This weekend might (maybe) be okay enough to go outside in, unless some new, unforeseen flavor of apocalyptic vision descends upon our city. And even if it does—hell, that’s what art and food is for, to remind us that there is good in this world, and it’s worth experiencing while we’re here. TBA:17 takes over the city starting Friday, the best of Stanley Kubrick takes over the Hollywood Theatre all weekend long, and if you get hungover on all that thought-provoking art, there’s a whole festival dedicated to the best breakfast drink ever invented on Sunday. Oh yeah, there’s a giant comic con in town too, and an amazing all-ages concert at City Hall, and a festival showing just how amazing Portland Mercado really is. It’s a damn good weekend ahead. Don’t let it go to waste—hit the links below and load that plate accordingly.

Jump to: Friday | Saturday | Sunday

Friday, Sept 8

Kubrick on Film
A few months ago, the Hollywood Theatre presented a slew of Spielberg classics—all on film—to kick off their “Celluloid Spotlight” series. Now that series continues with Kubrick on Film, which boasts some of greatest works of the brilliant filmmaker. Starting with a 70mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey, this weekend also offers some all-time classics on 35mm: the black-and-white noir The Killing, the stunning drama Barry Lyndon, the spine-chilling horror of The Shining, and the ever-relevant sci-fi shocker A Clockwork Orange. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Sept 8-11, see hollywoodtheatre.org for titles and showtimes, $6-12

Rose City Comic Con
Portland’s annual celebration of all things pop-culture returns for its biggest year yet, featuring appearances by Peter Capaldi, Weird Al Yankovic, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, and a slew of other artists, creators, voice talent, and celebrity guests from the realms of comics, film, gaming, animation, and sci-fi.
Sept 8-10, Oregon Convention Center, $5-350, all ages

TBA:17
It’s time again for the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s annual Time-Based Art Festival (TBA) and its delirious stretch of rebuttals to anyone who says they don’t like performance art. You’re wrong! You don’t like bad performance art, so quit whining and get in line. Not sure where to start? I recommend what’s sure to be an amazing collaboration between boundary-pushing artists keyon gaskin and sidony o’neal; the interdisciplinary work of Demian DinéYazhi’, rooted in a queer feminist ethos and indigenous identity; and your last chance to attend Critical Mascara: A Post-Realness Drag Extravaganza, which is, delightfully, exactly what it sounds like, and this year features returning player Carla Rossi, Portland’s tackiest drag clown. Be slightly open-minded, and you can’t go wrong. MEGAN BURBANK
Sept 9-17, read our guide to the local essentials of the festival, and then visit pica.org for the full schedule of events.

Benjamin Booker, She Keeps Bees, The New Respects
Hailing from New Orleans, blues singer Benjamin Booker brings electrifying authenticity to the genre. Though modern blues-rock bands like the Black Keys and Alabama Shakes get a lot of radio play, they can feel like regurgitations of the same polished sound. Booker’s approach is distinct—he puts an indie-rock spin on the traditional roots music he loves. In June he released Witness, a soulful, funky smattering of his many genre-spanning talents. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what genre you call it, though—if you can dance to it, who really cares? DELANEY MOTTER
9 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $18-20, all ages

The Church, The Helio Sequence
Australian psychedelic rock institution The Church swing through Revolution Hall for the Portland stop on a tour supporting their latest full-length, Man Woman Life Death Infinity. Beloved local indie rock duo the Helio Sequence lend their support.
8 pm, Revolution Hall, $35-40

Benoit Pioulard, Ilyas Ahmed
Former Portland denizen Thomas Meluch, AKA Benoît Pioulard, first garnered notice about a decade ago as a Nick Drake-like figure for the post-IDM set, shading his delicate songs with the sort of muted faded-rainbow gauze favored by electronic dreamweavers like Fennesz and Tim Hecker. In the last couple of years, though, songs (in the traditional sense, anyway) have receded into the background in exchange for crackling, calmly assertive instrumental miniatures inspired by sounds from the natural world. Surprisingly, this more abstract approach has made for some of the most engaging shows of Meluch’s career. DUSTIN KRCATOVICH
8 pm, Beacon Sound, $5

Ages and Ages, Genders, Robin Bacior
Beloved local 6-piece Ages and Ages bring their timeless choral pop sounds down to the Doug Fir Lounge for a hometown show. Expect to hear plenty of cuts from their excellent 2016 album, Something To Ruin, as well as a glimpse of what’s next for the band. Fellow stand-out locals Genders and Robin Bacior lend support.
9 pm, Doug Fir, $12-15

OK Go
An all ages show with the Chicago-haling/Los Angeles-based alt rock and pop quartet who became household names thanks to their their elaborate one-take music videos.
8 pm, Roseland, $20, all ages

Craig Johnson
Craig Johnson reads from The Western Star, the latest novel in his New York Times bestselling Longmire series.
7 pm, Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing

Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Nerds have done their best to ruin Monty Python and the Holy Grail—quoting it at every opportunity, screeching “NI!”, ad infinitum—but even they can’t tarnish the glory of the 1975 comedy classic. See it on the big screen with a beer, as god (and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot) intended.
Academy Theater, see Movie Times for showtimes, $3-4

Mr. Wrong, Way Worse, Plastic Weather, Toxic Slime
Read our review of Mr. Wrong’s latest!
8 pm, The Know

Music for Everyone Day
City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and Friends of Noise join forces to turn City Hall into a concert hall, with performances from The Woolen Men, Sama Dams (heyyy), BLK + IVY, Ryan Nakano, Maurisa Destiny Golden, JoJo Scott, and DJ Max, all helping raise awareness for Portland’s need for all-ages venues and spaces for the city’s creative youth.
4 pm, City Hall, free, all ages

Saturday, Sept 9

Taste of Latinoamérica
The Portland Mercado is always an excellent place to spend a Saturday, and that goes double today when the vibrant Latino market hosts the third annual Taste of Latinoamérica festival. The all-day celebration of Latin American culinary and culture: more than 25 vendors, all representing different countries with unique-to-the-region food, drinks, and crafts, along with kid friendly activities and live music for dancing. While you’re visiting, be sure to pick up a container of carrot habanero salsa from Kaah Market—the flavorful paste-like salsa is destined to become your latest and greatest craving. CHIPP TERWILLIGER
noon, Portland Mercado, free, all ages

Cigarettes After Sex
Cigarettes After Sex isn’t a very good band name. In fact, it’s horrendous, and invokes the pseudo-noir aesthetic of moody Instagram filters and reclaimed Edison bulb lamps and writing on a typewriter in 2017. But frontman Greg Gonzalez leans into this curated vibe on the Brooklyn-via-El Paso group’s self-titled debut, released in June on Partisan Records. It’s an excellent dream-pop record, if you can tune out the lyrics—the worst offender is “Apocalypse,” with the profoundly lazy rhyme “Your lips, my lips/Apocalypse.” It’s an album about modern love, but as the Guardian said in their review, “Gonzalez has a habit of writing about sex in a manner that somehow suggests he only saw a lady naked for the first time last week and is still reeling from the experience.” He’s a master of ambient melody, though, whisper-crooning his subpar lyrics like he’s singing lullabies in a sleeping bear’s cave. The music is gorgeous and hypnotic, but the words are eyeroll-inducing: “Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby/As long as you’re with me, you’ll be just fine.” CIARA DOLAN
9 pm, Doug Fir, $18-20

Wizards Assemble Pub Crawl
Greetings, common folk! ‘Tis I, Gandalf! I’ve sailed all the way from Valinor to magically reveal that while you could spend $65 to get into this weekend’s Rose City Comic Con—and, once inside, cough up another $100 to get your picture taken with Doctor Who—there’s a far better use of your time: Get shit-faced with a bunch of wizards! In addition to $5 drink specials, the Wizards Assemble Pub Crawl vows to enchant “thousands of wizards and witches” with “wizard cocktails and potion drinks” (those sound safe!), a costume contest (oooo, sexy!), a Hogwarts-style “house sorting” (Hufflepuffsayswhat?), and a “graduation certificate” (sure to impress your parents)! Abracadabra! GANDALF THE GREY
4 pm, Various Locations, $16

Chuck Westmoreland, Mission Spotlight
Westmoreland plays songs from his self-titled debut album, a definite departure from the psychosexual pop of the Kingdom, focused on piercing examinations of loss, love, and surviving tragedy.
9 pm, Bunk Bar, $5

Tall Paul Fest
The famous Paul Bunyan statue in Kenton has seen way better days. An axe is little defense against chafing winds and unceasing rains, after all. So head north today to drink a special “Tall Paul Lager” from Widmer Brothers, root on the Timbers against NYC, and rake in goods via a live auction. All proceeds go toward the restoration of the NoPo landmark. Timber Jim will be there! DIRK VANDERHART
noon, N Willis & N Brandon, free, all ages

Mac DeMarco, The Garden
Pop-rock jester Mac DeMarco revealed a soft underbelly on his new record, This Old Dog. It’s a sharp left-turn from his jangly, island-flange guitar freakouts. Buoyed in sentimental lyrics, DeMarco sizzles on the Sea Change-esque title track, which trades the happy-go-lucky prankster’s Salad Days abandon for a self-reflective meditation on the fragility of life. He still resurrects crisp, vaguely schlocky guitar runs from the bowels of the mid-’80s on the trippy “On the Level” and the peppy “Baby You’re Out.” The newfound levelheadedness of This Old Dog suggests that DeMarco will probably be around for a while. I can only imagine the fun he’ll have performing at a zoo. RYAN J. PRADO
7 pm, Oregon Zoo, $30-90, all ages

Broncho, Billy Changer
Broncho’s music is highlighted by diverse guitar tones that range from glittery psychedelic-rock, to shoegaze noise-pop, and even to Robert Smith-like goth. Frontwoman Samira Winter switches between singing in English and Portuguese as she simmers on different forms of longing. Her voice has an icy cadence that pairs nicely with the warm backing music, with this disparity perfectly capturing the conflicted nature of desire. CAMERON CROWELL
9 pm, Star Theater, $13

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
In 1982, Amy Heckerling and Cameron Crowe provided one of the most incisive, insightful looks into what high school was really like. Thirty-five years of constant pop-culture referencing has rendered the film quaintly cliché, a collection of questionable fashions coughing up cornball dialogue. But two aspects of the film still ring as true today as they did then: The muted desperation humming under everything Judge Reinhold does (yes, his character has a name, but such is the curse of Judge Reinhold—everyone he’s ever played simply becomes Judge Reinhold), and the reluctantly charming relationship between Mr. Hand (Ray Walston) and his good-natured problem student, Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn). BOBBY ROBERTS
4:30 pm, 9:30 pm, Laurelhurst Theater, $3-4

Eyelids, Echo Echo Echo, Lonesome Heart Radio
Eyelids are no longer the parts of their sum, they’re just the kind of killer all-star group that sometimes serendipitously springs up here in Portland. BEN SALMON
9 pm, The Fixin’ To, $5

Tallwomen, Mujahedeen, Dim Wit, Toxic Slime, Anaïs Genevieve
A range of local rock, folk, and experimental acts get together at the Black Water Bar to raise money for the Immigration and Refugee Community (IRCO).
7 pm, Black Water Bar, $6, all ages

Reverend Horton Heat, Fishbone, Strung Out, Larry & His Flask
A night of rowdy-ass rockabilly rave-ups from one of the masters of the genre, with long-running funk, ska, and punk act Fishbone and Fat Wreck Chords mainstays Strung Out providing support.
9 pm, Roseland, $29.50-42.50

IPRC Grand Re-Opening
After a long and arduous 15 months spent seeking a new location, the IPRC has finally found their new home and is throwing a housewarming party, with free studio tours, print pulls, a new letterpress print shop dedication ceremony, live music, beer, and food.
5 pm, Independent Publishing Resource Center, free

Tony Starlight’s Tribute to Television
Mr. Starlight enlists the help of his All-Star Horns to pay tribute to one of the most beautiful of arts, diminished as time has gone on, but whose glory days still shine bright: The art of the TV theme song. But to spice up those well-worn boob-tube classics, Tony will be re-interpreting the timeless melodies through modern musical styles.
6:45 pm, The Tony Starlight Showroom, $30-75

Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities
Cirque du Soleil’s latest big-top extravagance transforms their tent into the curio cabinet of an old-timey inventor, bending reality, time, and space into a variety of stages and platforms by which this troupe of amazingly flexible performers do their mind-and-body-bending work.
4:30 pm, 8 pm, Portland Expo Center, $39, all ages

La La Land In Concert
Conductor Norman Huynh leads the Oregon Symphony and the Oregon Repertory Singers through a live performance of the Academy Award-winning original score, all while the second best Ryan Gosling film of 2016 is projected onto the big screen behind them.
7:30 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $30-115, all ages

Sunday, Sept 10

Mdou Moctar, Galaxy Research, Sávila
Tuareg guitar hero Mdou Moctar is bringing the sounds of Saharan Africa to Portland on his first American tour. Moctar’s work—which he describes as “music for desert picnics”—fuses traditional Tuareg guitar riffs with transfixing drum machine loops and pop melodies. You’ll want to experience those reverberations live. CIARA DOLAN
8 pm, The Know, $10

The Bloody Mary Fest
The Bloody Mary Liberation Party invites you to come out to the North Warehouse and sample an array of delicious takes on the best brunch cocktail around, with live music providing a suitable soundtrack for all the tangy tastings, and food carts offering up nibbles to pair with the drinks.
1 pm, The North Warehouse, $45

Ezza Rose, Kelli Schaefer, The Wild Body
An evening of musical adventure with one of Portland’s strongest singer-songwriters.
8 pm, Rontoms, free

Against Me!, Bleached, The Dirty Nil
Since its inception in 1998 as a raucous Floridian two-piece, Against Me! has defied expectations of what a punk band should look and sound like. Their songs not only take on the usual punk rock villains—authoritarianism, capitalism, wage slavery, musical ability—they challenge members of the punk community to own up to their prejudices and complacency. From the beginning, Against Me! never shied away from criticism, and at times even seemed to encourage it. Though the band’s music has been hit-or-miss since their major label debut, 2007’s New Wave, Against Me! and Laura Jane Grace are still busy doing what they’ve always done, what they set out to do, and what they do best: challenging prejudices and defying expectations. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY
8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $22.50, all ages

Blow-Up
Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 drama that you feel guilty about never having seen, now lovingly restored! All that painstaking work should make the cinematography shine like it’s never shined before, so the film can be at its most beautiful when you say, “Huh, always meant to see that, heard good things!” before folding this paper back up and returning it to the bus seat you found it on. I’m sure you’ll be in line when Michael Bay’s remake starring Mark Wahlberg and Rebel Wilson comes out in 2019.
7 pm, NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium

Mortified
Portland storytellers take to the stage to share stories from their adolescence that absolutely shouldn’t be shared with anyone because the secondhand awkwardness and embarrassment could be hazardous to your sanity.
7 pm, Alberta Rose Theatre, $16-23

Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments
The August Wilson Red Door Project is bringing back the revered Hands Up, a monologue set commissioned in the wake of Michael Brown and John Crawford III’s murders. Each of the seven testaments were created by individual Black playwrights. Past runs have sold out quickly, so get your free tickets in advance. EMILLY PRADO
2 pm, Wieden + Kennedy, free w/ rsvp

LiquidLight, Hollow Sidewalks, Down Gown
LiquidLight is Anthony Medici, Cory West, Zackary Rodrigues, and Gage Dean, and together the four men create a mesh of gentle psych, strummy indie-rock, and buzzy pop music that aims for the sugary universe inhabited by bands like Sloan, Superchunk, Zumpano, and Guided by Voices. BEN SALMON
9 pm, Bunk Bar, $5

Don’t forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!