. The idea behind the concert series is to take local bands out of the metropolis to perform at a destination within an hour of central Portland. The first Get Outta Town was headlined by Divers at a farmhouse in Estacada, and this second excursion is at the rustic Skyline Tavern. It’s technically within Portland city limits, but anyone who’s bellied up to the roadhouse bar knows it feels like you’re out in the sticks. Enjoy its intimate confines with heavy hitters Mr. Wrong, Woolen Men, Abronia, and Lithics. RYAN J. PRADO
Jan 20, 9 pm, Skyline Tavern, $5-10
My Life in Dementia
Dr. Demento returns to Reed College for his annual series of lectures on the history of music. Tonight’s subject: Himself.
Jan 21, 8 pm, Reed College, $5
Fertile Ground Kickoff Party
Reece Marshburn and Marianna Thelen provide the music for all the drinking, dancing, mingling and planning sure to take place in Artists Rep’s Alder lobby as 2018’s Fertile Ground Festival begins in earnest.
Jan 19, 9:30 pm, Artists Repertory Theatre, free
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School
Roger Corman, notorious schlock-schlepper, wanted to go back to his teen movie roots at the tail end of the 1970s. First he was gonna make Disco High, but the genre was already dead. Then he tried to lock down Cheap Trick and Todd Rundgren, but—amazingly—they decided against getting underpaid by Roger Corman for two weeks of making disposable cash-in cinematic garbage. You know who didn’t say no? The Ramones! And with the help of Clint Howard, P.J. Soles and one motherfucker of an explosion (which was probably half of the film’s $200,000 budget), Rock ‘n’ Roll High School was born. Revel in its idiocy. BOBBY ROBERTS
Jan 20, 8 pm, Revolution Hall, free
Mcmenamins Wassail Cider Fest
Oh, you thought the wassailing ended with the holidays, huh? Wrong. Wassail it up in McMenamin’s style, with a daylong celebration of music, merriment, and over 35 different ciders. Admission is free, commemorative glass and drink tokens available on site.
Jan 20, 2 pm, Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, free
Don’t forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!