The Stranger

Kyle Loven, a recent transplant from Minneapolis, has brought his gorgeous and brooding puppetry to Seattle—lucky us. Loven uses finger puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, video projections, and household objects to tell his story about a dying old man and his fraying memory. Lewis's aesthetic is equal parts Edward Gorey, Samuel Beckett, and Czech surrealism, and even when its narrative jumps the rails into total obscurity, his stage pictures (and surprising use of household materials) are a joy to watch. (Annex Theatre, 1100 E Pike St, 800-838-3006. 8 pm, $10.) by Brendan Kiley

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Along with the Gaslamp Killer (you should've just seen him last week), L.A. sample masher (and fellow Low End Theorist) Daedelus was one of the great highlights of last year's Decibel Festival. A one-man party machine in dandy attire, Daedelus frantically taps at the light-up button grid of his Monome, triggering and tweaking sounds with the most theatrical flicks of the wrist, incorporating snippets of everything from indie rock to dubstep trunk rattle into his delirious dance workouts. Nosaj Thing's beat science is more restrained and wispy, but just as resonant in the bass frequencies. (Neumos, 925 E Pike St, 709-9467. 9 pm, $12.50, 21+.) by Eric Grandy

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Here we have a very different kind of show—three fine local bands taking the stage together for a tripartite experiment in collaboration. Part one: a round-robin of short sets from each act. Part two: members of each band sit in on each others' songs—P Smoov (of Fresh Espresso) adds vocoder to Head Like a Kite's electro rock, Truckasauras provide analog instrumentation for Fresh Espresso's raps, etc. Part three: everyone onstage all at once for some epic jams. Part four, according to HLAK drummer and Stranger contributor Trent Moorman: "We fill Neumos with three feet of warm mud, blindfold everyone, and play 'Mr. Vodka Shot's Wild Hide-and-Go-Find-the-Bowling-Trophy.'" (Neumos, 925 E Pike St, 709-9467. 8 pm, $10, 21+.) by Eric Grandy

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For 12 effing years, The Stranger's annual Valentine's Bash has provided Seattleites with a one-of-a-kind bullshit-holiday catharsis, as audience members present host Dan Savage with tokens of failed relationships along with the stories behind them—after which the tokens are destroyed onstage before your very eyes. Previous years have seen sledgehammered mix tapes, blowtorched engagement rings, massa-cred jade plants, and imaginatively befouled love letters. You'll scream, cry, drink, and laugh your ass off. (Neumos, 925 E Pike St, thestranger.com/thebash. 8 pm, $6 adv/$8 DOS, 21+.) by David Schmader

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Despite its three high-school protagonists (one's out, one's closeted, and one's pregnant) and its after-school-special plot points (a teacher who molests his students, censorship at the school paper), Speech & Debate isn't an issues play. It's a sprawling, highly charged brawl of fast jokes and teenage pathos played out in empty classrooms, local coffee shops, and teenage bedrooms—and a dissertation on that awkward era when we began to swap out childhood enthusiasm for grown-up dignity. (Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St, 443-2222. 2 and 7:30 pm, $22–$37. Through Feb 21.) by Brendan Kiley

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Following a season of campy sing-alongs and crap-movie showcases, Central Cinema gets back in the capital-F Film business with Wim Wenders's 1987 classic Wings of Desire, in which eavesdropping angels oversee life in late-'80s Berlin and audiences are cast into a cinematic dreamscape without peer. It's a wonderful combination of film and venue, with Central Cinema's beer, wine, and midfilm intermission mingling perfectly with Wenders's adagio fantasia. (Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, 328-3230. 6:30 pm [all ages] and 9:30 pm [21+], $6.) by David Schmader

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