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GEEK & GAMING
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Not to invoke the Portlandia “we can pickle that” sketch, but the stereotypes of Portlanders loving their briny snacks does seem to hold true (think the Portland Pickles, the Portland Fermentation Festival, or Ice Queen’s “tickle my pickle” paleta). If you’ve ever been curious about the science behind your favorite funky fermented bites, check out this special “Pickle It!” edition of OMSI After Dark, where guests 21 and up can sip beer and wine while roaming the museum and taking advantage of hands-on sceince demos, performances, DJ sets, and food and drink vendors. You’ll leave armed with the knowledge to make your own pickles and sauerkraut. JB
(OMSI, Central Eastside)
LIVE MUSIC
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The Schnitz’s free block party-esque summer music series is back for its 17th year with an impressive program of local talent performing in the middle of Main Street. The series will continue this week with a performance from local husband-and-wife krautrock duo Dreckig. AV
(Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, South Park Blocks)
READINGS & TALKS
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This recurring reading series centers stories by BIPOC writers, prioritizing their safety and creativity. Hosts Kyle Yoshioka and Jessica Meza-Torres will help lead a community discussion, and featured reader Heldáy de la Cruz will share his writing, which “explores the identities that are lost and found within both the queer and Indigenous diaspora.” An open mic option for BIPOC writers will be available, too, so dust off the manuscript you’ve been scared to share. LC
(Literary Arts, Southwest Portland)
COMEDY
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Portland’s best improvisers will gather again for this who’s who of Rose City comedy. Each Secret Aardvark event features an extra-special mystery guest (past guests have run the gamut from David Lynch to Waluigi, Tinder Dracula, and random high school theater students), and the show’s so spicy that it’s named after the organizers’ fave local hot sauce. Head to Kickstand to find out why Secret Aardvark bills itself as a “late-night cult comedy institution.” LC
(Kickstand Comedy, Ladd’s Addition)
LIVE MUSIC
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This year, Topaz Farm is amping up its Americana Harvest Fest series with a mix of nationally and internationally renowned folk, country, and bluegrass artists on Thursday nights until the end of August. Bring your own blanket or lawn chair to lounge on the pastoral farm surrounded by farm animals, fruit fields, freshly grilled food, and a beer garden. The series continues this week with witty honky-tonk tunes from Summer Dean. AV
(Topaz Farm, Sauvie Island)
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Now that brat summer is winding down, I think it’s time to share my vision of Norah Jones Fall with the world. The key to Norah Jones Fall is ultimate coziness, comfort, and indulgence. I’m talking vanilla lattes, cashmere sweaters, whipped yogurt, fuzzy socks, Luna bars, and as my friend astutely puts it, “happy sighing.” I want to see everyone in their best early aughts suburban mom drag, dancing around the house to Jones’ album Come Away With Me. Make sense? Kickstart the autumn season by witnessing Queen Mother herself support her newest album, Visions, alongside folk-rock favorite Hurray for the Riff Raff. AV
(Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene)
VISUAL ART
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Portland Art Museum will offer its free first Thursday event again in August, creating a prime opportunity to catch up on current exhibitions, including Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks, Monet to Matisse: French Moderns, Pissarro to Picasso: Masterworks on Loan from the Kirkland Family Collection, and Throughlines: Connections in the Collection. The art party doesn’t end there: Head to Tomorrow Theater afterward for a free screening of short films by lauded Indigenous storytellers. LC
(Portland Art Museum, South Park Blocks)
COMEDY
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The Broke Gravy dudes (Chris, Leon, and Eric) have forged a unique path in improv comedy, using the off-the-cuff medium to inspire deeper conversations on their perspectives as Black Americans. (They’re also funny AF.) They’ll head to Kickstand for another hour of “unfiltered conversation, idiosyncratic characters, and the joy of unknown possibilities.” LC
(Kickstand Comedy, Ladd’s Addition)
FILM
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Ethereal Reflections—the pop-up gallery collective hosting some of the buzziest wine nights, art shows, and reading parties in the city—seems to have the magic touch when it comes to events with a perfect cross-section of chicness and fun. A screening of Clue that’s preceded by an actual murder mystery game with a bunch of strangers? I’m in!! If you’re also a fan of fun, head to Tomorrow Theater for the experience, which should be less “flames on the side of your face” and more “murder is kindafunny, sometimes.” LC
(Tomorrow Theater, Richmond)
LIVE MUSIC
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Ghanaian highlife luminary Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is known for Afrobeat tunes that blend soul, folk, and jazz with traditional African rhythms. Don’t miss Ambolley’s performance of his 1975 debut album Simigwa—which took inspiration from the horn-heavy funk of James Brown—in its entirety. Spiritual jazz troupe Roman Norfleet And Be Present Art Group will open. AV
(Mississippi Studios, Boise)
FOOD & DRINK
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It’s been a dozen years since pFriem founders Josh Pfriem, Ken Whiteman, and Rudy Kellner, who met at a kid’s birthday party in 2011 and bonded over their love of beer and family, started their well-known Oregon brewery. Help them celebrate with this free, family-friendly festival, which will include lawn games, food trucks, plenty of pFriem beers, exclusive ciders from Son of Man, and three sets of live music from Music Festival of the Gorge, including headliner Scott Pemberton. The event will also raise money for Hood River County School District music programs. JB
(Hood River Waterfront)
FILM
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We live in Oregon, dammit, and if there’s one thing Oregonians love more than watching movies, it’s being in nature. ¿Por qué no los dos?! Hollywood Theatre has teamed up with the Oregon State Parks Department to do just that, offering up a series of screenings in scenic state parks throughout the summer. The series continues this weekend with the ’82 Jim Henson/Frank Oz puppet-and-animatronic tale The Dark Crystal at Champoeg State Heritage Area. LC
(Champoeg State Heritage Area, Saint Paul)
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If, like the rest of the world, you binged Tiger King in 2020 and are famished for more zookeeper madness, may I suggest Noel Marshall’s 1981 film Roar? Like a twisted Disney flick with a dash of Swiss Family Robinson, Roar tells the story of a woman and her family who travel to Africa to meet a scientist who lives with wild animals. Hundreds of cast and crew members abandoned the project, and a hell of a lot of them (like, 70) were injured, including the 14-year-old Melanie Griffith. LC
(Clinton Street Theater, Hosford-Abernethy)
FOOD & DRINK
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It doesn’t get much fresher than eating a meal in the very place where the ingredients were grown. Topaz Farm’s resident “farm-to-plate” chefs and culinary power couple Christian and Janelle Ephrem will craft a series of five-course meals sourced from Topaz itself, with menus designed mere days in advance and produce harvested just hours before the dinner. This week, you’ll get to take a seat at a long communal table and dine beneath a 500-year-old oak tree for a brewer’s dinner with Von Ebert. JB
(Topaz Farm, Sauvie Island)
LIVE MUSIC
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Portland-grown indie folk band the Decemberists will dust off the cobwebs to support their first album in six years, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. In true Decemberist fashion, the album floats between ’60s-inspired sunshine pop and ethereal (and sometimes experimental) Americana. Don’t miss an opening set from Goldendale, WA-based country singer Margo Cilker, who will play songs from her critically acclaimed album Valley Of Heart’s Delight. AV
(Edgefield, Troutdale)
LIVE MUSIC
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Between spreading rumors about “You Oughta Know” in elementary school (did you know it was written about Full House‘s Uncle Joey?), reading the lyrics to “Ironic” in my middle school language arts class, and wearing a vintage tour shirt during my college years, Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill has alwaysbeen a part of my life. The album continues to ring through the cultural zeitgeist with Gen Z royalty like Olivia Rodrigo naming it as inspiration. The iconic Canadian singer-songwriter will honor her past, present, and future on her Triple Moon tour with a variety of songs from her 10-album career. And, to add even more teen angst, JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS ARE OPENING. AV
(Moda Center, Lloyd District)
PERFORMANCE
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Heads up, your fantasy besties are hitting the scrappy Clinton Street Theater stage on August 4. San Francisco’s fave underground drag diva Peaches Christ and living legend Mink Stole (aka John Waters’ longtime muse) will lead this “intimate, revelatory, and heartfelt” cabaret show, which sees the duo share stories, film clips, and original songs. Expect an “uncensored exposé” tailored to fans of cult cinema and drag history—Stole has appeared in all of Waters’ feature films, as well as But I’m A Cheerleader and All About Evil, while Christ co-hosts the cult cinema podcast Midnight Mass. LC
(Clinton Street Theater, Hosford-Abernethy)
EXHIBIT
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The World Forestry Center is throwing open the doors to its wood-filled Discovery Museum all summer long, offering special programming—including storytimes, forest crafts, science and wildfire preparedness talks, and an art exhibition,Tree People—that’s bound to leave you more arboreally inclined than you were before. Learn about the Northwest’s forests and their role “as a habitat, a place for recreation and reflection, a critical resource, and more” through an engaging variety of events; they’re all included with the cost of admission. LC
(World Forestry Center & Discovery Museum, Washington Park, Wednesday–Sunday)
FILM
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I know what you’re thinking. You just recovered from Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ dystopian, unorthodox answer to Rochelle, Rochelle.But as I noted while writing about his last film, “Real Lanthimos heads know that he doesn’t direct anything without making audiences ponder why they’re on the planet at all. He is weird, as directors should be, and you’re either in or you’re out.” He’s already back and more bizarre than ever, people! Kinds of Kindness is billed as a “triptych fable,” following three stories of intrigue that suspiciously star the same cast that populated Poor Things (Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley). Do you think they were just like, “Fuck it, let’s hang out some more?” Because that’s what it seems like, and they’ve brought everyone’s favorites (Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, and Hunter Schafer) along for the ride. LC
(Cinema 21, Nob Hill, Monday–Thursday)
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I haven’t been this excited about a horror film in a while, and the fervor over Longlegs is due in no small part to the headlines it’s inspiring: “Nicolas Cage manages to top his twisted legacy,” says Dateline; “Oz Perkins’ latest gets under your skin and festers like a putrid nightmare,” says Bloody Disgusting; “New horror movie dubbed ‘the best serial killer film in recent memory’,” says the Independent. None of this really surprises me, because the marketing team for Longlegs has been laying it on thick for months. They set up a freaky-ass phone number that I called earlier this year, only to be so creeped out later that I wondered if I’d inadvertently cursed myself. The film’s trailers are also beautifully weird and rife with symbolism. Even Letterboxd users have given Longlegs a 3.8 rating, which is pretty respectable for a modern horror film. My advice? Go into this one knowing as little as possible. LC
(Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District, Monday–Thursday)
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Indie horror ace Ti West (The Sacrament, The House of the Devil) returned in 2022 with a Southern-fried A24 slasher. Following a gang of youth cruising through rural Texas in the ’70s, X drew clear inspiration from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but still managed to craft a pretty fresh story centered around a psychopathic elderly villain. West made the best of it, quickly releasing the follow-up backstory Pearl, and MaXXXine will conclude the freaky trilogy. Who’s the common denominator? Mia Goth, our 21st-century version of Shelley Duvall. She reprises her role as Maxine, a porn starlet hellbent on real fame in a serial killer-ridden Los Angeles. LC
(Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District, Monday–Wednesday)
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If you’re going to see a movie, see a fucking movie. Like, say, Akira Kurosawa’s all-time classic Seven Samurai (1954), one of the finest adventure stories (and dramas, and romances, and comedies, and action flicks…) ever put on film. Cinema 21’s got all three-plus hours of the can’t-miss flick on the big screen in a 4K restoration. PORTLAND MERCURY CONTRIBUTOR ERIK HENRIKSEN
(Cinema 21, Nob Hill, Monday–Thursday)
FOOD & DRINK
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Get ready for the coolest, most delicious event of the summer! The Merc and Jim Beam present Summer of Slushies, which brings boozy, frozen, custom-made treats to the frugal and thirsty denizens of Portland at just $8 a pop, all July long. (Various locations, Monday–Wednesday)
LIVE MUSIC
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Pickathon is back, baby! Beloved for its wide-ranging acts, pastoral setting, and pioneering sustainability practices, the long-running music festival will celebrate its 25th year with a plethora of talent including Aussie indie rock phenom Courtney Barnett, prolific alt-country royal Bonnie “Prince” Billy (aka Will Oldham), retro-soul revivalist Durand Jones, and folk ensemble Elephant Revival. I am most excited to see Texas-born singer-songwriter Jess Williamson, whose flawless album Time Ain’t Accidental has been on repeat for me since its release last summer.
(Pendarvis Farm, Happy Valley, Thursday–Sunday)
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Paying homage to the Black musicians and artists of the short-lived wartime housing development that was destroyed by a flood in 1948, the Vanport Jazz Festival invites surviving members of the Vanport community, renowned musical talent, and jazz aficionados to join together and honor this local history. This year, the festival’s lineup is more impressive than ever, with performances from Grammy-nominated vocalist Stokley, jazz singer-songwriter Esperanza Spalding, and soul-jazz prodigy Patrice Rushen (if you’re not familiar with her 1982 album Straight from the Heart, queue it up RIGHT NOW.) AV
(Colwood Golf Course, Cully, Friday–Saturday)
PERFORMANCE
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“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Thanks, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry! What’s not invisible to the eye, though, is this stage production of the ’43 classic The Little Prince, which follows the Aviator and the mysterious Little Prince as they travel through the galaxy, finding special flowers and animals. The show will be “most enjoyed by ages 8 and up,” which means if you’re 97, this one’s still for you. LC
(The Judy Kafoury Center for Youth Arts, Downtown, Saturday–Sunday)
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The Original Practice Shakespeare Festival brings its productionsoutdoors each summer, interpreting the Bard’s work in the classic First Folio style (that means limited rehearsal, an onstage prompter, and a fast-paced, improvisational feel). “Shakespeare should feel a little dangerous,” the fest’s promotional materials explain, and nothing sounds more dangerous to me than hopping on stage in front of a crowd to perform a barely rehearsed Elizabethan play. Check out the calendar for dates and locations of plays performed in parks across the city, including Succession-esque tragedy King Lear and forbidden love folktale Cymbeline this month. LC
(Various locations, Friday–Sunday)
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Performance Works NorthWest continues to incubate some of the most interesting dance and time-based performance art in the city, and they do it all from an unassuming little building off Foster Road. Luckily for me, that’s walking distance from my place, so I’m often posted up in the audience for the organization’s affordable performances. This one was organized by the Portland-based group Physical Education—aka dancers Allie Hankins, Takahiro Yamamoto, keyon gaskin, and Lu Yim—who will activate the space with three days of sliding-scale programming. Their third “semi-annual” SAY WHEN Mini-Festival includes performances by queer, trans, and gender nonconforming artists, plus a short film, haunting tunes, and more. LC
(Performance Works NorthWest, Foster-Powell, Thursday–Saturday)
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Created and performed by an “all trans or gender-nonconforming cast and crew,” Wager All transforms the Decemberists’ seminal album The Hazards of Love into a magical by-donation rock opera. The Portland-grown indie folk band’s ethereal style lends itself to the opera’s plot, which follows a young couple who “rely on the magic and power of love to set them free.” It’s a no-brainer for those of us who relentlessly blasted “16 Military Wives” in high school. LC
(Lincoln Hall, South Park Blocks, Saturday–Sunday)
VISUAL ART
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Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks, which comes to the Portland Art Museum by way of Canada’s Bata Shoe Museum, features almost 60 “futuristic” footwear designs created with ultra-modern technologies and materials. (If you could actually imagine yourself sporting the auto-lacing Nike MAG, this one’s for you.) This might be your only chance to scope out 3D-printed shoes, repurposed ocean plastics, and mushroom leather within a museum space, so don’t miss out. LC
(Portland Art Museum, South Park Blocks, Thursday–Sunday)
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Multidisciplinary artist MK Guth’s last show at Elizabeth Leach, Touching Matter, focused on social ritual, incorporating objects with “implied performativity” and extending opportunities for reflective audience engagement. Guth’s latest solo exhibition, Distant Dreamer, dives into her archive to cherry-pick from themes and materials used across the artist and PNCA professor emeritus’ 30-year career. “Full of adjacent tangents and aestheticized renditions, the result is what one could call a ‘performance’ by an indomitable artist very much connected to her own thesis,” the gallery explains. Translation? Anticipate a range of multimedia works that revisit and expand upon Guth’s wide-reaching oeuvre, including textile works and sculptures from repurposed materials. LC
(Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Pearl District, Thursday–Saturday; opening)
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Oregon Contemporary’s 2024 biennial brings together artists curated by Jackie Im and Anuradha Vikram. The show deprioritizes a hierarchical approach, instead opting to present work that’s “timely and relevant” to Oregon communities. The biennial also emphasizes diversity—over 50% of the artists shown identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+. I’m excited to see personal faves Meech Boakye,Srijon Chowdhury,Bean Gilsdorf, Rainen Knecht, Vo Vo, and Morgan Ritter among the lineup. The show also includes an iteration of Maxx Katz’s Yelling Choir, contact microphone and audio tape workshops, and oodles of other supplemental programming. LC
(Oregon Contemporary, Kenton, Friday–Sunday; closing)
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Mixed-media artist Erik Geschke, who’s also a professor at Portland State University’s Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design, explores “modernity, hierarchy, and artifice” in his painstaking constructions. Subterfuge imagines simulacrum that reference everything from the human body to industrial design, and working in sculpture, drawing, and video, Geschke creates an intriguing array of forms to interrupt your expectations. I’ll have to head to Well Well to get the full scoop, but I can’t help but be intrigued by this two-eared sculpture. LC
(Well Well, Kenton, Saturday–Sunday; opening)
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