Mercury Music Picks: Ural Thomas Brings the Pain, Fred Cole Turns 77, and more!

For some, Labor Day Weekend is a signifier of the end of summer. And it is for those heading back to school as students, teachers, and school administrative staff (big shouts to the lunch ladies and janitors of the world). But y’all know this is the PNW (in the year of our Climate Collapsing Lord, 2025)—summer will be extending herself to October. We’ve got plenty of time for river hangs, outdoor shows, and soaking up the sun, as Sheryl Crow loves to gently remind us. 

Below is your “Honeydew List” for the week—that and supporting the liberation of Palestinians, supporting the bodily autonomy of our Trans siblings, and the supporting of Black and Indigenous reparations 🤗

Undeniably the King of Portland Soul, Ural Thomas has been bringing the pain since his days playing Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater in the ’60s. But if you think the man’s slowed down in any way shape or form, you’re painfully mistaken—the 86-year-old has been greasing wheels on Rose City soul trains since the formation of his backing band the Pain, and his reentry into the world of live performance. He is one of the true greats that Portland can call its own. Folk favorite Laura Gibson opens the dreamy night under the 500-year-old oak tree on Sauvie Island. (Topaz Farms, 6 pm, more info here, all ages)

Fred Cole Birthday Celebration with Toody Cole / Los Hackals / The Reverberations 

For fans of Lollipop Shoppe, The Weeds, King Bee

The only time I was lucky enough to see Dead Moon was January 2014 at Crystal Ballroom, and it was one of the most rockin’ nights of music of my life. Everyone there knew every word to every song, no one was there by mistake. And though Fred Cole isn’t with us any more, yes he is. It’s (Dead Moon) nights like these that keep the real ones alive in our hearts. Toody Cole—Fred’s wife, and member of Dead Moon, the Rats, the Range Rats, and Pierced Arrows—helms the party, playing songs from across her and Fred’s catalog. The Jackals cover band Los Hackals, and Portland’s ’60s psyche rockers supreme, the Reverberations, are pulling opener duties on this sacred evening. 54/40 or fight! (Crystal Ballroom, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)

Related: Did you know Fred Cole fronted a short-lived ’70s band called Zipper? Their one self-titled album came out 50 years ago, read former Mercury music editor Ned Lannamann’s review.

Bright Eyes / Saintseneca 

For fans of Rilo Kiley, Belle & Sebastian, Haley Heynderickx

The opening monologue of “At the Bottom of Everything” is immediately recognizable to millions of millennials (myself included) as the first track on Bright Eyes’ monolithic 2005 album, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. Conor Oberst has never been more Conor Oberst than on this album, Bright Eyes never more bright. Self-deprecating heartache, crushing self-awareness, pre-ordained self-sabotage, et al. abound. “Happy birthday, darling. We love you very very very very very very very much.” The experimental harpist Saintseneca delivers his driving take on indie-folk music before we tuck in for a good cry with Conor. (Grand Lodge, 7 pm, more info here, all ages)

Related: Though the Bike Summer ride has already taken place, read about the newly coined Ex-Boyfriend Music genre—inspired by the devastation that is Bright Eyes. 

Friday, August 29

Red Pine / Dystoria / Screenshot / Lightly 

For fans of Orchid, City of Caterpillar, Portraits of Past

The booking team at High Limit Room (and Mallbrawlreds) have been doing unbelievable work since recently opening their doors in the former Analog Café space on SE Hawthorne. Case in point: Red Pine’s first show after a brief hiatus is about to destroy many eardrums, shred many a vocal cord. Formed in 2023, the Portland post-hardcore screamo outfit just put out a split EP with Trains—and if the release is anything to go by, the band isn’t anywhere near calling it quits. Cinematic pop à la Dystoria, and the noisy shoegaze of Screenshot and Lightly make for the most excellent late summer Friday night. (High Limit Room, 7 pm, more info here, all ages)

Hazel / Umbraphile / Well of Human Kindness

For fans of Elliott Smith, Hole, Quasi

Kicking around Portland in the early ’90s with the likes of Heatmiser and Team Dresch, Hazel concoct an oozing, grungy power-pop not dissimilar to what was popping off in Seattle around the time. Their 1993 debut album Toreador of Love—released on Sub Pop—remains an underappreciated Rosetta Stone of alternative music in the Pacific Northwest. If you’ve been wanting to groove on some Portland music history, but are needing a break from Wipers and the Exploding Hearts, this is the show for you. Portland jazz-pop youngsters Umbraphile are in the middle slot, with the mysterious Well of Human Kindness on opening responsibilities. (Revolution Hall, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)

Saturday, August 30

Sir Richard Bishop / The Modern Folk / John Swanke 

For fans of Psychic TV, Joseph Allred, Marisa Anderson 

Prolific doesn’t even begin to describe the output of Sir Richard Bishop, leader of experimental noise group Sun City Girls. Since his time in Sun City Girls, Bishop has been obsessed with making outsider music using non-traditional tuning, incorporating non-western instrumentation and themes, and not really ever paying attention to genre constraints. In the middle spot are Portland’s Modern Folk, who released the doomy folk album Mf earlier this month—the perfect warmup for SRB. The atmospheric guitar of John Swanke eases us into the evening, playing selections from his new album, Rain Country. (Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 pm, more info here, 21+)

Also very worth it…

Hunx & His Punx / Samuel Globuel at Mississippi Studios – Aug 27, more info here

Whirr / Nothing / Softcult at Revolution Hall – Aug 27, more info here

Idit Shner Quartet at Wilf’s – Aug 28, more info here

Diositopes / Proqxis / Kuma at Mississippi Studios – Aug 28, more info here

The Prids / Darkswoon / The Mighty Missoula at Mississippi Studios – Aug 30, more info here

Pixies / Spoon / Fazerdaze at Edgefield – Aug 30, more info here

Portland Music News:

The powerhouses behind the new Powerhouse compilation are some of Portland’s busiest music heads—the band Femme Cell, the DIY punk organizers Mallbrawlreds, and the prolific tape label Pleasure Tapes. The compilation gathers nine unreleased tracks from nine of Portland’s raddest punk and indie bands: Nonbinary Girlfriend, Cereal, Hound, Emerlinda, Swinging, Femme Cell, As Above, Like St Joan, and How Strange It Is. At the time of publication, there are exactly five tapes left on Femme Cell’s Bandcamp. 

The partly Portland-based record label Freedom To Spend have a semi-regular show on NTS, and just released their latest episode (which is—duh—an “NTS Picks”).