THURSDAY JULY 4


Independence Day

(PATRIOTISM) Today is the day when citizens around this country will celebrate our nation with perhaps the single best symbolic statement possible to describe America: blowing shit up. Here in Seattle, rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air will commence at Gasworks Park and Elliott Bay, with smaller, more intimate scrimmages occurring in your neighbors' back yards. Wherever you are, dear readers, be safe, and don't lose any limbs. BRADLEY STEINBACHER


FRIDAY JULY 5


Joel R. L. Phelps

(FINAL SHOW AS A LOCAL) On my first night as a Seattle resident, the music editor I was brought here to replace took me to what was then the Weathered Wall (now I-Spy) to see Joel R. L. Phelps. I was awestruck by the singer's vocals--not quite a cry and not quite a warble, Phelps' voice is bone-chilling in its inherent ache. Its high-pitched sorrow is unmatched by any singer I've ever heard, and his backing band, the Downer Trio, provide a carefully threaded backdrop for Phelps' frail yet powerful songs. The singer has announced he's moving up north to Canada, so this is your last chance to catch his singular act before he turns expat. (I-Spy, 1921 Fifth Ave, 374-9492, doors at 9 pm, $7.) KATHLEEN WILSON


SATURDAY JULY 6


Round

(ART) Maybe it's the season, maybe it's the zeitgeist, maybe it's a new laissez-faire curatorial style, but here's something we're seeing quite a bit of lately: group shows curated around the response to a single word. This month, the word is "round" (last month at SOIL it was "seed," and the curatorial group Mimic-Octopus has grabbed "grade" and "shoe"), with work by Stefan Knorr, Jana Brevick, Mark Lawrence, Evan Blackwell, and Jack Daws gnawing on this concept in its abstract and actual forms. Brevick makes beautiful jewelry, some of it quite weird; Lawrence's light assemblages are the last word in hip, bright design; and we haven't seen Knorr's collage-paintings in too long. Here is one word from me: Go. (SOIL Artist Cooperative, 1317 E Pine St, 264-8061. Opening reception Sat July 6, 7-10 pm, runs through July 31.) EMILY HALL


SUNDAY JULY 7


Mourn John Entwistle

(SADNESS) If, like me, you are looking for a suitable way to grieve the untimely passing of the great John Entwistle of the Who, may I suggest that you dust off your out-of-print VHS copy of The Kids Are Alright and deeply breathe in the endless pleasures the film offers? We all know that it captures the Who at various stages of their very long prime (My Generation through Quadrophenia, I'd argue), but more than that, it gives us more Entwistle than any other Who document--he clearly steals the film during the gold-record skeet-shooting sequence. Whatever form the mourning takes, consider the specific brilliance Entwistle gave the band: not just his musical mastery on bass and gorgeous vocal harmonies, but his willingness to fade into the background as the titanic egos of Townshend, Daltrey, and Moon duked it out for center stage. Rest in peace. SEAN NELSON


MONDAY JULY 8


Tango

(Food & Wine) On Monday nights, bottles of wine at Tango are half-price--so you can get an amazing Spanish rioja for $11, and then not feel guilty for splurging on cheese and olives or other tapas. I love Tango's roasted Piquillo peppers stuffed with tuna and capers, and I can't wait to try the duck confit salad ($11) or beef tenderloin with saffron fingerling potatoes ($13). But my favorite are still the amazing Spanish anchovies ($9)--gorgeous, oily, briny white anchovies, long and thick, draped over red onion, tomatoes, and arugula--embarrassingly simple, but full of strong, distinct flavors. (1100 Pike St, 583-0382, open daily.) MIN LIAO


TUESDAY JULY 9


2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

(BOYS OF SUMMER) Need a reason to watch? How about the fact that Ichiro, our very own right-fielding stud, received 1,240,076 all-star votes this year, officially making him the most popular player in the game for the second year in a row. (Fox, a.k.a. Q-13, 7 pm.) BRADLEY STEINBACHER


WEDNESDAY JULY 10


Vice Magazine

(A GODSEND) What other magazine would put a big bronze ass on its cover, run a "Do's and Don'ts" section ripping the shit out of a fat little kid, and have articles like "Weed Is Back: Blow Blew It"? The answer is Vice, the best underground pop culture/humor magazine around since Might folded. Music geeks, check out its hilarious "10 'Seminal' Bands That You Say You Love but Never Actually Listen To." Brilliant. (Pick up the free New York/Canadian magazine at Rudy's or get a goddamn subscription at www.viceland.com.) JENNIFER MAERZ