THURSDAY, MARCH 18

REVOLT—Ask anyone who's been around for a while: racial tension in Portland has a storied past. Join original Black Panthers Kent Ford and Percy Hampton for a talk on Portland's Black Panther Party and the media's response. Political science professor Jules Boykoff and author Martha Gies present. SK
Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand, 7 pm, FREE

POW!—The third annual Portland Oregon Women's Film Fest (POW) kicks off with an estrogen-fueled bang. Grab a beer and sit down to an evening of all-local, all women-directed shorts and a feature. Riding high on Kathryn Bigelow's historic Oscar nab for Best Director, the women of POW will be in fine spirits as they screen their varied and thoughtful films. CF
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 6:30 pm, FREE; see Film and powfest.com for festival info

FRIDAY, MARCH 19

BE NICE—1989's Patrick Swayze epic Road House stands as the pinnacle of human achievement. UNTIL TONIGHT, when Road House: The Play debuts in Portland, bringing the blood- and sex-stained saga of badass bouncer James Dalton to the stage! Featuring a cast of local comedy geniuses—including my hilarious and brilliant boss, Mercury Editor Wm. Steven Humphrey—Road House: The Play will probably be the greatest experience of your life. EH
Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th, Fri & Sat, 8 pm, $12, through March 27, 21+

PUTT—Everything is made better by meticulously engineered destruction, toy horses, and permanent damage to your liver, as made terrifyingly clear at Smash Putt: Miniature Golf Apocalypse. Drunkenly navigate your doomed balls through moving catapults, secret passages, intricate crushing devices, and a rotating Arc de Triomphe. Shoot golf balls out of a cannon. Yes—a cannon. JV
1719 W Burnside, Fri-Sun, through April 4, tee times & ticket prices at smashputt.com

SATURDAY, MARCH 20

EXCAVATION—To celebrate the release of their catchy, wonderfully textured Memorial album, local band Archeology have assembled a mighty, five-band bill. You can hear the jazzy folk tunes of the Ocean Floor alongside the subdued power-pop of Yarn Owl and the brooding rock songs of Oh Captain, My Captain, plus the leftfield Americana of Autopilot Is for Lovers. NL
Backspace, 115 NW 5th, 8 pm, $7, all ages

HEARTS OF OAK—It's been years, but the magnificent Ted Leo returns to Portland for a pair of nights of frantic rock and roll. New Jersey's finest export this side of the Boss, Leo and his trusty backing band the Pharmacists will be extolling the virtues of his latest recording, The Brutalist Bricks. I'd say it's a return to form, but Leo's impeccable form hasn't wavered one bit in his decade-plus run as a solo performer. EAC
Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, Sat 9 pm, $15, w/the Golden Bears, Hungry Ghost; Sun, 5 pm, $15, all ages, w/the Hive Dwellers

OPEN MARKET—A sign of spring as thrilling as plum blossoms, the Portland Farmers Market season begins today. Tell your favorite veggie, cheese, meat, bread, and pickle vendors how much you missed them! PAC
Portland Farmers Market, PSU Park Blocks, SW Park & Montgomery, 8:30 am-2 pm, FREE

SUNDAY, MARCH 21

FREAK FLAG—The freewheelin' Devendra Banhart brings his barefoot brand of globe-hugging folk music to our ears tonight, which should be an easygoing celebration of good vibes. Banhart is credited with birthing the so-called freak-folk movement, but more accurately his tunes combine psych, reggae, Tropicalia, raga, and countless other styles. NL
w/Dorothy and the Originals; Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, 8 pm, $20-25, all ages

CRAWL SPACE—Acrobats play struggling bugs in A Suicide Note from a Cockroach..., in which a down-and-out roach recounts the lives and deaths of his seven ex-wives. He can survive a nuclear holocaust but this heartache may be too much to bear. It's actually really funny. JC
Pelú Theatre at Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th, 2 & 8 pm, $10, through March 28, pelutheatre.com

MONDAY, MARCH 22

GREAT LITERS—Spin magazine described Canadian dance-rock band Metric's most recent album, Fantasies, as "tastier than a plate of poutine," a superlative that's probably worth more in Portland than all the other accolades the album has gotten, including a Polaris nomination. SM
w/Codeine Velvet Club, Nico Vega; Roseland, 8 NW 6th, 8 pm, $20, all ages

STUFF—You might've seen the 20-minute video The Story of Stuff, which traces a brief history of American consumerism (and, you know, how it's destroying the planet). Filmmaker Annie Leonard is back to give the subject a slightly more in-depth treatment—317 pages worth, in fact—in a new nonfiction book of the same name. AH
Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm, FREE

TUESDAY, MARCH 23

SPEAK/DON'T SPEAK—Tonight marks a rare appearance from moody instrumental outfit Grails, who don't need lyrics to create a pensive mood of sometimes foreboding emotion. They're joined by Tu Fawning, all the more expressive, if no less complex, with the deployment of spectral male/female vocals. MS
Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $10

RUMPELTEAZER'S HAIRBALLS—Cats is the best musical ever, paws down! It's the cat's meow, the fuzzy pajamas, the whole kitten caboodle. Be first in fe-line for tickets—ahead of all those young alleycats who're just there to catawampus and howl at the "Memory" moon with their fur a-flying. The tails you'll tell afterward—oh, to have nine lives to watch Rum Tum Tugger & Co. over and over! CF
Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay, 7:30 pm, $20+, through Sun March 28

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24

STRANGLE, SMASH—Xiu Xiu's success ain't bad for an act whose sound is as rooted in the strangled cries of emotionally tormented founder Jamie Stewart as it is the dissonant crashes of punishing dissonance, like razors shocking you out of a medicated daze. It's a beautiful show, though... really. MS
w/tUnE-yArDs, Pearly Gate Music, Operative; Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8:30 pm, $10

SPEAK TO ME—"Lucky Bastards" is the theme of the latest installment of Back Fence PDX, a live storytelling series. Witness our newsroom's own Sarah Mirk telling a story that was too hot to print on the Mercury's pages. Trust me: It involves some very, very naughty girls. Free cupcakes beforehand. SK
Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, 7:30 pm, $10-14