WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30
MUSICâListen up, dummies! Not ALL the fun is going down tomorrow night on New Year's Eve! Start the party early with this kickass lineup of local rock, featuring party princes Mean Jeans, the all-star punks of P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S, and Therapists who will be bringing it hardcore. Get set to sweat! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
The Liquor Store, 3341 SE Belmont, 9 pm, $6
MUSICâTonight's jam-packed local bill allows you to catch up on all the Portland folk-rock you've missed these past 12 months. Listening to Vacilando's stunning, ambient-tinged, rusted-steel folk is like watching old photographs slowly emerging in developer fluid. St. Even's incisive songwriting is clear-eyed and emotional without being melancholy. And Balto adds psychedelia to their Americana mix. NED LANNAMANN
w/Swansea; Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 8:30 pm, $5-10
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31
PARTY!âThe Weinland NYE Supergroup will be killing it with dance-infused cover songs performed by a Portland all-star lineup that includes super duper special guest Liz Vice, whose powerful, gospel-infused pipes will undoubtedly lay waste to any number of booty-shaking disco hits. NOTE: This is the FINAL Supergroup performance EVER! Don't miss this one. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, 9 pm, $25-28
PARTY!âThe 2013 closure of Old Town's Someday Lounge was a tragedy on many fronts, but is hardest felt every single Thursday, when there's a gaping hole where The Fix used to be. The Fix, if you don't know, was the city's best weekly hip-hop dance party. It was great. And it's back tonight! Have a groovy new year, Portland. DIRK VANDERHART
w/Rev Shines, Ohmega Watts, Kez; Dig a Pony, 736 SE Grand, 8 pm, $15
FRIDAY, JANUARY 1
MUSICâDespite their name, Portland punks Sad Horse can put a smile on any pony's face, and now Mississippi Records and Eggy Records have issued a very special vinyl platter featuring 26 of the group's quick, brash jams. Celebrate Greatest Hits tonight, when the group plays the entire thing live inside the Mississippi Records store. NED LANNAMANN
Mississippi Records, 5202 N Albina, 8 pm, FREE
FILMâWill the new year be good? Will it be evil? Will it irrevocably change the evolution of humankind? No one knows! But what better way to welcome 2016 than by tipping back a few beers and watching Stanley Kubrick's mind-blowing masterpiece 2001: A Space Odysseyâa film all about how our puny brains can't even handle all the unknown looming around us. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark, see portlandmercury.com/filmtimes, $4
SATURDAY, JANUARY 2
MUSICâEven if this city's a relatively new home for you, the moisture of it has probably gotten under your skin by now, and if you still have any doubt where the whole "Fred and Toody, not Fred and Carrie" sentiment comes from, begin the new year by fully embedding with the natives over Northwest legends Dead Moon. MARJORIE SKINNER
w/Don't, Long Knife; Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, 8 pm, $20, all ages
MUSICâHas January 2 been designated Iconic Portland Band Day? Right on. Maybe you've already got Dead Moon seared into your soul, in which case it's never a bad time to rejoin with the punk band every Old Portland rocker has six (or fewer) degrees of separation from: Poison Idea. MARJORIE SKINNER
w/the Lovesores, Shadowhouse; Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash, 9:30 pm, $9
SUNDAY, JANUARY 3
MUSICâStart this new year out in a most old-school way... by listening to the Builders and the Butchers in a small venue, just like in Old Portland times. The ramshackle folk band is a big local favorite, with their blend of western-tinged lonesome hollers and dramatic building melodies. All for the super throwback price of free! COURTNEY FERGUSON
w/the Jackalope Saints, Turbo Perfecto; Rontoms, 600 E Burnside, 9 pm, FREE
COMEDY/CARTOONSâIt's the 12th birthday (reunion) party for this hilariously fun Portland mainstay: Breakfast of Champions. Combine gut-busting sketch comedy, booze, cartoons, and a dance party in the middle of the goddamn day, and you'll see why BoC is so popularâand you can get so much done in a relatively short amount of time! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 12:45 pm, $5
MONDAY, JANUARY 4
BLAZERSâLook, it's been a real long time since Zach Randolph played for Portland. But this town has a looooong memory, and we remember ol Z-Bo pretty clearly: Dude was a dick. When he brings his Memphis Grizzlies to town, hopefully Damian Lillard and the Blazers will send him back with an L on his chest. BOBBY ROBERTS
Moda Center, 1 Center Court, 7 pm, $5-200, all ages
BOOKSâOlympia Provisions started as a salumeria and has since grown into two restaurants and a mail-order business. Now, co-owner Elias Cairo can also count himself as a published author (with co-author Meredith Erickson) as he reads from his new cookbook, Olympia Provisions: Cured Meats and Tales from an American Charcuterie. Yum, cured meat. SHELBY R. KING
Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm, FREE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 5
MUSICâHere's another of the consistently good lineups produced by the Red Bull Sound Select series (and curated by Kill Rock Stars): Coming all the way from Baltimore, it's folk powerhouses-turned-electropop-booty-shakers Wye Oak, along with local lovelies Aan, and the jazzy synthy soul of Fog Father. RSVP on the Doug Fir site to see it for cheap! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $3 w/RSVP ($12 at door)
READINGâPortlander Ruth Wariner grew up in a doomsday polygamy cult in Mexico. She was number 39 of her father's 42 children. He was shot dead by his brother's rival cult. So, yeah, Wariner's had an interesting life, and she details it in her new memoir, The Sound of Gravel. She's joined by Portland Monthly's Fiona McCann, because two ladies are mandatory at every polygamy book reading. (Sorry!) COURTNEY FERGUSON
Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm, FREE
