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Monday, Oct 15

MC50 Presents Kick Out the Jams, Starcrawler, Holy Grove
You’re not going to get a full reunion of Detroit heavy rock pioneers the MC5 anytime soon—the majority of its members are too dead for that to happen. But the righteous anger and political fury of the band’s 1969 classic Kick Out the Jams are still sadly relevant to our modern era. Surviving guitarist Wayne Kramer is doing the next best thing: putting together an all-star lineup of fellow lifer musicians, including Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, to bring these songs back to fire-breathing life to celebrate MC5’s 50th birthday. (8 pm, Roseland, $32) ROBERT HAM

The Portland Mercury's Veg Week
Vegetarians, vegans, and everybody else: Rejoice! The Portland Mercury's Veg Week is finally here, and more than 20 of Portland's favorite restaurants are offering Merc readers delicious, inventive, and unforgettable vegan entrées... for half-price! Eating out—and, you know, being all environmentally responsible and healthy and thrifty—doesn't get much better than this. (Various Locations, click here for a full list of participating restaurants and dishes)

Jain, Drama
An evening of danceable, beat-driven pop with the up-and-coming French artist whose upbringing in the Congo, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi helped shape her music's dynamic sound. (8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $20-23, all ages)

The Lost Boys
1987's glistening horror-comedy The Lost Boys is one of two movies on Joel Schumacher's resume that can be said to contain more good in it than bad. When the film stays focused on the Coreys and their pseudo-Goonies-ish adventures fighting Santa Clara's enclave of noodle-haired, heavily mulleted vampires? When Barnard Hughes' Grandpa is allowed to indulge his scene-stealing putter 'n' mutter routines? When Tim Capello as the now iconic sexy sax man is dripping & heaving on a carnival stage? The movie is a nice slice of fried '80s gold. Unfortunately, a large chunk of the movie is also dedicated to following Jason Patric's morose Michael around as the rest of the cast chants his name every 30 seconds, as if Schumacher wasn't confident you'd caught it the first 3,000 times. Still though—the soundtrack is really solid (cryyyyyy little sistah!), and when the lurid finale finally kicks into frenetic, shrieking overdrive, you can almost see why studios kept giving this dude big budgets to waste for the next decade-plus. (7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9) BOBBY ROBERTS

Ben Marcus
The acclaimed author and short story writer returns with Notes from the Fog, a timely collection of stories exploring alienation in a not too distant dystopian future. (7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free)

Agent Orange, UK Subs, Guttermouth
SoCal punk makes its way up to the dingy Pacific Northwest with the O.C.'s finest OGs, Agent Orange. The band released their debut album Living in Darkness back in 1981, which channeled Dick Dale surf guitar and cranked it through punk aggression. Coming up through the Southern California punk scene in the late '70s and early '80s along with the Circle Jerks, Black Flag, and Fear, Agent Orange were very much a product of their time—essentially they were Reagan youth without being Reagan Youth. 9 pm, Doug Fir, $18.50-20 MARK LORE


Tuesday, Oct 16

Stuff You Missed in History Class
Holly Frey and Tracy V. Wilson bring their skewed-yet-insightful look back at lesser-known aspects of history to Portland when their acclaimed, long-running podcast has their first ever national tour stop for a live taping at the Aladdin Theater. (8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $25-30, all ages)

Erin Gibson
Erin Gibson is not only half the hilarity behind politics comedy podcast Throwing Shade, she also created and directed the outstanding Game of Thrones spoof show Gay of Thrones with “her real-life hair stylist” Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness. For years Gibson has proudly proclaimed herself Feminasty, but now she’s penned a collection of essays, ready to break down our outrage into tears of laughter. (7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free) SUZETTE SMITH

Mothers, Mega Bog
Singer/songwriter Kristine Leschper and her Athens, Georgia-based band bring their striking indie folk and rock sounds down to the Liquor Store for an intimate Portland show supporting their forthcoming full-length. Multi-instrumentalist Erin Birgy (AKA Mega Bog) rounds out the proceedings with her dynamic blend of folk, pop, and jazz. (9 pm, The Liquor Store, $12-15)

Miss Rayon, Marriage + Cancer, Dirty Princess
Local post-punks Miss Rayon are heading out on tour, and Portland punk and noise rock outfits Marriage + Cancer and Dirty Princess joining forces to help see them off in style with a Tuesday night rager at the Fixin' To. (8 pm, The Fixin' To, $7)

Repressed Cinema: Vampire Double Feature
Ian Sundahl reaches into his vault full of 16mm fascinations and presents a double feature full of undead low-budget delights, starting with Andy Milligan's 1970 green-skinned tale of Carfax Abbey, The Body Beneath, about an inbred family of vampires who think a family tree should have more than the one branch. The chaser to that stiff drink is 2000's Crimson Heather by Joe Sherlock, about a vampire and a vampire hunter who share a complicated relationship. Milligan's biographer Jimmy McDonough and Sherlock in attendance. (7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9) BOBBY ROBERTS

Raquel Divar, Cory O, Penny Wide Pupils, Bodie, One Wub
While they definitely qualify as a hip-hop act, Raquel Divar and Cory O are often booked for non-hip-hop lineups like the SYNT (See You Next Tuesday) weekly show dedicated to dubstep and the “deeper, darker side of bass music” at Bit House Saloon. The last time I saw Raquel Divar take the mic was at the Thesis in August, and it might have been her best performance to date. The crowd was apparently feeling that same energy as Raquel expertly performed challenging verses to dark tracks like “Runners Anthem,” “Snakes and the City,” and “Vandals,” from Divar and O’s new collaborative EP The Reign. There’s no better time than the present to go support this dynamic producer/MC duo. (9 pm, Bit House Saloon, free) JENNI MOORE

Hermitage Piano Trio
Tonight, the technically impeccable Hermitage Piano Trio represents their motherland with an all-Russian program featuring Tchaikovsky’s delightful take on the months of the year, as well as a more melancholic piece created by a 19-year-old Rachmaninoff. Perhaps the ultimate reason to attend, though, is to give witness to the Piano Trio No. 2 composed by the emotionally tortured Dmitri Shostakovich. Created during World War II, this uncanny work of dissonant tones, agitated rhythms, and unsettled sonic quality somehow manages to capture the reality of millions dead and millions more terrorized. The piano, cello, and violin have never sounded more disturbing. (7:30 pm, PSU Lincoln Performance Hall, $30-55) BRIAN HORAY

Esmé Patterson, Laura Palmer's Death Parade
The Denver-based singer/songwriter brings her folksy blend of indie pop and dream rock back to the Mississippi Studios stage for a headlining show. (9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $12-15)

The Dream Syndicate, Matthew Sweet
This co-headlining bill connects two acts that reintroduced a melodic edge to guitar rock during their respective heydays. The Paisley-Underground-affiliated Dream Syndicate holds down the spacier end of things. Their return in 2012 after a quarter-century-long split culminated in the recent LP How Did I Find Myself Here?, a fantastic collection of craggy psych-rock jams. Closing out the night is Matthew Sweet, who, since his 1991 breakthrough Girlfriend, has perfected chiming, lovestruck pop with varying degrees of volume and intensity. His latest album Tomorrow Forever is another masterwork that leans on his close reading of ’60s and ’70s classics from both sides of the Atlantic. (8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $25-30) ROBERT HAM


Wednesday, Oct 17

St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Black Pumas
Sadly, Austin psychedelic soul outfit Black Pumas only have one single to their name, “Black Moon Rising,” but it is one GREAT fucking song. Based solely on the immense strength of their Pickathon set, I highly recommend seeing the Black Pumas live. The fusion of singer Eric Burton and producer Adrian Quesada manifests in fleshed-out, guitar-driven, vintage-sounding soul that’s sure to win over any audience member with a pulse, and make all of you want to buy a “Black Pumas” T-shirt. (8:30 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $35-38, all ages) JENNI MOORE

Richard Reed Parry's Quiet River
Imagine spending 15 years playing in indie rock mega-band Arcade Fire, where every album release is a global event and every show is a giant, life affirming crescendo. Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? It’s no surprise, then, that someone like Richard Reed Parry—Arcade Fire’s redheaded multi-instrumentalist—might use his time off from the main gig to retreat into something much smaller and more intimate, with more personal connection. Enter Parry’s new folk-rock song cycle, Quiet River of Dust, Vol. 1. It’s a lovely little listen, packed with adventurous takes on folk traditions and inspired by hikes through Japan, supernatural experiences, mythological concepts, and the music of Arthur Russell, Tom Waits, and Parry’s late father. Is Parry going to headline Madison Square Garden with this stuff? Probably not, but that’s surely part of the point. (9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $17-20)

Zhu
When Steven Zhu—who uses his surname as his onstage moniker—first started posting to SoundCloud in early 2014, he chose to remain anonymous and let his music be judged on merit alone. Now he's a Grammy-nominated artist for his club-friendly "Faded." Zhu's musical influences and versatility become apparent when you listen to The Genesis Series, a six-track EP of collabs with artists from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to Skrillex and Mind of a Genius labelmate Gallant. (8 pm, Roseland, $35-40, all ages) JENNI MOORE

R.O. Kwon, Elena Passarello
The Incendiaries is R. O. Kwon's bestselling novel about two young students who meet at Edwards University and are drawn into a secretive cult with a penchant for committing violent acts. Kwon will be joined in conversation by Elena Passarello, author of Animals Strike Curious Poses and Let Me Clear My Throat. (7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free)

Lebenden Toten, Violent Party, Destripados, Genogeist
Bands on the crusty end of the punk spectrum might pay lip service to the terrible beauty of chaos, but the medium rarely matches the message—it doesn’t get much more musically conservative than a two-minute blast of Discharge worship. Portland’s noise punk rulers Lebenden Toten are a bracing reminder that spiky punk can still shock, and last year’s Mind Parasites LP might be the band’s most forceful statement yet. An exhausting and essential listen, the album is a 20-minute tour of an infernal punk landscape that is all singing static and melting borders, and the songs that live there sound like monsters feeding on the madness. It is messy and ugly and beautiful. (8 pm, The Lovecraft, $8) CHRIS STAMM

The Twilight Sad
The Twilight Sad's well-crafted wall of sound, led by James Graham's thick Scottish accent, is likely to stick in your head after a few listens. (9 pm, Doug Fir, $16-18) CHRISTINA BROUSSARD

Soweto Gospel Choir
The renowned South African gospel group bring "Songs of the Free" to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela with a set of South African classics and beloved freedom and gospel songs. (7:30 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $30-50)


Thursday, Oct 18

Kamasi Washington, Victory
Kamasi Washington doesn’t do anything on a small scale. His 2015 major label breakthrough The Epic is 172 minutes of fiery jazz. This year’s Heaven and Earth is only slightly less dense, but absolutely solidifies his status as a truly visionary saxophonist. Washington’s done himself an immense favor by performing with some hot-shit players over the years, including Thundercat and drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. His shows always deliver, whether he’s sticking to the script or veering into improvised ecstasy. Jazz has long fallen out of favor in popular music, but Washington might be the first player in years to successfully bring the form to wider audiences. (8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $29.95-35, all ages) MARK LORE

Portland Trail Blazers Season Opener
The Trail Blazers get their 2018-2019 campaign underway with a doozy of a home game against a new-look Lakers side led by NBA legend LeBron James. King James recently referred to his supporting cast as “MUD,” or misunderstood, underappreciated, and determined, three terms that could easily be applied to our beloved Blazers in recent years. Expect Portland to prove that point tonight with the entire league watching. (7:30 pm, Moda Center) CHIPP TERWILLIGER

Small Town Murder
The Aladdin Theater hosts a special live taping of the "Small Town Murder" podcast, in which comedians James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman hone in a different small town each week, find out what makes it tick, and then explore a murder that took place there. (8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $45-65)

Pond, Anemone
The Australian quintet fronted by fronted by former Tame Impala bassist Nick Allbrook bring their blend of melodic, psych-tinged synth-pop back across the Pacific for an all-ages headlining show at the Wonder Ballroom. (8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $15-18, all ages)

Portland Fermentation Festival
The ninth annual celebration of letting food get old and become better food. Or at least that's the theory. There is a science to it, after all. Show up and learn about all that stuff, and sample some fine fermented foods, like kimchi, and miso, and cheese, and cider, and a whole bunch of other fermented stuff. (6 pm, Ecotrust Building, $10-25, all ages)

Lithics, Mope Grooves, L.O.X., Mr. Wrong
Mope Grooves’ latest record Vanished boils over with nervous energy, expanding beyond any container that could possibly hold it. Self-released in March, the album finds the Raincoats-esque post-punk band experimenting with freer pop song structures and tackling darker subject matter head-on. Highlights include the jangly “Secret Life” and a cover of the Marine Girls’ “In Love.” (8:30 pm, Eagles Lodge, $7, all ages) CIARA DOLAN

Chris D'Elia
The former star of NBC's Whitney and Undateable brings his stand-up back through Revolution Hall for the Portland stop on the "Follow the Leader" Tour. (9:30 pm, Revolution Hall, $35)

Mercury Rev, Marissa Nadler
Although it shares a shimmering sonic universe (and the magic touch of producer Dave Fridmann) with The Soft Bulletin, Mercury Rev’s 1998 masterpiece Deserter’s Songs didn’t ride into the 21st century with a dedicated following to match the Flaming Lips’ cult of worshipers. While The Soft Bulletin will be forever pinned to a cultural moment, Deserter’s Songs has retained an air of mystery and majesty, and listening to it in 2018 doesn’t feel like revisiting a familiar peak. To dip into Deserter’s Songs today is to be stunned by a beauty that still seems vaguely alien. Tonight’s celebration of the album’s 20th anniversary promises to be a trip backwards into something strange. (9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $25-30) CHRIS STAMM

Havania Whaal, Dreckig, Dim Wit, Tom Ghoulie
A release party for Havania Whaal's latest video, "Supermoon," including a live screening of both the clip and its blooper reel, and performances from Tom Ghoulie, Dim Wit, and Dreckig. (8 pm, The Fixin' To, $8)

Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!