Drunk in Love: Beyoncé vs. Drake
Ante Up PDX and Tribute Night throw a Valentine's party for people who prefer to express their love and affection in the form of hitting the dancefloor and staying there all damn night, and Doc Adam will be doing his best to keep them there by pulling from hits, remixes, b-sides and deep cuts from the Queen Bee and that one dude with all the ghostwriters.
Feb 16, 9 pm, Holocene, $10
Holiday Friends, Paper Brain, Siren & the Sea
Holiday Friends, from Astoria, take straightforward pop-rock songs and dress 'em up with synths, programmed rhythms, and other future-stuff.
Feb 16, 9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $10
Johanna Warren, Maitland
Portland folksinger/songwriter Johanna Warren is celebrating the release of her meditative new album Gemini II (the sequel to 2016âs Gemini I) and kicking off her âPlant Medicine Tourâ with this intimate show and herb market at the Old Church. The twin records were inspired by the tarot cards âThe Loversâ and âThe Devil,â and were released via Warrenâs own label, Spirit House Records. CIARA DOLAN
Feb 17, 7 pm, The Old Church, $10
The Pariahs, Wes Guy
After rocking the Thesis recently with his band the Pariahs, rapper Wes Guy is dropping a five-track R&B EP called Love Junky this week. âThe ideology of love being a drug stems from a rough patch in my relationship two years ago,â Guy explains in a press release, âwhere I wanted to escape, but I was so hooked by the past highs (memories) that I couldnât fathom the current state of low points.â Opening track âLove Drugâ captures this perfectly, with emotive, guitar-driven production and lyrics about a relationship crashing alongside lines like, âShe always keeps me high, though/She makes me lose my mind, though.â Thereâs also the ballad âWhen We Lay,â featuring vocals from Mai Mae of Fringe Class, and closing track âAzul Skies,â which focuses on the love of life and self-love rather than romance. Wes Guy raps throughout the project, but itâs the smooth, easy-on-the-ears vibe of this EP that makes it reminiscent of soul. JENNI MOORE
Feb 18, 9 pm, Jack London Revue, $10
Gaytheist, Cougar, Fruit of the Legion of Loom, DJ Just Dave
If the music of Gaytheist were a vehicle, it would be a semi, late on its delivery, blazing down I-5, the speed limit only a laughable suggestion as the trucker begins to have Tron-like hallucinations from 38 hours of no sleep and caffeine-pill cocktails. With only three members, Gaytheist leaves you wondering how they create such a heavy, intricate layering of sound.
Feb 17, 9 pm, Tonic Lounge, $10
Murderbait, Sweeping Exits
Sweeping Exitsâ Glitter & Blood is unlike any album youâve heard before. Frontwoman Mira Glitterhound is the mind behind the expansive, 16-track rock opera, narrating stories of murder, love, revenge, and queer vampiresâimagine if Anne Rice wrote an erotic thriller about the Vampire Lestatâs goth band. Glitterhound playfully jumps from genre to genre, but each song is meticulously crafted, with traces of Bowie glam on âThe Palace,â while âLady Deathâ is more reminiscent of a wispy Carpenters song, and âThe Queenâs Ballâ sounds like doo-wop surf-rock. Glitter and Blood is an album made to be experienced liveâfog machine, fake blood, glitter, and all. CAMERON CROWELL
Feb 18, 8 pm, Star Theater, $6
Black Belt Eagle Scout, Pools, Layperson
Olympia-based duo Pools bring their dreamy bedroom pop sounds down the I-5 for a Portland show featuring support from stand-out local acts Layperson and Black Belt Eagle Scout.
Feb 16, 8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!, $5
Pat Keen, Numbskull, Teton
Pat Keen is apparently most comfortable when the music heâs playing is entirely uncomfortable. The Minnesotan has logged time as a touring member of Guerilla Toss, an unbound group that views post-punk dance music as a challenge to overcome, and is currently one-quarter of Wei Zhongle, a project that mixes and matches genres and tones with abandon. Keenâs solo work, as heard most recently on his latest full-length Albatross, is a lot more contained that either of those outfits, but is still enjoys a carefree stroll on the paths that run between folk, art pop, and something like jazz. There are elements of these songs that connect with those genre descriptions but donât feel tethered to their history or structures. Like Jad Fair of Half Japanese or Oregonâs own Michael Hurley, he dances his own steps and asks us to come up with our own in response. ROBERT HAM
Feb 17, 8 pm, Mothership Music, $5
Lubec, Curse League, Big Science, Helens, Brave Hands
Through unpredictably reactive drumming from Matt Dressen; Eddie Charltonâs geometric, calculated guitar riffs; and Caroline Jacksonâs fuzzed-out classical piano, Lubec creates carbonated shoegaze, too fizzy and frenetic to be dreamy but too distorted to feel like reality.
Feb 17, 8 pm, The Big Legrowlski, $5
Arctic Flowers, The Pathogens, Body Mask
Honing in the dissonant goth-punk of Joy Division and mixing it with the dirty-jangle rock 'n' roll of bands like X and the Wipers, Arctic Flowers are veterans of the Portland punk scene that are anything but burnt out.
Feb 17, 9 pm, (The World Famous) Kenton Club, $5
Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!
