Happy Pride month, Portland music lovers! While an overwhelming number of celebrations of LGBTQIA+ Pride are typically happen in June—to honor the 1969 Stonewall Riots—last year, Pride Northwest moved our city’s parade and accompanying Waterfront Park to July. Doing so addressed years of overlap with other events in the Rose City, and encouraged those who travel from parade to parade to think of Portland as a destination. But for Portland, that just means we’re celebrating for TWO STRAIGHT MONTHS, and we’ve already gotten the party started.
MUST SEE:
Upcoming local event(s) featuring local artist(s).
Rontoms Sunday Sessions: Nonbinary Girlfriend
As enormous fans of Portland-based bedroom-punk rockers Nonbinary Girlfriend—particularly their debut 8-track project Big and Kind—we’re always stoked on an opportunity to catch the band’s heroic, raw, and vulnerable live act, led by the impassioned, soaring pipes of frontperson Anais Genevieve. Later this month, NBGF headlines a free Pride month show for Rontoms’ Sunday Sessions, giving fans a chance to catch them performing beloved tracks like the title track, eerie and triumphant journey of “Body,” as well as whatever spicy new tracks the band has been working on. (Rontoms, 600 E Burnside, Sun June 23, 8 pm, FREE, 21+)
MUST LISTEN:
New release(s) from a Portland-relevant artist.
“Rug Burn,” Wynne
We’re always ready for more material from hometown rap hero Wynne! We haven’t stopped consuming her most recent EP, Some Like It Hot, and we’ve been waiting with bated breath to hear the sequel, which, according to a 2023 Mercury interview with the artist, will combine with the first to become a full-length album. We’re hoping the formerly released track “Cut & Paste” featuring WowGr8 (of Earthgang), is on the project, as well as a slower paced single called “Dirt,” that dropped in April. For “Dirt,” Wynne offered up a cinematic music video, which sees the rapper trying (and failing miserably) to mop up an absolute shitstorm of dirt while wearing nothing but a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers. Most recently, after much teasing via social media, Wynne finally released her newest single, “Rug Burn,” on June 7. And in true Wynne style, she dropped another new music video for the track on June 17, in which the rapper portrays and describes the vicious roller coaster and phases of recovering after a breakup and rebuilding one’s self esteem. The video features the blonde-haired emcee in a green cheerleader uniform, dancing choreography in a “Menterprise” car lot. As far as bars go, Wynne starts off strong: "I miss you and I can't lie, I think love is for the birds/ Were the good times worth it all if all I'm left with is the hurt?/ People gon' console you and say, "Look at what you learned"/ Try to numb all the emotions but the world's just gotta turn/ They say all it takes is time, 'cause before you, I was fine/ Hit the gym, pick up a hobby, and go focus on my grind.” And the clever wordplay in the chorus makes the video’s Enterprise shooting location make all the more sense.
ADDED TO THE QUEUE:
Some upcoming music buzz to add to your radar.
Karma Rivera: Pride After Party
Rapper Karma Rivera headlines a show on Portland Pride weekend at Lollipop Shoppe. On a regular night, Karma’s live act is intoxicating, rousing, and filled to the brim with femme top energy. The rapper’s sound has shifted in recent years, with songs taking a poppier, club- and radio-ready aesthetic on songs like “TARAJI P,” “You So Nasty,” and the Latin-inspired “Sueltate,” which is partially performed in Spanish. The show will also see a set from Bay Area duo TECA—comprising queer and femme artists DJ BRIIZA and emcee/former Portlander Raaqel—who're sure to get the party jumping with their global bass-driven sound. DJs La Mala Noche (Seattle) and Cumbianeraaa open up the show and kick off the good vibes. (Lollipop Shoppe, 736 SE Grand, Sat July 20, 9 pm, $15 adv, $20 day of, tickets here, 21+)
