5 Things To Do This Weekend, Feb. 24-26: And the winner is…

Reuters photo by Dylan Martinez

Reuters photo by Dylan Martinez

1. Friday night in Bangor there’s a plethora of great events to choose from. First off, there’s another edition of Bangor Pecha Kucha, set for 6 p.m. at the Bangor Public Library. Later on, there’s the February edition of Wax On at 58 Main, featuring the dearly departed musical heroes of 2016 (Bowie, Prince, George Michael, et al), there’s Maine hip hop with Ock Cousteau, Ex-Pandas and Colin Tutelian at the Central Gallery, the Blast Addicts at the Sea Dog, the Tune Squad is at Paddy Murphy’s, and up in Orono, comedian Bill Engvall is at the Collins Center for the Arts. On Saturday, Penobscot Theatre hosts night one of two nights of the Beatles Experience, a local Beatles tribute band at Bangor Opera House; there’s a show on Sunday afternoon too. There’s also the Calypso Soldiers at Paddy’s, and in Orono, there’s a live broadcast of NPR’s Selected Shorts at the Collins Center.

ghost of paul revere

2. Portland on Friday hosts a fantastic night of Maine and New England rock, with the Adam Ezra Group, Chris Ross and the North and GoldenOak at Port City Music Hall; elsewhere, the Machine performs Pink Floyd at the State Theatre, jam  ands Harsh Armadillo and Skosh are at Portland House of Music, and rockers Burning Time, Unconcious Disturbance and Fifth Freedom are at Empire. On Saturday, there’s an EDM night with TroyBoi, Ekali and Morillo at Port City Music Hall, the night one of a two night stand from Ghost of Paul Revere (pictured above), with guest Max Garcia Conover, at Portland House of Music, and there’s some killer local metal with Gozu, Sylvia, All Night and Lousy at Geno’s. On Sunday, it’s the Ghost of Paul Revere with Hannah Daman and the Martelle Sisters at Portland House of Music, and there’s the highly anticipated Panic and the Disco show with Misterwives and Saint Motel at the Cross Insurance Arena

3. On the coast this weekend there’s much to crow about. Friday night, local band Happy Folk plays at Rock Harbor Brewing in Rockland, while on Saturday, Maine favorites the Mallett Brothers Band play a show to celebrate their new album at the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts. There’s also the Pinwheel Brothers at Rock City Coffee in Rockland, and the Wayne Delano Jazz Quartet at the Elm Street Grille in Camden.

4. It’s Oscar weekend! I’m once again trying to cram in viewings of a few of the nominated films before Sunday. If you really love to celebrate, there are two longstanding Oscar night events in Maine that I can’t recommend enough. First off, the Strand Theatre in Rockland offers snacks, beverages and an HD broadcast on the big screen. In Bar Harbor, there’s also Reel Pizza Cinerama’s annual Oscar night gala, a benefit for the Jesup Library in Northeast Harbor, with a costume contest, Oscar ballot, red carpet and comedy from ImprovAcadia. What will you be wearing? In all honesty, I’ll likely be in pajamas. But I’ll be pretending it’s Rodarte.

5. After several weekends of godawful weather, won’t it be nice to have a little sunshine in our lives this weekend? We’re looking at temperatures in the 30s and 40 this weekend, and with the exception of Saturday morning, mostly sunny. Could it be? Is it possible? Is spring just around the corner? Yes, I do think so.

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.