Portland Cello Project
A rare opportunity to behold the musical alchemy the Portland Cello Project can deploy, in front of the beauty of Washington Park, for free, as part of Portland Parks & Recreation's Summer Free for All. (Sat Aug 3, 6 pm, Washington Park, free)
Friends of Noise Youth Showcase w/ Black Panther
Okay, maybe the parking lot at Village Square isn't technically a park, per se, but that doesn't mean the Concerts in the Park series isn't coming there anyway, with a big 'n' bold showcase of up-and-coming local talent courtesy of Friends of Noise, followed by Black Panther in all its regal glory on the big screen. Part of Portland Parks and Recreationâs 2019 Concerts in the Park series. (Fri Aug 2, 6:30 pm, Village Square Parking Lot, free, all ages)
pFriem's 7th Anniversary Party
pFriem Family Brewers celebrates their 7th anniversary at Hood River's Waterfront Amphitheater, with live music from Ural Thomas & the Pain, Jenny Don't & The Spurs, and Haley Johnsen, lawn games, kid-friendly entertainment, food from Hit the Spot, ASH Woodfired, and Ruby Jewel Scoops, and an abundance of delicious beer. (Sat Aug 3, 4 pm, Hood River Waterfront, free, all ages)
New Seasons presents the Portland Mercury's Burger Week
From Monday August 5th through Saturday August 10th, Portland's finest restaurants will be serving up one-of-a-kind burgers created specifically for the Mercury's Burger Week. And even better? Each of these wondrous creations will cost a mere $5! Stay tuned for a complete list of participants and their tasty offerings. For up to date info, be sure to stay tuned to the official Burger Week Facebook event page. (Aug 5-10, Various Locations, $5)
Oh Rose, Wet Dream, Cry Babe
Olympia's Oh, Rose bring their versatile blend of haunting folk, roaring psychedelic rock, and infectious pop music to the Mississippi Studios stage to share songs off their forthcoming full-length, While My Father Sleeps. (Fri Aug 2, 9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $7-10)
Elliott Smith 50th Birthday Celebration
The Fixin' To pays tribute to the beloved Portland singer/songwriter, with members of Elly Swope, Choking Kind, Stanford Prism Experiment, Average Pageant, and Mustrd joining forces to cover Heatmiser, and Mo Troper, Graye & Caroline, and Rachel Brashear playing a set of Elliott Smith solo works. (Fri-Sat Aug 2-3, 9 pm, The Fixin' To, $10)
Gold Lion Barbershop
Modelo Negra presents this weekend-long pop-up experience that blends a classic barbershop experience with a more up-to-date vibe, complete with bites, beats, and of course, lots of very drinkable dark beer. (Aug 2-3, Fri 7 pm, Sat 2 pm, Neyborly, free w/ rsvp)
The Libertine Belles w/ Moana
Old-time jazz as sung by a swingin' local trio, followed by The Rock going ham on monsters and melodies in Moana on the big screen. Part of Portland Parks and Recreationâs 2019 Concerts in the Park series. (Sat Aug 3, 6:30 pm, Spring Garden Park, free, all ages)
Sellwood Moreland Summerville
Usually, block parties and/or street fairs are contained to one block or one street and the rest of the neighborhood pours into it. But Sellwood and Westmoreland don't get down like that. Instead, they ask all the local businesses to open their doors, set up shops on the sidewalk, and they run a trolley up and down the community's main corridors all day, with plenty of activities for kids, sales for everyone, live music, art, food, and more. For more information, visit https://sellwoodmoreland.com. (Sat Aug 3, 11 am, Smile Station, free)
Human Ottoman
Portland's Human Ottoman craft industrial dance music with the unique instrumentation of cello, vibraphone, and drums. Catch them tonight celebrating their release of their latest album, Rampage, with an intimate hometown show at the Atlantis Lounge. (Sat Aug 3, 10 pm, Mississippi Pizza Pub & Atlantis Lounge, $10)
Beetlejuice
Michael Keatonâs performance as a guttural, gutter-born Robin Williams in dingy stripes, coughing and spitting one liners in every direction like a haywire lawn sprinkler, is what finally made him after pinballing around the '80s in mostly mediocre comedies that needed him more than he needed them. But Beetlejuice is much more than a vehicle for Keatonâs madness, thanks in large part to composer Danny Elfman achieving the apotheosis of his "gnome-hop" scoring style, and director Tim Burton's untouchable blend of camp, goth, horror, and corn. Of all the decade's examples of bottled lightning getting captured at just the right moment in time, Beetlejuice is like a 2-liter of exuberance with a jet-black Mento dropped in it. Tonight it sprays all over Milo McIver State Park in the form of this free screening under the stars. It's showtiiiiime. (Sat Aug 3, 8:30 pm, Milo McIver State Park, free, all ages) BOBBY ROBERTS
Fremont Fest
Summer is a great excuse for the multitude of Portland's amazing neighborhoods to throw themselves a party, and this weekend is Fremont's turn, turning Beaumont Village into a staging ground for a kid's Zone (with a kids parade), a pop-up party area, vendor booths in the hundreds, food, shopping and live music. (Sat Aug 3, 10 am, Foot Traffic, free)
Havania Whaal, Peyote Ugly, Moon Shy
Thereâs something inherently impressive about bands that have few members but still manage to produce an enormous, all-encompassing sound. Havania Whaal is one of those bands. But what really sets Havania Whaal apart is their ability to pull driving pop hooks from the chaos. (Sat Aug 3, 9 pm, No Fun, $5)
Opera in the Park
For almost 20 years, this free operatic extravaganza has gifted Portland an opportunity to enjoy free performances from world-renowned performers amidst the natural beauty of Oregon parks, and for 2019, attendees will enjoy the sounds of Angela Meade, Richard Zeller, Allan Glassman, and the SummerFest Chorus and Orchestra, led by conductor Keith Clark. (Sun Aug 4, 6 pm, Washington Park, free)
Lili St. Anne
Local singer/songwriter Lili St. Anne brings her lush blend of shapeshifting folk, neo-soul, and jazz to the Doug Fir patio to head up the latest installment in the Pickin' On Sundays series. (Sun Aug 4, 3 pm, Doug Fir, free)
Hustle & Drone
When you get a chance to hear Portland electro-pop trio Hustle & Drone show off their latest adventures in dance, you should probably take it. That goes double when it's free. (Sun Aug 4, 8 pm, Rontoms, free)
Black Sunday
As part of their new Head Cleaner series, Northwest Film is skipping past a gentle scrubbing and is going straight to the Ajax and Brillo pad treatment with this rare screening of Italian horror legend Mario Bava's 1960 breakout, Black Sunday, which is also known as The Mask of Satan, which is primarily known for making that year's Psycho look like an episode of Howdy Doody. (Sun Aug 4, 7 pm, Northwest Film Center at Whitsell Auditorium, $8-10)
Farnell Newton & The Othership Connection
Whether heâs playing his own âSoul of Jazzâ series at the 1905, appearing as a featured artist on local hip-hop artistsâ projects, creating the first-ever Funklandia music festival, or just gassing other creatives on social media, composer/jazz trumpeter Farnell Newton is one of the Portland music communityâs shiniest gems. Expertly seasoned in his craft, his live performances are a special treat. So anyone who happens to reside in North Portland should consider themselves lucky: his funk-and-soul band, the Othership Connection are playing McCoy Park as part of Portland Parks and Recreationâs Summer Free for All series, which brings free and family-friendly live music events to an array of Portland parks. Oh, and pssst!: Alcohol for personal consumption is permitted during concerts in the park, so you may as well turn this free event into a sunny-jazz happy hour with a picnic! (Tues Aug 6, 6:30 pm, McCoy Park, free, all ages) JENNI MOORE
Chuck Klosterman
Raised in Captivity collects nearly three-dozen fun, weird, and surreal short stories from the essayist and bestselling author of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and But What if We're Wrong?. (Tues Aug 6, 7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free)
Maurice & the Stiff Sisters, Kilcid Band
An evening of laid-back groove pop with more than a little horn action involved thanks to the efforts of Maurice & the Stiff Sisters. Seattle's Kilcid Band round out the bill with their own psych-pop sounds. (Tues Aug 6, 8 pm, The Fixin' To, $7)
B-Movie Bingo: Deadly Prey
Your monthly opportunity to literally check off a bingo card full of B-movie clichés! This month, we journey back to the year of 1987, which was a pretty good year for discovering really wild shit on VHS. Like Deadly Prey for example, (very) loosely based on The Most Dangerous Game, but with way more baby oil, jorts, and dismemberments than that classic short story originally had. Deadly Prey is maybe not the most... artistically sound film to come out of the '80s, but direct-to-video used to mean a very different thing back then. Besides, who needs class or prestige when B-Movie eternity awaits in all its oily, jorty glory? (Tues Aug 6, 7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9) BOBBY ROBERTS
Gangstagrass
While Lil Nas X is grabbing all the recent headlines for his blend of country and hip-hop, Brooklyn outfit Gangstagrass had quietly laid the foundations for this hybrid for 13 years now. Responsible for the theme song for FX series Justified, this free-flowing ensemble has, as its name should explain, meshed the hard plunk of bluegrass with the hard rhymes of rap. Love it or tolerate it, itâs going to make for a nice, high-energy soundtrack to an early evening, post-work hang downtown. (Wed Aug 7, 5 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, free) ROBERT HAM
The I, Anonymous Show
If you love sick secrets, crazy rants, and side-splitting laughs, have we got a show for you! The I, Anonymous Show stars the fabulous Kate Murphy, who selects the wildest, strangest submissions from the beloved Mercury column and reads them live on stage. Joining Kate is a panel of whip-smart comediansâthis month itâs Philip Schallberger, Jordan Casner, and Seattleâs own Alayna Beckerâwho dissect these submissions with hilarious precision. If youâre looking for serious fun, the I, Anonymous Show is the place to be! (Wed Aug 7, 7:30 pm, Curious Comedy Theater, $10) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Saeeda Wright w/ Coco
Join vocalist Saeeda Wright for a night filled with soul, jazz, and gospel sounds that go beautifully with the love letter to music itself that is Pixar's Coco on the big screen. Part of Portland Parks and Recreationâs 2019 Concerts in the Park series. (Thurs Aug 8, 6:30 pm, Woodlawn Park, free, all ages)
Well-Read Black Girl Book Club
The American Booksellers Association is teaming up with Well-Read Black Girl founder Glory Edim to bring book club meetings to independent bookstores around the country in an effort to spotlight writers of color and amplify diverse voices. The August installment of the event will focus on Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. (Thurs Aug 8, 7 pm, Powell's City of Books, free)
Olivia Awbrey, Whim, Elizabeth Pixley-Fink
Local singer/songwriter Olivia Awbrey brings her psych-punk and indie rock stylings out to Turn! Turn! Turn! for a hometown show with support from fellow Portland songwriter Whim, and grunge-soul singer Elizabeth Pixley-Fink. (Thurs Aug 8, 8 pm, Turn! Turn! Turn!, $8)
There's even more to do in our Cheap, Free, & Fun calendar, and don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!
