Concerts

The National
Sept 21, Edgefield 
For over a decade, these slow-burning indie rockers have been putting out gorgeously arranged and arresting albums that document Generation X malaise with both unsettling tension and measured grace. For a band whose records have been (sometimes derisively) labled "growers" for most of its career, these guys must be basking in the well-deserved critical and financial success of their msot recent effort, Trouble Will Find Me. The show is sold out, but we know you're resourceful.

Dirtnap Records Label Showcase
Sept 20, Slabtown
Get ready for a high-enery punk-rock marathon, as Portland-based independent label Dirtnap Records celebrates their 14th year in business with this showcase featuring Marked Men, of the surpsingly prolific punk scene in Denton, Texas. The 10-band show will also include sets from local groups Mean Jeans and Guantanamo Baywatch, among other local and national acts. 

MarchFourth Marching Band
Sept 21, Bossanova Ballroom
MarchFourth Marching Band has come of age with modern Portland. With its home-welded drum harnesses, upcycled uniforms, globe-spanning music mash-up, and entrepreneurial drive to succeed at a seemingly outrageous project (a band that supports 24 people!), MarchFourth basically plays the anthem for Portland’s weird-leaning DIY makers with big dreams. And like the city itself and many of its arts organizations, over the past decade the ensemble has grown up—into a polished, professional, collaborative project that is just on the edge of full sustainability. Having celebrated its 10th birthday earlier this year (read our profile), the band celebrates the release of a new music video at this Bossanova show with special guests. 

Ray Wylie Hubbard
Sept 22, Mississippi Studios
Texas troubadour, outlaw country bad boy, or surly singer-songwriter—whatever you want to call him, grizzled hell-raiser Hubbard has been there and done that. He also wrote the song “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker. 

Special Events

Time-Based Art Festival
Through Sept 22
PICA's TBA is like a mack truck of contemporary art barreling through the city with no breaks. We're so dizzy, we can't even remember what day we're on? Seven? Eight? All we know is TBA's late night headquarters, the Works, is packed and gorgeous, and there're still four days of performances to come. Check out our mid-fest Field Notes for a recap of what's happened and a look forward at the best still to come.

O-Tsukimi, Moonviewing
Sept 18–20, Portland Japanese Gardens
The Japanese ritual of moonviewing is called O-Tsukimi and is celebrated with the full moon each autumn. At Portland's Japanese Garden, the traditional festival includes a candle-lit tea ceremony, live music, and a glass of sake or tea in which to reflect that full moon and capture the good luck. Poetry is also a part of the ceremony, and the garden grounds will be open and lighted by lanterns.

Rose City Comic Con
Sept 21–22, Oregon Convention Center 
Nerd alert! Fanboys and girls will be out in force at this gathering of the tribes to pay tribute to such genre stars as Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko from Deep Space Nine), David Giuntoli (Grimm), and Billy West (voice actor from Futurama and Ren & Stimpy). Plenty of famous folk from the comic book industry will also be in the house to autograph your most cherished pages from Moon Knight or Dr. Strange.

Comedy

Todd Barry
Sept 20, Mississippi Studios
Veteran Comedian Todd Barry has appeared in feature films like The Wrestler and Wanderlust, but he's most recognizable for his work as a bongo drum player on HBO's Flight of the Conchords or playing himself on FX's Louie. His current tour, "Crowd Work," promises a show based entirely on audience interaction (it's a change of pace Barry calls both "challenging" and "nerve-wracking" in our Q&A with him). Barry's signature deadpan delivery and bitter sarcasm is set to leave the house in stitches. 

Moshe Kasher
Sept 21, Crystal Ballroom 
Kasher's 2012 autobiography is titled Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16. It's a title that tells you most of what you need to know about this irreverant comic's incredible back-story and his sense of humor. For the rest, check out either of our two interviews with him.

Classical

Roomful of Teeth
Sept 20, Agnes Flanagan Chapel at Lewis & Clark College
This cutting-edge vocal octet makes its Portland debut on the heels of its critically acclaimed 2012 debut album, which cracked the Billboard Top 10. The performance will include excerpts from member Caroline Shaw’s “Partita for Eight Voices,” which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music—making Shaw, at 30, the youngest person ever to win the prize. 

Big Night
Sept 21, Portland Opera
Opera stars Kelly Cae Hogan (soprano) and Ric Furman (tenor) are slated to star in November’s production of Salome. With the help of prominent members of the Portland Opera repertory company and symphony, they will delight audiences during the third annual season-opening extravaganza with stirring renditions of some of the art form’s most celebrated choruses. If you love dressing up and being fancy, add on the Notte Grande Gala VIP experience.  

Oregon Symphony: Scheherazade
Sept 21–23, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Few works of music are as beautiful, richly nuanced, and dynamically varied as Russian composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliant interpretation of stories within stories, complemented here by a highly unusual and delicate percussion concerto by renowned Japanese composer Takemitsu. 

Theater

Fiddler on the Roof
Sept 14–Oct 27 
Portland Center Stage artistic director Chris Coleman has dreamed of doing this Tony Award–winning classic for 20 years. “The music is so simple, but so moving,” he says. His patience paid off: he’s staging it with the largest known cast in PCS history. 

Lucky Stiff
Sept 19–Oct 13, Broadway Rose New Stage Theater 
Musicals don’t get any zanier than this whodunit farce by Lynn Aherns and Stephen Flaherty. See if you can keep track of the fast-paced action amid the slamming doors, mistaken identities, and a surprisingly mobile corpse! 

Film

Noir City Portland
Sept 20-22, Hollywood Theater
The Film Noir Foundation takes over the Hollywood Theater this weekend for the first ever Portland edition of their popular Noir City festival, begun in San Francisco in 2003. This is a unique opportunity for film buffs and casual Noir fans alike, as none of these films are available on DVD and all are being shown on beautiful 35mm prints. The expertly curated lineup includes some of the Foundations most recent restorations. 

Books

Gabriel Rucker (of Le Pigeon)
Sept 19, Powell's
Culinary School dropout Gabriel Rucker has turned East Burnside's Le Pigeon into a national destination within Portland's celebrated dining scene, winning two James Beard Awards on the way. He's just released his first ever cookbook featuring 150 recipes from the popular eatery's history; we took a peek inside that gorgeous tome last month.  Rucker will be joined at Powell's by Le Pigeon's co-owner and sommelier Andrew Fortgang, and the restraunt's pastry chef, Lauren Fortgang.

Jonathan Lethem
Sept 20, Powell's
The music writer, comic book scribe, and author of Motherless Brooklyn (among other titles) returns with Dissident Gardens, a book about three generations of left-wing radicals in Queens and Greenwich Village.