Model Airplane’s annual Funksgiving show in on Saturday at Aura. Photo by Devin Green

For around 15 years, Portland music collective Model Airplane has been playing a show called Funksgiving on Thanksgiving weekend.

This year’s show is Saturday at Aura, and singer Lyle Divinsky let us in on what fans can expect.

“We’ll be playing an all-out funk/soul explosion of originals and covers, including but not limited to bands like Earth, Wind & Fire, Joe Cocker, Aretha Franklin, Sly & The Family Stone and so many more.”

Divinsky, who recently moved to Denver, said it’s the most special show of the year for him, hands down. “Not only do I get to come home for the holiday and be with my immediate family, but we all get to come home and be with our chosen family – this band and this incredible community.”

Divinsky’s invitation is clear: “Come on out everybody.  Not just for the music, but for the feeling.”

Three songs in particular he’s looking forward to are his original “Come on Home,” the Aretha Franklin version of The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes” and the show-ending Joe Cocker version of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.”

Along with Divinsky, the band is Gina Alibrio (vocals), Kenya Hall (vocals), Dan Boyden (drums), Chris Sweet (percussion), Pete Genova (bass), Max Cantlin (guitar), Dane Farnsworth (keys), Tyler Quist (keys), Brian Graham (saxophone) and Phil Rodriguez (trumpet). Divinsky’s father Phil will also be on stage as a guest vocalist.

A Funksgiving show doesn’t have a beginning, middle or end. It’s an all-out dance party from the first note to the last with all thriller and no filler songs.

If you’ve never been to a Funksgiving show, know this: Every member of Model Airplane is a stellar, longtime musician, and seeing them perform live is a veritable showcase of first-rate playing and powerhouse vocals by Divinsky, Hall and Alibrio. To hear any of these three sing is a sound to behold, and this is a rare chance to hear them all on the same night.

Model Airplane’s Funksgiving
8 p.m. Saturday. Aura, 121 Center St., Portland, $25, 18-plus. auramaine.com

Rigometrics. Photo by Sarah Violette

HOMETOWN SOUND

Another Saturday night option is second annual Rigsgiving show from popular Portland rock trio Rigometrics.

The band is Keenan Hendricks (piano, vocals), Josef Berger (guitar) and Derek Haney (drums).

On Nov. 8, Rigometrics released the four-song EP “Elodie,” named after their renovated school bus-turned-tour bus.

“These songs were heavily influenced and inspired by our travels and those we’ve met along the way in our bus, ” said Haney.

“Elodie” is epic and is coming from a band that has only been around for three years.

Right out of the gate with the debut “Rig N’ Roll” in 2022, Rigometrics established itself as a serious rock band with a flair for the dramatic, courtesy of Hendricks’ baying wolf vocals.

The path they’ve continued on with “Elodie” starts with the haunting “Celebrate the Darkness.” “Everybody’s dancing in the path of totality, a new formality, a celebration of darkness,” sings Hendricks, hammering the piano while Berger’s guitar blazes and Haney pounds on the drums.

The melodic stranglehold continues with the sinister sounding “Feel This Going Down.”

“Endless Road,” a slower tune, unfolds with some acoustic guitar licks before the electric comes in with Hendricks’ whaling, stabbing-in-a-good-way vocals.

But it’s the final song on “Elodie” that shines the brightest and just might be the best thing they’ve ever recorded.

The first thing you’ll hear on “All My Friends Live for the Weekend” are some pleasant whistling and dog barks. Hendricks lays down a pretty, vibrant piano line. Then the story of Rigometrics is told over the course of six minutes, and around the four-minute mark, a chorus of backing vocals add an anthemic feeling to an already tremendous song.

Started a band in the unforeseen
Never thought we’d try this rock and roll thing.
From backyard parties, to hitting the road
Where this goes, we don’t know
All my friends live for the weekend
My family asks me, “Where you been”
All my friends live for the weekend
We all hope this never ends

We all should hope so, because Rigometrics has managed to carve out a sound that has brought them around different parts of the country to play shows, while also making them hometown heroes to many.

Rigometrics: Rigsgiving
8:30 p.m. Saturday. Portland House of Music, 25 Temple St., Portland, $15, 21-plus. portlandhouseofmusic.com