Books & Talks

Portland Zine Symposium

Sat–Sun, Jade/APANO Multicultural Space, FREE
Now in its 17th year, this free celebration of indie publishing aims especially to boost women, nonbinary creators, and communities of color, with a weekend of panels, tabling, and skill-share workshops. Here are three zines to look out for.

Comedy

Barry Rothbart

8 p.m. Thu, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Fri–Sat, Helium Comedy Club, $20–28
You might have witnessed Rothbart’s comedic talents without knowing it: he’s appeared on MTV’s Punk’d, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street. He was also one of Variety’s top 10 comics to watch in 2013.

Film

David Lynch: A Retrospective

Various times Fri–Sat, NW Film Center, $9
The NW Film Center surveys the work of the cinematic great behind the likes of Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Elephant Man, and Blue Velvet. Film critic Pauline Kael called the Missoula-born director the “first popular surrealist,” and he’s spent four decades working with the best in the business, from composer Angelo Badalamenti to actor Laura Dern. This monthlong series offers films directed by Lynch, as well as work that has inspired him.

Music

Boone Howard

9 p.m. Thu, Mississippi Studios, $5
Former front man for the We Shared Milk, Boone Howard sings of drinking and spitting and messing things up, crafting his own bad choices into the lyrically smart, dark, and biting songs that form his debut solo record, The Other Side of Town. Less light summer pop than songs for the shade. He opens for experimental, sci-fi-inspired Portland pop group Reptaliens.

PDX Pop Now

Fri–Sun, AudioCinema, FREE
All ages. All local. Free. This volunteer-run fest has been one of the brightest spots in Portland’s music scene since its inception in 2004, and it returns with another super-solid lineup featuring the reunion of noise rockers Eat Skull, hip-hop artist Rasheed Jamal, punk outfit Public Eye, pretty synth-pop duo Mini Blinds, and many more.

Bruno Mars

8 p.m. Sun, Moda Center, $49.50–125
The ultra-slick singer-songwriter, musician, and producer has five chart-topping singles under his belt—including “Grenade,” “When I was Your Man,” and this year’s “That’s What I Like”—and five Grammies. This latest world tour, "24K Magic," launched in March 2017 and will end a full year later. That's stamina. 

Theater

OPENING Romeo & Juliet/Layla & Majnun

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, Tom Hughes Civic Center Plaza, Hillsboro, $20
Scott Palmer, Bag & Baggage’s artistic director and a tenacious reinventor of Shakespeare, helms a world-premiere adaptation that blends Romeo & Juliet with an ancient Persian poem, another tragedy of lovers from warring families.

Così Fan Tutte

7:30 p.m. Thu and Sat, Newmark Theatre, $35–110
Director Roy Rallo revamps Mozart’s couple-swapping comic opera for the relatively cozy confines of the Newmark.

Visual Art

Group Exhibition

11 a.m.–5 p.m. Fri–Sat, Adams & Ollman, FREE
In this exhibit—its unwieldy title is I Was a Wall, and My Breasts Were Like Fortress Towers // Her Eyes Are Like Doves Beside Streams of Water—artists of different media, painters to sculptors, explore the representation and objectification of the female body.

Monroe Hodder

11 a.m.–5 p.m. Thu–Sat, Butters Gallery, FREE
Hodder’s abstract oil paintings are boldly geometrical and color-saturated—a vibrant explosion of line and hue.

Special Events

Northeast Portland Sunday Parkways

11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sun, Northeast Portland
A swath of Northeast Portland—roughly 9th to 55th, Going to Ainsworth—goes car-free this Sunday, allowing ample room to pedal, stroll, or hula-hoop your way around the neighborhood. Plus: zumba classes, a la carte performances by Portland Opera, free basic bike repair, and live music.