The Bollard Bulletin for June 27-29, 2025
Mostly weird guitarists and dudes telling jokes, with a splash of Vaudeville, Greek goodies and Syrian rap
FRIDAY
The 41st annual Greek Festival put on by the friendly folks at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Portland (133 Pleasant St.) continues today from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and tomorrow from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Food, drinks, music, dancing, and spiritual salvation are all on offer, mostly for free.
Boothbay Summer Theater is presenting six performances of Red, the award-winning play about abstract painter Mark Rothko’s struggle to reconcile the demands of his muse with those of the commercial art world. It opens tonight at Railway Village Town Hall (586 Wiscasset Rd., Boothbay) at 7 p.m. and continues through July 6. Tix: $25.
Biddeford hip hop artist Assasi presents an evening of storytelling, Middle Eastern music and Arabic rap inspired by the Hakawati tradition of his native Syria and modern youth resistance movements at SPACE (538 Congress St., Portland) at 8 p.m. Tix: $15.
This is the final weekend of The Portland Players’ production of the Tony-winning musical Fun Home, about a woman’s memories of her childhood spent in a funeral home and her fraught relationship with her father. Performances take place at 420 Cottage Rd., South Portland, tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tix: $20.
Progressive bluegrass act Nefresh Mountain stretches the style into jazz and Americana territories, proudly adding flourishes of traditional Jewish music, at Stone Mountain Arts Center (695 Dugway Rd., Brownfield) at 8 p.m. Tix: $25.
Out There Theater Company presents an out-there show as part of the PortFringe festival, Jeff Probst, I am Receiving Your Coded Messages, about a reclusive reality-TV junkie who gets some funny ideas about the Survivor host’s intentions, at The Apohadion Theater (107 Hanover St., Portland) at 6:30 p.m. Tix: $20.
Friday Night Marauders is a DJ series at The Portland Zoo (41 Fox St.) featuring members of the Human Fam collective (like Gabe FM and mosart212) and funky friends spinning danceable grooves in the brewing company’s chill backyard from 7-10 p.m., while Oga Suya serves scrumptious Nigerian barbecue. The music is free but ya gotta be 21 for suds.
Saturday
The trio Beribá Union blends Brazilian music with hip hop, Americana, jazz and Go-go styles at The Chocolate Church Arts Center (804 Washington St., Bath) at 7:30 p.m. Tix: $20-$25.
Rhett Miller, frontman of alt-country heroes Old 97’s, plays a solo show at One Longfellow Square (181 State St., Portland) with an opening set by Sunset Guppy, the new trio led by Maine singer-songwriter Roy Davis with Katie Matzell and Bernie Nye at 8 p.m. Tix: $25-$35 (all ages).
Guitarist Delicate Steve plays soulful instrumental music with rare range, virtuosity and flair at Portland House of Music (25 Temple St.) at 8 p.m. Tix: $20-$25 (21+).
The monthly Moonshake rave at SPACE (538 Congress St., Portland) features DJs Lychee and Jamie O’Sullivan this weekend, plus psychedelic lights and visuals by C. Gilman at 9 p.m. Tix: $20-$25 (21+).
Yes, Maine folk troubadour Dan Blakeslee is playing Wild Bevy (596 N. Berwick Rd., Wells) for free at 5 p.m., but (full disclosure) this is mostly just a reminder to check out the craft distillery’s cool woodland tasting room and food trucks and feel like a tourist in your own state for a little while.
It’s finally the finals of the Empire Comedy Classic competition at Empire Comedy Club (575 Congress St., Portland) at 7 p.m., and the finalists are Boston-based funnyman Matt Bedell, Egyptian-born Beantown stand-up guy Max Ismael, and Chris Neuguth, our hometown favorite! Tix: $20 (21+).
Sunday
Happenstance Theater presents Pocket Moxie, an uplifting and family-friendly Vaudevillian show of physical comedy, puppetry, music and dance at Mayo Street Arts (10 Mayo St., Portland) at 7 p.m. Tix: $20-$23.
Everyone’s favorite concert promoter, Live Nation, presents comedian Dimitri Martin at Merrill Auditorium (20 Myrtle St., Portland) in a special Maine show he’s calling “Fuck off and die, Empire Comedy Club!” at 7 p.m. (Kidding! It’s actually his “Quick Draw Tour.” Please don’t sue.) Tix: $34.50-$49.50.
My favorite concert promoter, Pat Corrigan at The Apohadion Theater (107 Hanover St., Portland), presents avant-garde performance artist The Rev. Crank Sturgeon in a special show titled, “Sfguth blatt knickle-duk, Empire Comedy Club!” with id m theft able on sounds, plus minimalist art-balladeer Peretsky and sets by the RJ Miller Duo and Vildava at 7:30 p.m. Tix: $10-$20 (all ages).
Described as a “one man slide guitar party,” Bob Log III plays peyote-inspired desert blues-rock with more style than you can shake a snake at. Maine keyboard party band The Button Men open at Oxbow Blending & Bottling (49 Washington Ave., Portland) at 8 p.m. Tix: $17 (21+).