The Stranger

I’m no percussionologist, but if Dave King of the Bad Plus (and many other bands) isn’t the greatest drummer alive, I wanna know who is. King is an esoteric jazz-head who appreciates pop, understands that improv is work (not just noodling), and knows that any great enterprise depends on people caring more about it than themselves. (Plus, he’s a charmingly happy guy.) King for Two Days hovers around a two-day concert at the Walker Art Center. The music is genius, the personalities are winning, and one attempt to play Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” in 4/4 time is a truly comical/magical moment. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, www.grandillusioncinema.org, 9 pm, $8) by Brendan Kiley

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Seattle Asian Art Museum’s Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats is a cross between the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition that swept the Metropolitan Museum last year and the Indian painting show that mesmerized thousands at SAAM in 2009. Ikats are vividly dyed and woven fabrics from Central Asia, and the 19th-century robes in this exhibition are a riot of mixed influences from India, China, Russia, the Arabic world, and Europe. (Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park, www.seattleartmuseum.org, 10 am–5 pm, $7 suggested) by Jen Graves

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Powerhouse chanteuse Storm Large has got a singing voice so huge and dexterous and lovable, she could be devoid of all other positive traits and still be a star. As it is, she’s also hilarious (see her eternal classic “[My Vagina Is] Eight Miles Wide),” a successful writer (her hit solo show Crazy Enough is now a memoir published by Simon & Schuster), and totally hot shit to look at. Tonight, Ms. Large storms the Neptune for a night of songs and words and real-time diva worship. (Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St, www.stgpresents.org, 8 pm, $20 adv/$22 DOS, all ages) by David Schmader

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After a 13-year hiatus, filmmaker Whit Stillman (Metropolitan) returns with a deeply quirky comedy about a group of do-gooder girls striving to enrich the experience of everyone at an East Coast college. (Think Rushmore, in college, starring girls and hypereloquent dialogue that will make your head swim.) Leading the charge: a terrific Greta Gerwig, the “Meryl Streep of Mumblecore,” who here delivers a brilliantly stylized performance, in a brilliantly stylized movie. Never have I seen the kaleidoscopic insanity of college-age kids captured so completely. (See Movie Times) by David Schmader

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This basement arcade is an unbelievable gem. The beer is cheap and so are the games (pinball, a weird/awesome soccer thing, and, most importantly, Ms. Pac-Man). There’s a microwave-popcorn vending machine with a built-in microwave, and one time the proprietor Silly-Stringed our table for no reason. Once you find Add-a-Ball (behind and under a head shop in Fremont), you’ll want to (a) spend every night there forever and (b) never tell anyone about it so they don’t make it busy or cool or just, y’know—not yours. But hey, there’s room for everybody here and a taco truck in the parking lot. (Add-a-Ball, 315 N 36th St #2B, 696-1613, 3 pm–midnight, cash only, 21+) by Anna Minard

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Michael Glawogger is the Austrian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer celebrated for his documentaries about contemporary labor, three of which are showcased this month at Northwest Film Forum. Tonight brings the third installment of Glawogger’s Globalization Trilogy—Whores’ Glory, a cinematic triptych on prostitution involving three countries, three languages, and three religions. Go learn a bunch of new stuff about the world’s oldest profession. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, www.nwfilmforum.org, 7 and 9:15 pm, $10) by David Schmader

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