The Stranger

“ANDREW W.K. = PARTY” reads the man’s Twitter bio. Boldface those caps, turn the amps to 11, pop some amphetamines, and irrigate your colon, and you’ll know what Andrew W.K. feels like all the time. A supreme motivator, this classically trained pianist has harnessed his positivity into anthems of pop-metal bluster that make Slade seem sedate. The recent Gundam Rock found Andrew bombastically covering Japanese anime music, but tonight’s show will feature the man’s explosively wonderful 2002 debut, I Get Wet, played in its entirety. (Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave, www.showboxonline.com, 7 pm, $25 adv/$28 DOS, all ages) by Dave Segal

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There’s a gravestone in Tennessee’s Memorial Park Cemetery, next to the stone of Isaac “Black Moses” Hayes, with two flying-V guitars, that reads “Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., Memphis Punk Rocker.” Whether or not you followed the music of Jimmy Lindsey, aka Jay Reatard, who started recording at only 15 years old and died at 29, this documentary is worth seeing—especially by those who might think being a musician ISN’T infinitely complicated, and full of crushingly high and low times. The filmmakers, with footage shot nine months before Jimmy/Jay’s passing, paint a richer picture of this controversial and prolific musician than anyone, even his friends, has ever seen. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, www.grandillusioncinema.org, 7 and 9 pm, $8) by Kelly O

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Southern Kitchen is a little red building with a screen door on a busy intersection in Tacoma, next to a Jiffy Lube. Out in the parking lot, the smell of chicken frying is so good, you could probably gain weight just standing there. Inside, it’s country-diner-roadhouse and (as the menu accurately says) “Southern cooking at its down-home best.” Drinks come in mason jars, which does not feel like an affectation here, and the chicken and the brisket are great. Also the fried okra. And the black-eyed peas. And pretty much everything else. Regarding portions: Pace yourself. (Southern Kitchen, 1716 Sixth Ave, Tacoma, 253-627-4282, 8 am–8 pm) by Bethany Jean Clement

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Directed by the Spaniard Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque) and set mostly in the late 1940s, the Oscar-nominated animated feature Chico & Rita is a simple story about what makes great music and art: sex. Much like magnetism and electricity are two sides of the same force, the energy that generates erotic desire (fucking, sucking, kissing, stroking, fingering) is one side of the same energy that generates musical beauty (singing, blowing, playing, jamming, drumming). The animation is visually stunning, and you cannot get enough of the hot, lush, sensuous Cuban jazz. (See Movie Times) by Charles Mudede

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Back in 2003, a murderer’s row of Seattle talent—Rebecca Brown, Riz Rollins, Lesley Hazleton, Susie Lee, and Charles Mudede among them—contributed to a book called Experimental Theology that examined religion in nontraditional ways. Now, after these contributors have gone on to make even more brilliant work—most of them, in fact, have won Stranger Genius Awards—it’s time for a reunion. If you like your religious talk dumb (anyone who believes in God is an asshole! Atheists have no morals!), this isn’t for you. Expect a nuanced, brainy conversation about belief and the unknowable from some of The Stranger’s favorite folks. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, www.elliottbaybook.com, 6 pm, free) by Paul Constant

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Seattle collective Knightriders celebrates five years of micro-raving by booking Detroit techno standout Kenny Larkin. A force on the global underground club circuit for more than 20 years, Larkin crests the second wave of Motor City techno savants who pioneered a soulful brand of electronic music that transformed Kraftwerk and P-Funk’s most combustible elements into irrepressibly sleek productions. Larkin’s tracks increase the eccentricity of his forbears’ while keeping their essential functionality intact. Expect legendary things. (Lo-Fi Performance Gallery, 429 Eastlake Ave E, www.thelofi.net, 9 pm, $10 adv/$16 DOS, 21+) by Dave Segal

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