WEDNESDAY, MAY 6

MUSIC—Electronic musician Dan Deacon is coming to Portland, touring his newest album, Gliss Riffer. The video for the album's first single, "Feel the Lightning," features dancing pink marshmallow people and plush armchairs that come to life and have sex after the human leaves the house. If the show's one-quarter as surreal, it should be a good way to spend a Wednesday. SHELBY R. KING
w/Prince Rama, Ben O'Brien; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $15-17 (or scalper's choice)

FILM—With over 200 films—both shorts and features—along with panels, interviews, workshops, and parties, the NW Animation Fest features hand-drawn animation, computer animation, and showcases that spotlight Oregon animators, women animators, and more. If you can't find something to be delighted by here, there's something deeply wrong with you. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, Mon May 4-Sun May 10, showtimes at nwanimationfest.com, $8-70

THURSDAY, MAY 7

COMEDY FEST—FINALLY! The best weekend of the entire year is back with the four-day knee-slapping Bridgetown Comedy Fest. With 100-plus comedians (including Dana Gould, Jonathan Katz, Jessica Williams, Kyle Kinane, Kurt Braunohler, and Jackie Kashian) and dozens upon dozens of comedy shows in this year's brand-new hub around East Burnside, expect to get an amazingly thorough core workout. COURTNEY FERGUSON
Thurs-Sun, fest pass $99-124 (tickets also available for individual shows), see bridgetowncomedy.com for full schedule

MUSIC—Show your ears how much you love 'em with tonight's stacked bill of powerful sound: Hot Victory's dueling drummers conjure otherworldly drones and mammoth beats, while Seattle's Noise-a-Tron amplify their minimalist approach to a gargantuan scope of dizzying noise, and A Volcano sweeten the pot with screaming sludge. NED LANNAMANN
The Foggy Notion, 3416 N Lombard, 9 pm, $5

FRIDAY, MAY 8

BOOZE—Oh, 200 whiskeys, where have you been all my life? For the third year in a row, a two-day, booze-soaked extravaganza called WhiskeyTown, USA will host a ton of distilleries, vendors, restaurants, and bands (Blitzen Trapper!). Getting whiskey-drunk is fun, but supporting a good cause is even better—it benefits the Luna and Be the Match Foundations and Achon Uganda Children's Fund. So, go! And bring me! SHELBY R. KING
NW 17th & Front, Fri 4-10 pm,Sat noon-10 pm, $28 ($45 for two days)

MUSIC—A 33-year career and an unflinching willingness to pen a song about anything has left They Might Be Giants with so very many bewildering, educational, and just outright amazing tracks. I first heard these guys through a babysitter of mine, and I'm older than you are. They were great then, they're great now, and they've got a brand-new album, Glean. DIRK VANDERHART
Roseland, 8 NW 6th, 9 pm, $22, 14+

SATURDAY, MAY 9

BIZARRE—St. Johns: Just near enough to be commutable to downtown, yet removed enough that a day there feels like a mini getaway. The St. Johns Bizarre is an excellent way to mainline the essence of this offbeat neighborhood, a street fair and parade chockablock with food, music (including the Shivas and DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid), and vendors. MARJORIE SKINNER
N Lombard & Philadelphia (and beyond), 10 am-7 pm (parade at noon), FREE, all ages

DANCE PARTY—Portland's finest queer all-inclusive dance night, Mrs. Presents Queen, returns for another evening of sweaty ass-shaking jams. And it's headlined by one of the city's all time greatest turntablists, DJ Beyonda, whose bottomless crates are cram-packed with the best of classic soul, dirty south, and house music to get queers of every stripe moving in the right direction. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
w/Ill Camino; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 10 pm, $5

SUNDAY, MAY 10

MUSIC—If you missed Kelley Deal's magical, lilting voice back in September with the Breeders, then now's your golden ticket to watch the musician get lo-fi with R. Ring. The duo of Deal and Mike Montgomery (Ampline) play textured indie rock that floats and soars on a wash of sonic lullabies. Their pedigree is palpable. COURTNEY FERGUSON
w/Hurry Up, bed.; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $10-12

FILM—Sure, you know the names Townshend, Daltrey, Entwistle, and Moon, but do you know the names Lambert and Stamp? Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp were the Who's managers during their explosive rise to becoming mod superstars in the 1960s, and James D. Cooper's gripping, in-depth documentary tells the unlikely pair's bizarre and fascinating story. NED LANNAMANN
Regal Fox Tower, 846 SW Park, see Movie Times, $9-11

MONDAY, MAY 11

MUSIC—Layering Ellie Rowsell's Cocteau Twins-esque vocals over grungy, propulsive rock, Wolf Alice's songs would be the perfect soundtrack to the Francesca Lia Block adaptation David Lynch once tried to make. Pairing literary allusions ("Wolf Alice" is an Angela Carter story BASED ON A FAIRY TALE) with hard-edged instrumentation, they're ethereal without being twee, danceable without being dumb, and exactly as noisy as you want. MEGAN BURBANK
w/Gateway Drugs; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $12-14

FILM—"They don't make 'em like they used to" is a phrase usually mumbled by dazed grandpas staring off into space as they wet themselves. But in the case of westerns—one of the finest genres of film there ever was—they really don't. Luckily, this week, the Laurelhurst has John Huston's 1948 classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, starring Humphrey Bogart. Go see it on the big screen, just like your grandpa did. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Laurelhurst Theater, 2735 E Burnside, see Movie Times, $4

TUESDAY, MAY 12

MUSIC—There ain't many things you can count on in this life, but until further notice the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion remains one of them. Despite the genre folded into its nomenclature, Spencer & Co. draw from a range of influences from hiphop to punk, and the energy of the live experience will sustain you like a rock. MARJORIE SKINNER
w/We Are Hex; Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $18

MUSIC—Forget Bill Callahan! Go home, David Berman! No one can beat the comforting drone of Stephin Merritt's mournful, unbelievably low voice. The frontman for clever purveyors of nun's litanies and rodeo-raised children the Magnetic Fields, Merritt's currently flying solo, and brings his wonderful voice and hyper-literate lyrics to the Aladdin Theater tonight. Bring every bookish misfit you know. MEGAN BURBANK
w/Darren Hanlon; Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, 8 pm, $25, all ages