THURSDAY, Oct. 27
The OLS Masquerade Jam | What happens when you mix the elegance of a masquerade ball with the rough and tumble, down home, feel good vibes of an old fashioned jam session around the campfire? A party like no other. Liz Pettengill from One Longfellow Square has gathered all the ingredients for an interesting, one-of-a-kind party: costumed guests, an open jam session (seriously, bring an instrument), an auction, delicious local food, and a high energy dance party led by the Tricky Britches and Caroline Cotter. Pettengill shared how she got the idea: “The idea came to me because at my first apartment in Portland we used to sit around our fire pit and play music. One night, while I was providing tap dance percussion for my roommate who was playing guitar, these guys came walking across the street, one carrying an upright bass. It was definitely something to see… this guy walking into a yard on the Portland peninsula carrying an upright bass along with him. He plopped it down and immediately starting playing along without missing a beat. His friend came with a fiddle and seamlessly jumped in too, so we had guitar and vocals from my roommate, tap percussion from me, and bass and fiddle from two guys we had never met before.” Only in Portland, huh?| $50 | 6:00 pm | One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland | https://onelongfellowsquare.com/ |
Film Screening: Equal Means Equal | Grab a kombucha and settle in for a night of heavy material and uncomfortable realities. The film “Equal Means Equal” will be screened, offering viewers an unflinching look at how women are treated in the United States today. Issues discussed in the film include: domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, the foster care system, reproductive health and discriminatory attitudes in the workplace. Bring your neighborhood bigot that doesn’t believe in rape culture or even that friend of yours that doesn’t think gender based income inequality doesn’t exist, so they can get their head checked. After the sobering film, a discussion will be had, led and moderated by Patricia Leavy, an independent sociologist from Stonehill College.
| FREE | 7:00 pm | Urban Farm Fermentory, 200 Anderson St., Portland | http://www.fermentory.com/ |
FRIDAY, Oct. 28
The Anguish Exhibition | Interested to see how an international team of artists has portrayed complex emotions like grief, fear, sorrow, regret and despondency? Of course, you do. This multimedia exhibition, titled Anguish: the Grave Misgivings of Remembrance, is a “visceral portation of isolation desire and remorse.” This strikingly raw collective work beckons viewers inside fearful chasms of darkness and encourages them to find strength, beauty, and clarity, where there’d otherwise be nothing but pain.
| FREE | 5:00 pm | MECA, 522 Congress St., Portland | https://www.meca.edu/ |
Corum with White Gourd and Legion | “The Beguiling Isles, both enchanting and deceiving, appear as ruins half-hidden amid thick jungle; walls of massive black boulders: stones temples and platforms; stark images of scowling gods; soft volcanic tuff; a cluster of temples and remains of knife-edged pinnacles of black rock and deep sheltered inlets where seabirds soar up cliffs rising sheer from the water's edge next to flows of molten lava.” The psychic soundsmith Corum will take you there, during a concert that melts minds and causes rhythms and melodies to ooze in and out of focus. He’s joined by a fellow member of the experimental ensemble Million Brazilians, White Gourd, a female artist, vocalist and saxophonist that will perform a set using a variety of found objects, gongs, a piano and audio cassette loops. Also on the bill is the strange newcomer, Legion. Settle in for a glistening mirage of a concert.
| $10 | 8:00 pm | Oxbow Blending and Bottling, 49 Washington Ave., Portland | http://oxbowbeer.com/ |
Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band with Armies | Three of New England’s most celebrated, powerful, emotive and versatile vocalists are descending upon familiar territory, the Port City Music Hall, for a show that amplifies excellent writing on top of mesmerizing soul, funk and indie pop-rock grooves. Kat Wright and her Indomitable Soul Band are always welcome here in Maine. Throngs of fans pine after Wright’s voice that can range from silky smooth, to raspy and thunderous. Opening for her are Dave Gutter and Anna Lombard from Armies, conveying the deep complexities of a male and female relationship through charming and sometimes melancholic music.
| $15 | 8:00 pm | Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., Portland | http://www.portcitymusichall.com/ |
Cinematic Songs with Audrey Harrer | You must welcome this wildly innovative alt-chamber vocalist and harpist with eager ears and wide smiles. When I say she’s unlike anyone you’ve ever heard, I mean it this time. Audrey Harrer is visiting Portland for the first time in her life and is debuting her eccentric blend of nostalgic vocals, cinematic imagery and playful dissonance with her album Alphabet Rain. It’s a shimmering, multi-layered collection that exposes the points of contact between music, drama, language and cinematically epic mental images. The walls around cozy ol’ Blue, might feel a little closer during this day-dreaming inducing show.
| FREE | 8:00 pm | Blue, 650 Congress St., Portland | http://portcityblue.com/ |
SATURDAY, Oct. 29
Silent Film Night | Forget Netflix. Celebrate the creepy season like a true hipster and sample a surprisingly eerie silent film from 1920: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If the protagonist’s freakishly long fingers and creepy, crooked smile won’t unnerve you, the booming, classic horror vibes of a live organ concert might. Jonathan Ortloff will perform on the mighty Kotzschmar organ while the silent film flickers on the main stage.
| $18 | 7:30 pm | Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle St., Portland | https://tickets.porttix.com |
A Haunted Booze Cruise | If you’re looking to avoid the crowds of ghoulish yuppies haunting the Old Port on Halloween weekend, step aboard the Black Pearl and sail away on dark waters. Amrit Singh from Deep Sea will drop some spine-tingling techno house and black magic beats for costumed denizens to dance to. Dance until you’re dead because I doubt you’ll want to come Monday night.
| $30 | 8:00 pm | Casco Bay Lines, 56 Commercial St., Portland | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/deep-sea-presents-black-pearl-tickets-28309811408 |
The Great Pumpkin Ball | Oooooh, what’s more fitting than celebrating Halloween within the halls of a secret society? Equality Maine’s annual Halloween party is taking place at Portland’s Masonic Temple this time around and features everything you’d expect: costumes, booze, DJ Jodi, and gender-bending special guests. Expect some flashy, fierce and fabulous people at this party. Get creative with your costume and you could win $500 in prizes in categories like: best duo, best group, fright factor and best political statement.
| $25 | 8:00 pm | Masonic Temple, 415 Congress St., Portland | http://equalitymaine.org/ |
Spirit of Portland’s Halloween Party | Have you ever had the unpleasant/awkward experience of showing up to a dim-spirited, and poorly attended Halloween costume, where you felt like you were the only one that put any effort into your costume? This year, don’t make the same mistake twice. A lot of people are planning on showing up to the Halloween Bash at the Portland Expo. Gritty’s seasonal ale will be flowing as local monsters dance to the music of the 70’s from Motor Booty Affair, and the music of the 90’s thanks to Hello Newman.
| $20 | 8:00 pm | Portland Expo, 239 Park Ave., Portland | http://www.expocenter.org/ |
Halloween Tribute to Prince | Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve if you want to get technical, has always been a time to do two main things: honor the dead and party your ass off. Oddly enough, you can do both at this Halloween tribute show to the legendary God of pop, Prince. Dean Ford and his core band the Keepsakes will channel the ghost and creative energy of this music icon during a thought-out homage performance. Honor the dead on this night, but also celebrate life. In Prince’s words, “life’s just a party and parties aren’t meant to last.”
| $15 | 8:00 pm | Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., Portland | http://www.portcitymusichall.com |
Black Metal Halloween | If you’re a true freak, you’ll likely want to spend your Halloween weekend in a dark room with wet floors and ear-piercing screams, hellish growls and thunderous drums reverberating off the walls. Here are the scheduled harbingers of auditory doom: the disastrous Leash, Boston’s death metal demons Coagula, Portland’s crusty thrashers Apollyon, and the loud-n-sludgy Cadaverette. Enter a human, leave a zombie.
| $8 | 9:00 pm | Geno’s Rock Club, 625 Congress St., Portland | https://www.facebook.com/events/339232696417893/ |
Styxx’s Last Halloween Bash | By now you’ve heard the news: Styxx is closing its doors for good. You can partially thank Grindr for that. Before a retail company takes over the space where so many hot, hilarious, and queer parties/performances were had, pack yourselves in there for one last night of revelry. If you’ve ever wanted to step up and dance in that cage and just do you, now’s one of the last chances you’ll get to do it. DJ Ross will keep you bouncing and emotions running high, during this party that’s basically a statement: RIP Styxx, you will be missed. Final call for the club will be on New Year’s Day.
| $8 | 9:30 pm | Styxx, 3 Spring St., Portland | http://www.styxxportland.com/ |
SUNDAY, Oct. 30
Salami and Wine on the Point | The Cellardoor Winery’s location on Thompson’s Point has quickly solidified itself as one of the hippest, classiest, and most accommodating dining atmospheres in town. The space evokes the fancy feeling, but without the pretentious ickiness. Get pampered in their beautiful indoor space, while White Farm dishes out samples of their artisanal salami. The folks at Cellardoor will provide the perfect wine to pair it with.
| FREE | 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm | Cellardoor Winery, 4 Thompson’s Point, Portland | http://mainewine.com/ |
Jamestown Revival and Jonny Fritz | Believe it or not, good music can crome out of Texas. The restless wanderers of Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) have tales to sing to you from the dive bars of Wisconsin, the back roads of Utah and the rolling hills of Tennessee. These indie-rockers with a dose Southern heartache and folk swagger know how to hit the road in style, and convey their experiences with a melodic punch. They will be joined by Jonny Fritz, an eccentric dad-country-rocker who’s ready to perform his humorous new album Sweet Creep, which he recorded over three days on a mountaintop east of Los Angeles.
| $20 | 8:00 pm | Port City Music Hall, 504 Congress St., Portland | http://www.portcitymusichall.com |
MONDAY, Oct. 31
West End’s Halloween Parade | The West End community has been gathering for a themed Halloween parade for 34 years now! This could be a great way to show off your new costume this year and also a safe way for your children to trick-or-treat. Expect everyone from witches, goblins, ghosts, monsters, zombies, animals, paper mache puppets, dancers, puppeteers, drummers, musicians and wide eyed children to be lurking around the neighborhood on this fright-filled night.
| FREE | 6:00 pm | Reiche Playground, 166 Brackett St., Portland | https://www.facebook.com/WestEndHalloween/ |
Monstah Bash III | This annual creative showcase comes in three waves of music and comedy. The first wave is all about guilty pleasures and has local musicians battling each other with covers of songs they’d typically never admit to enjoying. Following that embarrassing but hilarious debacle, the second wave has your favorite local comics take the stage (dressed as classic horror icons) to share stories and harvest laughter. During the final wave, the local power trio Vince Nez, Aaron Cloutier and Brian Arlet will send you rocking into the wee hours of the night.
| FREE | 7:00 pm | Blue, 650 Congress St., Portland | http://portcityblue.com/ |
Spooky Psychedelica | Psyche yourself ready for the future of future music: Bogtrotter’s coming to town. This electronic producer will lead a ghost ship into uncharted waters: an ever-changing soundscape pummeled by glitchy drips, alien-like murmurs and psychedelic drones. But he’s not the only eccentric space-case scheduled to perform! Supersillyus, a psy ambient electronic project from Los Angeles will be there, proving that computer generated music can tell epic and poignant stories, as well as the future bass duo of Zoo Logic. Rounding out this spooky hallucination of a concert is Icaro, channeling some ancient demons and shamanistic energy through their otherworldly sounds.
| $15 | 7:00 pm | Empire, 575 Congress St., Portland | http://www.portlandempire.com/ |
TUESDAY, Nov. 1
Privilege, Power and Difference | Recover from your Halloween hangover with a sobering thought: racism and white privilege are alive and kickin’ in Maine. The Maine Community Foundation wants white folk to check their privilege with this informative summit. The keynote speaker Allan G. Johnson, will address a mystified audience and dive into this issue by showing how social systems perpetuate privilege based on race and ethnicity. Privilege and the lack of privilege shapes all of our lives, so come find out how. If you believe that everyone in Maine should have the same social-economic opportunities regardless of race or ethnicity, then this lecture would be a great way to further educate yourself and meet like-minded allies.
| $25 | 11:30 am to 2:30 pm | Holiday Inn By The Bay, 88 Spring St., Portland | http://www.mainecf.org/ |
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 2
GRiZ | Grant Kwiecinski, the visionary founder of GriZ has perhaps single handedly got a generation of young people fiercely passionate about funk, jazz and the future of electronic music. He’s proved that young people can boogie down to a tight horn section. He’s shown that soulful vocals and a seductive saxophone make pleasant bedfellows with shimmering synths and heavy dollops of bass. His recent album Good Will Prevail has made one thing clear to fans: the future of funk is in good hands. Catch the buzzed about electronic producer when he visits Portland again and soak up some his infectiously positive energy during this genre-smashing performance. Opening for GRiZ will be Haywyre and the Geek x VRV.
| $25 | 8:00 pm | State Theatre, 609 Congress St., Portland | http://www.statetheatreportland.com |
After GRiZ: Esseks | If you still can’t shake the groove from your bones after GRiZ ignites the crowd at the State, stumble on over to Empire for a fiery after-party courtesy of Taproot Productions. They’re hosting the synth slayer Esseks from Brooklyn to keep the energy going with a disorienting blend of hip-hop beats, melodic bass, house and a little blues and swing. Sam Eckstein of Esseks, will be joined by Wolf Feral, an electronic duo with a voracious appetite for heavy bass and blood. Their music is reminiscent of college-era dubstep, but has made necessary evolutions to remain palatable, but still danceable and interesting.
| $10 | 10:00 pm | Empire, 575 Congress St., Portland | http://www.portlandempire.com/ |
THURSDAY, Nov. 3
Mipso with Lula Wiles | Jacob Sharp on mandolin, Joseph Terrell on guitar, and Wood Robinson on double bass, make up the bluegrass band Mipso. They’re trying hard to not just be a run-of-the-mill southern roots band, by focusing on three part harmonies, Appalachian influences and lyrics that are beautiful on the surface, but remarkably wise upon closer inspection. Call these adept musicians from North Carolina, “renegade traditionalists.” After those sly songwriters depart, the Lula Wiles band will take the stage. They’re a stylish female trio that uses effervescent vocal harmonies, deep musical chemistry and evocative arrangements to create a highly spirited live show. “The talent and energy they bring to the stage is phenomenal,” said Liz Pettengill from OLS about the Lula Wiles band. “I can’t wait to see how it feels when shared on stage in OLS’s cozy setting. Also, I love any band who can be described as ‘a whiskey slap to the heart’ and Lula Wiles is just that.”
| $20 | 8:00 pm | One Longfellow Square, 181 State., Portland | https://onelongfellowsquare.com |