THE DAY HAS COME, PORTLAND: Tonight, Justin Timberlake is performing at the Moda Center, and it will (probably) be the greatest concert that this goddamn city has ever seen. I wrote about Timberlake in this week's paper:

HISTORIANS DEFINE the Timberlake Era as technically beginning with the NSYNC Incursion of the late 1990s and early 2000s (as evidenced with "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me"), sort of beginning when Timberlake ditched his dumb buddies and embarked on the Justified Expansion of 2002 (as evidenced by the "Cry Me a River" video, which featured Timberlake breaking into the home of his ex, Britney Spears, in order to film and then leave behind a sex tape, as we've all done from time to time), and actually totally for real beginning in 2006, with the Holy Shit Blitzkrieg that was FutureSex/LoveSounds (as evidenced by the entire goddamn album, which remains a thing of gleaming, crystalline beauty). FutureSex is the kind of perfect pop album that comes along once a decade, thrumming and thumping, building and spinning, never hitting a soft spot. Throw on "What Goes Around" or "Summer Love" or "My Love" or any other song from FutureSex and try not to move your ass. You will fail.

As I was writing the article, I built a playlist of every Timberlake song I mentioned in the piece... a playlist I now share with you. Consider it a soundtrack for the article, preparation for tonight's show, and/or something that might provide some small sliver of solace if you don't have tickets.

We live in the Timberlake Era. Long may he reign.