LAURA GIBSON, BREATHE OWL BREATHE, MIKE MIDLO
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Laura Gibson.

SLABTOWN BENDER: THE TRASHIES, TOP TEN, UNNATURAL HELPERS, STAN MCMAHON, DENIZENZ, TACOCAT, & MORE
(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) It's time to have the funnest blackout you'll never remember with the annual Slabtown Bender. Drink 'em up and dance 'em down at this weekend-long series of shows, tonight with the Trashies, TacocaT, and Unnatural Helpers. Plus Saturday and Sunday you can start out the festivities with free matinees. Hydrate, folks, hydrate—this is for the long haul. COURTNEY FERGUSON

SUPERFRESH: WAMPIRE, STRATEGY, TRUCKASAURUS, JONNYX AND THE GROADIES, LITANIC MASK, VICE DEVICE, LIGHT HOUSE, DJ MAXX BASS
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) When people talk about Superfresh, Portland's best all-ages dance night ever, they talk a lot about, well, dancing. No surprise there. Portland's dance scene has historically been on the receiving end of a lot of hype, especially this year, and the lineup for these fests has been stacked with so much on-radar talent that it's obvious how Superfresh earned its reputation as such a banger. But what people don't always talk about is how left-field some of curator Manny Reyes' selections are. Acts like Light House, $kull$, Toning, Litanic Mask, Vice Device—all amazing experimental shit that you can probably get down to, but the kind of stuff you don't have to hit the dance floor to enjoy. And if you're anything like me, meaning you don't usually venture further into dancing than shaking your hair and occasionally tilting your knees, you're probably okay with that. But if there was ever a time to let your guard down and blow everyone away with your unfulfilled dance-floor potential, this would be it. Superfresh: for wallflowers and dancers alike. CC

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HEEB REMIXED: WEINLAND, ST. EVEN, GIDEON FREUDMANN
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) The Oregon Jewish Museum has enlisted Weinland's Adam Shearer and Aaron Pomerantz to put together Heeb Remixed, a night of local Jewish songwriters and musicians. Weinland will play, naturally, along with Gideon Freudmann of Portland Cello Project and St. Even (AKA Steve Hefter)—plus knishes and Manischewitz cocktails. L'chaim! NED LANNAMANN

YOUTHBITCH, DISKORDS, BOOM
(Star Bar, 639 SE Morrison) Punked-up greaser fetishists Youthbitch are readying their pomade and switchblades for a spazzed-out take on power-poppy Brit-punk À la the Buzzcocks and the Clash that's unlike anything Portland has seen since our beloved Exploding Hearts. Tonight the band is celebrating the official release of their future-classic album YouthbitchYouthbitchYouthbitchYouthbitchYouthbitch on cassette for local pot-punk playboys Gnar Tapes, and you better believe the boys are gonna be revved up to give you one hell of a show tonight. Sure, they're rakishly charming, and the songs stick in your ears for days, but expect the unexpected—there's a good-natured wild streak underpinning the tunes and personalities that make up Youthbitch, one that's bound to stir up the unpredictable, and the fun, wherever they go. CHRIS CANTINO

ZODIAC DEATH VALLEY, WHITE FANG, NOT RIGHT NOW
(Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick) "Jail," from Zodiac Death Valley's debut LP, is a dark and druggy blues number loaded with whacked-out guitars, throbbing organ, and vocals so full of swagger, you might think singer Nic Abodeely came from the loins of Jim Morrison. That is to say, this San Francisco five-piece is rock and roll. Or as they put it: "The loudest folk band in the world." The new record is certainly a mesmerizing listen (not at all folky), filled with strange twists and turns that lead you far from your comfort zone and toward that dark place you feared as a child but can't get enough of as a thinking adult. MARK LORE

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13 MONTHS OF SUNSHINE: AFRICAN SOUNDS DANCE PARTY
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Bless the rains for staying outside as DJs Cuica, Spencer D, Jason Urick, and the guys in Brainstorm create 13 Months of Sunshine: Africa Sounds Dance Party, a night full of sunny, happy dance music. Why didn't someone think of this sooner? WILL ELDER

But as you'll see from the video, it looks like Griggs might have started the whole incident by throwing his guitar at the drummer to begin with. As least that's how it looks to me.

The press release also includes a photo of Griggs with stitches in his forehead, which I'll include for ya after the jump. It goes on to say that Griggs quickly assembled a new backing band—and the newly constituted lineup of Radio Moscow plays in Portland tonight, opening for Graveyard at the Doug Fir.

So I ask you, readers, after watching this video—

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GHOST, BLOOD CEREMONY, ANCIENT VVISDOM
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) I have heard exactly one heavy music fan claim they did not care for Blood Ceremony's self-titled 2008 debut. Are you fucking kidding me? Unabashed Iommi-worshipping guitar, sinister organ, and lyrics birthed from the Necronomicon swirl from netherworldly depths to otherworldly heights—and that's just the first song. Once vocalist/organist Alia O'Brien puts her lips to the mouthpiece and conjures that first flute (yes, flute) solo, the trip really begins. This dark sorceress leads a druggy, unholy dance at the altar of the RIFF, her minions banging their heads approvingly as she lights the pyre beneath you. Yes, this album is a stone classic and that person I mentioned earlier obviously has shit for brains. The Toronto band makes their long overdue Portland debut tonight. Don't miss out. ETHAN JAYNE Also read our article on Ghost.

GRAVEYARD, RADIO MOSCOW
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Graveyard is a pack of Swedish ghouls that have robbed the crypt of rock and roll for all its forgotten trinkets and jewels. Unlike most modern retro-rock outfits who've picked at the dry bones of Pentagram's boogieman blues, Graveyard opted to crack open a few different coffins. On their latest slab, Hisingen Blues, they display some of the treasures they found with their necromantic pursuits. They push some hard-charging, hand-clapping MC5 blues and lace it with some darkened Uriah Heep and Jefferson Airplane psychedelia. To keep from seeming too fiendish, they occasionally stop and breathe with a slow and soulful Free groove. Consequently, by digging up the past, Graveyard may have given new life to the stale corpse of rock and roll. ARIS WALES

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, TRAGEDY, DRUDEN
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) The sky is dark, and the floodgates of Northwest rain have opened, creating the perfect environment to summon forth Wolves in the Throne Room. From a fabled farm compound, the Olympia band channels the energy around us into a rampage of black metal that might stop you from caring whether the sun ever returns. MARJORIE SKINNER

THE PARSON RED HEADS, TOMMY KEENE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) In his introduction to the power-pop progenitor's ferocious performance on Late Night in '94, Conan O'Brien declared Tommy Keene "one of the best pop songwriters in the business." A single spin of his 1986 benchmark album, Places That Are Gone, will tell you that's no exaggeration. Anybody with a penchant for pop is guaranteed to be fairly keen on, well, virtually everything Keene has released. His output is remarkably consistent, and unlike conspecifics Chris Stamey or hell, R.E.M., Keene hasn't chilled out with the passing of years. In fact, his latest record, entitled Behind the Parade, might be his grittiest to date. MORGAN TROPER Also see My, What a Busy Week!

TRAVIS LAPLANTE, TREVOR DUNN, THICKET, U SCO
(Laughing Horse Books, 12 NE 10th) Whoever thought prog and punk would be so suited for each other? Certainly the possibility of a compromise occurred to Robert Fripp (look no further than Red-era King Crimson for an example of early prog-punk-rock, which was one of his better ideas). Ryan Miller, guitarist in the Portland-based progressive, experimental, post-whatever band U Sco, has also combined the two almost contradictory styles with ambiguous and riveting results. It's essentially aggressive progressive rock, but stripped of (most) of the unpleasant excesses and regurgitated medieval allusions associated with the genre. In other words, it's restless and exciting as hell, while still containing elements that will stimulate your classically trained friend's virginal ears. Besides, Travis LaPlante (of Little Women) and Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle) are worth the price of admission alone. It's all a reminder that some of the most abrasive, aberrant sounds in the city are emanating from modest all-ages spaces. MT

ALABAMA SHAKES, QUIET LIFE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our article on Alabama Shakes.

BEAT CONNECTION, WAMPIRE, DJ JEFFREY JERUSALEM, SEX LIFE
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Saturday night is a great night for sweatin' it out to dancey electropop, and you'll be thrilled by the synth-tastic stylings of Seattle's Beat Connection (voted Seattle Weekly's Best New Band of 2011). Dreamy, ass-shaking grooves will be the order of the night, with the also awesome Wampire, Jeffrey Jerusalem, and Sex Life DJs rounding out the bill. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

THE BLACK SWANS, FLASH FLOOD AND THE DIKES, FISHERMEN 3, SIR RICHARD BISHOP
(Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick) On Yesterday's Wine, Willie Nelson talks to God—literally. And the interesting part is that God talks back. The 1971 album begins with spoken-word dialogue that infuses the rest of the record with a gothic piousness. The Black Swans employed a similar tactic on their 2011 album Don't Blame the Stars, although singer Jerry DeCicca introduces each song by talking not to God but to you, resulting in a record that plays not so much like an album as a nighttime radio show transmitted from somewhere long gone in America's dusty, spooky past. The musical portion collects weather-beaten folk and funereal gospel, haunted by the ghost of violinist Noel Sayre, who died in a swimming accident shortly following the initial recording sessions. The Ohio band plays a surprising but welcome (and free) show at the Kenton Club, opened by former Sun City Girls guitar mage Sir Richard Bishop. NED LANNAMANN

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