The Stranger

The official line on the exhibition Life After Death: New Leipzig Paintings from the Rubell Family Collection is that it presents "the 21st century's first bona-fide artistic phenomenon." Serious critics have not accepted this hyperbole as truth, but they often consider it, which is a testament to the massive appeal of the crew of figurative painters, including Neo Rauch and Tilo Baumgärtel, who were "protected... against the influence of Joseph Beuys" and postwar abstractionism by being shut behind the Berlin Wall, in Leipzig. Now, they're out, and this is their only stop on the West Coast. (Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave, 622-9250. 10 am—5 pm, free.) by Jen Graves

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The Shins at the Paramount will be a spectacular show, and here's why: The band has all the spine-tingling musical grandeur it takes to fill up the massive, elegant theater, and the humble good humor to make such a space still seem somehow intimate. It's a feat I've only ever really seen Belle & Sebastian pull off, but there's no doubt the Shins will do every bit as good a job. Their new single is phenomenal (really, Frizzelle), their back catalog is even better, and hearing these songs blown up to life-size will be a treat. (Paramount, 911 Pine St, 467-5510. 8pm, $25, all ages.) by Eric Grandy

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The two ladies of the Vis-à-Vis Society (formerly of lit-performance group the Typing Explosion) are your middle-school science-class fantasy. They dress in lab coats, give their audiences imaginative surveys, and present their data and analysis via song, dance, and overhead projector. (And they're lovely.) Other acts at this month's 12 Minutes Max (curated by Eric Fredericksen of Western Bridge and Betsey Brock of Henry Art Gallery) include music by the Watery Graves, BMX dancing by locust, and other lovely stuff. (On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888. 7 pm, $7.) by Brendan Kiley

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Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light is one of those art exhibitions you will want to spend hours in, and you will not be able to, because it will give you a headache. Both impulses are right on: The seminal artist Bruce Nauman's neon works from the 1960s to the 1980s, including the masterpiece One Hundred Live and Die and the parallelogram-shaped room with green light that makes you look like death, are gorgeous, rich, and agonizing. No pleasure without pain. (Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave NE and NE 41st St, 543-2280. 11 am—5 pm, $10 general, $6 seniors, students free.) by Jen Graves

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Northwest Film Forum's series on film music brings two fantastic movies scored by Ennio Morricone (due to be tapped for an honorary Oscar this year): Sergio Leone's archetypal spaghetti Western, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo's stunning account of the 1950s uprising against French colonial occupiers in Algeria—shown in 2003 at the Pentagon as an illustration of what could go wrong in Iraq. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 267-5380. 6:15 pm (The Good...), 9:30 pm (Battle of Algiers), $5—$8.50.) by Annie Wagner

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