WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22

MUSIC—KPSU's month of shows keeps trucking along, and tonight they're teaming up with the Mercury to bring you a dazzler of an evening: Portland's Modern Kin make fully amplified folk-rock with blood and grit under their fingernails, Seattle's Tangerine play lovely, sparkle-fresh pop, and Rilla's a new band on the local scene featuring members of the Vandies. NED LANNAMANN
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8:30 pm, $5

MUSIC—Though his laidback jams (sleepy beats, mildly Dylan-esque delivery) are aptly known for their slacker tone, anyone who witnessed Mac DeMarco crush at last year's Pickathon festival knows how surprisingly rousing his live shows can be. Tonight you oughta leave your "soft pants" at home. MARJORIE SKINNER
w/Dinner, Meth Teeth; Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, 9 pm, sold out (ask your local scalper), all ages

THURSDAY, APRIL 23

COMEDY—Comedian Iliza Shlesinger is from Texas, which might explain a prominent girly-girl joke of hers. But you'd be one reductive comedy fan to think she's only all about white wine and Pinterest. Her rapid-fire delivery and demon-voiced digressions are equal parts hysterical, boisterous, and delightful. And she can do a mean goat call! COURTNEY FERGUSON
Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th, Thurs 8 pm, Fri-Sat 7:30 & 10 pm, $17-31

MUSIC—The fourth annual heavy music festival Stumpfest throws up its horns yet again, kicking off three days of head-splitting performances from the likes of Yob and Big Business with two of the best local outfits for whom to risk tinnitus, Danava and Lord Dying. Good luck to you, friends. MARJORIE SKINNER
w/Lecherous Gaze, Black Pussy, Sons of Huns, Prizehog; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, Thurs-Fri 7:30 pm, Sat 8 pm, $15-17

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

COMEDY—Last December, Jeremy Eli and Jason Lamb launched Minority Retort, Portland's only monthly stand-up showcase for comedians of color. Now it's one of Portland's most reliably funny comedy fixtures. Tonight features Jeff Oliver ("Meet a Black Guy" at Corvallis' farmers' market), Alex Rios (Ventura Comedy Fest), Adam Pasi (very nearly Portland's Funniest Person), and more. MEGAN BURBANK
w/Jamie Boyd, Neeraj Srinivasan; Curious Comedy Theater, 5225 NE MLK, 9:30 pm $7-10

MUSIC—Sylvan Esso must be doing something right: They've only been a band for less than two years and they just played Coachella last week. Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn met one another in a "small club somewhere," and Meath asked Sanborn to remix a track of hers. Sanborn did and gave it back to Meath, and POOF!, an indie pop duo was born. Sounds like serendipity. Hope you have tickets! SHELBY R. KING
w/Naytronix; Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, 9 pm, sold out (hit up your fave scalper), all ages

SATURDAY, APRIL 25

MUSIC—The volume that emits from Cleveland duo Mr. Gnome is more than impressive—it's immersive, swirling together their mind-trippin' psychedelic rock and haunted-house nursery rhyme folk into explosive doses. Tonight they play tunes from their recent full-length, The Heart of a Dark Star. NED LANNAMANN
w/And And And, There Is No Mountain; Star Theater, 13 NW 6th, 9 pm, $10

VARIETY SHOW—It's time for more comedy and intelligent chitty-chat with host Luke Burbank and the always fun Live Wire! This outing features smarty-pants author Jon Ronson (So You've Been Publicly Shamed), musical guests Ivan and Alyosha, and verrry funny guy (and Conan sidekick) Andy Richter, who is worth the price of admission for anything, ever. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, #110, 7:30 pm, $20-35 , all ages

BLAZERS—It hasn't been the easiest regular season, has it? And Blazers vs. Grizzlies is one of the toughest match-ups that Portland could have pulled. But you know what? Nothin' worth having ever came easy, and if the playoffs are gonna be this kind of slugfest, might as well throw a few haymakers out the gate. BOBBY ROBERTS
Moda Center, 1 Center Court, 7:30 pm, $65 & up, all ages

SUNDAY, APRIL 26

IMPRISONMENT—You've time-thieved countless hours at your stupid desk playing online "escape the room" games—discreetly fuming over superfluous keys, quietly scoffing at over-obvious safe combinations. Maybe bring that fun to real life? 60 Minutes to Escape offers an actual, physical room-escape puzzle for you and your friends, so that mouse-clicking finger can rest for a change. DIRK VANDERHART
134 SE Taylor, Fri-Sun through June 14, $30, 60minutestoescape.com

FILM—Next month, Mad Max: Fury Road smashes into theater screens—and if early buzz is any indication, it'll be one of the best, weirdest action epics of the year. To help you prepare, this weekend the Hollywood Theatre is kindly showing a digital restoration of 1979's first Mad Max—the surreal, intense, and fun movie that gave then-low-budget director George Miller his jaw-dropping start. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, screens Fri April 24-Sun April 26, see Movie Times on pg. 41 for showtimes, $8

MONDAY, APRIL 27

FILM—Steven Spielberg's filmography overflows with chill-inducing moments: The Ark opening, the tripods rising, "Welcome... to Jurassic Park." But Close Encounters of the Third Kind is almost entirely made out of those moments: those five notes. That kid standing in the doorway. The mashed potatoes! And when Richard Dreyfuss says, "This means something," he's absolutely right. BOBBY ROBERTS
Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark, see Movie Times on pg. 41, $3-4, all ages

MUSIC—The Drive-By Truckers have been moving truckloads of fine Southern rock for years, and are returning to one of their favorite methods of distribution. Back in 2007, they stripped down their sound for a semi-acoustic show, and had so much success they're touring it again. Don't miss the Truckers' brand of rollickin' truth-telling in an intimate format. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, #110, 8 pm, $25-30, all ages

TUESDAY, APRIL 28

LECTURE—Probably the coolest woman on the planet, Kathleen Hanna, is giving a lecture called Riot Grrrl Then and Now, about the very movement she helped pioneer, her amazing career in Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and the Julie Ruin, and how some kick-ass ladies in the '90s shaped our feminism today. Umm, KATHLEEN HANNA, y'all! COURTNEY FERGUSON
Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, #110, 8 pm, $25-30 (scalper's choice), all ages

FILM—Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 classic The Godfather is one of America's greatest films. Duke Mitchell's 1978 Godfather knock-off, Massacre Mafia Style, isn't—but, according to Grindhouse Film Festival programmer Dan Halsted, it is "an onslaught of low-budget mayhem unlike anything you've ever seen." SOLD! (And it has to be better than The Godfather: Part III, right?) ERIK HENRIKSEN
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7:30 pm, $8