Waterfront Blues Festival
The Waterfront Blues Festival is a Fourth of July tradition, a weekend-long gathering on the river to celebrate all styles of American music (not just the blues). With performers like Booker T, Chubby Carrier, Cory Henry, Fantastic Negrito, Eric Gales, and countless others performing under the sun for the fest’s 30th year, it’s the best way to be reminded that our crazy, conflicted country has birthed some pretty wonderful music. NED LANNAMANN
Jun 30-Jul 4, see waterfrontbluesfest.com for full daily schedules, 11 am, $10-50, all ages
Roxane Gay
After widely acclaimed works like Bad Feminist and Difficult Women, Gay’s Hunger tells the story of what it’s like to live more than 20 years in a fat body, and without the triumphant weightloss narrative that society practically demands. If her discussion with Phoebe Robinson (Sooo Many White Guys podcast), and her interview with The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah is any indication, Roxane Gay will offer an insightful and honest book talk while simultaneously filling a void the literary world. JENNI MOORE
7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free
Portland Craft Beer Festival
The Fields hosts this grand kickoff to Oregon Craft Beer Month with a three-day celebration of Portland's (many) contributions to the art of brewing. $25 admission includes a cup and 10 beverage tickets, while $35 VIP tickets will net you a souvenir mug and 15 tickets. Come down and enjoy delicious food and beverage offerings from Base Camp, Lompoc, Migration, Natian, Occidental, Pints, Bridgeport, Coopers Hall, Cider Riot, and many more.
Jun 30-Jul 2, 12 pm, The Fields, $25-35
Animal Collective, Stephen Malkmus
Animal Collective is one of those bands you just come to know, whether that’s through constant radio play or their soundtracking of your own quarter-life avant-garde awakening. Blending the right amounts of pop, indie, electronic, psychedelic, and experimental, Animal Collective is enough of everything to appeal to virtually everyone—which means you can totally bring your Tinder date to the show without worrying about whether or not they’ll like it. To those “real fans” who might complain about this, I say sit back, relax, and enjoy both the concert you paid for as well as the kinda funny, kinda cringey dates happening around you. DELANEY MOTTER
8 pm, Roseland, $26-30, all ages
Queer Migration Stories and Panel
Unite Oregon’s Last Friday event will kick off with a panel featuring members of Resilient Connections, a program for refugee, immigrant, and trans queer people, as they illuminate the affects colonization and white supremacy have on the migration of queer people of color. EMILLY PRADO
5:30 pm, Unite Oregon, free
Lithics, Tender Age, Mattress, Media Jeweler
Lithics minimalist post-punk pulses and chirps, manically pushing forward and pulling back, while building insistent loops before pretending to fall apart, as vocalist Aubrey Hornor brings an understated, bordering-on-spoken-word nonchalance. This restraint, at least on record, keeps the tension high, while also keeping something bubbling below the surface, waiting. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON
9 pm, The Fixin' To, $7
Bob Saget
Fresh off his appearance on Netflix's Full House reboot, Fuller House, Bob Saget takes his raunchy stand-up routine back to Helium giving you the opportunity to take in an evening of jokes told by TV's renowned "Dirty Daddy."
7:30 pm, 10 pm, Helium Comedy Club, $35-45
Improvisation Summit of Portland 2017
The Creative Music Guild presents a two-day event celebrating Portland's improvisational and experimental music scene, in collaboration with dancers, film, and visual artists. Featuring performances from Bobby Previte, Andrea Kleine, Lori Goldston, Jonah Parzen-Johnson, Sarah Hennies, Wobbly, and more.
Jun 30-Jul 1, see creativemusicguild.org for a full list of performers and showtimes, $15-30
Eat Skull, The Renderers, Woolen Men
The husband-and-wife duo of Brian and Maryrose Crook front the Christchurch, New Zealand-hailing psych-rock band, The Renderers. Catch them tonight when they return to Mississippi Studios to headline a stacked show alongside Portland noise-pop and skuzz-rock outfit Eat Skull and local jangle punks the Woolen Men.
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $5
Streetlight Manifesto, Jenny Owen Youngs, Ogikubo Station
Everything Goes Numb, the 2002 debut LP from New Brunswick outfit Streetlight Manifesto, is hailed as a ska masterpiece in circles where that phrase isn’t an inherent contradiction. No matter how many waves you think there have been—really, who can keep track—ska’s always had a way of sounding instantly dated. In the decade and a half since the band’s well-received debut, Tomas Kalnoky & Co. haven’t done much to avoid their genre’s uniquely fraught aging process. The list of chin-scratchers includes the 2006 re-recording of their old band Catch 22’s beloved Keasbey Nights, and 2010’s 99 Songs of Revolution Vol. 1 (a collection of covers that might more accurately be titled 11 Songs That Don’t Really Need Ska Interpretations). If I sound dismissive, that’s probably because ska has always been so easy to mock, but it’s precisely that full-throated embrace of their own aesthetic that makes bands like Streetlight Manifesto so fun to begin with. NATHAN TUCKER
8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, $20, all ages
Senator Ron Wyden Discusses Net Neutrality
Net neutrality is the concept that internet access is akin to a utility and should be available for equal consumption by all. Senator Ron Wyden, a longtime advocate of net neutrality, will highlight the implications of the FCC’s vote to roll back legality and allow cable companies to engage in net neutrality voluntarily. EMILLY PRADO
12:15 pm, Sentinel Hotel
Azizi Gibson
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, Azizi Gibson is an up and coming rapper signed to Flying Lotus' record label, Brainfeeder. Catch him tonight when he hits the Hawthorne Theater for the Portland stop on "The Protein Shake Tour."
8 pm, Hawthorne Theatre, $18.50-22, all ages
Dynamite PDX
This special edition of Curious Comedy's improv session features Portland's much-loved J Names troupe taking the stage.
9:30 pm, Curious Comedy Theater, $10-12
Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!