Shows of the Week: Nekrogoblikon Is the Embodiment of “Goblin Mode”

Jun 09, 2023

THURSDAY, JUNE 8:

A fog machine would be superfluous at a Maria BC show. The Oakland singer-songwriter seems to summon a change in the weather whenever she performs, using her classically trained voice and considerable guitar chops in the service of rainy, shadowy, ambient dream-pop songs that sound great in the mossy Northwest. Give her album Hyaline a spin next time you’re walking around in the forested areas of Southwest Portland, then check her out at Rev Hall's Show Bar. Show Bar at Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St. 8 pm. $12. 21+.

TUESDAY, JUNE 13:

Al Di Meola is one of the fastest, flashiest, most virtuosic acoustic guitarists currently touring—and, crucially, one of the most flat-out fun to watch. Rising to fame as the prodigious guitarist of Return to Forever, Di Meola turned his fretboard wizardry and taste for Mediterranean flair into a million-selling solo career, and his classic live album Friday Night in San Francisco reverberates with the energy of an audience beside itself with ecstasy. Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave. 8 pm. $45. All ages.

TUESDAY, JUNE 13:

If you’ve been on the internet anytime in the past five years, you’ve likely heard the expression "goblin mode," a rejection of societal expectations in a hedonistic manner without regard to self-image—very 2020s. But nobody has taken this animal state to the same extreme as Nekrogoblikon, the Florida metal band fronted by an actual, pointy-eared, havoc-happy goblin—or maybe it's just some dude named Dave in a green latex mask. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave. 8 pm. $25. 21+.