THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
TRASH DAY—In the pantheon of female icons, I’d say Shirley Manson ranks somewhere below Nico, Edie Sedgwick, and Karen O, but only because Garbage took a wee break in the 2000s. The band’s bigger and poppier than ever with stylish ice queen Manson & Co. touring on their new album Not Your Kind of People. CF
w/Screaming Females; Roseland, 8 NW 6th, 8 pm, $30-45
TELEGRAPH AVENUE—Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Wonder Boys) is back with a new novel, Telegraph Avenue—a dizzying, funny, earnest tale of two families, one white and one black, in a downtrodden neighborhood between Oakland and Berkeley. It’s great. Chabon’s reading probably will be, too. EH
Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills, Beaverton, 7 pm, FREE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
YEEEEE-TO-THE-HAW!—Our favorite old-timer bar in Northeast Portland (that’s the Spare Room, neophyte) is hosting a shit-kicking night of awesome hillbilly fun with the Caleb Klauder Country Band—an outfit that spits out classic dance-worthy country music that could easily be mistaken for the real deal. WSH
w/Dave Stuckey & the Rhythm Gang; The Spare Room, 4830 NE 42nd, 9 pm, $10
BIG TIME—Stand-up Jeff Garlin is best known for his roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development, but he also recently authored My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World, about reducing both his carbon footprint and his own girth. Get ready for self-deprecation, Hollywood jokes, and that crazy, crazy laugh. MS
Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, 9 pm, $28-30, 21+
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
PINKY—Quintessential Angeleno Ariel Pink breezes his distinctive and eclectic mashup of ’60s pop, ’70s AM radio, and sunny California lovin’ into our dreary little corner of the world. Let’s welcome his surprisingly warm, diaphanous sound and wrap that crazy patchwork quilt around our ears in preparation for the cold months ahead. CF
w/Dam Funk, Bodyguard; Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, 9 pm, $15-17, 21+
OLD SCHOOL—The annual Portland Retro Gaming Expo is a one-stop shop for hard-to-find videogames and long-forgotten consoles, plus panels, speakers, tournaments, and even videogame-themed sexiness from Critical Hit Burlesque. Yes! Okay! EH
Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE MLK, Sat 10 am-midnight, Sun 10 am-5 pm, $15-25
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
I’M MELLLTING—Ice cream, meet your arch nemesis: hot sauce. The Goodfoot hosts a Churn and Burn taste-off between the city’s most beloved hot sauces (mmm, Secret Aardvark), followed by a palate-soothing array of delicious local ice creams (like Salt & Straw). Vote on the best, but it sounds like an everyone’s-a-winner kind of afternoon. SM
Goodfoot, 2845 SE Stark, 2 pm, $15
SAY YES—Please tell me you’ve heard about the Yes Men—the notorious prankster duo that mercilessly fucks with evil global corporations and government agencies. They’re awesome. And a bunch of local unions have invited one half of the team, Mike Bonanno, to dish on the life of a media guerrilla. DCT
w/DJ Short Change, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison; 7:30 pm, FREE
MONDAY, OCTOBER 1
WAKE-UP CALL—Portlander Matthew Dickman is a poet for people who think they don’t like poetry—his award-winning debut All-American Poem was energetic, clever (in the good way), and darkly hilarious. His new collection Mayakovsky’s Revolver promises more of the same. If you’ve been sleeping on this guy, wake up already. AH
Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm, FREE
TIME’S UP—Writer/director Rian Johnson has made two phenomenal movies: Brick and The Brothers Bloom. No, make that three phenomenal movies, because his latest—the time-travel flick Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis—is fucking awesome. That’s all you need to know. Go. EH
Various theaters, see Movie Times for showtimes
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2
BEST NUKE BAND—There’s nothing exceptional about tonight’s Radiation City show. It’s just a great local band performing in a great local venue. The comfortable confines of Mississippi Studios are the perfect place to experience the band’s upbeat, ethereal tunes. So simple, so nice. No shtick, no glitz—satisfaction guaranteed. SM
w/Maus Haus, the Ocean Floor; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $10
LAMAS ALERT!—Tonight the B-Movie Bingo series features the cheese-tastic Gladiator Cop (1995), featuring Lorenzo Lamas (SQUEEEE!) as a beefcake detective who discovers he’s Alexander the Great reincarnated. (What?!) Anyway, that means there will be lots of sword fighting, semi-nudity, male ponytails, and tons of competitive bingo fun! WSH
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7:30 pm, $7
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3
FRENCH CLASS—Delicately and delightfully surreal French sci-fi cartoons Fantastic Planet and Light Years (AKA Gandahar) make up the double feature at Holocene’s Fin de Cinema. Both are stunning, mesmerizing, and thought provoking. (Even if you aren’t stoned!) And local acts Jeffrey Jerusalem, Hosannas, Onuinu, and WL will be accompanying the films with a live score. DCT
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8:30 pm, $6
CIRCUS CAGE—Inspired by composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham, tonight’s avant garde “circus” promises to fill PNCA’s halls with 16 dancers, 10 musicians, and a single poet, all brought together for the first time to commemorate Cage’s 100th birthday. AH
PNCA, 1241 NW Johnson, 7 pm, FREE