The Stranger

The annual meat-free, family-friendly weekend gorge-fest returns to Seattle Center, with the usual assortment of nutrition lectures, veggie-cooking demonstrations, and, of course, tons and tons of free food. "This annual celebration of vegetarian and vegan superiority is hippie heaven," wrote Lindy West—an unrepentant carnivore—of the 2007 fest. "Five dollars gets you unlimited access to hundreds and thousands of samples. It's totally wonderful." (Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, March 29–30, 10 am–6 pm, $5 adults, kids 12 and under free.) by David Schmader

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The Cribs are well-connected, sassy, and smart Brit pop boys who hit the States without the usual Brit press flurry. Ra Ra Riot are a jangly American indie-pop septet, whose elated and melancholic songs reference the Police (vocals) and Dexy's Midnight Runners (fiddle) without sounding retro. But the most exciting act here may be Jeffrey Lewis—he of the antifolk Crass-covers album and the comic-strip "music videos." Don't be late. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000. 8 pm, $12, 21+.) by Eric Grandy

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Le Loup are an apocalyptic future-folk ensemble from the District of Columbia whose debut album—on Sub Pop spin-off Hardly Art—bears the unwieldy but evocative title The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly. Their songs reference Dante's infernal cantos, noisy natural phenomena, and the rapture. The music sounds like what a band might play on your back porch while the sky swirled into a black vortex and your neighbors ascended to heaven—spare, tense, and atmospherically turbulent. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000. 8 pm, $8, 21+.) by Eric Grandy

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Named after how many lucky gold teeth its co-owner has, Ocho is a small neighborhood bar where ace chefs (one from Canlis, the other from Tilth) make excellent Spanish snacks: delicious deviled eggs with chorizo and pickled asparagus, garlicky prawns, and a dessert toast with chocolate and truffle oil that, in the words of food critic Bethany Jean Clement, "goes from sweet to salty to heat in a magical manner... you can feel the happiness happening." (Ocho, 2325 NW Market St, 784-0699. 4 pm–2 am.) by Brendan Kiley

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For nine years, James Harris has run one of the best galleries in town in a dinky little space (albeit with great Old World ceiling tiles). Tonight is the grand opening of his new space that's double the size, just a block away. For the inaugural show: the tried and true (video master Gary Hill, who lives in Seattle but is an international star) and the young and fresh (Seattle-based Margot Quan Knight). This is, undoubtedly, an event. (James Harris Gallery, 312 Second Ave S, 903-6220. 6–8 pm, free.) by Jen Graves

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Artist Josiah McElheny has gone and made a big deal of himself in the world, but his roots are in Seattle—and in conceptual art and studio glass. The Last Scattering Surface, his postmodernist Big Bang installation, will spend this spring at the Henry Art Gallery. To kick off its tenure, the notoriously shy but spectacularly eloquent artist (who's also a writer) will give a talk. Afterward, he'll get on a plane and fly away again. (Kane Hall, Room 120, University of Washington, 543-2280. 7:30 pm, $12 students/seniors, $15 general.) by Jen Graves

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