Can't Miss It: The Weekend
MAGICAL MUSIC OF INDETERMINATE ORIGIN: Eli Rosenblatt is a self-taught conjurer of moody locales. The sweaty cantina tucked behind the border, right at dusk. A Roma wagon slowly trundling into a rainstorm. That spot on the mountain dotted by fencepost sunflowers. Taking his influences from Afro-Cuban and Klezmer sources, Rosenblatt offers listeners a taste of the delicious other, a rhythmic sampling of travel and mystery.
8:00 p.m. // Pink Door // FREE (They'll probably appreciate it if you buy a drink, though)
AFROBEAT IT: The best thing about Michael Jackson songs are the rhythms. We're not knocking Jackson's way with a vocal hook, but his hits were produced to be tight, funky floor-fillers. And no genre champions rhythms like Afrobeat, where the drum is front and center. So an Afrobeat tribute to the songs of Michael Jackson sounds like a genius idea we're surprised no one had until Portland composer Ben Darwish came along. On Sunday, Darwish and company (which includes members of Commotion, Tahirah Memory, Gretchen Mitchell, and master African drummer Neindow Mashud ) will tackle the Jackson songbook with Fela Kuti technique and a dancing grace. We're getting ready to get sweaty.
Sunday 9:00 p.m. // Tractor Tavern // $8
CRITICAL MASS PARK PARTY: The Northwest Film Forum invites you to ride your bike down/up/around to Cal Anderson Park for the 5th Annual Bike-In, a well-calved celebration of environmentally conscious transportation and the bicycle culture at large. Music by DJ NLJB, Concours d'Elegance, and Sap'N will be capped and tassled by a big screen showing of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, the best movie about a boy and his bike ever.
Saturday 5:00 p.m. // Cal Anderson Park // FREE
