by Wm. Steven Humphrey Who's ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland's best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst... if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin'!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events coming at ya this week! CHECK IT OUT! • Enter to WIN FREE TICKETS to see Sky Ferreira on September 23 at Revolution Hall! Drawing critical-acclaim and ‘Best Alb ..read more

Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with Alana Rich, and give Oh, Rose's new record some love. by Jenni Moore Holy September! Summer 2024 is cooling down, and we’re still processing Live Nation’s dystopian plans for the city's Central Eastside. Increasingly prominent nonprofit MusicPortland has been fighting the decision, but developers aren’t backing down. We'll be watching the upcoming September 19 hearing on the matter very closely. In the meantime, if you just came to rock out and vibe, there's plenty of local music buzz to enjoy right now—from the return of Lose Yr Mind Fest to Alana R ..read more

by Ben Salmon Shoegaze is having a moment. It’s not the first moment for the cult-fave genre—a hypnotic amalgam of gossamer vocals and distorted guitars played, often loudly, through an army of nifty effects pedals. Not long after Shoegaze emerged from the British Isles in the late 1980s, its first wave crested on the backs of fuzzed-out bands like Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and My Bloody Valentine. But a shoegaze revival is definitely underway, fueled by young people discovering the genre’s giants and heretofore obscure bands like Duster, through TikTok clips and Spotify playlists. At the same ..read more

Kye Grant's monthly, genre-fluid event blends participatory art and dance parties. by Lindsay Costello “The apparel is quite special,” my friend Rose mused. She was right. While awaiting entry into Club Alive, my field of vision swam with humans sporting face gems, organza, velvet bell bottoms, pink pleats, and patent leather. The monthly, genre-fluid performance party helmed by artist-experimenter Kye Grant [who—full disclosure—has written for this publication -eds] has typically been held at Kelly’s Olympian, but for the 2024 Time-Based Art Festival, Club Alive gained new breathing room at P ..read more

Sam Hamilton makes a solid proposal; Mere Tokorahi Boynton sings it in te reo Māori. by Suzette Smith Upon reading that Sam Hamilton's Te Moana Meridian delivers a speculative UN policy proposal to move the prime meridian from Greenwich, England to its completely opposite coordinates in the South Pacific Ocean, I wondered if the audience might be asked to participate in an experimental model UN. Part of the fun of the Time Based Art Festival comes from imagining you would have the guts to demand, like Parks & Recreation character April (Aubrey Plaza), to represent the Moon. But there was n ..read more

by Wm. Steven Humphrey Who's ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland's best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst... if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin'!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events coming at ya this week! CHECK IT OUT! • Enter to WIN FREE TICKETS to see Cornelius on September 27 at Crystal Ballroom!  Cornelius is the brainchild of Jap ..read more

by Wm. Steven Humphrey Who's ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland's best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst... if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin'!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events coming at ya this week! CHECK IT OUT! • Enter to WIN FREE TICKETS to see The Get Up Kids on September 7 at Revolution Hall! Stand-outs in the “second wave” of e ..read more

On Friday, Providence Park unveiled her new, stadium-show look. She's simultaneously louder than a sports game (bass! fireworks!) and a great place to have your face rocked off. Providence Park: Concert Mode is a great addition to the city. "The way the stage was set up, even the rich zaddies at Multnomah Athletic Club couldn’t sneak a peak, despite the fact that the sound was undoubtedly blowing them out of their Reeboks. by Melissa Locker Foo Fighters, the Pretenders, and Alex G christened Portland’s newest music venue Friday night, and it was a show for the ages–so long as you didn’t want a ..read more

by Mercury Promotions Who's ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland's best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst... if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin'!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events coming at ya this week! CHECK IT OUT! • Enter to WIN FREE TICKETS to see Buena Vista Social Orchestra on September 4 at Revolution Hall! Featuring key players fr ..read more

Last summer, frontman Israel Nebeker suddenly found a path through his eight-year compositon drought. by Ben Salmon It has been almost exactly eight years since Oregon-based indie-folk band Blind Pilot released an album—but not for lack of trying. Frontman and songwriter Israel Nebeker spent much of that time battling a gnarly case of writer’s block. He didn’t compose so much as a verse for years. “It was an absolute struggle. It was a pretty dark time. I think any kind of artist struggles with this [idea that] if you’re making, you’re an artist. If you’re not, then who in the world are you ..read more