Your weekly reminder that things are, in fact, “going on” is here. Indie troubadour Kevin Morby heads into town on May 19 from the rustic Hudson Valley cabin where he recorded his new album, Little Wide Open. Local guitarist-composer Marisa Anderson also plays an album release show on May 21, revealing her expansive new album The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music. Plus, I know February feels like a century ago, but remember Alysa Liu and the Quad God? They’re triple Axeling (or maybe quadruple Axeling?) into town for Stars on Ice. One more question: Did you know you can watch people hit each other with balls at the Expo Center for FREE? Read on, obviously!
MONDAY, MAY 18
25 Cats From Qatar
Curated by local programmer and manager of Nyback archive Greg Hamilton for Hollywood Theatre, the Fresh Produce series brings excellent documentaries and narrative films Hamilton found in the festival circuit to Portland. Cat Daddies (2022) director Mye Hoang participates in a Q&A at this special screening of her latest documentary 25 Cats From Qatar, which follows a Wisconsin cat cafe owner’s bold attempt to bring 25 street cats from Qatar to the US on a commercial flight. (Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7 pm, $12, tickets here, for ages that can handle cats with fleas) SUZETTE SMITH
Also worth it:
Movie Madness University presents the WW2 Combat Film, Portland State University, more info.
Cinefix creator Jack Perez delivers a one-off lecture on World War II film as a genre, from enlistment-boosting propaganda to the gritty post-war realism of John Ford. PSU students get in free with ID.
TUESDAY, MAY 19
Rex Marshall with Michelle Kicherer
Trying to categorize Mattress, the long-running music project of “the man in the gold suit” Rex Marshall, has always been a little tricky. It’s funny, but is it comedy? There are beats, but should you dance? Marshall’s memoirella All the Work I Never Wanted may be the easiest concept he’s ever floated: It’s a “fantastic, enthralling, hardly-embellished” collection of stories about all the minimum wage jobs he held between 1987-2002. Within the 100ish page volume—published by local press Banana Pitch—you’ll find tales of the McDonald’s grill, quality control at Columbia Sportswear, and a gig that started out with an old man on SE Hawthorne waving his arms at him and asking: “Hey! Hey you! You need a job?” Marshall will be joined in conversation by Michelle Kicherer, founder of Banana Pitch and author of Sexy Life, Hello. (Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand, 6:30 pm, FREE, more info, all ages fit for minimum wages) SS
Kevin Morby
Formerly a member of noise-folk band Woods and indie rock group the Babies, Kevin Morby first released his own music in 2013. Since then, he’s recorded half a dozen solo records and relocated back to the Midwest with his partner Katie Crutchfield, who also makes music as the folk-rock project Waxahatchee. The feeling of traveling the world and returning home—to a place, to a loved one—is captured in his new earworm “Javelin” and its endearing video, in which he rides around on the back of an ATV through Missouri fields with his best friend and neighbor, comedian Caleb Hearon. The full record comes out just days before Morby’s show at Revolution Hall, and I can’t wait to hear expansive live renditions of the new songs. (Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, 8 pm, SOLD OUT, more info, all ages) SHANNON LUBETICH
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20
Ballets Jazz Montréal: Dance Me—Music by Leonard Cohen
With all there is to know and love about the life of Leonard Cohen, you’ll be forgiven if you kinda forgot he was Québécois. The fifty-four-year-old dance company Ballets Jazz Montréal remembered, though. Presenting Dance Me—Music by Leonard Cohen, a full-evening performance inspired by the singer-songwriter’s oeuvre, the troupe’s twirls will be framed by “vivid lighting design and videography.” The show’s multimedia approach crafts a series of vignettes that reflect on Cohen’s poetic preoccupations—transience, intimacy, and so on. Expect and embrace light corniness in the form of fedoras and microphone props. (Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay, 7:30 pm, $29+, more info, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO
American Football
I consider American Football vocalist Mike Kinsella a good friend. We both love Danzig, me a little more than him. I once took a few bucks off him throwing snowballs at a Vail, Colorado ski resort. Not to make him sound like some kind of coastal elite—Mike is Midwest nice. I’ve never seen him wear socks. The rest of the guys in the band are also great, I just don’t know them as well. One time I crashed into Mike’s nice new car and broke the mirror and he didn’t even get that mad. Great guys and pretty good music. (Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, 8 pm, $53.25+, more info, all ages) JAMES DEELEY
THURSDAY, MAY 21
Comedians with Disabilities Act
This Northern California-based comedy troupe with both seen and unseen disabilities comes to Portland for one night only. The first headliner, Loren Kraut, is a 70-year-old Instagram influencer whose series of reels entitled LOL (Little Old Lesbian) offers “guidelines for living your best neurotic life.” The other headliner, Nina G, is a stuttering stand-up comedian who’s the producer of an upcoming comedy docu-special about the comedy troupe. They’re joined by comedians Mean Dave, Serena Gamboa, and Milt Abel. (Curious Comedy Theater, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr, 7:30 pm, $20 adv/$25 doors, more info, all ages) KATHERINE CHEW HAMILTON
Marisa Anderson
Marisa Anderson’s American primitive fingerstyle continually transforms, but it’s always infused with bluesy, folksy, drony spirit. A longtime Portlander and longer-time adventurer, Anderson’s albums act as reactions—2018’s Cloud Corner responded to Trump’s America, for instance–but also feel timeless. She’s full of subtle contradictions like that. The experimental guitarist-composer’s latest Thrill Jockey release, The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music, keeps plucking at strings with tunes responding to musicologist Harry Smith’s expansive folk archives. Expect Southeast Asian, Soviet, and Islamic world influence at this album release show; Anderson deliberately chose to interpret music from “places that the United States has been in conflict with since 1970,” per her Bandcamp. (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 8 pm, $17, more info, 21+) LC
Also worth it:
Woman in the Dunes in 35mm, Hollywood Theatre, more info
Hiroshi Teshigahara, an avant-garde director and major player in the Japanese New Wave, traps an entomologist and a widow in a bleak village surrounded by sand dunes. This 35mm print of Woman in the Dunes (1964) promises to heighten the film’s shadowy, tactile effect.
FRIDAY, MAY 22
The Aces
Local theater and comedy lovers know that when a new sketch comedy show from The Aces rolls around, you do whatever it takes to snag those tickets. Featuring local comedy greats Shelley McLendon (creator of Road House: The Play, Lost Boys Live, and lots more) and Michael Fetters (Portlandia, Grimm,Leverage), The Aces are hands-down Portland’s smartest and funniest sketch comedy duo. Whether they’re portraying freaked-out gorilla parents, Wild West lesbian train robbers, or a governor’s wife escaping from the state fair on the back of a giant bison (if you know, you know), their shows are wickedly clever, full of belly laughs, and often touching in the way they humanize the most ridiculous of characters. They’re only doing five performances of their latest show, so if you want those tix? Snag ‘em quick! (Siren Theater, 3913 N Mississippi, May 22-23, May 29-30, and June 5, 8 pm, $22, more info, 13+) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Melody’s Echo Chamber / Strange Lot
When the debut self-titled album by Melody’s Echo Chamber came out in 2012, it was played on repeat at Heart Coffee Roasters’ Burnside location, to the extent that owner Rebekah Yli-Luoma told the baristas to stop playing it. It’s thanks to Reebs that I still love this album and Melody’s Echo Chamber period. That 2012 album was produced by Kevin Parker at the height of Tame Impala’s power; Parker’s fingerprints are deeply felt all over the LP. Melody released Unclouded last year, the prompt for this tour. Unclouded is just that, a beguilingly stripped-back album by an artist intimately familiar with texture. (Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, 8 pm, $35, more info, all ages) NOLAN PARKER
Also worth it:
CityFair 2026, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, more info
A kick-off event and hub for the Portland Rose Festival, CityFair takes over Waterfront Park for three consecutive weekends of carnival rides, fair food vendors, interactive exhibits, live music, and more.
SATURDAY, MAY 23
USA Dodgeball Western Regionals
I’m sorry if you have a different opinion, but dodgeball is one of the most physically artistic of all sports. People who really know how to play the game are masters of physical movement, contorting their bodies to avoid round rubber balls being flung directly at their ’nads at supersonic speeds, and then sending the ball flying back at their opponents with moves that would make Baryshnikov green with envy. Now you can see some of the best West Coast teams in action in this two-day dodgeball extravaganza, in open, women’s, and mixed divisions. Marvel at the teamwork, strategy, physical grace, throwing speed… and of course, the ’nad busting, which is worth the price of admission alone. (Expo Center, 2025 North Expo, Hall D, 9 am-7:30 pm May 23, 9 am-4:30 pm May 24, FREE, more info, all ages) WSH
Push Movement Block Party
Push Movement is a nonprofit that offers community skate events, skateboard lessons for youth, and sound baths—they’ve even held a sound bath at Burnside Skatepark. To celebrate the opening of the group’s new space, they’re throwing a free block party with food including plant-based Gatto Gelato, sips from Smith Tea, craft vendors, workshops, music, and, of course, skateboarding. (Push Movement, 831 SE Martin Luther King Jr, 12-6 pm, FREE, more info, all ages) KCH
Kernside Wine Walk
If “will walk for wine” is your personal motto, this event might just be up your alley. Now in its second year, the Kernside Wine Walk leads participants through five neighborhood wine bars and merchants, with three tasters at each location. This year’s lineup starts at Vino, followed by Montelupo, Pairings, and Duality, and finishes up at Parallel Wine Bar. (Vino, 137 SE 28th, tastings available starting at 12, 12:30, 1, 1:30, and 2 pm, $75 adv/$85 day of, more info, 21+) KCH
SUNDAY, MAY 24
Stars on Ice
Every four years, the Winter Olympics comes around and I lock in to watch figure skating. At the Milano-Cortina games this past February, Team USA picked up three medals, winning gold in the coveted team event. Now, those athletes are gliding onto the Veteran Memorial Coliseum’s ice for a victory lap around the rink. We’re talking appearances from “Quad god” Ilia Malinin, skating duo/married couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates, three-time US National Champion Amber Glenn, and of course, America’s sweetheart Alysa Liu. I’m hoping she does her iconic “Stateside + Zara Larsson” routine! (Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 Winning, 4 pm, more info, all ages) JANEY WONG
Purity Ring
When I first listened to the track “Ungirthed” back in 2011, I was immediately hooked by Purity Ring’s singular sound. Corin Roddick’s production pairs with macabre lyrics performed with vocalist Megan James’ childlike delivery, coalescing into a futuristic sonic signature. Their live show features custom-built light rigs synced to Roddick’s Ableton Live, and the lighting and sound work in tandem for an enrapturing, otherworldly experience. Longtime Purity Ring fans are in for something new at the band’s “Place of My Own Tour,” during which James will debut her solo project mmj, opening each show with an acoustic set. Wear a high-filtration mask for this one; the band is committed to creating a safe space for immunocompromised fans. (Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, 8 pm, $36+, more info, all ages) JW
Also worth it:
Dream Deli Patio Season Kickoff Party, Dream Deli, more info
This Jewish-meets-Italian sandwich shop celebrates the beginning of summer with its brand-new tomato-red sidewalk patio, $3 mini chocolate egg creams, $4 Douglas Lager tall boys, strawberry shortcake, and prizes.
Looking for even more events happening this week? Head on over to EverOut!
