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Friday, May 17

Neil Young
Neil Young’s got the itch again. The 73-year-old singer/songwriter is in a flurry of activity, with a short string of Pacific Northwest solo acoustic dates—including tonight’s intimate show at the Keller Auditorium (8 pm, Keller Auditorium, $59.50-2500) NED LANNAMANN

Filmed by Bike
It might seem semi-ironic for a lifestyle that is literally on wheels to celebrate itself by asking cyclists plunk themselves down in a theater seat and sit still for hours on end, but Filmed by Bike is a film fest that never stops moving—not only are the 74 selections in this year's festival some of the most kinetic shorts, docs, and feature-length films the independent scene has to offer, but there's plenty of parties, themed rides, meet 'n' greets, and more. Hell, even the raffles are speedy. See filmedbybike.org for a complete list of titles and showtimes. (Fri-Sun, Hollywood Theatre)

Maria Bamford
If I could have dinner with any five people, dead or alive, I’d only need to pick one: Maria Bamford. That’s because she’s got a catalogue of satirical stand up characters guaranteed to keep you in stitches all night long—frankly, there wouldn’t be physical or figurative space for anyone else at that table. My personal favorite character: Diane Winterbottom Monte, a confident, smooth-small-talker who answers her phone with “Go for Diane!” Order the chicken strip basket at Helium and enjoy your own fantasy dinner with Bamford tonight. (Fri-Sat 7:30 pm & 10 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $25-38) BLAIR STENVICK

The Frights, Dude York
California-hailing quartet the Frights bring their surfy blend of pop-punk and garage rock back up the coast for a headlining show supporting their 2018 album, Hypochondriac. Alway-excellent Seattle indie rock trio Dude York round out the all-ages bill. (8 pm, Hawthorne Theatre, $16-19, all ages)

Foxing, Now Now, Daddy Issues
Do not be repelled by Now, Now’s emo past-life, as I once foolishly was: The Minnesota duo’s Saved was one of the best albums of 2018. Standout tracks “SGL” (an abbreviation for “shotgun lover”) and “AZ” (like the hot state) are understated pop masterpieces, with KC Dalager’s voice breezing over catchy synth melodies and Brad Hale’s adrenaline-charged drumbeats. It’s the perfect music for angsty scream-singing with the windows down (so I guess Now Now’s still a little emo after all). (8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $18-20, all ages) CIARA DOLAN

Comedy on the Farm
Stacey Givens’ Side Yard Farm hosts everything from culinary workshops and bike-in movie nights, to grief suppers and yoga classes. At this “ladies edition” of Comedy on the Farm, Tiffany McGuire, Katie Tickner, Amanda Lynn Deal, Katie Nguyen will perform stand-up comedy for your entertainment while you peruse the happy hour menu: six-hour smoked brisket sliders (veg option available), nacho bar, and Side Yard’s signature popcorn. There will also be locally sourced cookies, wine and beer available. (6 pm, The Side Yard Farm & Kitchen, $25) JENNI MOORE

Orville Peck, Dick Stusso
Mississippi Studios serves up a night of surreal outlaw country rock courtesy of this mysterious and masked troubadour who is currently touring in support of his Sub Pop-issued debut LP, Pony. (9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $12-14)

The Faint, Choir Boy, Closeness
The Faint are at their best when they’re nervous and unruly, when anxious noise and new wave cool clash in the space between the basement and the arena. On 2014’s Doom Abuse, the Omaha band sounded nearly as unsettled as they did on their 1999 breakthrough, Blank Wave Arcade. They were recharged, rowdy. On their new album, Egowerk, the Faint find a synthetic groove and stay there, and the result is perfectly pleasant and unsurprising, the work of a well-oiled machine tended by capable hands. You’ll move but be unmoved. (9 pm, Star Theater) CHRIS STAMM

Ibtihaj Muhammad
Proud chronicles Ibtihaj Muhammad's roots as an African American Muslim living in New Jersey, and her unlikely journey to become the only woman of color and the only religious minority on Team USA's saber fencing squad. (7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free)

Nate Bargatze
Revolution Hall presents an evening of stand-up with the comedian out of Old Hickory, Tennessee, known for his 2017 Netflix special, his appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and @midnight, and for being listed at #1 on Vulture's 50 Comedians You Should Know list in 2015. (7 pm & 9 pm, Revolution Hall, $29.50)

Kill Tony
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and his co-host Brian Redban bring their weekly live podcast to the Aladdin Theater stage for the Portland stop on a summer tour. (8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $20, all ages)


Saturday, May 18

Rainbow Night Market
This is the first-ever night market hosted by the Q Center—Portland’s LGBTQ2SIA+ community center—and it will feature entrepreneurs, artists, and food vendors from the local queer community. Eat, drink, shop, and socialize while supporting a good cause, and keep in mind that donations are welcome. This event is open and accessible for all, including families, elders, and people with disabilities. (4 pm, Q Center, free) BLAIR STENVICK

Weyes Blood
As Weyes Blood, Natalie Mering’s music has evolved from medieval psychedelia (2011’s The Outside Room) to disenfranchised Americana (2014’s The Innocents) to doomsday folk (2016’s Front Row Seat to Earth). Her latest and best record yet, Titanic Rising—which she has described as "the Kinks meet WWII or Bob Seger meets Enya"—ruminates on the struggle to find love and deeper meaning in this bizarre moment in history. Like the title suggests, Titanic Rising is fantastical and cinematic, but even as she’s forecasting total destruction, Mering is able to find beauty and goodness in herself, others, and this strange planet. (9 pm, Doug Fir, $15-17) CIARA DOLAN

Hannah Gadsby
It’s been almost one year since Australian comic Hannah Gadsby publicly quit comedy. In her award-winning, earth-shaking Netflix special Nanette, Gadsby announced her departure by brilliantly roasting the comedy business for forcing minorities to lean on self-deprecating jokes for laughs. Gadsby returns to stand-up with Douglas, a show that promises more jokes and less meta social analysis—but is expected to pack just as much of a punch. We’re here for it. (9 pm, Newmark Theatre, $42.25-63.50) ALEX ZIELINSKI

The Lost Boys—Live!
The much-beloved stage play adaptation of ’80s cult classic The Lost Boys returns for another round of leather jackets, hairspray, and local comedians cast as hot teen vampires. This goofy, self-aware masterpiece was penned by the combined might of Shelley McLendon and Courtenay Hameister (who also gave us Road House: The Play!) and features performances from J Names improviser Jed Arkley as Michael, the Mercury’s own Wm. Steven Humphrey as both a hot vampire AND a hot grandpa, and McLendon herself reprising her roles as both Lucy and Star. (8 pm, Siren Theater, $18-28) SUZETTE SMITH

McMenamins' Annual UFO Festival
It’s been nearly 70 years since a family spotted a flying disc hovering above their McMinnville farm—but UFO mania has never left the Yamhill County town. This year is the town’s 20th Annual McMenamins UFO Festival, where ET experts will get you up to speed on current theories—that is, after you attend the alien pet costume contest, beer tasting, and rock out to… a Jerry Garcia tribute band? IT’S ALL CONNECTED. (9 am, Hotel Oregon, $10-90, all ages) ALEX ZIELINSKI

Geographer, Manatee Commune
San Francisco singer/songwriter Michael Deni brings his spacey and soulful synth-pop project back up the West Coast to head up an early show at Holocene alongside Seattle's Manatee Commune. (5 pm, Holocene, $13-15)

Red Dress PDX 2019
The Portland tradition returns, bigger than ever—and that's not just hyperbole. In 2019 the Red Dress party is taking over the Memorial Coliseum! And in accordance with that big beautiful leap, the theme is equally big and audacious: The '80s! So that means large hair, shoulder pads you can land a chopper on, and good vibes. Proceeds benefit Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, Bridging Voices, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. (8 pm, Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, $40-140)

Art Garfunkel
The Aladdin Theater hosts an intimate evening with the Garfunkel half of the renowned folk rock duo. (8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $57.50-85, all ages)

Camp Cope, An Horse, Oceanator
Melbourne's Camp Cope bring their raw and powerful punk rock back to the states for a headlining tour supporting their excellent 2018 album, How to Socialise & Make Friends. (9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $15-17)

Sip of Spring
A one-day-only mini-beerfest on the southeast side of town, celebrating a baker's dozen of local craft breweries, including pFriem, StormBreaker, Little Beast, Breakside, and more. Admission includes a tasting cup and 10 taster tickets. (11 am, Rossi Farms, $20)

Dreckig, Choking Kind, Basil Strawberry
Papi Fimbres and Shana Lindbeck bring their uptempo blend of Cumbia- and Kraut-informed club music to the Fixin' To for a hometown show that doubles as a single release for Choking Kind and the debut performance of Basil Strawberry. (9 pm, The Fixin' To, $7)

The 10th and Final Portland's Prom
Circle the date and pick out your finest outfit, because Portland's Prom is returning for its 10th and final year. Expect plenty of punch served up in a lavish setting, a photo booth, and live music from Just People, Worth, Free Creatures, and DJ Demetri. (8 pm, Star Theater, $20-25)

Eternal Warfare Fest
The Tonic Lounge may be leaving us sooner rather than later, but they're sure as hell not going down easy, and this black metal festival is the defiant, fiery proof, with three nights of doom and thunder coming down on any and all banging heads. (3:30 pm, Tonic Lounge, $42-48)


Sunday, May 19

Depressed Cake Shop Pop-Up
Depressed Cake Shop is a worldwide grassroots organization that seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues through pop-ups where gray baked goods—that often have rainbow-colored insides to symbolize hope—are sold to raise money for mental health organizations. Eat some sweets and talk about your feelings! (1 pm, Opal 28, free) CIARA DOLAN

10th Annual Kenton Street Fair
The historic Kenton neighborhood in North Portland has a lot going for it (and not just that towering Paul Bunyan statue, which turns 60 this year, btw), and for the 10th anniversary of the Kenton Street Fair, they’re going to be showing everything off. Expect the much-welcome diversity you always find in this neighborhood, as well as multiple music stages that will feature rap, gospel, and more, 80-plus vendors, and all the delicious food you can eat. Come with an empty stomach, open heart, and ready to have fun. (10 am, Paul Bunyan Statue, free, all ages) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

Kevin Heffernan & Steve Lemme
Broken Lizard's Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme swing through the Aladdin Theater for the Portland stop on a live tour supporting their new truTV comedy, Tacoma FD. (8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $25, all ages)

Supersuckers, Speeddealer
Supersuckers shows are a good excuse to drink, flail, and forget about the grind of life. If that's not rock 'n' roll, I don't know what is. (8 pm, Dante's, $15) MARK LORE

Frankie & The Witch Fingers, Bryson Cone, Fire Nuns
Frankie and the Witch Fingers are keeping the garage-rock caboose rolling in Los Angeles alongside the city's more notable practitioners, Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees. The band's out-there sounds feel both familiar and new, clogged with fuzz and warmed by a Farfisa blanket. (9 pm, The Liquor Store, $10-12)

Brian Cox: Adventures in Space & Time
Not to be confused with the beloved Scottish character actor who paid us a visit in 2017, this Brian Cox is a renowned English physicist and professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester, and tonight he's bringing his "Universal" World Tour though town to explore the nature of space and time on some ultrahigh definition screens along with his co-host, comedian Robin Ince (7 pm, Revolution Hall, $60)

The Lemonheads, Tommy Stinson
After forming in an elite Boston private high school, the Lemonheads produced three of the scrappiest punk albums of the 1980s (on a label famed for releasing Oi! and ska records) before signing to a major and frontman Evan Dando becoming the Sassy darling of the alternative era and also (whether fairly or not) the poster boy for sell-out poseuring. His ’93 inclusion in People's Most Beautiful cemented the disdain, and near-viral hate-zines followed in its wake (the men's rights-adjacent Die, Evan Dando, Die and Kathleen Hannah's male-privilege-in-rock analysis My Life With Evan Dando, Popstar). But then there were perfect pop gems—like “Stove” and “Rudderless”—that carried an emotional weight that belied their shallow lyrical surface. Evan Dando as a figure was absurd, sure, but his songs were sweet and simple. And these facts, all these years later, hold true. (9 pm, Doug Fir, $25)

Julia Jacklin, Black Belt Eagle Scout
Fresh off a tour supporting Swedish duo First Aid Kit, Australian alt-country singer/songwriter Julia Jacklin returns to town for a headlining show supporting the anticipated follow-up to her excellent debut, Don't Let the Kids Win. (8 pm, Mississippi Studios, $15)

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