Another weekend is upon us as we rapidly approach the midpoint of July (how does 2020 seem to simultaneously move slower than dirt yet faster than the Millennium Falcon, anyway?) and once again, we’ve got plenty of Things to Do in Portland, from live music, movies, livestreams, and more. And as our Editor-In-Chief likes to say: If you’re going to go out, Wash Ya Damn Hands, Wear Ya Damn Mask, hit the links below, and plan your week accordingly!
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The Last Generation
A protest action led by Black students and NoPo educators, focused on this generation’s full intent to be the last generation to have to deal with systemic racial oppression, racial terrorism, and police brutality under a white supremacists power structure. The protest will begin at Roosevelt High School (6pm) and will then march through St Johns.
HUMP! Greatest Hits – Vol. 1
Have you just watched your first HUMP! and are now in a post-coital glow, wondering just what the hell the past festivals must have looked like? Well GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE: After getting permission from filmmakers to bring their films online, we’re bringing you several volumes of our (and audience) favorites from 2005-2018. Get ready for HUMP! Greatest Hits (Fri July 10, 9 pm, $25)! You will see films that shock you, that make you laugh, that turn you on, and ou will also be touched by the sincerity and vulnerability with which these films are lovingly made. HUMP!‘s main mission is to change the way America sees-and makes and shares-porn.
Brooklyn Bowl 11th Anniversary
To celebrate 11 years, Brooklyn Bowl is streaming 11 hours of live music (starting at 11:11 am EST), with help from Lagunitas, and performers including Tank and the Bangas, Big Freedia, Lotus, Fantastic Negrito, and many more. Donations made during the stream will help benefit the Jazz Foundation of America.
Elton John
If your primary frame of reference is “Hakuna Matata,” you maybe don’t realize that, for a few years in the ’70s, Elton John was MASSIVE—the biggest thing in music since the Beatles. And if a balding, bespectacled piano player seems an unlikely superstar, keep in mind that this was the fellow behind tunes like “Levon,” “The Bitch Is Back,” “All the Girls Love Alice,” and “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.” So let the sun come up on this chance to see him in his prime (Fri July 10, 9 am), with this rare recording of a 1986 Sydney concert. NED LANNAMANN
Pam Ann Does Dallas
Pam Ann promises an abundance of cheeky musical numbers, inappropriate comedy, celebrity gossip, and all manner of entertainment (Fri July 10, 1 pm) that goes down well with “a big glass of I don’t give a fuck.”
Tahirah Memory
Portland jazz vocalist Tahirah Memory comes back – like, really back – to perform live (but still safely socially distanced) on Amalfi’s converted patio at 6pm for a sorely-needed hit of homegrown goodness.
Greg Proops
You know Greg Proops as the outstanding improviser from Whose Line is it Anyway—but he’s also outstanding in the field of smart, incisive standup comedy AND funny, highly listenable podcasting. (Fri July 10, 6:30 pm, $10-30)
Kathryn Grimm
The Portland-based blues singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist brings her trio along to liven up your Friday night at the Blue Diamond at 6 pm.
HOT CHATS
A new livestreamed talkshow hosted by Franki Chan and presented by IHEARTCOMIX that promises discussions of a highly temperatured nature, beginning with tonight’s special guests (Fri July 10, 7pm), singer/songwriter/ukelele maestro and bedroom popstar ascendant mxmtoon, and Canada’s own Lights, who has been doing quite a bit of dancy pop magic of her own.
The Not-Creepy Zoom Gathering for People Who are Single a& Want to Fall In Love
I mean… it’s pretty much all there in the title, right? The official description adds this, if you need it: “This structured online event is all about connection. It’s fun. And surprising. And weird! And real. Let’s get together not to judge and be judged, but to be open and curious and kind.” Oh, and 10% of the event’s proceeds (Fri July 10, 5:30 pm, $7-25) will go towards the Black Resilience Fund. There’s also a version of this happening at 4 pm on Sunday July 12 for queer folks, too.
Culture Talk with Fab 5 Freddy and ASAP Ferg
A pair of New York hip-hop legends get together and have a wide-ranging conversation (Fri July 10, 5 pm) not only about their own careers and the paths they walked to bring them where they are today; but the process behind making the music they’ve made, and how that music reflects and amplifies the realities of racial inequalities they’re living under. Fab 5 Freddy will host a Q&A after the conversation on Facebook.
The Empire Strikes Back and Black Panther
Drive-ins are probably the only way to get any sort of big-screen action back in your life without, you know, trapping yourself inside a dark box with other people while no vaccine exists and air conditioning is just circulating everyone’s coughs, sneezes, and spittle into as many rooms as possible. Instead, you can pull up in your car, turn up your speakers, and let 99w fill your windshield with a double-feature of pop-fantasy excellence: A special 40th anniversary screening of The Empire Strikes Back, followed by Ryan Coogler’s world-altering entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther. Screenings start at 7 pm every night from Thurs-Sun, July 9-12.
Portland Zine Symposium
Portland Zine Symposium, whether in-person (like the previous 19 years) or online (like this years!) puts the best of Portland’s unique flavor of DIY creativity on display (Sat-Sun July 11-12, 11am). From small letterpress shops to independent magazines to cartoonists, get to know your local zinesters—and support their hard work in the process. Registration is required, but most panels (and there’s a lot of them) and programming is free of charge. Guests include Sarah Mirk, Joshua James, Kate Bingaman-Burt, members of the Independent Publishing Resource Center, and more.
Direct Action
#PDXStandingBy leads this protest action that begins at the Burnside Bridge (4pm) and then marches to the Justice Center, and asks attendees to be prepared to spend the night there.
Slum Village
The Detroit hip-hop legends blessed Manchester, England with a top-notch show back in 2019, and nugs.tv is making it available at 6pm tonight ($7.99). Also starring the Abstract Orchestra.
Surfer Blood
Question for you to ponder: Did Florida slacker-rock aficionados Surfer Blood adopt that name with the intent of menacing their home state’s surfers? Or does the blood of surfers course through their veins? Think about that as you watch this full-band livestream concert from Ft. Pierce, FL, at 2 pm ($10-15)
Puddles Pity Party
Need more proof of the power of the internet: In 2013, an unknown seven-foot-tall clown set down his lantern (?), looked disdainfully into a camera, and boomed out a Lorde cover. Then reflect on how Puddles the Clown and his Puddles’ Pity Party are headlining a big concert once again. The guy’s talented as hell, but INTERNET. (Sat July 11, 2:30 pm, $10) DIRK VANDERHART
Morgan James
The Boise-hailing soul and jazz singer and Broadway star turns her attention to busting out all the best classics of the ’60s in this livestreaming concert at noon.
Perfect World w/ Timothy Bee
The latest livestreamed experience (9pm) from Holocene stars local all-star Timothy Bee spinning some of the best house and dance music he’s got.
No Exit w/ Le Chat Noir Moderne
A unique livestreamed presentation from Experience Theatre Project and Lacy Productions (Sat July 11, 6 pm, $5-25), opening an online salon for artists with a live adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, preceded by your opportunity to go hopping around the globe, checking in on any one of six live artists doing their thing, be it a burlesque show from Belgium, a fire show from Prague, or poetry from right here in Portland.
Sonny Hess & Lady Kat<<br />Local blues legend Sonny Hess and her backing band head down to the Blue Diamond at 6 pm for a bit of Saturday night rocking.
Winnipeg Folk Fest at Home
A chance to virtually visit the Birds Hill Provincial Park in Winnipeg (Sat July 11, 5 pm) for this online celebration of folk and roots music (and all the music those genres have inspired since—which is a lot!) featuring performances by Tash Sultana, Courtney Barnett, Vance Joy, Sheryl Crow, and more!
The Cascadians
It may not ever “get back to normal,” but so far as local normalcy goes, catching a Cascadians show at the Alberta Street Pub is pretty high up there, and tonight is the ska and rocksteady specialists’ first show back at their regular haunt. Mask up and head out at 7 pm if you’re feeling like some safely-socially-distanced skanking.
NW Portland Youth-Led March
This week, Portland Black and Indigenous youth lead a march through Northwest Portland to protest institutionalized racism, white supremacist power structures, and police brutality. Attendees and allies are asked to wear masks and practice safe social distancing while joining this protest action at 3pm.
Perry Mason
HBO’s latest high-quality, buzzworthy series is pretty damned unlikely: A sort of prequel/re-adaptation of Perry Mason, set in the early 1930s, when Perry wasn’t a noble defense attorney getting every single one of his clients off through detective work and nimble courtroom wordplay. This Perry (new episode tonight, 9 pm) runs a dying dairy farm in Los Angeles and works as a detective for the kind of lawyer he’ll grow to be, and instead of Raymond Burr’s stern eyebrows and gravitas carrying the day, this Perry is played by The Americans‘ Matthew Rhys. The atmosphere of the show is pitch-perfect, the performances fit that atmosphere perfectly, and the story—despite being set in the 30s—feels very of the moment when everyone sane is looking at the police and going “how is this fundamentally corrupt and borderline useless institution the one we’re stuck with?”
Led Kaapana
One of Hawaii’s finest slack key guitar and ukulele musicians makes his way to the Alberta Rose once again (virtually this time, though, at 7 pm, $20) to share an array of original and traditional songs and stories.
Palm Springs
For a lot of people in their fourth month of pandemic life, it might start to feel a little like you’re trapped in a Groundhog Day type movie. Like, say… Palm Springs, which premieres on Hulu this weekend, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, who are a pair of wedding guests who do get trapped in a single-day time loop together. There’s a twist applied to this time-loop scenario that won’t get spoiled here, but the application of that twist was so good that film studio NEON paid $17 million at Sundance for the rights, which is the highest purchase price in that festival’s history. Not to make this movie sound all serious and thought-provoking—it’s still a sun-drenched comedy starring Andy Samberg, after all. But this is a pretty good pick if you’re looking to make a movie night out of tonight. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next…
Virtual Birdland
Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra come together as one from locations as far flung as Madrid, LA, and NY, and bring the people good good music accompanied with live commentary and conversation (Sun July 12, 8;30pm). Funds benefit the ALJA Emergency Artist Fund.
Riff Raff
In the world of popular hip-hop, there’s probably no artist more polarizing than Riff Raff. Like other white rappers such as Iggy Azalea or Macklemore, old school purists argue furiously over Riff’s supposed authenticity—oftentimes directly to his face—yet he remains bulletproof amid the hate storm, and actually seems to get more flamboyant with criticism. It becomes clearer with every swag-drenched verse and over-the-top video that the flashy jewelry, ridiculous clothes, and audacious subject matter might just be facets of his true personality, one that carries such an intangible allure that even James Franco couldn’t resist the opportunity to cinematically borrow from his pimptastic lifestyle. CHRIS SUTTON
The Old Guard
You don’t have to go to the movie theaters to take in some new bone-crushing, ear-rattling, hyper-kinetic action-fest this weekend. Netflix has you covered—and we don’t mean Floor is Lava either, although there are a lot of really painful-looking stunts gone wrong on that show. Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde) leads this comics adaptation (Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez created it!) about a squad of mercenaries who are also centuries-old immortals, taking jobs in an effort to provide their endless lives meaning and worth. It’s directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, too! And Chiwetel Ejiofor is in it! Turn it up already!
The Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet
A livestreamed concert (Sun July 12, 4 pm, $7-48) sure to put some pep in your step and groove in your heart courtesy the Afro-Peruvian styles of Gabriel Alegra’s sextet.