Pickathon 20th Year Kickoff Party
The Northwest’s best music festival celebrates two decades this year, and tonight Pickathon kicks off its 20th anniversary with a free party that will reveal the lineup for this summer’s installment, including surprise performances by some of this year’s featured acts. Be the first to know who’s playing Pickathon 2018, and you might win a prize, too! NED LANNAMANN
7 pm, Revolution Hall, free w/ rsvp
TYuS, 3am, Eso.xo.Supreme, Uglyfrank, R3X Wonders
A couple summers ago, Portland singer Tyus Strickland (stylized as TYuS) signed to Warner Bros and went from being a SoundCloud-famous star to owning the mainstream spotlight. His gritty R&B is along the lines of Bryson Tiller’s Trapsoul, as evidenced on his debut EP, Never Forget. Throughout its eight tracks, sultry-smooth, lightly Auto-Tuned vocals collide with bittersweet lyrics depicting modern romance and situationships. While he’s not exactly breaking new ground, TYuS’ sound is damn near irresistible. In November, he released another stunner—a six-track project called Phases that’s equally as enjoyable, along with a new song (and super-sexy visual) called “Cash Flow.” For those on the fence, I’ll just say that his set at Pickathon last summer only left me wanting more. JENNI MOORE
8 pm, Hawthorne Theatre, $15, all ages
First Aid Kit, Van William
The first time I heard the voices of Klara and Johanna Söderberg, I was a Fleet Foxes-crazed teenager feverishly searching for live videos of the Seattle folk band on YouTube. Somewhere in the depths of this wormhole I stumbled upon the Söderberg sisters’ viral cover of “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” and was completely floored. In 2010 they signed to Wichita and released their debut LP as First Aid Kit, The Big Black and the Blue, an album of simple, twee folk songs that didn’t quite manage to recreate the magic of their YouTube breakthrough. But the Söderbergs hit their stride with 2012’s The Lion’s Roar, a country-folk record with more opportunities to let their voices soar over pedal steel guitar, fiddle, hand-clapped rhythms, and Johanna’s Autoharp. First Aid Kit just released their fourth album, Ruins, which they recorded right here in Portland with producer Tucker Martine at his studio, Flora Recording and Playback, backed by some notable guests: R.E.M.’s Peter Buck on guitar, and Wilco’s Glen Kotche and Midlake’s McKenzie Smith on percussion. Thank the YouTube gods the Söderbergs emerged from that Swedish forest—apparently, we needed to be shown how it’s done. CIARA DOLAN
8 pm, Roseland, Good luck w/ the resale sites
Lez Stand Up: New Year’s Lezolution
Lez Stand Up returns strong for 2018 with another showcase of quality queer comedy, including sets from regulars Laura Anne Whitley, Caitlin Weierhauser, and Kirsten Kuppenbender, with special guests Andy Iwancio, Erin Jean O’Regan, Corina Lucas, and Sami Alloy.
8 pm, Siren Theater, $10-12
Jen Cloher, Mia Dyson
Fresh off a tour opening for Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Australian singer/songwriter Jen Cloher and her backing band swing back through town for an intimate headlining show supporting her acclaimed 2017 self-titled album. Read our story on Jen Cloher.
9:30 pm, Doug Fir, $12-14
Deathlist, Plastic Cactus, Mini Blinds
Deathlist is the solo recording project of Summer Cannibals bassist Jenny Logan, offering up frenzied punk rock that riffs wildly in a buzzy entanglement of guitar-driven chaos.
9:30 pm, Mississippi Studios, $8-10
I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba)
An anti-American, Cuban-Soviet-produced propaganda film from 1964, that suggests a fruitful, wondrous future under the caring, guiding hand of Fidel Castro. The politics of the film might not hold up after all these years, but director Mikhail Kalatozov’s audacious skills behind the camera certainly do.
7 pm, 9:30 pm, Fifth Avenue Cinema
Dirty Fences, Mean Jeans, Acid Wash
No one makes money selling records anymore, and touring for a living’s no walk in the park, either. These days, the way to cash in on your music is to sell it to a massive corporation, a mom-and-pop shop, the hip local government, or whoever’s got money, really. Enter local garage-pop heroes Mean Jeans, who are taking the antiquated concept of “selling out” to the next level with their new album Jingles Collection. Rather than wait for a company to reach out to them, the band has written and recorded 23 songs about brands like Coors Light, Applebee’s, Skoal, Hot Pockets, and Selsun Blue. Some of these songs are silly, some legitimately slay, and all radiate Mean Jeans’ killer sense of melody and humor. Brands: Get in touch with these dudes. Or show up at the Know tonight to watch ’em do their thing. Yeah, Dunk-a-Roos… we’re looking at you. BEN SALMON
9 pm, The Know, $10
Humours, Dryland, Cages, Law Boss
Bellingham’s Dryland and Seattle’s Cages bring their stoner rock, metal, and punk sounds to the High Water Mark stage for the Portland stop on a Pacific Northwest jaunt. Like-minded locals Humours and Law Boss round out the bill.
8:30 pm, High Water Mark, $8
Honey Bucket, Table Sugar, Mr. Wrong, Veri Vice
Honey Bucket’s 2016 album, Magical World—released by Portland label See My Friends—is a mid-fi wonder, packed with woozy DIY spirit and wily hooks. Across 13 tracks, Vince Skelly (bass/vocals), Matt Radosevich (guitar/vocals), and Jon Grothman (drums) are somehow disheveled and charming, urgent and easygoing. BEN SALMON
8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!, $5
Don’t forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!