Note: holiday hours may vary—check venue websites directly for the most up-to-date information.
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PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE
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Kye Alive’s genre-fluid performance party pulls inspiration from JVL@b, a performance incubator they once ran in NYC. The multidisciplinary shindig promises musical acts, dance performances, interviews, and live experiments every month. A variety show format means artists can experiment and cross-pollinate, leading to brand-new shit that hasn’t even been imagined yet. Groovy! This month’s lineup includes sounds by Nataani, Wing Vilma, and DJ Dissolve, “funstep” by Special Permission, hand-dyed techno t-shirts, and more. LC
(Kelly’s Olympian, Downtown)
READINGS & TALKS
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Miranda July, a strong candidate for the coolest person ever born in Vermont, is also a novelist to be reckoned with—if you’re into her vision at all, you’ve probably picked up The First Bad Man, No One Belongs Here More Than You., or It Chooses You already. The heroine at the center of July’s latest novel, All Fours, is a 45-year-old artist staring down the rest of her life. I am not 45, but I am already anticipating the barrage of thoughts on monogamy, domesticity, bodily autonomy, and despair that one might face at that age. July tackles it all with her thrilling, freaky, and subtly comical voice. She’ll be joined in conversation by Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Thrust. LC
(Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, Beaverton)
COMEDY
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Over 30 of 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 random high school theater students), and the show’s so spicy that it’s named after the organizers’ fave local hot sauce, so it should warm your chilly bones. LC
(Kickstand Comedy, Ladd’s Addition)
FILM
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Let’s get weird: Lynch lovers (including Baby LeStrange, Natasha Riot, Wanda Bones, and Temera Titty) will unleash their lust for Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Wild at Heart, and other cult faves on stage, paying tribute to the oddball director with burlesque and drag performances that’ll have you making this sound, but like, in a good way. Then, Blue Velvet will screen. I hope you like severed ears and tragic lounge singers! LC
(Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District)
LIVE MUSIC
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Playing vintage country and western straight out of the lonesomest corners of mid-20th century America, Jenny Don’t and her cohorts sound nothing like a museum piece; rather, there’s grit, sadness, and an edge of danger to these rumbling-boxcar country songs. They will debut songs from their new album, Broken Hearted Blue, which will be released on June 14. AV
(Cravin’ Gravy Social Club, Eliot)
READINGS & TALKS
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Organized by local cartoonist Liz Yerby and back by popular demand, this cozy reading series spotlights cool contemporary comics—expect queer perspectives and nonfiction, personal, immersive, and surreal themes. Comics Club will meet at Secret Room’s spanking new risograph-centric gallery (in the former Little Otsu space on Division), with work presented by Jam Dyer, Cam McCafferty, Stephen Pellnat, and Carolyn Supinka. Bring a blanket or folding chair and your mask. LC
(Secret Room, Richmond)
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As a longtime student of Riot Grrrl, I’ve annihilated every piece of literature about the movement that I can get my paws on. Some favorites through my studies have included Sara Marcus’s Grrrlsto the Front, Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, and Marisa Meltzer’s Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music. Most of these music memoirs and anthologies include the story of the precocious Evergreen State College student Kathleen Hanna, who propelled the movement with the creation of feminist art space Reko Muse, and later, with the trailblazing feminist punk band Bikini Kill. Now, Hanna is telling her story in her own memoir, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk. The book chronicles her life of activism, music, friendships, illness, love, and limitless amounts of determination. Hanna will be joined in conversation by a special guest. AV
(Revolution Hall, Buckman)
COMEDY
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Minority Retort, the city’s leading stand-up comedy showcase for Black and brown comedians for almost a decade, will celebrate its last-ever show with a total blow-out. Expect an all-star lineup of some of the show’s historic faves, like Adam Pasi, Katie Nguyen, Debbie Wooten, and Curtis Cook, plus hush-hush special guests. Best part? A portion of ticket and merchandise sales will support the Black Parent Initiative, Oregon’s “culturally-specific, community-based nonprofit organization focused solely on supporting Black/African-American families with children.” LC
(Siren Theater, Boise)
FILM
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Parker Posey stans, assemble, and don’t forget your club kid accessories: Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s ’95 indie comedy Party Girl will screen at Tomorrow Theater. This film has everything!! Posey stars as a devil-may-care 20-something It Girl in Manhattan’s club scene, where she meets a hunky food cart vendor, dons stolen vintage fashions to die for, and sways maniacally to a soundtrack featuring Tom Tom Club. The cult classic might also teach you something new about the Dewey Decimal system. Who could resist?! Party Girl cemented Posey as an indie darling of the era and even led to a (short-lived) sitcom, so don’t miss this chance to bask in its Gen X glory—”maximalist drag starlet” Violet Hex will play host and lead a groovy game of bingo. LC
(Tomorrow Theater, Richmond)
PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE
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Take Tay Tay’s advice about “getting down to this sick beat” with a rave dedicated to the beloved pop princess. Expect a blend of Taylor Swift’s beat-driven jams (think: Reputation– and 1989-era tracks) along with remixes, lasers, neon decor, and strobe lights that’ll keep you in a lavender haze. This will be an excellent place for Swifties to gather and cast spells on Scooter Braun, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ticketmaster, and John Mayer, so make sure to dress for revenge. AV
(Crystal Ballroom, West End)
AANHPI HERITAGE MONTH
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Lan Su’s Cultural Immersion Days will pepper AANHPI Heritage Month with opportunities to learn more about AANHPI traditions. The series continues this week with a focus on the Pacific Islands, followed by South Asian cultures on May 25. Local cultural organizations will use the gardens as a backdrop for performances, talks, workshops, and family-friendly activities. The events are all free with garden admission, and you can grab a treat from the tranquil, newly renamed Yun Shui Teahouse while you’re there. LC
(Lan Su Chinese Garden, Old Town-Chinatown)
FESTIVALS
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Holi is traditionally celebrated in March, but I don’t mind that Topaz Farm honors the festival of life and rebirth in May. After all, the arrival of spring definitely varies in the Pacific Northwest. The harvest fest returns bigger and better in its third year with more performers and more food and drink vendors, in addition to the farm’s own produce. Dance along to beats from DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid and experience the vibrant joy of pelting strangers with organic colored powders imported from India (for the full effect, wear white clothes you don’t care about staying white). I can’t wait to get revved up on chai and cool down with some kulfi. SL
(Topaz Farm, Sauvie Island)
FILM
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Calling it now: If you’ve seen Stop Making Sense, it’s probably your favorite concert film. It’s jangly and arty and all of the other words one might use to describe Talking Heads’s catalog, and David wears the suit. Not feeling the Byrne? Listen, I know watching a concert movie for a band you don’t listen to sounds like hell, but this one might be an exception. If you haven’t seen it yet, anticipate looking back on the experience with a funny fondness later, like a good birthday party or the first time you smoked weed. Jonathan Demme (yes, the guy who went on to make The Silence of the Lambs) recorded all of the concert footage over the course of three days at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre in 1983, during the height of the Heads’ visionary fame. It’s screening in a new restoration, so prep for a “once in a lifetime” experience. LC
(Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District)
LIVE MUSIC
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In my memory, Lake is an enormous band—with something like ten members—and they surround their audience at shows, using woodwind instruments to pipe their sweet, atmospheric sophisti-pop into our hearts. In reality, Lake is a regular-size band, and they play conventional instruments, as well as fanciful ones. They often perform with friends and collaborators, ending up someplace between big band ensemble and stripped-down folkpop. Much of the world knows Lake (whether they realize it or not) from “Christmas Island,” the credits song of Pendleton Ward’s fantasy cartoon Adventure Time. However, in the Pacific Northwest, Lake has been with us for two decades, after kicking off their enduring, timeless vibe in Olympia Washington. Last month, K Records released a remastered LP of Let’s Build a Roof, the group’s popular 2009 album, so Lake is doing the good-natured thing and taking those songs (and others) on the road for a short West Coast tour. PORTLAND MERCURY ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR SUZETTE SMITH
(Turn! Turn! Turn!, Humboldt)
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The Portland-via-Alaska transplants Portugal. The Man have made themselves easy for us Pacific Northwesterners to embrace with their infectious hooks, commitment to activism and philanthropy, and fierce support of the Blazers. And, love it or hate it, their 2017 earworm “Feel It Still” continues to ring through Top-40 radio. Don’t miss the rock-pop ensemble as they stop by Bend with songs from their latest album, Chris Black Changed My Life. The album features big names like Black Thought, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Edgar Winter. AV
(Hayden Homes Amphitheater, Bend)
VISUAL ART
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NYC-born artist Christine Miller’s watercolor paintings, sculptures, and multimedia works prominently feature the watermelon as a potent symbol, challenging the “commodification of Black culture within American capitalist systems.” Her solo exhibition investigates the connections between the process of production and America’s grotesquely racist history, from Jim Crow to COINTELPRO. References to the country’s systemic dehumanization of Black people can be seen throughout all de watermillion fr’um heabun, which also draws from texts by Assata Shakur and bell hooks. LC
(SATOR Projects, Central Eastside)
COMEDY
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Rap Dumbass podcast host and crotch theorist Imani Denae hosts this funky installment of Friendly Feuds, a funky knockoff show in which standup comics blend trivia and “community-sourced questions” to beat Steve Harvey at his own game. Denae’s childhood informed the tribute to the game show classic—”I grew up watching game shows,” she explains, “and Steve Harvey was always my number one favorite host, not to mention my idol as a standup comic.” LC
(Funhouse Lounge, Hosford-Abernethy)
LIVE MUSIC
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One of my first concerts was a free Avril Lavigne show at a mall parking lot in Seattle. Although I don’t remember many details, I do remember that she played an unplugged set which I felt wasn’t very “punk” of her (she’s since self-identified as a “rock chick.”) Now that I’m older and a little bit wiser, I would do almost anything to see a young Avril perform “I’m with You” and “Things I’ll Never Say” on an acoustic guitar again. Luckily, she’s heading out on a Greatest Hits tour this month to awaken the tie-wearing tween that lives inside all of us. Need even more nostalgia? Flippy-haired pop punk bros All Time Low are opening. AV
(RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater, Ridgefield)
EXHIBIT
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Discover traditional attire from AANHPI cultures (and grab a cup from the serene, newly renamed Yun Shui Teahouse) at Threading Together, Lan Su’s newest exhibition of traditional clothing. The show displays “7-10 outfits” that “narrate the stories of their diverse and rich cultural heritage.” It’s a solid way for the sartorially inclined to learn more about fashions from Thailand, Vietnam, China, India, Japan, Nepal, and other countries, just in time for AANHPI Heritage Month. LC
(Lan Su Chinese Garden, Old Town-Chinatown, Monday-Memorial Day)
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As a child, I begged my mom to take me to a “fossil digging” experience staged in an old Chuck E. Cheese, where kids were given a shovel and a sifter and let loose in a swimming pool-sized sand pit to hunt for petrified remains. I had the time of my life, came away with dozens of fossils, and it only hit me about five minutes ago that they were probably all fake. Point is, dinosaurs evoke strong emotions. “Tyrannosaurs – Meet the Family brings the latest tyrannosaur discoveries to life, overturning preconceptions about these ferocious predators,” OMSI’s promotional materials read. Okay, so do we have T. rex’s vibes all wrong? Have we been slandering their name for…let’s see…66 million years? This exhibition seems like a solid way to find out. Head to OMSI to learn about tyrannosaurs through real and replica specimens, fossils, three life-sized reconstructed skeletons, and a “30-foot tunnel where you can watch tyrannosaurs exploring modern-day Portland.” LC
(OMSI, Central Eastside, Tuesday–Sunday)
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Shag carpeting, Lynchian color palettes, and long-gone grandmas: Wilhelm’s Portland Memorial Funeral and Cremation is a ginormous mausoleum with eight floors of stained glass, velvet furniture, wood paneling, fake flowers, and a multi-story fountain surrounded by teddy bears. Let’s just say you’re gonna get your steps in when you visit. If you missed out on the macabre history last year, head to the mausoleum’s hallowed halls—they’re only open to the public once a year. (By popular demand, Wilhelm will be open May 25-27 this year, with three guided tours planned daily.) LC
(Wilhelm’s Portland Memorial Funeral and Cremation, Sellwood-Moreland, Saturday-Memorial Day)
FESTIVALS
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Admission is free to the annual Multnomah County Fair, where attendees can explore a pioneer village, check out vintage cars, and chow down on kettle chip nachos and many other fair (read: deep-fried) snacks. Like any self-respecting county fair, they encourage locals to enter their creations into a number of categories from floral and needle crafts to photography and food. I have fond childhood memories of running into the fair to check what color ribbon adorned my various projects. If it’s not the outcome you like, you can scream-laugh your worries away on the various amusement park rides. SL
(Oaks Amusement Park, Sellwood, Friday-Memorial Day)
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The city’s landmark festival is celebrating its 116-year legacy with petals, pistils, stamens, and a slew of much-loved events that “focus on fun.” The festivities kick off this week with the three-weekend CityFair with a celebration of the Oregon Brewers Festival
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. Plus, mark your calendars for June events like the Grand Floral Parade (a botanical spectacular on wheels), the twinkly nighttime Starlight Parade of illuminated floats, and dragon boat races (a thrilling Chinese tradition practiced in the Rose City since 1989). LC
(Various locations, Friday-Memorial Day)
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Vanport, the largest World War II federal housing project in the United States and once Oregon’s second-largest city, was destroyed by a flood in 1948 that left 18,000 people homeless and forced Portland’s white residents to reckon with their racist housing practices. In observance of the 76th anniversary of the flood, the 15-day festival of “memory activism” will commemorate the disaster with community-minded presentations, exhibits, documentary screenings, tours, and more. Check out this year’s program for a full rundown. LC
(Various locations, Friday-Sunday)
FILM
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Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino’s latest follows Zendaya as Tashi, a prodigy tennis player-turned-coach whose training transformed her husband into a national champion. Things get weird and maybe horny when she forces him to play a pro-tournament “Challenger” event alongside her former boyfriend. Do I care about tennis? No, of course not!! But I don’t ask for much—Zendaya and a psychosexual plotline are enough for me. LC
(Cinema 21, Nob Hill, Monday-Wednesday)
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Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to the Murakami-inspired Oscar winner Drive My Car follows a father and daughter who spend their days gathering wild foods for a local udon restaurant. Their livelihood might be threatened when a city agency plans to create a bougie “glamping” site not far from their rustic hamlet. (Fuck glampers, am I right?) Evil Does Not Exist won the 2023 Venice Silver Lion; I’m intrigued by the film’s quiet, snowy cinematography and its naturalistic approach. LC
(Cinema 21, Nob Hill, Monday-Thursday)
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Nonbinary filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s first feature-length flick, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, was a creepy foray into the world of online horror gaming, following one teenager’s descent into an increasingly unsettling fantasy. It stirred up positive reviews at Sundance, and solidified Schoenbrun as a director to watch. Lo and behold, Schoenbrun landed an A24 flick with I Saw the TV Glow, which documents a teen’s investigations into an eerie, supernatural TV show. Fans of online wormholes and creepypasta shouldn’t miss it. LC
(Hollywood Theatre, Hollywood District, Monday-Thursday)
LIVE MUSIC
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Expecto Patronum! The Oregon Symphony will take on the cultural phenomenon, performing music from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. The audience will relive Harry’s quest for the horcruxes in high-definition and experience Alexandre Desplat’s unforgettable score like never before. AV
(Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, South Park Blocks, Friday-Sunday)
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Ride’s wash of swirly, noisy dreamscapes is the perfect opportunity to eat an edible and swim down the jangly river to Nowhere (their debut album is a near-perfect artifact of the ’90s). While they’ll likely play songs from the shoegaze masterpiece, anticipate their setlist to lean towards new material from their latest album, Interplay. Neo-shoegazers Knifeplay will open.
(Mission Theater, Northwest Portland, Thursday-Friday)
PERFORMANCE
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Artists Repertory Theatre suspended its 2023/24 season last year, citing a lack of funding and the rejection of House Bill 2459 as a primary cause. Great news, though: They’ve returned withEncore: A Festival of Staged Readings, a five-night festival of 90-minute staged readings that guide attendees on a “trip through ART’s origin story” by focusing on a different decade each night. Nods to the theater’s history begin in the ’80s with Replay: An 80s Flashback, followed by the 1994-95 season’s Keely & Du and two aughts-era entries. Lava Alapai’s Sunny’s Gifts and Things will conclude the festival and “take [ART] into the future.” LC
(Artists Repertory Theatre, Goose Hollow, Tuesday-Friday)
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Isn’t it everyone’s secret desire to return to the safe, pastel stucco surroundings of a ’90s-era mall? Japan-born, Hawaii-raised playwright Lava Alapai agrees with me—her play Middletown Mall is staged in a long-gone food court, where 20-somethings navigate economic disparity, social stresses, and family antics. Things grow more complicated when they all begin to prepare for America’s biggest karaoke contest, “Sing Out!” LC
(CoHo Theater, Northwest Portland, Wednesday-Sunday)
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PSU’s theater program will present Sarah DeLappe’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play The Wolves, and the muscular coming-of-age tale sounds like it’ll have some fun set pieces—hope you like AstroTurf! The production follows a high school girls’ indoor soccer team, where players “explore thorny and shifting landscapes of identity, friendship, competition, and belonging.” I would not return to high school if you paid me one million dollars, so I’m rooting for ’em. LC
(Lincoln Hall Boiler Room Theater (LH 55), Downtown, Friday-Sunday)
VISUAL ART
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Portland-based and apocalypse-interested artist Anthony Roberto will share a “multi-year body of 3D modeling work” in All We’ve Got Is Each Other, a solo exhibition of uncanny Blender-modeled, 3D-printed sculptures and sleek prints on aluminum. Object/Model, Figure/Form meditates on human experience by “using the stage as a space without place,” and gets curious about how identities engage and commingle. LC
(Well Well, Kenton, Saturday-Sunday; closing)
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It’s AANHPI Heritage Month—why not make an effort to learn more about Chinatown artist Bong Wai Chen, whose bold, thoughtful calligraphy and ink-on-paper art practices made a profound impact on Oregonian artists?! Chen’s retrospective, BONG WAI CHEN: Reframing Tradition, is the third in a series organized by the Portland Chinatown Museum, which aims to spotlight the contributions of the city’s Chinese American artists. Get jazzed for the show with this cute photo of Chen at Reed in the ’60s. LC
(Portland Chinatown Museum, Old Town-Chinatown, Thursday–Sunday)
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Carnation Contemporary members Quinha Faria, Pamela Hadley, Marcelo Fontana, and Michael Espinoza curated the gallery’s latest exhibition, which probes a layered question: How do you identify? Attempting to “mine the rich layers of identity to uncover how artists respond to the pressure to perform isolated aspects of whole selves,” Cuts Across: Artists Respond to Lived Intersections will also build community around intersecting identities, spotlight Oregon’s artistic diversity, and feature works by 22 artists, including Yuyang Zhang, Francis Dot, and Ahuva S. Zaslavsky. LC
(Carnation Contemporary, Kenton, Monday-Sunday; closing)
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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, and I recommend looking into Vo’s direct care sessions on June 1. 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)
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In Peter Gronquist: Manifest, the Portland-based multimedia artist’s large-scale sculptural paintings spotlit his interest in excavating personal narratives through found material manipulation. While his previous exhibition at Elizabeth Leach included bone fragments, dyed wasp paper, wool, lace, rose quartz, and “fossilized” event posters as materials, his new show takes a completely different tactic. Peter Gronquist: Light Record displays a body of abstracted works inspired by both photographic and painting processes; the result is “a near-perfect fusion of painting’s signature autographic “stroke” and the more anonymous, almost mechanic registration associated with the bulk of photographic reproduction and its myriad effects.” LC
(Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Pearl District, Tuesday–Saturday)
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I first wrote about Ryan Pierce’s work back in 2021, at the height of a cinematically bleak pandemic. I was amazed by Pierce’s ability to “envision the potential for worldly change from an optimistic, anti-apocalyptic lens. “[Pierce’s] paintings depict the confluence of environmental chaos and the end of industrial capitalism as a revelrous feast, full of mayhem and clutter and uniquely human messes…[they] don’t force a new narrative on the viewer, but instead offer possibility: What if the future looked like this?” The artist will return to Elizabeth Leach for another solo exhibition, which will continue to “reposition” humanity’s place on earth and imagine how nature might carry on in our absence. LC
(Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Pearl District, Tuesday–Saturday)
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Far be it from me to shrug off a show called Weird Sports, which are, to be honest, the only sports I want to hear about. Sol Neelman celebrates sports-as-performance art in the solo exhibition, including surreal pastimes like beer tossing, barstool skiing, log riding, lightsaber fencing, and something called “live monster wrestling.” There’s a deeper reason for the curious collection of photographs, too—Neelman’s father died when he was two, and Weird Sports allows him to “witness—and document—the joy [he] always imagined [he’d] have with [his] father if he was still alive, whether going to a Cubs game or playing catch in the backyard.” LC
(Blue Sky Gallery, Pearl District, Wednesday–Saturday)
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