Recent Stories with tag on the list

Wednesday, March 9th

• A night of DJs and electro, starring Simian Mobile Disco, The Juan Maclean, and Blondes @ Neumo's
• Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour (SPOILER, the "surprise" probably isn't Jeff Mangum. OR IS IT?) @ Vera Project
• "Merce in Three" parts celebrates choreographer Merce Cunningham @ Northwest Film Forum

Thursday, March 10th

• An eclectic and excellent lineup: Diamond Rings (electroglam confessionals) and PS I Love You (Canadian yelpcore duo) @ Vera Project
• Sarah Michelson's Devotion opens @ On the Boards
• Seattle rock photographer extraordinaire turns his lens away from the stage and immortalizes a few glimpses of the fans @ Paramount
• It's an evening of colorful looks for spring with Kate Spade design director Sharon Lombardo @ Nordstrom Bellevue
• Second Thursday brings another helping of Blitz, including a new Wallrus animation installation  @ Capitol Hill Arts Walk
• Orkestar Zirconium welcomes ("the other") Nick Cave's sculpture exhibition, Meet Me at the Center of the Earth  @ Seattle Art Museum 

Friday, March 11th

• Spend a couple days with sexy screen siren Catherine Deneuve and her oeuvre @ SIFF Cinema
• Mad Rad and Truckasaurus make noise for the needy @ Neumo's
• Dan Mangan, Vancouver's entry into the Arts & Crafts stable crosses the border @ Sunset Tavern
• Ballard warms up for Austin with a SXSW pre-funk featuring Cobirds Unite @ Tractor Tavern
• Freeze to death in the snow with Brown Derby's take on The Shining @ Re-bar
• Seattle Symphony's Baroque & Wine is back with "Songs of Cleopatra" (also Saturday) @ Benaroya Hall
• Poet Nathaniel Mackey reads from From a Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanate: Volumes 1-3 @ Northwest African American Museum
• Dance Contemporary presents Timothy Lynch, Karen Grady-Brown, Anne Motl, Joseph Schanbeck, and DC choreographer Tesee George @ the Erickson Theater Off Broadway

Wear green on March 5-6 and get half off admission to Woodland Park Zoo in celebration of Field Conservation Week. Special keeper talks, including on snow leopards, will introduce zoogoers to the myriad of field conservation projects the zoo supports around the world. Photo credit: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

Wednesday, March 2nd

• Greg Araki's latest longing look at the young and pansexual takes a comedic druggy turn in the apocalyptic, paranoiac, and borderline bonkers Kaboom @ NWFF

• In Ballard, there's D.C. rockers U.S. Royalty @ the Tractor, while Cataldo bring tenderly-made guitar pop, occasionally about vampires @ Sunset Tavern

• Through some weird science, dark magic, and performance-channelling, Queen has been resurrected, but just for one night @ Showbox
• Do you like watching Americans who think they have talent making spectacles of themselves FOR FREE and in front of Ozzy Ozbourne's wife? Of course you do. The NBC reality talent show is taping tonight and tomorrow @ the Paramount
• Previous bartending experience is suggested for the Night School's Drinking Lessons #18, A Gin Master Class @ the Sorrento

Thursday, March 3rd

• The Lonely Forest is not so lonely when the kids are singing along to every word @ Vera Project
• Help a raft of Seattle bands (D. Black, Wild Orchid Children, State of the Artist, Tea Cozies) make it to Austin by paying a visit to their SXSW bazaar @ Crocodile
• Learn how to raise mason bees for pollination @ Jackson Place Cohousing
• Warren Etheridge moderates the film industry panel "Pulling Focus" @ the Sorrento
• Marvin Freaking Hamlisch leads a Tribute to Cole Porter (through March 6) @ Benaroya Hall
• Otto Preminger's Art of Living screens @ SAM
• The Seattle Jewish Film Festival doesn't really get going until the 12th, but the launch party (complete with shorts program) is tonight @ Palace Ballroom

Friday, March 4th

• Hollow Earth Radio's Magma opens with PWRFL Power, Tender Forever, someone skyping in, and more @ Vera Project
• Our friends at Sound on the Sound present a night of singing loud and singing proud with Drew Grow & the Pastors' Wives, AgesandAges, and Baltic Cousins @ Columbia City Theater
• Spin the Bottle with Bret Fetzer and friends at the monthly late-night variety show @ the Annex Theatre
• Asobi Sesku will gently yet loudly rock you @ Chop Suey, while up-and-coming alt-country L.A. newbies Olin and the Moon hit up @ Sunset Tavern
• "Pourquoi ont-ils tué Jaurès?" Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (is the name of a show) @ Market Theatre
• Bellevue Opera presents La Boheme @ the Meydenbauer Center
• Lionel Popkin presents There Is An Elephant In This Dance @ Velocity

March 1 signals the start of Woodland Park Zoo's Spring Fecal Fest. Call 206.625.POOP or go to www.zoo.org for info on how to enter a bid to purchase the exotic and highly coveted compost. Photo credit: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

Saturday, March 5th

• Sound Off, the annual battle of the underage bands, crowns its latest Northwest champion, complete with cash prizes and a guaranteed Bumbershoot set @ EMP 
• Another week, another sold out Macklemore show @ Showbox
• Damien Jurado, Viva Voce, and Loch Lomond make for a Northwest threepeat @ Crocodile
• KEXP's Audioasis benefit features See Me River @ the Sunset Tavern
• There's something Eastern Euro in the air this week with DeVotchKa @ the Paramount
• Anyone can raise chickens in the city, but how about learning how to raise ducks @ the Good Shepherd Center
• Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra lays down some Benny Goodman @ Benaroya Hall...

Wednesday, February 23rd

• John Popper of Blues Traveler (yes, that John Popper, and yes, that Blues Traveler) @ Neumo's
• Newly-signed local quartet Motopony plays @ High Dive
• Beans (Anticon) brings deft hiphop lyricism @ Chop Suey

Thursday, February 24th

• If you missed it at SIFF last year, locally-made college reunion dramedy Perfect 10 screens for one night only @ SIFF Cinema
• Enter the high-stakes world of online journalism with The New New News: A Living Newspaper @ The Erickson Theatre

• Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Zoe Sundra plays her first Seattle show in Georgetown @ MIX Lounge
• Unanswerable question: Man or Astro-Man? @ the Croc
• Gee whiz, Officer Krupke, it's just a West Side Story sing-along @ Central Cinema
• Otto Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse (with Deborah Kerr, David Niven, and Jean Seberg) screens @ SAM

Friday, February 25th

• Brent Amaker brings his Rodeo @ the Croc
• The uncategorizable wily indie vets Deerhoof @ Neumo's
• Hometown heroes Macklemore and Ryan Lewis headline the first of many long-since sold-out shows @ the Showbox
• Jobim and more with the two-time Latin Grammy Award–winning guitar duo Sérgio and Odair Assad @ Benaroya Hall
• Late night viewing! Sex wizards do gory battle in The Eternal Evil of Asia @ the Grand Illusion

Saturday, February 26th

• There will definitely be no more wire hangers at the Mommie Dearest quote-along @ SIFF Cinema
• Climbing non-profit Alpine Club hosts their annual benefit black tie dinner @ Bell Harbor
• Talcum is back for your required end-of-month dose of northern soul @ Chop Suey
• Michael Gira tours with Swans again, but don't call it a reunion, because Gira is scarily intense and doesn't want you to use that word @ Neumo's
• The Israeli Philharmonic plays Beethoven, Webern, and Mahler @ Benaroya Hall
• The Seattle International Piano Festival presents "From Russia to Brazil," with Brazilian pianist Helena Azevedo @ the Frye Art Museum

Sunday, February 27th

• Watch the Oscars amongst film people for free (with purchase of $10 food coupon) @ Central Cinema or with Theo chocolates and drink specials @ the Bottleneck
• Wild Nothing and Abe Vigoda could be your Oscar afterparty @ Vera Project
• National Geographic presents wildlife photographer Joel Sartore discussing animal migrations (also Monday) @ Benaroya Hall
• "Ana Whim's Mutant Freak," a variety show with stand up comedy, videos, sketch comedy, and musical comedy elements, blows your mind @ the Can Can
• Foodies, the Seattle Food & Wine Experience is just sitting there @ the Exhibition Hall

Monday, February 28th

• It's another National Theatre Live production, this time King Lear @ SIFF Cinema
• Tim Johnson discusses his book Tragedy in Crimson: How the Dalai Lama Conquered the World but Lost the Battle with China @ UW Johnson Hall
• Swedish pop collective the Concretes have a new lead singer to say something new @ Neumo's
• Nancy Pearl just claimed another award ("Librarian of the Year") and also released a travel-friendly Book Lust last October. Toast her with free wine and stick around for a talk @ Elliott Bay

Tuesday, March 1st

• FREE short stacks of pancakes all day, thanks to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals celebrating National Pancake Day @ your local IHOP
• Baths' blunted maximalism and Braids' smart spacey minimalism make for a peanut butter-and-chocolate perfect post-rock night @ Chop Suey
• Film historian and archivist Dennis Nyback screens a selection of shorts in "Subversive Animation" @ the Grand Illusion
• Lisa Dank (with Kevin Kauer), Fly Moon Royalty, Secret Shoppers, Pearl of Champagne Champagne, Metal Chocolates, and Blue Eyed Soul @ the Comet Tavern
• TechFlash meetup, techies @ Belltown's Spitfire
• Vocalist Janiva Magness sings from her new album The Devil is an Angel Too @ Jazz Alley

KITTY! An ocelot, an endangered species, was born at Woodland Park Zoo on January 15. Shown here at nearly 3 weeks old, the kitten remains off view with its mother. Photo credit: Jamie Delk/Woodland Park Zoo

Wednesday, February 16th

• Gang of Four, agitpunk heroes, all reunited just for you @ Showbox
• Hope you got sleazy early, because Ke$ha is so sold out @ Showbox SoDo
• Murder by Death and Builders and the Butchers @ Tractor
• It's the delightfully named Assdrop 4 ("massive whomps and wobbles") @ the Baltic Room
• Flamenco! featuring Vicente Griego, guitarist Juan Antonio Gomez, and dancers Adriana Maresma-Fois and Savannah Fuentes @ the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater
• Burlesque artists Whisper De Corvo, Madisun Avenue, Fosse Jack, and Scandal from Bohemia go "from reel to real" @ Columbia City Cinema

Thursday, February 17th

• Nostalgia week continues with Yo La Tengo @ Showbox
• Godspeed You Black Emperor has been sold out for months @ Showbox SoDo
• Shabazz Palaces & Thee Satisfaction in a Sub Pop collabothon @ Neumo's
• If you want to destroy your sweater, hold this thread while you walk to the Weezer cover night @ High Dive
• It's a viola spectacular with Pinchas Zukerman and the Seattle Symphony @ Benaroya Hall
• The Man with the Golden Arm screens @ SAM

Friday, February 18th

• The Decemberists take a victory lap after charting at #1 with the King is Dead @ the Paramount
• Hop on the light rail with bourbon in mind: Feral Children headline Yuni in Taxco's CD release party @ Columbia City Theater
• Raiders of the Lost Ark plays back-to-back with an adolescent amateur shot-by-shot remake of the action classic (through Sunday) @ SIFF Cinema
• Yep, it's PUSAFest, and the first of three nights with Presidents of the USA @ Showbox
• Brief encounters between artists of words and songs: Laura Love, Macklemore, Jason Dodson, and Matthew Simmons @ Hugo House
• Stanley Kramer's The Defiant Ones screens @ SAM
• Afrodisiac presents the Erotic Poetry Show @ the Little Red Studio
• Seattle U's Professionals Without Boundaries ("sustainable service projects") holds a fundraiser ("music, fun, food, and dancing" and raffles) @ St. Demetrios
• The New New News: A Living Newspaper begins its South Seattle run @ South Seattle Community College...

Wednesday, February 9th

• Bid on Date to Educate bachelors and bachelorettes and support tuition for Kenyan children @ Pink Ultra Lounge
• Persepolis screens as part of the Reel Grrls series @ Central Cinema
• Two more days of Motorhead frontman doc Lemmy @ Northwest Film Forum

Thursday, February 10th

• 35 countries are participating in CulturalFest, presenting arts, music, and dance @ UW's Meany Hall
• Learn how to raise baby chicks @ the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
• Greg Vandy, of KEXP's The Roadhouse and American Standard Time, hosts "You're Looking at Country" @ Northwest Film Forum
• Another second Thursday, another Blitz @ Capitol Hill Arts Walk

Friday, February 11th

• A walking architectural tour explores "Art Deco: Risky Business in the Roaring '20s" @ Seattle Architecture Foundation Gallery
• Choreographer Amy O'Neal presents The Lowdown, featuring performances by her company AmyO/tinyrage, the Can Can Castaways, and others @ the Moore
• At Battle of Bards V, three scenes vie for a season slot @ Ghostlight Theatricals 
• A Friday night singles mixer @ Fox Sports Grill
• Ten Tiny (valentine's) Dances assembles a who's who of Seattle dance @ Velocity Dance Center
• A tribute to Gram Parsons @ Columbia City Theater
• It's the first of three sold-out nights with punk smart godfathers Social Distortion @ Showbox SoDo

A splash of fruit juice, a handful of smelt, and lotsa love are surefire ingredients to an otter’s heart. See Woodland Park Zoo’s pair of river otters indulge in custom-made, heart-shaped ice pops at a sneak peek of Valentine’s Day on Thursday, Feb. 10, 11:00 a.m. Love will be in the air for the zoo’s other animal ambassadors as they celebrate Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped ice pops, herbal bouquets, heart-shaped steaks, and more on Saturday, Feb. 12, 10:00. Photo credit: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo

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Wednesday, February 2nd

• From the director of Cinema Paradiso, Baaria runs through Thursday @ SIFF Cinema
• Rain City Tales & Tunes presents the roots music of Coyote Grace and "Bitter Single Guy" Greg Brisendine at their radio-show taping @ Empty Sea Studios
• The Get Up Kids redeem emo @ Neumo's
• Read silently in the company of Christopher Frizzelle and others @ the Sorrento

Thursday, February 3rd

• Soul songstress Bettye Lavette funks it up through Saturday @ Jazz Alley
• On-air personality is explored in Babs the Dodo (runs through Feb. 14) @ Washington Ensemble Theatre
• Paula Vogel's Pulitzer-winning How I Learned to Drive opens @ Downstage Theatre
• Paul Budraitis's (IN)STABILITY opens @ On the Boards
• Siberian virtuoso violinist Vadim Repin plays Symphonie espagnole with Seattle Symphony (also Feb. 5 & 6) @ Benaroya Hall
• Conor Grennan talks about Nepal's trafficked children @ Town Hall
• The Dutch film The Indian touches on cross-cultural adoption @ the Northwest Film Forum

Friday, February 4th

• Our friends at Sound on the Sound presents Ivan & Alyosha's CD release show, along with Curtains For You and If Bears Were Bees @ Columbia City Theater
• Against Me! sells out (or do they?), with local tattoo aficionado Fences @ Neumo's
• The Satori Group presents nationally recognized comedy duo The Bengsons @ the Satori Loft
• Vincent Delaney's 3 Screams opens @ Theatre off Jackson
• A concert dedicated to the memory of local pianist Tricia Woods @ Good Shepherd Center
• Travis Hay's Guerilla Candy celebrates their official launch party (hosted by Brent Amaker) with Hounds of the Wild Hunt, Hot Bodies in Motion, Hobosexual, and My Goodness @ the High Dive
• With Schubert, Britten, and Shostakovich, there's some chamber music for everyone @ Benaroya Hall

Casper Babypants plays last week's Children's Film Festival opening party @ NWFF

Saturday, February 5th

• The Sci-fi on Blu-ray series brings Serenity and Starship Troopers @ SIFF Cinema
• Grand Hallway pop orchestras it up with Birds & Batteries @ Chop Suey
• Indie rockers Mal de Mer celebrate their debut 7" release @ the Sunset Tavern
• Buñuel and Dali's L'Age d'or will freak your shit out @ the Grand Illusion
• Nouveau cabaret exponents the Can Can Castaways present their newest, SHOW PONY @ the Can Can
• Kids! Caspar Babypants plays @ the Mount Baker Clubhouse
• Simple Measures performs the music of Significant Others (Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, and more) @ Kenyon Hall 
• Tamale-making classes @ El Centro de la Raza...

Wednesday, January 26th

• The Curious Mystery, X-Ray Press, & Wah Wah Exit Wound @ the Sunset Tavern
• The Stranger's Adrian Ryan would like you to watch Pee-Wee's Big Adventure with him @ Central Cinema

Thursday, January 27th

• Pepper Rabbit & Ra Ra Riot @ Neumo's
• Happy Birthday, Mozart! Byron Schenkman and friends (soprano Linda Tsatsanis, violinist Ingrid Matthews, cellist Nathan Whittaker, and pianist Rachel Matthews) celebrate chamber Mozart @ Town Hall
• Arias from Aida to Turandot: Soloists and the Seattle Symphony Chorale present the "Opera Highlights Festival, Part 1" @ Benaroya Hall

Friday, January 28th... (more)

Solar panels will be added to Woodland Park Zoo's historic carousel this month in partnership with Seattle City Light. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

Wednesday, January 19th

• Crocodiles aptly play @ the Croc
• The Academy of Burlesque introduces the curious to the "Art of the Tease," a 2-hour workshop @ HaLo (500 E. Pike)
• Children of the Rain: A Night of Seattle Stories is a six-monologuist benefit show (Matt Smith, David Schmader, Keira McDonald, Troy Mink, Tina Rowley, Suzanne Morrison) @ Theatre Off Jackson
• The film Craneway Event (shot in the craneway of an abandoned Ford car factory overlooking San Francisco Bay) is a glimpse of choreographer Merce Cunningham's art @ NWFF

Thursday, January 20th

• Check out Low Vs Diamond lead singer Lucas Field trying out new solo material in his weekly January and February Thursday residency @ the Laadla Bar
• The FRED Wildlife Refuge opens with "Stay-Cation," a collaboration by artists Jason Wood and Sean M. Johnson @ FRED Wildlife Refuge 
• Celtic singer Colleen Raney holds a CD release party for her second album, Lark @ the Fremont Abbey
• The Women's Funding Alliance presents the panel discussion "In Our Own Backyard: A Closer Look at the Sex Trafficking of Local Girls" @ Town Hall
• Jeff Huston's abandonedsystems @ Project Space Available
• INCONCEIVABLE! Wallace Shawn is interviewed by Sean Nelson @ the Sorrento
• Otto Premingerfest! continues with Where the Sidewalk Ends @ SAM
• Spidermann, a musical opening and closing before Julie Taymor's Broadway monstrosity even opens @ the Satori Group's Loft

Friday, January 21st

• "Architecture 101: Windows on Seattle Style" is a 2-hour walking tour that starts @ SAF Gallery
• Hide your kids, hide your wife. Crispin Hellion Glover is in town for four nights, screening films and giving his trademark crazy slideshow @ NWFF
• The Thermals whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh @ Neumo's
• David Mamet's November @ New City Theatre
• The Bridge Project @ Velocity Dance Center
• Sage and Sons of Mothers @ Chop Suey
• It's Steve Zakuani's Birthday Bash @ the Vera Project
• John Beebe, MD is a Jungian, so he's qualified to talk about trauma and creativity @ the Good Shepherd Center...

SunBreak Flickr pool superuser Slightlynorth was at Qwest Field last weekend. Jealous?

Wednesday, January 12th

• It's a veritable cavalcade of local pop bands with Let's Get Lost, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, Exohxo, and Ravenna Woods @ Neumo's
• Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of the Emperor of All Maladies (among the New York Times' "5 best nonfiction books of 2010"), talks cancer history @ Town Hall (Great Hall)
• CANCELED: Eric Alterman explains that liberals will continue to be disappointed in Obama until we have more civic engagement @ Town Hall (downstairs) 

Thursday, January 13th

•  Friends of Emmet rock to raise suicide prevention awareness @ Tacoma Community College Student Center, while Kris Orlowski, Passenger String Quartet, and Star Anna raise money for Climate Solutions @ Triple Door
• First of two nights of 1928 black-and-white F.W. Murnau classic Sunrise with live score by cellist Lori Goldston @ NWFF
• Otto Preminger's Daisy Kenyon gets a screening @ SAM
• It's Blitz @ Capitol Hill Arts Walk
• Polish director Radoslaw Rychcik's stunning plat-cum-punk-concert In the Solitude of the Cotton Fields @ On the Boards
• Artifakt Art brings street art and music to Cap Hill for first Thursday @
• "Jan Steen is a hoot" is the terrific title of a talk by Rebecca Albiani on the Dutch painter @ the Frye Art Museum
• Almost Female: A Jockette's Awesome Journey opens @ Upstage Theater

Meanwhile, Flickr superuser Chris Blakely brought in the New Year with Orkestar Zirkonium. Jealous?

Friday, January 14th

• SIFF is back from winter vacation with Soderbergh-directed Spalding Gray doc And Everything is Going Fine @ SIFF Cinema
• Sound on the Sound's 4th annual birthday bash with pseudonymous The Allman Butters, super cover group The Petty Party, Pickwick, and Kelli Schaefer @ the Blue Moon
• More local rock, just not in birthday format when the Quiet Ones & Skeletons with Flesh On Them play @ the Croc
• Weekend 2 of 14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival @ ACT Theatre
• Ghost Light Theatricals' Metamorphosis opens @ the Ballard Underground...

Wednesday, January 5

• Sample cartoon shorts from around the world with Nine Nation Animation (through Thursday) @ NWFF
• The sultry-sounding Honey Castro ("musical triple-threat starring Sari Breznau, Sara Edwards, and Erin Jorgensen") appear @ Vito's
• Buy a seat of your very own when you go see The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest @ "Yes, we're still here" Columbia City Cinema

Thursday, January 6

• Kids from the (real) School of Rock culminate their season of education by covering their Northwest favorites (with special guests) in support of their new album and to benefit Teen Feed @ Neumo's
• Vince Mira (along with the Heavenly Spies) channels Elvis for the first of two nights @ the Triple Door
• A screening of Laura kicks off SAM's Otto Preminger retrospective @ SAM's Plestcheeff Auditorium
• Violinist Gil Shaham appears with the Symphony (two from Bright Sheng, a Bartók, a Borodin) tonight and Saturday @ Benaroya Hall

"Elvis Priestly" is none other than SunBreak Flickr user Paul Swortz.

Friday, January 7

• Celebrate Elvis's birthday with a tribute @ the Tractor Tavern
• For their annual showcase, employees of Neumo's take the stage instead of guarding the doors, running the sound, and serving your drinks @ Neumo's
• A new 35 mm print of Godard's Every Man For Himself (through Wednesday) @ NWFF
• The Nordic Heritage Museum presents a weekend festival (through Sunday) of films from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. Entries include themed packages of shorts, narratives, and a free screening of a documentary about wildly successful, mysteriously dead author Stieg Larsson @ SIFF Cinema
• Our friends at Sound on the Sound present a showcase of Northwest singer-songwriters with Damien Jurado, Widower, and Tony Kevin Jr @ Columbia City Theater
• Lang Lang iz in ur piano playin' ur Beethoven @ Benaroya Hall...

A grizzly bear is treated to an evergreen tree decorated with real-fruit ornaments and pasta as icicles at Woodland Park Zoo's Winter Celebration. Photo credit: Ryan Hawk

Wednesday, December 29th

• Your last chance to see the animals get Winter Celebration treats of food @ Woodland Park Zoo
• The final few days of Winterfest and the ice rink fun @ Seattle Center
• Drink bubbly and eat cupcakes while raising money for the Capitol Hill Cupcake Royale manager who lost her home in a fire @ 12th and Olive Wine Company
• "Oh, friends, not these tones! Let us raise our voices in more pleasing and more joyful sounds!" The Seattle Symphony takes on Beethoven's Ninth (also Dec. 30, Jan. 2) @ Benaroya Hall
• "Jose & Kat Sing Nancy & Nat" @ Tula's

Thursday, December 30th

• Thanks to mean old Mr. Potter, it's the last night for It's a Wonderful Life @ the Grand Illusion
• Tiny Furniture closes its tiny mumblecore run @ Central Cinema
• Or make your own movie (as an extra, at least) @ 12th Ave Stumptown
• The first of two sold-out Neurosis shows, this one with support from Wolves in the Throne Room and Black Breath @ Neumo's
• Attention Vince Mira fans! He's @ the Can Can

"Space Needle New Year" by SunBreak Flickr contributor Paul Swortz.

Friday, December 31st

• Take in a Columbia City New Year's with a 21+ show, starring Dyme Def, Hounds of the Wild Hunt, Night Train, and more @ Columbia City Theater
• Or head out to see up-and-coming singer-songwriter Lissie, along with Tyrone Wells and Kristen Ward @ Snoqualmie Casino
• What about a New Year's Eve Bash with Three Dog Night @ Emerald Queen Casino
• And while Neurosis is all sold out @ Neumo's, don't forget about the Reverend Horton Heat @ El Corazon and X @ the Moore
• Fresh Espresso and Head Like A Kite ring in the new year with a "big ball drop" @ the Crocodile
• It's Seattle Symphony's New Year's Eve concert, countdown, and celebration @ Benaroya Hall
• Comeback's "xtraordinary nite of Glamour, Fierceness, Realness, and Shade!" (what?) emceed by Ade with music from Colby B, Porq, and Freddy King of Pants at XTRAVAGANZA @ Chop Suey
• The Dusty 45s will kick New Year's skinny ass @ the Triple Door...

For the holidays, animals at Woodland Park Zoo will be treated to evergreens decked in ornamental fruit or other winter-themed goodies. Photo credit: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo

Wednesday, December 22nd

• Wear your tuque to A Very Alan Thickemas @ Central Cinema
• Or spend a Charlie Brown Christmas with jazz pianist David Benoit @ Benaroya Hall
• With drinks, costumes, and DJs, it's the second annual Christmas party @ Moe Bar
• Catch a free (with RSVP) Unnatural Helpers/The Intelligence show @ the Crocodile
• Get spiritually transcendent at the David Lanz Winter Solstice Concert featuring The Liverpool Trio (also Thursday) @ Jazz Alley

Thursday, December 23rd

• Last night to see Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno and enjoy a Café Presse Pique-nique @ Northwest Film Forum
• But wait! It's also the last night to see Elf @ Central Cinema

Friday, December 24th

• On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, along with the 6 and 8:30 p.m. screenings, there's an additional 3:30 p.m. showing of It's a Wonderful Life (running through the 30th) @ the Grand Illusion
• David Wojnarowicz's A Fire in My Belly is the film "they" don't want you to see (through Dec. 31, except Xmas) @ Seattle Art Museum
• The Peter Daniel Quartet plays original jazz, no cover @ Lucid Lounge
• Last Burlesque Nutcracker @ the Triple Door...

"Tap handle for Le Dude," care of SunBreak Flickr pool superuser +Russ

Wednesday, December 15th

• Laff Hole makes the funny FOR THE CHILDREN @ Chop Suey

Thursday, December 16th

• Three Imaginary Girls throw their Imaginary Holiday Party @ Columbia City Theater
• Jesse Higman's action paintings get a show of their own @ Vermillion
• It's a Handel's Messiah-a-thon (through Dec. 19) with the Seattle Symphony @ Benaroya Hall
• Seattle filmmaker Jen Marlowe's Rebuilding Hope, about post-war Sudan, airs @ KCTS
• French cabaret band Rouge performs music "reminiscent of Picasso’s years in Paris" @ Seattle Art Museum
• Frye Magic Lantern curator Robert Horton (The Herald, KUOW) moderates a "Films of 2010" panel including Jim Emerson (scanners.com), Kathleen Murphy (MSN.com), and Andrew Wright (The Stranger) @ the Frye Art Museum

Friday, December 17th

• Labyrinth quote-along through Sunday @ SIFF Cinema
• Seriously, the best film never made is one of the best movies I saw in 2010: Henri-Georges Clouzet's Inferno (with Cafe Presse's Pique-Nique eats!) @ Northwest Film Forum
• Finally, that holiday circus show you've been waiting for @ Emerald City Trapeze
• Budrus, about how Palestinians and Israelis saved a village from being overtaken by the Separation Wall, screens (through Dec. 23) @ Varsity Theatre
• You saw him in Intiman's Scarlet Letter, now catch jazz cat Jose Gonzales singing holiday songs with Randy Halberstadt on piano and Kevin McCarthy on bass @ Egan's Ballard Jam House...

Sherlock, one of the three winners of the dog costume competition, at last week's 2200 Plaza's holiday celebration. Photo credit: Team Photogenic.

Wednesday, December 8th

• Deck the Hall, if you must, with 107.7's annual ball in the form of an arena show featuring an uncomfortably eclectic and head-scratching lineup of Broken Bells, the Black Keys, Jimmy Eat World, Cake, the Temper Trap, and Sleigh Bells @ WaMu
• Kiwi folk-pop songstress Brooke Fraser @ the Triple Door

Thursday, December 9th

• Fences, Neon Trees, and Middle Class Rut play the day-after party for the Deck the Hall Ball @ Showbox
• Thee Oh Sees play a free (with RSVP and willingness to arrive early) show @ Chop Suey
• Four Boxes is a $40,000 shoestring thriller that's been described as "Rear Window on the internet." Director is in attendance for the 7 p.m. screening @ Northwest Film Forum
• Get to Stornoway early, as the days of being able to see the Head and the Heart on small stages feel increasingly limited @ the Crocodile
• Oh lordy, attention all Ryan Murphy fans: Gleek sing-a-long @ Central Cinema
• The first-ever meeting of the Seattle Coffee Society offers a chance for baristas, roasters, green buyers, machine techs, cuppers, and other bean pros to get together, drink coffee, and blah blah blah the specialty coffee industry @ Seattle Coffee Works
• Art historian Rebecca Albiani explores crow and raven imagery in Pacific Northwest Indian art, German Romanticism, and Picasso @ the Frye Art Museum

Friday, December 10th

• Their annual holiday party means cheap cider, sangria, and mimosas aplenty @ Meza
• If you love Mad Rad but missed their first CD release party or just really need another rapid infusion of hipster hop, see them all-ages style, with Champagne Champagne, Helladope, and Infinite Loop @ Vera Project
• Low are playing a relatively tiny show of aching harmonies and minimalist tensions @ Tractor Tavern
• For their first time back in Seattle in ten years, Penn & Teller show you some tricks (all weekend) @ the Paramount
• Tame Impala bring sunny dream pop to your winter night @ Neumo's
• It's a Wonderful Life plays now through 12/30 @ the Grand Illusion
• Stéphane Denève conducts Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet at a special Seattle Symphony Rush Hour performance @ Benaroya Hall
• That Stephin Merritt documentary that played at SIFF is back (through Dec. 16), alternating with a new Raging Bull print @ Northwest Film Forum...

Wednesday, December 1st

• An evening of TreeStories, all in honor of Seattle trees @ Good Shepherd Center
• HAIR's faux hippies (clue: they show up on time) sing about peace and love @ the Paramount
• Two more days to see grown men cry about petits fours in bakery competition doc Kings of Pastry @ NW Film Forum
• FREE with RSVP (info at deliseattle dot com) and free drinks care of Batch 206: Nudie Jeans and Deli throw an opening party for holiday shop, with a DJ set by Golden Filter @ Moe Bar

Thursday, December 2nd

• Screening of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, followed by a Q&A with film critic Alonso Duralde, here to promote his hilariously informative holiday film guide, Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas @ Central Cinema
• Brave the winter for a first Thursday art walk @ Pioneer Square
• Pan Pacific Hotel Seattle and local area merchants take part in a South Lake Union neighborhood pet-friendly holiday celebration, hosted by John Curley, and benefiting the Seattle Humane Society @ 2200 Plaza
• Opening night of Dayna Hanson's newest performance (through 12/5), the dance-driven rock musical Gloria's Cause @ On the Boards
• Good for the Jews are a returning comedy favorite @ the Triple Door
• Ann-Charlotte Gavel Adams, from the UW's Department of Scandinavian Studies, talks about "August Strindberg and the Occult Societies of Paris in the 1890s" @ the Frye Art Museum

Friday, December 3rd

• Mad Rad is having an album release party at the venue that once banned them from Party Mountain @ Neumo's
• In Alamar (running through 12/9), along the Mexican Coast, a father imparts fishing wisdom on his young son and brings him into the trade @ SIFF Cinema
  
  • The Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition is a fundraiser for the Pike Market Senior Center/Downtown Food Bank and lots of well-sung holiday carols @ Westlake Center
  • Ithaca I'll Never See, a new devised theatre piece from Basement Theatre Co., opens @ Washington Ensemble Theatre
  • NextFest NW, a festival of Seattle's top contemporary dance artists, opens @ Velocity Dance Center
  • BASH Theatre's production of Nikolai Erdman's suppressed classic The Suicide opens @ Freehold Theatre
  • SAM curator Josh Yiu introduces you to the work of Wang Huaiqing @ SAAM...

BOOM goes the SNOWnamite.

Wednesday, November 24th

• It's set to be a very chic night, with the art rock of Blonde Redhead and Icelandic singer-songwriter Ólöf Arnalds @ the Showbox
• Truckasaurus celebrates their new album release with a party @ Chop Suey
• Celebrate Thanksgiving Eve with a tamale from new neighborhood restaurant Patty Pan @ the Bottleneck
• Last night to catch the terrific what's-wrong-with-the-bees documentary Colony @ Northwest Film Forum
• Michael McLean stars in The Forgotten Carols @ Benaroya Hall

Thursday, November 25th

• No cook handy? Try a Thanksgiving dinner @ one of five local eating spots

Born at Wazzu, Woodland Park Zoo's grizzlies, 16-year-old brothers Keema and Denali, are Cougars! From Nov. 25 through Dec. 5, wear any apparel from Washington State University or UW (or show a valid student ID) and receive 50% off admission at the zoo in celebration of the Apple Cup. Photo credit: Lisa Allen... (more)

Wednesday, November 17th

• Bad Religion is sold out @ Showbox SoDo
• Two more nights of Boxing Gym @ NWFF
• Coach Craig "Brother of Michelle Obama" Robinson brings his OSU Beavers hoops squad to play Seattle U @ KeyArena
• Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary Event, featuring Nick Jonas (!), for one night only @ Pacific Place
• Opening night of Dancing at Lughnasa @ Seattle Rep
• The hysterically over-the-top RoboGeisha slices, dices, and splatters @ Central Cinema

Thursday, November 18th

• The UW Huskies play a rare, traffic-snarling weeknight football game against UCLA @ Husky Stadium; regardless of the results, there's a free Head Like A Kite headlined afterparty @ Hard Rock Cafe (if you can get downtown via the buspocalypse)
• Ralph Lemon's How Can You Stay Inside All Day and Not Go Anywhere? arrives @ On the Boards
• It's not the beaus you know, it's the Beaujolais. Celebrate the release of this year's Nouveau @ Maximilien
• Che cosa? The New Italian Cinema Festival screens (through Saturday) @ SIFF Cinema

Friday, November 19th

• A little film about a wizard camping expedition opens everywhere, but why not check out the recent renovations @ Cinerama
• Gesamtkunstwerk! opens two shows at once: Shoreditch Madonna and The Late Henry Moss @ The Galley Theatre
• Chad Goller-Sojourner's Sitting in Circles With Rich White Girls opens @ Rainier Valley Cultural Center
• Built to Spill plays their first of two nights @ the Showbox
• Another big show, with Wild Orchid Children, See Me River, and Magic Mirrors @ Columbia City Theater
• Told you so! Margot & the Nuclear So and Sos @ the Crocodile
• Start your shopping early with a holiday craft sale featuring handmade gift items such as lampshades, knit hats, cards, laptop/ipad/iphone covers, and more @ Cafe Petti Rosso
• Albertan bluesman Taj Mahal begins an eight-night stint @ Jazz Alley...

Wednesday, November 10th

• José González's non-solo side project, Junip @ Neumo's
• Two more nights of noir Nightfall @ NWFF

Thursday, November 11th

• The Lonely Forest is sure to lead an all-ages sing-along @ Neumo's
• Celebrate St. Martin's Day with good food and wine @ Serafina
• Second Thursday always means it's Blitz @ Capitol Hill Arts Walk
• If you're a veteran, flash your military ID and you can get a free burger today @ Dick's Drive-In
• Under the Gun is tonight's film noir selection @ SAM

Friday, November 12th

• For a moment, it'll feel like summer, with the Spanish elecro-rock of Delorean @ Neumo's
• Femke Hiemstra and Ryan Heshka art opening @ Roq la Rue
• Ain't no party in a sad, sad, city, except when there's two nights of Ghostland Observatory @ Showbox SoDo
• Time for things to get seriously and painfully funny with Louis C.K. @ the Moore
• Manifold Motion's Under opens @ INScape Arts
• It's the first of three nights of A Perfect Circle, and they're all sold out @ the Showbox...

Wednesday, November 3rd

• Halloween is over, but for one night only, it's John Carpenter's The Thing @ the Metro
• The 31st annual Seattle International Comedy Competition (through Nov 28) kicks off with an interrobang @ the Vera Project
• Party time, excellent, Wayne's World @ Central Cinema
• Ben Gibbard's solo show is likely to feature all kinds of wonderful old Death Cab For Cutie songs pared down to their bare acoustics. Kick yourself for not getting Teen Feed-benefitting tickets early, because it's sold out @ the Croc
• How you like them now? The Heavy @ the Showbox
• Savion Glover and his dance band Bare Soundz go flamenco @ Benaroya Hall

Thursday, November 4th

• Seattle Polish Film Festival running through Sunday @ SIFF Cinema
• King of the blues B.B. King @ Snoqualmie Casino
• Aw, come on, it's the erstwhile Muslims the The Soft Pack with Kurt Vile @ Neumo's
• It's a Folklife night at the movies, with Coal Miner's Daughter and a dual partnership available at both institutions for $65 @ Grand Illusion
• André the pianist (Watts, of course) plays Beethoven's "Emperor" symphony (also Friday and Saturday) @ Benaroya Hall

The Soft Pack, looking hard.

Friday, November 5th

• Don't miss The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and their fuzzy pop longings (with Weekend) @ the Vera Project
• 333 minutes of a French miniseries is a commitment, but all three parts of Olivier Assayas' Carlos (as in "The Jackal") screen daily through Sunday @ NWFF
• GhostLight Theatricals presents A Midsummer Night's Dream @ the Ballard Underground Theatre
• FREE: Bringing together Icelandic (Mugison, Sin Fang Bous of Seabear, Lay Low, and Pétur Ben) and Seattle (John Roderick, Rachel Flotard, Rusty Willoughby, Jason Dodson, and Nathan Wade) artists, it's Reykjavik Calling @ the Croc
• Our friends at Sound on the Sound presents Seattle's own The Black Whales, Vancouver smart folkie Dan Mangan, and Portland's Jared Mees and the Grown Children @ Columbia City Theater...

Wednesday, October 27th

• It doesn't make total sense to us either, but if you want to be in a Ford Fiesta-related Hulu reality show, grab your road rally teammate and head out @ Pyramid Alehouse
• Tonight gives you the veritable indie rock sophie's choice between Deerhunter @ the Showbox, Women and Elf Power @ the Vera Project, or the surely completely wackadoodle stage show of Of Montreal and Janelle Monae @ the Paramount
• Edward Albee's "charming, vicious, and wretched" Three Tall Women opens @ the Seattle Rep
• The Beetlejuice/Poltergeist double-feature continues @ Central Cinema
• Girish Karnad's play Broken Images, starring Shabana Azmi, has a one-night-only performance @ Benaroya Hall
• Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Andrew Tsao, opens @ the UW's Hughes Penthouse Theater

Thursday, October 28th

• It's a night of music and raising money for non-profits at TeamUp4TeamUp with Grand Hallway, Lindsay Fuller, and the Royal Bear @ the Hard Rock
• It's the last night for sparse Swedish drama (is there any other kind?) The Anchorage @ NWFF
• The First Annual First Hill Pumpkin Carving Contest kicks off at 6 @ Vito's
• Queer comedy with Three Geeks One Mic @ Eclectic Theatre
• Seattle Police Chief John Diaz talks with Seattle Channel's urbane C.R. Douglas @ Seattle Central Public Library
• Halloween kicks off early, with a free show with Champagne Champagne + Ononos @ Neumo's

Friday, October 29th

• The documentary on singer Feist, Look at What the Light Did Now, makes its Seattle debut @ the Henry Art Gallery
• Dr. Dog and Here We Go Magic serve up plenty of delicious pop goodness @ Showbox SoDo
• How about a gloomy Danish...prince? It's opening night of Hamlet @ Seattle Shakespeare Co.
• Modern Dance behind the Pink Door, Alice Gosti's quarterly dance event @ the Pink Door
• Expect zombies to make appearances all over town @ ZomBCon
• There's a 21+ "Spooky Soirée" (costume party/fundraiser for street kids) with Jason & Molly Mesnick of "The Bachelor" and other celebrity guests  @ The Hawk's Nest Sports Bar and Grill
• Anthony Sonnenberg (a UW MFA student) hosts a Highly Opinionated Public Tour of the art @ SAM
• Kremerata Baltica, led by Gidon Kremer, give you a little Bartok, Schumann, Pärt, and Nyman @ Benaroya Hall

A red ruffed lemur explores a pumpkin at Woodland Park Zoo's Pumpkin Bash. The event, held Sat.-Sun., Oct. 30-31, treats the zoo's animal residents to pumpkins and zoo-goers to trick-or-treating, live entertainment and more. Photo credit: Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo

Saturday, October 30th

• It's just a jump to the left. Costumes and props encouraged at two showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show @ the Theatre at Meydenbauer Center
• Even with Elliott's Slurp Up and Oyster New Year, there's still room for more all-you-can-eat seafood ($35 tickets available only by calling 206-728-8595), with the 8th annual Oyster Frenzy @ Flying Fish
• Sweet and newly-schizophrenic Sufjan Stevens is sold out @ the Paramount, but there's still tix available to the fuzzed-out lo-fi of Best Coast @ Neumo's
• Chop Shop North, a new extension of Eva Stone's popular East Side Dance Fest, kicks off @ Edmonds Community College...

• Four days of the inaugural City Arts Fest kicks off with Belle and Sebastian @ Benaroya, Blue Scholars @ the Paramount, and Gogol Bordello (sold out) @ Showbox SoDo

Thursday, October 21st

• Get ready for some intense deadpan with Steven Wright @ the Moore
• Count on equal moments brilliance and trainwreck care of Cat Power @ 5th Ave Theatre
• Also at City Arts Fest, ascendant Ballardians, the Head and the Heart join the Weepies @ the Crocodile; Phosphorescent is @ Chop Suey
• Pat Graney's career-spanning retrospective Faith Triptych opens @ On the Boards
• James Zogby discusses polling in the Arab world @ UW Kane Hall
• Another night of sexo y violencia, Mexican wrestling and burlesque, care of Lucha VaVoom @ the Showbox
• Double Yoko avant-gardedly entertains the patrons along with Ashia Grzesik @ the Can Can
• Robin Held talks onstage with Implied Violence director Ryan Mitchell @ the Frye Art Museum
• The After Midnight film noir series brings you the aptly named Between Midnight and Dawn(1950) @ SAM

Friday, October 22nd

• A good old-fashioned solid four-band lineup with Blitzen Trapper, Fruit Bats, Seabear, and Wye Oak @ the Showbox
• Soliloquys, an evening of performances from major American texts, by performer/director duos featuring everyone from Donald Byrd to Gus van Sant, goes down @ Town Hall
• Cafe Nordo's new culinary adventure Sauced (actually, that's "sauced" as in "drunk") continues @ Theo Chocolate
• Nick out of work for a long lunch and have a fireside chat with photographer Chase Jarvis about his Seattle 100 exhibition and book @ Seattle 100 studio or online
• Dum Dum Girls warm up the stage for the Vaselines @ Neumo's
• Some sort of craziness as local performers and theatrical luminaries play musical roulette @ Century Ballroom
• The complete Metropolis, now with newly discovered footage and live score care of the Alloy Orchestra @ SIFF Cinema
• For "Caminos del Inka: A Musical Journey Through the Inca Trail," the Seattle Symphony is led by Peruvian-born conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and you get to see photos from the region @ Benaroya Hall...

Wednesday, October 13th

• South African sensations Die Antwoord do a free in-store in Ballard @ Sonic Boom
• Later, they open for cartoon-headed Deadmau5's technological dance orgy @ the Paramount
• Or you've got further choices for electro-dancing with Holy F @ Neumo's and Miike Snow @ Showbox SoDo
• "I haven't seen anything like this since the Anita Bryant concert." Last night to see Airplane! @ Central Cinema
• Jazz wunderkind Nikki Yanovsky sings @ the Triple Door

Dean Wong: “Tet Lunar New Year” (2008) Wing Luke Museum Collection

Thursday, October 14th

• Free (with RSVP) show with Mad Rad and State of the Artist @ Chop Suey
• You've got two flavors of mellow rock, with Phantogram @ Neumo's and One eskimO @ the Triple Door
• Or get retro, Matador-style with Superchunk and Teenage Fanclub @ the Showbox
• Learn how to rebuild Haiti with Brian Concannon, Jr., Director of the Institute of Justice and Democracy in Haiti @ UW Gates Hall
• Another second Thursday, another Blitz @ Capitol Hill Arts Walk
• The Vis-a-vis Society presents a live performance-installation, The Wall Project @ Capitol Hill Arts Walk
• It's an extra-special "TV Dinner" featuring the live episode of 30 Rock @ Central Cinema
• "Home Revealed, Artists of the Chinatown-International District" opens @ The Wing
• Wayne Horvitz/Sweeter Than the Day performs @ Tula's
• ...

Wednesday, October 6th

• NWFF's Local Sightings festival comes to an end, but not before its closing night film about Seattle spoken word poet/performance artist Jesse Bernstein, I Am Secretly an Important Man @ the Moore
• Seattle City of Music Awards honor Brandi Carlile, Clarence Acox and Scott Brown, and Gerard Schwarz @ Showbox
• Yasmeen Reza's God of Carnage, directed by Wilson Milam, opens @ Seattle Rep

Thursday, October 7th

• Frightened Rabbit of Scotland and Plants and Animals of Montreal play a sure-to-be spectacular post-rock show @ Showbox
• Get buzzed and hear Steven Johnson talk about the birthing ground of ideas @ the Sorrento
• Christian Rizzo's b.c, janvier 1545, fontainebleau opens @ On the Boards
• African dance troupe Compagnie Jant-Bi begins a 3-night gig at the UW World Series @ Kane Hall

Friday, October 8th

• Cutie pie Project Runway Season 5 winner Leanne Marshall gives fashion tips @ Southcenter
• Ten drummers from all over the world come together as part of Global Rhythms: DRUMMING! @ Town Hall
• Get ready for three comedy shows (1 Friday, 2 Saturday) of new material/hot pockets from Jim Gaffigan @ the Paramount
• The Eighth Annual Men in Dance Festival opens @ the Broadway Performance Hall
• Former Sleater-Kinney front-lady goes solo with The Corin Tucker Band @ Showbox
• Kenyan/Rwandan/Canadian rapper Shad brings his near-Polaris prize winning album TSOL @ Nectar
• Nothing says hip in 2010 like 3D, so Alice in Chains will film its native-city BLACKDIAMONDSKYE tour stop in the fancy format. Deftones and Mastodon round out a monster bill that will get loud @ KeyArena
• Tommy Smith's Sextet opens @ Washington Ensemble Theatre
• Macbeth, re-envisioned as a HARD BARD Halloween production by GreenStage, brings buckets of blood to the stage (through October 30) @ 2115 5th Avenue

Image © Connie Watts, "Vereinigung," 1997, Birch plywood and hardwood dowels (Photo: Spike Mafford)

Saturday, October 9th

• Celebrate the return of winter beer (it makes the return of winter easier) with performances by Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, the Moondoggies, and a new snowboarding movie at the 13th Annual SnoCap Party @ Pyramid Alehouse
• Run or walk to raise money for all-ages music, compete for fantastic prizes and hear some tunes along the way @ Run Vera Run
• Harborview Medical Center welcomes a new sculpture from Connie Watts with a dedication and blessing ceremony (Nuu-chah-nulth Cultural Performers from West Vancouver Island, T’ilibshudub of the Duwamish Tribe and the Coyote Soldier Boys Drum from Seattle) @ Harborview's Ninth & Jefferson Building
• Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs, John Roderick, Rusty Willoughby, Kristen Ward, Gary Westlake, and more come together and celebrate what would've been John Lennon's 70th (!) birthday @ the Triple Door
• It's a blast from the past Saturday with James saying something, anything @ Showbox and a reunited Guided By Voices drinking heavily @ Showbox SoDo
• Warm up down south with Lary Barilleau & The Latin Jazz Collective and a night of Latin jazz and salsa @ Columbia City Theater...

Wednesday, September 29th

• According to The Stranger, Police Beat was created by geniuses, so go see it @ Northwest Film Forum
• Two free (with RSVP) events, care of Filter: The Maldives and Fences @ Chop Suey and It's Kind of a Funny Story @ the Guild
• Have a few decent days and nights with sorely-missed harmony-loving Brits The Futureheads @ the Croc
• An awesome band with rafter-rattling ambitions attracts enough fans to fill an cavernous concrete arena. Arcade Fire bring the Suburbs and Calexico to the masses @ Key Arena

Thursday, September 30th

• Gerard Schwarz conducts the Seattle Symphony through Dvorak's Seventh Symphony (and Debussy's Pelleas and Melisande Suite, program repeats Saturday) @ Benaroya Hall
• Time for a Heathers Quote-Along @ Central Cinema
• Local composer and chanteuse Ivory Smith has a regular Thursday night gig @ Vito's
• Another night in John Roderick's residency @ the Triple Door
• As impressive as Dirty Projectors' classically-trained globally influenced experimentalism sounds on record, it's even more jaw-dropping when performed @ Showbox

Friday, October 1st

• The Local Sightings Film Fest, spotlighting the work of local filmmakers, begins with film Bummer Summer and big opening night party (and runs through October 6) @ Northwest Film Forum
• Artist Home, The Tacoma Warehouse, and Sound on the Sound team up with a free show featuring some of the best emerging artists in the Northwest: Lemolo, Bryan John Appleby, Youth Rescue Mission, Kimo Muraki, Luke Stevens, and Kirsten and Travis @ Columbia City Theater
• Check out the art or just mingle @ the Henry Open House
• Double Yoko, featuring the inimitable Paris Hurley and Beth Fleenor, plays @ Good Shepherd Center
• It's a Salon!, the newest installation of the Cherdonna and Lou Show, opens @ Century Ballroom

Barbie Dream Hearse, care of SunBreak Flickr-er +Russ

Saturday, October 2nd

• Inconceivable! Five more showings of Princess Bride to enjoy @ Central Cinema
• A day of trying out tons of California extra-virgin olive oil with the New American Olive Oil workshop (followed by a signing and dinner) @ TASTE
• Get your fill of blues-indie rock with The Black Keys and Nicole Atkins @ the Paramount
• London-based The Boxer Rebellion have gone from unsigned band to the Billboard Top 200, as well as making soundtrack appearances all over movies and television. They play with fellow Englishmen, the stargazey Amusement Parks on Fire @ the Croc
• Sensitive, bookish people wearing scarves will be flocking to the now-with-tea-cakes Northwest Tea Festival (tomorrow, too) @ Seattle Center...

Wednesday, September 22nd

• If you've got any friends into techno/electronic music, you aren't going to see them for the next five days, cuz through Sunday, they'll all be @ Decibel Festival
• Vampire Weekend make it up to Seattle for canceling on Redmond. With the Head & the Heart @ the Paramount
• John Vaillant reads from the Tiger, a nonfiction account of a tiger conservationist hunting a vengeful, man-killing, giant Russian tiger @ Elliott Bay
• Geri Allen is one of the modern jazz piano masters, and brings a crack band with her (Oliver Lake, sax; Don Byron, clarinet; Dwayne Dolphin, bass; the incomparable Jeff "Tain" Watts, drums). Might be one of the shows of the year @ Jazz Alley

Thursday, September 23rd

• Sustainable Industries Economic Forum (keynote: Cameron Sinclair) this morning @ Hyatt at Olive 8
• Institute for Systems Biology hosts a science-in-schools panel (Mary Alice Heusche, Superintendent, Renton Schools; Ed Lazowska, UW Computer Science & Engineering; George Nelson, WWU Professor and Director of Science, Mathematics & Technology Education; Scott Silver, Google Site Director) @ Town Hall
• Really, Vampire Weekend are super-sorry about Marymoor. So much so that they're back for another night @ the Paramount
• Fences CD release party @ the Crocodile
• Tower of Power's new-ish singer is the best they've had since the early days, and they still have one of the tightest horn sections around (through Saturday) @ Jazz Alley

Mary Anne Hobbs, at last year's Decibel, care of perpetual SunBreak Flickr pool contributor +Russ

Friday, September 24th

• The world-leaning folk of Local Natives teams up with shimmery indie pop of The Love Language @ Showbox
• Primus and Portugal. The Man [Ed.: For real? How did these bands end up on the same lineup?] @ WaMu Theater
• The last weekend of Project Orpheus @ ACT Theatre
• The Blakes and Mal de Mer rock your Friday night @ the Sunset Tavern
• The second installation of It doesn't matter if it has been said before some things bear repeating, Marissa Rae Niederhauser's ongoing installation project @ Project: Space Available
• Hardcoretet's UW-grown jazz musicians play jazz influenced by funk, soul and rock @ Cafe Racer...