So... November. We're here already. That means Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, and then Christmas, and then New Year's, and then... seems like things are moving really fast, right? You could try to slow it down, but why not just get caught up in the whirlwind? It's certainly easy enough when you've got weekends like this one, starring (Sandy) Alex G, JB Smoove, Reckless Kelly, and YOUR PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS. Hit the links below, and plan your weekend accordingly.

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Friday, Nov 1

JB Smoove
Best known for consistently stealing any and all scenes he's ever appeared in on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, JB Smoove is forever treasured as the narrator in the comedy monolith that is Pootie Tang. Catch up with the acclaimed actor, writer, and comedian tonight when he swings through Portland for a headlining show at Revolution Hall. (Fri Nov 1, 8 pm, Revolution Hall, $35-40)

Dia De Los Muertos
Día de los Muertos—that’s Spanish for “Day of the Dead,” for those of you who took French in high school—is a Mexican holiday in which loved ones who have passed on to the spirit world are thought to come visit those of us still left here on this hellscape of an Earth. Pour one out own for your own dead relatives and celebrate sweaty, sticky life at Holocene, with music from Orquestra Pacifico Tropical, Natasha Kmeto, Terror/Cactus, and DJ NOCHE LIBRE. (Fri Nov 1, 8 pm, Holocene, $10-12) BLAIR STENVICK

(Sandy) Alex G, Tomberlin, Slow Pulp
There’s a song called “Southern Sky” on (Sandy) Alex G’s new album House of Sugar that ambles effortlessly along the borders of country, indie rock and lo-fi pop, just as there was a song called “Bobby” on his previous album Rocket that did the same thing. Both are achingly beautiful, and they’ll make you want more from this Philly wunderkind. But (Sandy) Alex G seems to have no interest in giving you what you want. Instead, on both Rocket and House of Sugar, he bounces all over the stylistic map, trying out gentle noise, weird jazz, electronic, and other far-out sounds. Which is his right, certainly! But here’s hoping that one day he gives us a full collection of the DIY twang-pop he does so well. (Fri Nov 1, 8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $18-22, all ages) BEN SALMON

Wyrd War Presents: They Live with Alan Howarth
There are more than a few theaters across the country who semi-regularly screen 1984 as a response to the continued tenure of our corrupt, racist, slumlord sex offender of a president. But while familiarizing yourself with Orwell is always a good idea, John Carpenter’s last bonafide classic—1989's paranoid, left-wing, grindhouse sci-fi satire They Live—is a much more appropriate film for the strange, bewildering time we occupy. And for as good as John Hurt was in 1984, if we’re heading into a debased apocalypse of a future, I’d rather have Rowdy Roddy Piper as my avatar, kicking ass, chewing bubblegum, and—if he has to—literally beating some sense into you. Put the fuckin’ glasses on, and keep your ears open, because Alan Howarth, who composed and performed the film's score with Carpenter, is in attendance. (Fri Nov 1, 7:30 pm & 11 pm, Hollywood Theatre) BOBBY ROBERTS

Swervedriver, Milly
Fresh off the release of their 2019 album, Future Ruins, Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge bring their pioneering alt-rock and shoegaze band back across the pond to head up a pair of intimate shows at Bunk Bar. (Fri-Sat Nov 1-2, 8:30 pm, Bunk Bar, $25-30)

Matt & Kim, SWMRS
Indie- and dance pop isn’t my typical area of musical enjoyment, nor do I seek it out in a live setting. So I consider it a fateful blessing that I had nothing better to do during Matt and Kim’s set at Capitol Hill Block Party 2014. After stumbling upon the Brooklyn duo/couple’s performance, I quickly deduced that Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums) bring an insane amount of energy to their bubbly live sets and are some of the most expressive onstage musicians I’ve come across. The duo took a hiatus in 2017 (after Schifino’s ACL injury), but now they’re back on tour on the strength of their new album Almost Everyday. Don’t miss ’em. (Fri Nov 1, 8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $25-28, all ages) JENNI MOORE

Chris Lake
Ever wonder what the hell house music would sound like if it started in Scotland, made the trip to Los Angeles, and wound up in Portland? Find out tonight when Chris Lake brings the "Stay With Me" Tour to the Roseland dance floor. (Fri Nov 1, 7 pm, Roseland, $25)

The Long Con Vol. 2 Celebration
Beloved Mercury contributors Ben Coleman and Dylan Meconis are back at Books With Pictures to celebrate the release of their post-apocalyptic adventure The Long Con's second volume, providing attendees the opportunity to buy the complete saga at a discounted price, get their books signed, and hear some interesting con stories of their own. (Fri Nov 1, 7 pm, Books With Pictures, free)

Jason Mraz, Raining Jane
The acoustic pop-rock and folk singer/songwriter who rose to prominence in the San Diego coffee shop scene of the early 2000s brings his "Ladies & Gentleman" Tour to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. (Fri Nov 1, 8 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $39-99)

Brent Cobb & Them, Hailey Whitters
After turning heads down on Pendarvis Farm at the 2017 installment of Pickathon, the Georgia-hailing country music singer/songwriter and his backing band returns to town for a stop on the "Sucker For a Good Time" Tour. (Fri Nov 1, 9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $18-20)

Saturday, Nov 2

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Philadelphia 76ers
If you’re still looking to get wrapped up in the excitement surrounding the Trail Blazers’ 50th anniversary season, tonight’s rematch of the team’s historic 1977 final series against the Philadelphia 76ers presents the perfect opportunity. With both teams set to make big waves in their respective conferences, expect the Moda Center to be bursting at the seams with an intensity that’s usually reserved for rivalries and late season drama. (Sat Nov 2, 7 pm, Moda Center, $39-201) CHIPP TERWILLIGER

Jonathan Richman
Nearly 50 years into his career, Jonathan Richman remains a singular figure in indie music. A soft-hearted punk legend who approaches the world with childlike wonder, Richman’s career includes leading early-’70s band the Modern Lovers, playing songs in a tree in a ’90s Farrelly Brothers blockbuster, and being covered by everyone from the Sex Pistols to David Bowie and being sampled by M.I.A. One of the most playful and eccentric live performers around, Richman’s shows are an uncommonly intimate experience, even on an off-night. It’s rare he plays any of his songs in a straight, recognizable form, but the immense, unfiltered joy he brings to each performance is something everyone should witness. (Sat Nov 2, 8 pm, Revolution Hall, $20-25) JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON

Two Door Cinema Club, Peach Pit
It took three long years for us to hear a new Two Door Cinema Club album, but luckily, indie pop three-piece from North Ireland is coming to Portland in support of their newest record False Alarm. It's almost not worth buying a seat because you're going to be spending the entire time dancing anyway. Queue up the classics (“Something Good Can Work,” “What You Know,” “I Can Talk”) and some new hits (“Talk,” “Are We Ready?,” “Once”). Two Door Cinema Club has something for everyone. (Sat Nov 2, 8:30 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $39.50, all ages) KATHERINE MORGAN

Frankenstein's Comic Book Swap
With admission only a buck, it's hard to justify not swinging by Frankenstein's Comic Book Swap—which returns this weekend to take over the Eagles Lodge with table after table and crate after crate of classic comics, weird old magazines, battered VHS tapes, dog-eared paperbacks, creepy toys, and all sorts of half-forgotten pop-culture ephemera. Chances are good you'll find something you had no idea existed, and chances are also good you'll end up taking it home. (Sat Nov 2, noon, Eagles Lodge on SE Hawthorne, $1-5, all ages) ERIK HENRIKSEN

Miami Horror
With a new album on the way, Melbourne's Miami Horror link up with Portland's own Reva DeVito to bring their dreamy and danceable synth-pop back to the town for the first time since 2015. (Sat Nov 2, 9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $17-20)

Marika Hackman, Girl Friday
Acclaimed English singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marika Hackman brings her ever-evolving blend of art-folk, pop, and rock back to Portland to head up an intimate show supporting her latest Sub Pop-issued album, Human Friend. (Sat Nov 2, 8 pm, Polaris Hall, $13-15)

Phantasm Double Feature
Horror movie fans received an unexpected bumper crop in 1979, with the perfect Lovecraftian ickiness of Alien. Maybe just as important, though, was the release of Phantasm, a fumbling, seemingly handmade shot of cinematic moonshine that somehow managed to hit a dream-logic sweet spot. Like Alien, it also got a bigger, bolder sequel almost 10 years later, in the form of Phantasm II. But writer/director Don Coscarelli made sure to see his series through to its end, and he's seeing it all the way to his attending this double-feature screening tonight at the Hollywood, with a new digital restoration of the original, and the sequel being screened in 35mm. Horror aficionados: taking a spiked ball to the head is the only excuse you have for missing this, and even then... (Sat Nov 2, 7 pm, Hollywood Theatre)

Madeon
The French DJ, producer, and singer/songwriter out of Nante brings his brand of electropop, house, and nu-disco to the Roseland stage for the Portland stop on the "Good Faith" Tour. (Sat Nov 2, 8 pm, Roseland, $30-35, all ages)

The Bitch is Back: A Burlesque Tribute to Elton John
Lacy Productions presents a burlesque tribute to Elton John at Crush Bar, with performances by Nikki Lev, Resa La Rev, Dee Dee Pepper, T.L. Ford, Prince Peanut Butter, Nick Lacy, Fannie Fuller, Temera Titty, Crystal Mischief, and Bayou Bettie. Hosted by Sean Nannigans. (Sat Nov 2, 8:30 pm, Crush, $18-32)

Club Nitty Gritty
If you're looking for a dance night that sets the evening on fire, check out Club Nitty Gritty, hosted by the always down for a good time DJ Action Slacks (Shannon Wiberg). She's been pounding the turntables for years with righteous choices in down-home dirty soul—the kind with raw sax and voices that wail and scratch. (Sat Nov 2, 9 pm, The World Famous Kenton Club, $7) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

Reverend Nat's Apple Market
Reverend Nat's Apple Market returns, inviting you to come through and stock up on the finest apples in the region, perfect for cooking, saucing, and juicing, all while enjoying bottomless cups of hot mulled juice for $1. F.H. Steinbart Co. will be on hand selling home cidermaking supplies, so bring your own carboys, boxes, and bags, and you'll be all set to get into the cider-making game from the comfort of your own home when winter rolls around. (Sat-Sun Nov 2-3, 10 am, Reverend Nat's Cidery & Taproom, free, all ages)

Sunday, Nov 3

Reckless Kelly
At the time, spending four years in semi-rural Idaho didn't seem to have a ton of benefits—but one of them was being able to hop in a car, drive for 10 minutes, and end up in a pale expanse of dusty, hard-scrabble steppe, where low mountains rolled against the horizon and cracked highways stretched into infinity. It's the kind of country where if you stand still the sun and wind will wear you down to nothing, and driving through it requires a soundtrack, which is how I ended up learning Reckless Kelly's Live at Stubbs by heart. A twangy ramble recorded at Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Austin, it offers rambunctious riffs on “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and “You Shook Me All Night Long,” but the best stuff is what's between: track after track of country-rock that thrums with unexpected heart. (“Wild Western Windblown Band” alone sums up about 80 percent of what's great about country and honky-tonk.) Since Live at Stubbs, Reckless Kelly has put out nine more albums, but the best way to hear them will be at the Aladdin Theater. Or, you know, with the stereo cranked up to maximum as you rattle at 70 MPH down some forgotten Idaho highway. (Sun Nov 3, 8 pm, Aladdin Theater, $25-30, all ages) ERIK HENRIKSEN

Ra Ra Riot
The long-running quintet out of Syracuse, New York brings their shape-shifting blend of orchestral pop and indie rock back to Portland for an all-ages show supporting their latest Barsuk Records-issued album, Superbloom. (Sun Nov 3, 8 pm, Wonder Ballroom, $18-20, all ages)

Sloan
By the 1990s, the term “power pop”—which began as a self-explanatory marriage of Who-ish crunch and Beatles-like melody—could apply to a range of artists. On one end of the spectrum was Weezer, whose self-deprecating edge and references to suburban pop culture ephemera served as the modern counterweight to singer Rivers Cuomo’s thinly veiled Pet Sounds fetishizing. On the other was Jellyfish, a technicolored ELO/Wings/Queen mashup that openly resisted musical trends of the era. Somewhere in the middle lay Halifax’s Sloan—a band that never seemed particularly self-conscious of their retro influences, but who executed pastiche with a nonchalance that catered to alt-rock sensibilities. Despite taking seven weeks and costing $120,000 to record, Sloan’s 1994 high-water mark Twice Removed is one of the most effortless-sounding power pop records ever released. Opening track “Penpals” is a Revolver sendup with lyrics lifted from actual fan mail addressed to the band’s then-labelmates Nirvana. And the catchiest couplet on the entire album, from the song “Coax Me,” happens to be, “If I drink concentrated O.J./Can I think Consolidated’s okay?” That’s really all you need to know. (Sun Nov 3, 8 pm, Holocene, $22-25)

Justin Townes Earle, Jonny Two Bags
Justin Townes Earle's perfectly sad Americana shelves well beside Wilco and Josh Ritter. But JTE’s got a streak of mischief and bottom-of-the-barrel sorrow that lets you know he’s the real deal. (Sun Nov 3, 8 pm, Revolution Hall, $25)

Simon Tam, Jacqueline Keeler
Hidden in the first week of November are two pretty important events, presented back to back. On Sun Nov 3, musician, activist, and author Simon Tam appears at Powell’s to talk about his book Slanted, Tam’s part rock 'n' roll memoir / part account of The Slants’ struggle to trademark their own band name and overturn a law which deemed it offensive. Then on Mon Nov 4, the Slants play their last live show as a full band. As a rule, I do not believe artists who say they’re stopping, especially a creative force like Tam. But between his lectures and founding a nonprofit in 2018, dude is legitimately too busy to tour now. (Sun Nov 3, 2 pm, Powell's City of Books, free)

DOA Pro Wrestling: Burning Bridges
The November installment of DOA Pro Wrestling splashes off Harvey's top rope with another afternoon of hard-hitting action in an intimate setting. Catch the Portland debut of Hollywood's World Tag Team Champions, Double Platinum (Chris Bey and Suede Thompson), as they take on Portland's own Four Minutes of Heat (Ricky Gibson and Eddie Pearl). (Sun Nov 3, 1 pm, Harvey's Comedy Club, $15 & Up, all ages)

Skizzy Mars, Yoshi Flower
The Harlem-hailing rapper and producer brings his melodic, hook-heavy hip-hop back to the Hawthorne Theatre stage for the Portland stop on the "Free Skizzy Mars" Tour. (Sun Nov 3, 8 pm, Hawthorne Theatre, $22-25, all ages)

Chrome, Soriah
Chrome was one of the most terrifying acts to emerge from the post-punk era. Formed in 1975 by the beautifully named duo of Damon Edge and Helios Creed, the group boiled together the dark side of psychedelia, the fury of punk, and the strange delights of analog synthesizers and tape music. The resulting soup, as heard on albums like 1977’s Alien Soundtracks and 1980’s Red Exposure, was black, viscous, and hallucinogenic. Chrome has since gone through various permutations, with Edge leading the charge through the ’80s and ’90s, up until his death in 1995. The mantle was quickly assumed by Creed, who has kept the spirit of the band alive through his solo work and new Chrome recordings, including the sexy beast that is 2014’s Feel It Like a Scientist, which sounds as sinister and intoxicating as ever. (Sun Nov 3, 8:30 pm, Star Theater, $15) ROBERT HAM

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