THURS DEC 20

Mama Bird Recording Co.’s Second Annual Winter Wassail: Barna Howard, Beautiful Dudes, Birger Olsen, Denver, Faustina Masigat, Matt Dorrien, Nick Delffs, Ryan Oxford, Taylor Kingman, Vikesh Kapoor, Widower, Mama Bird DJs
Since its founding in 2011, Portland’s Mama Bird Recording Co. has maintained a small but impressive roster of mostly local artists, and also served as a launchpad for internationally recognized acts like Saintseneca, Courtney Marie Andrews, and Haley Heynderickx. Tonight, on the eve of the winter solstice, Mama Bird is hosting its second annual Winter Wassail, with performances from many of the label’s current artists, including folk balladeers Barna Howard and Vikesh Kapoor, singer/songwriter Faustina Masigat, country troubadours Matt Dorrien and Taylor Kingman, folk-rock minstrel Nick Delffs, rowdy country outfit Denver, and more. There will also be DJs, raffle prizes, and, of course, plenty of warm drinks to help ease the transition into another long and discontented winter. (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 8 pm, $10-12) SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY

Jerry David DeCicca, Mike Coykendall, Adam Ostrar
With one record under his belt this year, singer/songwriter Jerry David DeCicca gently hurried out a follow-up with a title reflective of the spirit in which it was recorded: Burning Daylight. The trick is that the new record doesn’t feel rushed or frantic; the songs amble along in the manner of early ’70s Neil Young and the Dead. DeCicca has a tale to tell, but he takes his sweet time recounting the details. And as it was recorded live to tape in a West Texas studio with band of fellow wanderers, it has immediacy and fervor. (Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth, 8 pm) ROBERT HAM

THURS DEC 20 & FRI DEC 21

Aminé, Buddy
I think by now we’re all familiar with AminĂ©, the Portland-raised rapper who went viral in 2016 with the hit single “Caroline.” AminĂ© also recently got attention for paying for a “Yes, There Are Black People In Portland” billboard. Playing dual hometown shows right around the holidays has become something of a tradition for the rapper ever since being launched into the mainstream, and typically he brings along some surprise guest performers. This year the bill’s got support in Compton rapper/singer Buddy, who is just as deserving of a major spotlight. His debut album Harlan & Alondra contains exceptional gems, like “Trouble on Central,” “Shameless,” and especially single/closing track “Shine.” (Roseland, 8 NW 6th, 8 pm, sold out, all ages) JENNI MOORE

FRI DEC 21

Sera Cahoone and Friends, Nick Delffs, Led to Sea
Nick Delffs cut his teeth as the principal songwriter in the Shaky Hands, one of the best and buzziest Portland indie rock bands of the last decade. The three records that group released—especially their 2007 self-titled album—hold up surprisingly well, largely thanks to Delffs’ stellar songwriting. Tracks like “Whales Sing” and “Sunburns” wouldn’t seem out of place on one of the more beloved Elephant 6 albums. Delffs’ more recent work as a solo artist is unsurprisingly great—his 2017 LP Redesign, which is the first record he’s released under his proper name and not the solo moniker Death Songs, is restrained and decidedly mature. Delffs may have lost his throaty bleat and jittery sensibilities, but his newer songs are every bit as tuneful and adventurous. (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $12-15) MORGAN TROPER

SAT DEC 22

XRAY.fm Presents Mall Takeover: KayelaJ, Friends of Noise
Depending on your age, disposition, and levels of patience, the mall can either be a reminder of the venomous fangs of consumerism and American gluttony or the greatest place in the entire fucking world. With the final installment of XRAY.fm’s Mall Takeover, Lloyd Center ebbs closer toward the latter. Come find your favorite DJs spinning rare and bodacious vinyl offerings and stay for live tunes from KayelaJ, along with a showcase from Friends of Noise. Shop at the local joints to stick it to the corps and get nice and cozy with the best radio station on the planet. (Lloyd Center Mall, 2201 Lloyd Center, 3 pm, FREE) RYAN J. PRADO

THURS DEC 27

Glacier Veins, Longclaw, Moonkisser
On Bandcamp, Portland punks Longclaw tout themselves as “Portland’s saddest post-hardcore” band. It’s a brazen claim, until you consider that there isn’t a lot of music like Longclaw’s that’s still being made in Portland. In some ways, Longclaw’s lone 2017 EP, Patterns, feels like a vestige of the city’s storied, Laughing Horse Books-centric DIY scene. Its six songs have more in common with brooding, classic emo bands like Mineral than the “fuck you, dad” mall-core canon every other young, self-proclaimed emo band appears to be mining. And Longclaw are better for it—Patterns is an unselfconscious reminder of how cathartic sad, irony-free post-hardcore can be. (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $5) MORGAN TROPER

Mic Check: Last of a Dying Breed, KayelaJ, Destro Destructo, DJ O.G. One, Trox, Cee Goods
Quarterly hip-hop showcase Mic Check returns this month to heat up the White Eagle with an open mic, a beat set from Cee Goods, remixes from resident DJs Trox and O.G. One, and performances headlined by Last of a Dying Breed. The new duo features veteran MC Mic Crenshaw and poet Micah Fletcher, who survived last year’s deadly MAX train attack after coming to the defense of two young women of color being threatened by a white terrorist. (White Eagle, 836 N Russell, 9 pm, $8) CIARA DOLAN

FRI DEC 28

Dirty Revival, Kuinka
For many people, concerts in the days after Christmas and before New Year’s are generally about shaking off the cabin fever, dipping a toe back into the real world, and dancing the night away. Tonight, Mississippi Studios hosts two Pacific Northwest bands that can soundtrack such an outing: Portland’s Dirty Revival is a sturdy, soulful funk-rock band fronted by the charismatic Sarah Clarke, who’s got a killer voice. And Seattle’s Kuinka play heart-bursting, jangly, all-together-now folk-pop that’ll have you stomping your feet and singing along. Don’t be surprised if you hear them in a cutesy movie or car commercial soon. But first, they’re in town to help you emerge from your holiday haze. BEN SALMON (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $18-20)

Ural Thomas and the Pain, Blossom
For more than five decades, Ural Thomas has been at the forefront of soul—and last fall, when Ural Thomas and the Pain released The Right Time, the Portlander made an excellent case for staying at that forefront for another five decades. And now, to help make this dreary winter just a little more tolerable, Ural Thomas and the Pain are playing the Doug Fir. Oh and also performing? Another of Portland’s best artists: the unstoppable neo-soul and R&B genius Blossom. It’s cold and dark outside. This show will warm you right up. (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $17-20) ERIK HENRIKSEN

FRI DEC 28 & SAT DEC 29

Red Fang
Portland’s sturdiest and most reliable purveyors of full-volume riffs, Red Fang have become a beloved hard-rock institution, so it’s fitting they’re blasting out two hometown shows to mark the year’s end. Do your neck stretches and get those fingers locked in devil-horn position, because these are gonna be a pair of headbangin’ balls for the ages.  (Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, 9 pm, $26, Sat show all ages; w/Thunderpussy, Gaytheist [Fri]; w/R.I.P., Wizard Rifle [Sat]) NED LANNAMANN

SAT DEC 29

Toody Cole’s 70th Birthday Party: Roseblood, Ex-Kids, Bondage Squad, Toody Cole with Jenny Don’t and the Spurs
Here’s a gathering to celebrate the true reason for the season: punk icon and Portland legend Toody Cole, who is turning 70. Playing the festivities are Roseblood (the new project from the Thermals’ Kathy Foster), Ex-Kids, Bondage Squad (featuring Misch Bondage), and Toody herself, backed by local twang-punk band Jenny Don’t and the Spurs and singing songs by the Range Rats, Pierced Arrows, and Dead Moon. It’s been just over a year since her husband and longtime bandmate Fred Cole passed away, so to hear Toody do those tunes again should be pretty special. (The Liquor Store, 3341 SE Belmont, 9 pm, $10-12) BEN SALMON

MON DEC 31

Trumans Water, Lavender Flu, SunFoot, White Shark Shiver
What better way to say farewell to a frantic and dizzying year than to share the last evening of 2018 with Trumans Water, a band whose music is as unsettled and tense as we’ve all been feeling for 12 straight months. A fixture of the indie underground since the ’90s, this outfit’s modern classic albums Godspeed the Punchline and Fragments of a Lucky Break approach the raw materials of guitar rock with a cubist’s perspective, creating subtly complex structures full of impossible angles and complex formulas that miraculously balance out every time. (Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth, 9 pm, $8) ROBERT HAM

WED JAN 2

The Sun Ra Arkestra
Read our piece on Sun Ra Arkestra. (Wed at Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park, 8 pm, sold out; Thurs at Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 8:30 pm, sold out)