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Posted inHoliday Guide 2024 🎅

What’s the “Holiday” in Holiday Beers?

Local brewers describe the secret ingredients that put their beers in the holiday spirit.

[Editor’s note: Read all our holly jolly HOLIDAY GUIDE articles here. Looking for a print copy? Good! You can find it in more than 500 spots across Portland with this handy map!] Every year around November, beer aisles and bottle shops get seasonal. Winter ales appear on the shelves right around the time frost starts […]

Posted inHoliday Guide 2024 🎅

Christmas Music for Every Mood

Four examples of music that take a decidedly
different spin on the holidays.

[Editor’s note: Read all our holly jolly HOLIDAY GUIDE articles here. Looking for a print copy? Good! You can find it in more than 500 spots across Portland with this handy map!] Over the years, the recording industry has managed to create Christmas music for every mood. Thousands of sad piano takes on “The Christmas […]

Posted inCulture

Cosplay Break: Bask in the Charm of Costumed Fans at Kumoricon 2024

After 20 years, Oregon’s largest anime convention is still volunteer-led and bursting with enthusiastic energy.

More than twelve thousand fans descended on Portland last weekend to celebrate 20 years of Kumoricon, Oregon’s largest convention for appreciators of anime and the content world that surrounds it. From Friday through Sunday attendees competed in video game tournaments, stood in as chess pieces in human-sized games, browsed the works of hundreds of artists […]

Posted inFood and Drink

Secret Aardvark Drops Hot Nut News

The Portland-area hot sauce company celebrated 20 years of flavorful, spicy sauciness with a new snack.

Beloved local hot sauce makers Secret Aardvark celebrated 20 years of spiciness, in both seasoning and spirit, on Saturday at the Landmark Saloon, where—between sets by two of her favorite local groups, Silver Lake 66 and Ashleigh Flynn and the Riveters—Aardvark owner Stacy Moritz introduced a new product to the crowd, Aardvarks Nuts: Habanero Hazelnuts. […]

Posted inMusic

Screaming With Meaning: The Definitive Blood Brothers Lyrics Q & A

Ahead of the hardcore band’s sold out show at Revolution Hall, Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie tell us what the group’s intense, abstract song lyrics really mean.

Like any fan of Seattle hardcore band the Blood Brothers, I have found myself at a show, pressed up against a wall of people, shouting the wrong lyrics to their songs. For instance, on their hit “USA NAILS” there’s a hook where you think you’re singing a cheer-style “one, one, and two!” but the lyrics […]

Posted inMusic

FREE TICKETS THURSDAY: Enter to Win Free Tix to See Reverend Horton Heat, Des Demonas, Mason Jennings, and MORE!

Who’s ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland’s best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst… if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making […]

Posted inSports

How Portland’s Rose City Rollers Became Roller Derby Champions Again

With standout jammers and unmatched teamwork, Wheels of Justice dominates the track to claim Women’s Flat Track Derby Association’s highest honor.

On Sunday in beautiful Portland, Oregon, Rose City Rollers’ Wheels Of Justice—an all-star squad of the best of the best skaters in Portland’s longtime roller derby league—clinched a 141-104 victory over St. Louis, Missouri’s Arch Rival All-Stars and won the sport’s highest honor: the Hydra Trophy. The teams played neck and neck in a tight […]

Posted inEverOut

The Best Things To Do in Portland This Month: November 2024

Sabrina Carpenter, Cyndi Lauper, and More

November is here, which means a deluge of holidays are coming your way, from Election Day to Veterans Day to Thanksgiving. Plus, it’s Native American Heritage Month and the first round of festive winter events are coming down the pike. Of course, there’s also the usual array of concerts, festivals, food & drink events, and […]

Posted inEverOut

This Week In Portland Food News

Cà Phê, Hand-Smashed Lime Tea, and Sour Pomegranate Doughnuts

Welcome to November! Kick off the month with fresh lime tea from The Lime Stand, açaí bowls from the new gluten-free bakery Kirari West, and Vietnamese coffee from Friends Share Cà Phê. Plus, find out where to get passionfruit frozen custard and sour pomegranate doughnuts. For more ideas, check out our food and drink guide. […]

Posted inEverOut

The Best Bang for Your Buck Events in Portland This Weekend: Nov 1–3, 2024

Portland All Souls River Procession, Family Dinner, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15

We hope you’re not too tired from Halloween partying because there’s plenty of fun events to hit up this weekend, from The 4th Annual Portland All Souls River Procession to The People’s Court’s Camp Crystal Lake Halloween Party and from the Family Dinner benefit concert to a Diwali Festival. For more ideas, check out our […]

Posted inMovies & TV

Allee Willis: Creative Force, ‘Dangerous Woman,’ Songwriter Behind Friends Theme

A new documentary The World According to Allee Willis reveals your favorite artists’ favorite artist.

Allee Willis was your favorite artists’ favorite artist decades before Chappell Roan.

Allee Willis was a truly fascinating, wildly-creative artist who worked almost exclusively behind the scenes. She was your favorite artists’ favorite artist decades before Chappell Roan.

Allee Willis: creative force behind the Friends TV Show Theme, Dangerous Woman to Soviet newspapers
Allee Willis: Creative Force, Dangerous Woman, Queer Songwriter Behind Friends’ Theme
Further Proof That Friends Is Queer-Coded

Posted inNews

How Portland Became a Roller Derby Mecca

Rose City Rollers commemorates 20 years by hosting the sport’s global championships on their home turf.

Twenty years ago, Kim “Rocket Mean” Stegeman put an ad on the back page of the Portland Mercury. She didn’t have a business to advertise. She had nothing to sell.  “My phone number was on the back of it for three months, and it said ‘Want to play roller derby?’” Stegeman recalls. “I would personally […]

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