Portland Black Film Festival
For years, the Hollywood Theatre’s Portland Black Film Festival has brought some fantastic films to town—films from African American filmmakers, films that focus on Black lives and experiences, and films that are worth a look from everybody. The 2018 edition, curated by local comics writer, filmmaker, and educator David Walker, is no different, filling February with a wide-ranging selection of movies… and on Saturday, February 24, the great Joe Morton, the festival’s guest of honor. Perhaps best known from his role on Scandal and for causing the robot apocalypse in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (THANKS, JOE), Morton will be in attendance for a 35mm screening of his 1984 comedy classic Brother From Another Planet, in which “The Brother” (Morton) lands on Earth and gets an apartment in Harlem. ERIK HENRIKSEN
7 pm, Hollywood Theatre
Ill Camille, Fritzwa
Though you might not yet be familiar with Ill Camille, you might recognize her voice as the icy-cool river running through the second half of Kendrick Lamar’s 12-minute opus “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” (from his 2012 major label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City). She dropped her own debut LP The Pre-Write in 2011, followed by Illustrated in 2012. But then the Los Angeles MC went silent for years; in an interview with Bandcamp, she explains that during that hiatus, she lost her father, her grandmother, and her uncle. In 2017 Ill Camille reemerged with the stunning, triumphant Heirloom. Throughout its 16 tracks, she raps about bottomless pain, systemic obstacles, her dreams, and her own warrior-like strength over gauzy backdrops that pay homage to her jazz, R&B, and old-school hip-hop influences. Ill Camille’s Portland tour stop is a can’t-miss, especially considering that Portland-by-way-of-NYC soul singer Fritzwa is the opening act. CIARA DOLAN
8 pm, Tonic Lounge, $10
MONSTER JAM®
Yes, Americans’ insane obsession with driving kills tens of thousands a year and turns the environment into a lifeless wasteland—but also? MONSTER JAM®! Featuring “high octane spontaneous entertainment and intense competition,” MONSTER JAM® boasts 12,000-pound, 1,500-horsepower big-ass trucks racing, doing sweet jumps, and cutting giant goddamn cookies!! MONSTER JAM®! There’ll also be supercharged ATVs and Speedsters, and–—buckle the fuck up!—Krysten Anderson, the first-ever female driver of Grave Digger, and Bernard Lyght, who’ll be driving Alien Invasion (he previously played Spider-Man in Marvel Universe Live!). Are some big trucks going to do awesome shit? YES! Will Bernard Lyght be wearing his Spider-Man costume when he drives Alien Invasion? Only one way to find out! MONSTER JAM®! ERIK HENRIKSEN
Feb 24-25, Sat 1 pm & 7 pm; SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY 1 pm; Moda Center, $25-95, all ages
Burger-A-Go-Go: Night 2
Cambodian-inspired rock band Dengue Fever tops Saturday’s bill, which also includes the dream-pop of Winter, sister act Summer Twins, and Portland’s own Patsy’s Rats. With nary a dude band in sight, Burger-A-Go-Go is a rare unicorn of a festival that moves girls to the front. CIARA DOLAN
9 pm, Dante’s, $20-35
Bitch School, Monumental
Loud, cranked-up punk rock is the name of Bitch School’s game, and they’re gonna leave a mark. NED LANNAMANN
9 pm, The Fixin’ To
Steve Byrne
The creator and star of the dearly departed Sullivan & Son might not be doing sitcoms anymore, but he’s still staying sharp with his stand-up.
7:30 pm & 10 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $17-34
Blowpony
Portland’s monthly queer-centric dance extravaganza returns to the Bossanova Ballroom for its February installment, with a special headlining performance by Los Angeles drag queen Meatball, music from DJs Airick X, Just Dave, Aurora, and special guest Mateo Segade, and enough go-go dancing to keep the club rocking all night long.
9 pm, Bossanova Ballroom, $10
Goodfoot 17-Year Anniversary Show
Seattle trio McTuff’s organ-centric jazz, funk, soul, and psychedelia sets the scene for the Goodfoot’s 17th anniversary blowout celebration.
10 pm, Goodfoot, $10
Despise You, Escort, Macho Boys, Acracy, Displaced
Thanks to the influence of speedfreak goofs like Spazz, Charles Bronson, and In/Humanity, the powerviolence heyday of the mid-’90s was always at least a little bit silly. Even Man Is the Bastard’s bass-heavy grand guignol was kind of funny. Despise You, meanwhile, was a brutal rebuke to anything resembling levity. The Inglewood band’s first life was bright and brief: a few splits with groups like Suppression and Stapled Shut and they were done. They never even played a show. The records, unbelievably intense documents of despair and loathing, were more than enough. Perhaps sensing that we all needed a proper soundtrack for our 21st century hellscape, Despise You reunited in 2007 and finally brought their bleak brand of super-fast hardcore to the stage. On their side of last year’s split with Coke Bust, the powerviolence pioneers sound as despondent and pissed as ever. Which is, in a weird way, comforting. CHRIS STAMM
8 pm, The Know
Miles Electric Band
Drummer Vince Wilburn, Jr, nephew of Miles Davis, brings an all-star band to the Revolution Hall stage to pay tribute to Davis’ electric period and celebrate the mark that the legendary jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer left on 20th century music.
7:30 pm, Revolution Hall, $25-55, all ages
Idiocracy
In 2006, 20th Century Fox looked at Mike Judge’s follow-up to Office Space and decided whatever Idiocracy was, it wasn’t good enough for theatrical distribution. They abandoned it in a couple theaters for a week, stuck it on DVD, and called it good. But the film not only found an audience on home video, that audience spent the next decade proselytizing on its behalf. Idiocracy was no longer a sloppy-yet-satisfying satire of our culture’s inability to handle progress—it was a prophetic vision of how access to all the information in the world doesn’t matter if the people accessing it don’t give a fuck about reading. Except now, on the other side of the shit-smeared, Trumpian looking glass, Idiocracy seems quaint more than anything. A lot of the jokes still land, yeah. But the belly-laughs are a little more sour and sad than you might remember. BOBBY ROBERTS
10 pm, Academy Theater
Don’t forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!