THURSDAY 8/27
Natasha Khan is racking up alternate personas as
quickly as albums, with stage name Bat for Lashes and now Pearl, the
alter-ego who haunts the singer’s latest, Two Suns. Written
while living asunder in the United States, her new work reflects the
beat of New York as much as the spirits of Joshua Tree. MS
w/Other Lives; Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, 9 pm,
$12-14
Alan Singley & Pants Machine bring
their Portland-inspired ditties to the masses in celebration of new
album Feelin’ Citrus. Their music is a little bit sweet and a
little bit jazzy, with adorable lyrics about rice pudding, riding
bicycles, and pretty girls. Singley is quite masterful in his
arrangements, making the fact that there will be an orchestra
accompanying them all the more exciting. TPK
w/Ben Barnett & World Record; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N
Mississippi, 8 pm, $10, all ages
FRIDAY 8/28
If you’re between the ages of 25-35, there’s a
fairly decent chance the sweet, sexy soul of Al Green was directly
responsible for your birth. And tonight, on the Edgefield grass under a
sweaty, sultry sky, Al may once again be responsible for the birth of a
child—YOUR OWN. If you’re a lady and a lover of classic soul,
check your ovaries at the door. WSH
w/Liv Warfield; Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale, 6:30 pm,
$40-80, all ages
Shut Up and Dance is 10 years
old—that’s like two kabillion in dance-party years! Over that
time the ’80s-and-beyond night led by DJ Gregarious has been the scene
of memorable nights for just about every style of night crawler
scourging Portland dance floors. MS
KBOO Benefit; Fez Ballroom, 316 SW 11th, 9 pm, $5-10
SATURDAY 8/29
Randy “The Natural” Couture takes on
Antônio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship®, the only title in sports worthy of a registered
trademark. Will Washingtonian Couture bloody the face of Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsuer Nogueira? I don’t know, but I do know that it will happen
in an octagon! JC
Rose Garden, 1 Center Ct, 4:45 pm, $50-600
Self-described drag terrorists Sissyboy
(they terrorize with garish makeup and spontaneous ball-flashings, AKA
“gender fluidity”) return from an unfabulous hiatus for two
performances in their old tromping grounds. Here’s hoping they’ll
recapture some of their former, fluid-drenched glory. AH
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8 & 11 pm, $7
SUNDAY 8/30
Trek in the Park was the
surprise theater hit of the summer. And while the “in the Park” angle
has sadly come to an end, you’ve got one more chance to see Atomic
Arts’ hilarious and charming adaptation of the Star Trek episode “Amok
Time” (the one where Spock kills Kirk!): Call it Trek at the Bagdad
Followed by a Screening of the New Star Trek Movie. AH
Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne, 8 pm, $6, 21+
Food activist Bryant Terry, appearing at the
new King Farmers Market, told us in an interview in March that he
wanted to shift people’s understanding of food by “making them a
delicious meal.” Vegan BBQ is a good start. PAC
King Market, NE 7th & Wygant, 10 am, FREE
MONDAY 8/31
Forget Alien vs.
Predator—who will come out on top in Pink Flamingos vs.
Predator? Boxxes’ double feature night plays the two completely
different classics back to back. Drag queens or commandos? Divine’s
body or Jesse “The Body” Ventura? Big fake boobs or big fake guns?
SM
Boxxes, 1035 SW Stark, 8:30 pm, FREE, 21+
Every year, dedicated groups of
filmmakers shun sleep in order to spend two straight days making short
films for the 48-Hour Film Project. Tonight, Portland’s best entries
screen at the Hollywood Theatre, so go, and be amazed at what people
created in a mere 48 hours—time which you probably spent watching
Tyra, sleeping, and masturbating. God, you’re lazy. EH
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7:30 pm, $8
TUESDAY 9/1
Attention, dweebs: You have a very
difficult choice. CHOICE ONE: Fantasy kingpin Terry Brooks is in
town to read from his latest opus, A Princess of Landover! (But
if you ask him nicely, he’ll probably sign your tattered copy of The
Sword of Shannara.) CHOICE TWO: Patrick Galbraith’s here, too, to
sign copies of The Otaku Encyclopedia—a book about all
that’s cool, weird, and freakish about Japanese pop culture, plus info
on the superfans (otaku) who worship the stuff. EH
Terry Brooks at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW
Cedar Hills, Beaverton, 7 pm, FREE; The Otaku
Encyclopedia at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside,
7:30 pm, FREE
The Swedish word dungen means “grove,”
and aptly, the rock of Swedish band Dungen weaves and twists like the
gnarled, intertwined limbs of an overgrown orchard. Dungen reclaims
psychedelic improvisation from the tired jam band scene, and brings it
back down the rabbit hole where it belongs. NL
w/Woods, Kurt Vile; Berbati’s Pan, 10 SW 3rd, 9 pm,
$13-15
WEDNESDAY 9/2
The ultra huggable/fuckable pop duo Matt
& Kim are in the business of slinging high-energy pop songs to
giddy crowds of dance-happy kids, and my friends, business is booming.
Like Mates of States on a Sparks bender, the Brooklyn twosome pack a
mighty wallop of infectious songs that won’t leave your ADD-addled
brain anytime soon. EAC
w/Amanda Blank; Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th, 8 pm, $12-15,
all ages
Evil at Heart is local author (and
former Mercury contributor) Chelsea Cain’s third thriller
starring masochistic cop Archie Sheridan and psycho sadist Gretchen
Lowell, and this one is the darkest, sexiest and most entertaining
entry yet. Hear all about floating eyeballs, amateur spleen removal,
and more funny/disturbing stuff as Cain reads from her terrific book.
WSH
Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm, FREE
Okay, I want “huggable / fuckable” on my business cards.