special events

Gay Pride
Thu–Sun; various locations
It's a great weekend for gay friendly fun in Portland. In addition to the Pride Northwest Festival and Gay Pride Parade, there's an amazing array of dance parties, concerts, musical theater, and fashionable fun runs for LGBT folks and the people who love them.

Rose City Used Book Fair
Fri at 2, Sat at 10 am; DoubleTree Hotel, Lloyd Center
Kindle shmindle. Don't even try to tackle the summer without an armload of proper reading material. This annual biblio-fair features thousands of titles from independent booksellers, ranging from fantasy and fiction to potentially collectible tomes.

concerts

Richmond Fontaine
Thu at 9; Dante's
Once ubiquitous, this well-traveled band of country gentlemen is usually on the road in Europe, or working around singer-songwriter Willy Vlautin's busy book-touring schedule. Seeing Richmond Fontaine in their element at a modest-sized nighclub is the chance to immerse yourself in their melancholy milieu, a landscape populated by beautiful losers and other vivid characters struggling to find the dignity to fight another day.

Beastie Boys Tribute Night
Sat at 8; Wonder Ballroom
Originally conceived as a benefit show for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Oregon following the death last year of Beastie Boy MCA, this towering tribute show is back for a second year, with notables from such bands as Lifesavas, Black Prairie, the Decemberists, Pinehurst Kids, Blue Skies For Black Hearts, and Caleb Klauder Country Band (!) manning the mic for a good cause.

Tony Bennett
Sun at 6; McMenamin's Edgefield
The weather report looks favorable for the weekend, and a Sunday evening spent outdoors in the company of Mr. Tony Bennett, arguably the world's most beloved crooner, is just too good to miss. Go from "Rags to Riches" and wear something special. Those grass stains will come out in the wash.

theater

Dominatrix for Dummies
Thu–Sun at 7:30; CoHo Theater
In Eleanor O'Brien's saucy one-woman play, she juxtaposes her struggle with learning to be a New York City dominatrix with her desire to help and nurture her clients, something not typically associated with bondage and bootlicking. Read our Q&A with Eleanor O'Brien.

Avenue Q
Thu–Sat at 7:30; The Sancturary
It's just like Sesame Street—but not so much for kids. Pervy puppets and their human counterparts sing risque numbers such as "The Internet is for Porn" and "It Sucks To Be Me" in this Broadway smash that earned Oregonian Jeff Whitty a Tony Award for Best Book in 2004.

The Left Hand of Darkness
Thu–Sun at 7:30; Portland Playhouse
"With a bare-bones set and an equally bare-bones budget, Portland Playhouse and Hand2Mouth Theatre manage to create something that almost transports us to that faraway world—a narrative space ship of extension chords and imagination." Read our review of The Left Hand of Darkness, which closes this weekend.

Dance & Classical Music

Oregon Ballet Theatre: Celebrating Balanchine
Fri–Sat at 7:30, Sat–Sun at 2; Keller Auditorium 

Hey! It's not Christmas! How come OBT is busting out the Balanchine? For one thing, it's the 30th anniversary of the famed choreographer's death, so the company is presenting some different facets of Balanchine's work, including an OBT premiere of Prodigal Son, a 1929 adaptation of the Bible story by Balanchine, Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev, and French painter of clowns, Georges Roualt. Read our Q&A with new artistic director Kevin Irving.

Cappella Romana
Sun at 4; Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Recalling the group's expedition to Greece in 2011, the local early music ensemble presents a program that spans centuries and continents, from bygone Byzantine chants, musical encounters with Crusaders and Venetians, and 20th century choral works by Californian Greek Americans Frank Desby and his colleagues.