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LIVE MUSIC
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The absurdist punk outfit Yuvees have yet to release a full-length album, but singles like “PENNY FARM” and “Human Dance” have showcased their knack for offbeat percussion, amusing lyricism, and warbly guitars, cementing themselves into Portland’s rich post-punk tradition alongside bands like Neo Boys, Collate, and Lithics. The quartet, which has opened for indie-rock phenoms Quasi, the Avengers, and the Bush Tetras, will headline two back-to-back shows alongside Anthers and Only Only (at the early show) and Cherry Cheeks and Zookraught (at the late show). AV
(The Fixin’ To, St. Johns, $12)
COMEDY
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Because nothing’s less funny than the prospect of eternal singledom, loneliness, and despair, Kickstand will snatch up real audience dating profiles and lend a helping hand with a team of “professionally trained dating experts” (aka improvisers) on stage. You’d have to be the perfect blend of brave and desperate to participate in such a thing, but I mean, “I’m sending this message with the help of nine comedians” is a hell of an opener, right? LC
(Kickstand Comedy, Ladd’s Addition, $15 or PWYW)
COMMUNITY
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Trillium, also known as birthroot, is a native perennial that has a special place in the heart of botanists for its lack of above-ground stems or leaves and single bloom with three petals that often changes from bright white to reddish-purple. Check out this unique plant and others at the 44th annual Trillium Festival, where you can learn about native landscaping, enter to win a tree, and find out how to attract wildlife to your backyard (if you so desire). There will be nature stations for all ages along the trails, as well as the opportunity to buy more plant babies to take home. SL
(Tryon Creek State Natural Area, Southwest Portland, free)
FILM
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This international festival is celebrating its 11th year of spotlighting the best in queer and trans filmmaking with 51 original short queer films on the lineup. Four intriguing blocks of programming allow viewers to watch films within specific themes, including “Queer Fam,” which focuses on families of origin and of choice, “Acting Up,” which centers queer resistance efforts, “Ensemble,” which includes everything from animation to musical flicks, and a West Coast film block. LC (Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District, $12)
LIVE MUSIC
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If you listen to the Portland psych-rock band Tango Alpha Tango, you’ll probably find that the band’s chemistry and unity oozes out of your headphones. This is probably because high school sweethearts-turned-married couple Nathan Trueb and Mirabai Carter are the band’s founders. Since their formation, the band has showcased their gritty, soul-infused rock sound with in-studio performances on KEXP and NPR. Don’t miss opening sets from fellow indie rockers Les Gold and Molter. AV
(Mississippi Studios, Boise, $15)
PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE
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A considerable number of women, BIPOC, and queer folks have been snubbed from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including Tracy Chapman, Carole King, Roberta Flack, Karen Carpenter, and Kate Bush. That’s why all-vinyl DJ Action Slacks has created her own version of the award ceremony. This weekend, she will induct Bobbie Gentry, Maxine Brown, Trini Lopez, and others into the “Dance Hall of Flame” with a groovy shindig honoring the underappreciated music icons from the ’50s-’70s. AV
(The World Famous Kenton Club, Kenton, sliding scale at the door $10-20)
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Elbow Room, a local arts organization providing material support, mentorship, and studio space to artists experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities, has a longstanding relationship with PICA, and this exhibition curated by PICA’s artistic director Kristan Kennedy is the latest exciting art event to blossom from the partnership. The circus and the beach, presented at ILY2, features works by Tess Bidelspach, Elmeater Morton, and Mohamed Omar, all of whom work at Elbow Room. Don’t miss the April 6 opening for a musical performance by Omar at 2:30 pm, and if you (like me) are totally enamored by Elbow Room’s artists, pop by its SE Madison location on April 7 for another exhibition: A Berry, A Boot, A Building, A Blue Door: New Works by Mike Young. LC
(ILY2, Pearl District, free)
LIVE MUSIC
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I’ll admit it; jazz can feel very intimidating! There are so many subgenres to learn, names to remember, and history that feels gatekept by boomers with hi-fi equipment. However, nothing compares to hearing a skilled jazz ensemble play live. It’s truly transcendental. If you haven’t had the pleasure, the Portland-based celestial jazz troupe the Cosmic Tones Research Trio is an excellent place to start. The trio employs heavenly vocals and free-flowing percussion to boost their instruments to an otherworldly plane. For this concert, the group will celebrate the release of their new three-cassette set, Spiritual Sonic Research Series, which captures the Be Present Art Group and the Cosmic Tones Research Trio’s tributes to the jazz pioneers Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, and Pharoah Sanders. AV
(Mississippi Records, North Portland, free)
COMMUNITY
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Every year during the winter months, I try to go through my closet and fill a bag with clothes to donate that no longer bring me joy. Now that it’s spring, I’m excited to bring that bag (and $10) to get into this clothing swap featuring garments, shoes, accessories, plus-sized and nonbinary sections, and a bar. All leftover clothing will be donated to Behavioral Health Resource Center, so you can be confident your belongings will go to a good home. SL
(Crystal Ballroom, West End, $10)
FILM
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Martin Scorsese summarized Agnès Varda’s style as “big and small, playful and tough, generous and solitary, lyrical and unflinching.” To me, she’s also a model of someone with a life well-lived: She was colorful, open-minded, and curious until the verrrry end. If you haven’t yet marinated in Varda’s trailblazing oeuvre of Left Bank Cinema and French New Wave flicks, now’s the time. Fifth Avenue Cinema will screen La Pointe Courte, which they describe as “arguably the true start of the French New Wave movement,” and her drowsy, sun-dappled ’65 film Le Bonheur. LC
(Fifth Avenue Cinema, Southwest Portland, $0 – $7, Friday-Sunday)
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In sophomore director Rose Glass’s queer melodrama Love Lies Bleeding, Kristen Stewart plays Lou, a chain-smoking dirtbag dyke and gym manager who splits her time between unclogging toilets, fending off the unwanted advances of her overzealous admirer Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov), worrying about her sister Beth (Jena Malone), reheating frozen dinners in a drab apartment, and masturbating on a faded couch in full view of her cat. When she meets ambitious muscle mommy Jackie (Katy O’Brian), who’s passing through town on her way to a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas, the star-crossed sapphic lovers immediately fall into a spiral of toxic U-haul infatuation. Glass, who directed the 2019 psychological horror flick Saint Maud, brings a startlingly singular and stylish vision to life. She’s cited David Cronenberg’s Crash and Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls as influences for Love Lies Bleeding, and the carnal obsession of those films shines through in her work. The result is a seedy, sexy, high-octane ride that holds its own amongst the erotic thriller canon. JB
(Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District, $10 – $12, Friday-Sunday)
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New German Cinema pioneer Wim Wenders, who directed Wings of Desire and a mysterious terrain of canyons and neon in Paris, Texas, is known for his deliciously “slow” cinema and emphasis on desolation. Interestingly, this film (which was shortlisted for Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars) feels a little more lighthearted, but I suspect that I will still come away feeling somehow devastated. Perfect Days follows a Tokyo toilet scrubber, Hirayama, whose days are filled with contentment, cassette tapes, books, and photos of trees. May we all be so blessed. LC
(Cinema 21, Nob Hill, $9 – $11, Friday-Sunday)
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OMSI’s Sci-Fi Film Festival seems like a solid opportunity to watch science fiction flicks in the way god intended: on the Empirical Theater’s gigantic four-story screen. The museum will screen over 40 spacey greats, with genre classics (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and personal fave The Thing) and more recent entries (Blade Runner 2049, Annihilation) represented. The fest’s closing night celebration on May 24 will feature a screening of George Miller’s latest madhouse, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. LC
(Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), Central Eastside, individual tickets $6.50-$8, Friday-Sunday)
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Ryuichi Sakamoto, Oscar-winning composer, unparalleled style icon, and one of the three melodic geniuses behind the Tokyo electronic outfit Yellow Magic Orchestra, passed away last year after a battle with cancer. (Chances are good that you’ve heard YMO’s arty electro-pop tunes, but if not, throw this on before continuing.) Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is Sakamoto’s swan song—as a parting gift in 2022, he curated, sequenced, and performed a piano concert that “wordlessly narrates his life through his wide-ranging oeuvre.” You’ll hear selections from his pop icon days in YMO, his scores created for Bernardo Bertolucci, and his reflective final album. LC
(Cinema 21, Nob Hill, $8 – $9, Saturday-Sunday)
VISUAL ART
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Although he was a brilliant artist and social justice writer in the Pacific Northwest region, you might not have heard of Bob Shimabukuro. You can change that at Craft, Community, and Care: The Art and Legacy of Bob Shimabukuro, which centers the life of the Okinawan American activist and creative. He designed the beloved, now-shuttered sake bar Tanuki, but when Shimabukuro wasn’t woodworking and building furniture, he was serving as an editor and columnist for the Pacific Citizen and the International Examiner in Seattle, and was “instrumental” in the Pacific Northwest’s Japanese American Redress movement. LC
(Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Old Town-Chinatown, $5-$8, Friday-Sunday; opening)
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Portland-based painter Nicole Williford’s Madonna, Madonna pulls from seemingly discordant visual languages—expect traditional portraiture and realist exactitude combined with surprising moments of abstraction and surreality. Drawing from family photographs, Williford’s compositions function as a meditative practice for the artist, and follow subjects “from girlhood into matriarchy.” The results emphasize all of the monotony, grief, and beauty that occurs in a life. LC
(Chefas Projects, Central Eastside, free, Friday-Saturday; opening)
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Founded in 2023 by Portland video artist and writer Sarah Rushford, the time-based arts alliance Outer Voice aims to provide “space, community, support, and opportunity to local time-based artists” and to “foster community dialogue around time-based art.” For this group exhibition, the 2023-24 season of Outer Voice participants (Claire Barrera, Roland Dahwen, Erin Boberg Doughton, Rubén García Marrufo, Sarah Rushford, Ash Stone, and Qi You) will present multidisciplinary works. On April 6 at 6 pm, the artists will also share a program of performances and video works. LC (Oregon Contemporary, Kenton, free, Friday-Sunday; closing)
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My fourth-grade self spotted the Beastie Boys reference in this exhibition’s title and wanted to stop right there—say no more, I thought. I’m on board. But since it’s my job to write about art events, I’ll dig further. Intergalactic/ Planetary/ Planetary/ Intergalactic showcases work by Brian Knowles and Andrea Alonge, who explore portals, wormholes, and inner worlds with insulation foam, used Xacto blades, and a whole host of other materials, emphasizing a handmade quality. Hop in their kaleidoscopic rocket ship, we’re going to the center of the universe. LC
(Well Well, Kenton, free, Saturday-Sunday; opening)
EverOut Staff
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