They Might Be Giants
(MUSIC) Nonbelievers be damned. The best proof of the pop-art genius of TMBG is the band's recent stand of shows in its hometown of NYC, in which the two Johns (Flansburgh and Linnell), tipping the hat to the purist contingent of their fan base, opened for themselves as a They Might Be Giants cover band that refused to play anything post-Lincoln. Something for everyone, indeed. I don't think they're doing that here, but just the fact that they ever did it makes me want to go to this show. Forever. SEAN NELSON
Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave, $20, call Ticketmaster at 628-0888 for tickets.
The Rendezvous Reading Series
(READING) As every drinker in this city knows, the Rendezvous is where the real hard drinkers hang out. Now it will be no more, as it shuts down at the end of this month. In honor of this place, the Rendezvous Reading Series is hosting an interactive reading/party night. Audience members will join readers Matt Briggs, Julie van Arcken, Emily Parker, and Darren Higgins in writing letters of drunken appreciation to Belltown's darkest watering hole. Paula Gilovich--one of the organizers for Rendezvous Reading Series--says that "typewriters and writing materials will be provided, and your letter might be included in the book Letters to the Rendezvous, which the Rendezvous Reading Series will publish later this year." So, come down and write a letter to the Rendezvous, to drinking, and to God, who was cruel enough to create the universe but kind enough to provide a lasting supply of booze. CHARLES MUDEDE
The Rendezvous, 2320 Second Ave, 441-5823, 8 pm, $5 suggested donation.
From Buddha to Broadway
(DANCE) Choreographer Alianna Jaqua crafted one of the most unsettling, funny, and affecting pieces of dance I've ever seen. I Can't See Why You Can't Be Here featured two dancers sitting in beach chairs, mumbling, and sort of pulling and pushing at each other for about 10 minutes. I cannot tell you what was so uncanny about it, but both times I saw it I was sad, dislocated, and just a little bit thrilled. From Buddha to Broadway is Jaqua's first full-length work. I don't know what the title means; I'm a little leery that she's integrating modern, jazz, ballet, and disco dance. The presence of video is often not a good sign--but when the press release says the piece "is loosely inspired by the difficult relationship [Jaqua] has with her very own very influential and insane mother," I'm completely intrigued and hope for something just as emotionally volatile as what I've seen before. BRET FETZER
ArtsyFartsyTheatre at the Chamber Theater, 915 E Pine St, 4th Flr, 329-4218, Thurs-Sat at 8 pm, $10 general, $7 student/seniors, reservations recommended. Through Sept 22.
Hanabuki
(ART) Jeffry Mitchell is like Santa Claus--big, jolly, with an undeniable presence. He deposits his art like presents throughout the city: ceramic animals at the Ballard power station, paper letters spelling "I Love U" at Zeitgeist, and now in a specially commissioned installation at the Henry. For Hanabuki--a word Mitchell created to mean "snowing flowers"--he has divided the East Gallery into an intense and erotic version of heaven and earth in video, faux fur, and ikebana. Mitchell's relationship to kitsch is layered and meaningful, creating not simply an ironic layout of cultural artifacts but a realm of imagination, humor, sex, and (somehow, God help me) spirituality. EMILY HALL
Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave NE and 41st St, 543-2281, opening reception and artist/curator conversation Thurs Sept 13, 7 pm. Through Jan 6, 2002.
Urban Music Bash/The Silent Lambs Project
(MUSIC) Excellent local hiphop infiltrates the EMP tonight. In the Sky Church there will be a group concert called the "Urban Music Bash"--which means no country or seafaring songs, but plenty of punk rock? Well, genre labels and their attendant problems aside, the Bash features DJs Topspin, Rock-A-Fella, and Uncle Guy, who will rattle the roof for your dancing delight. If you're more in the hiphop mood to hear poetic, jagged, brooding rapping over elegant and sometimes sorrowful beats, however, go to the Liquid Lounge, where the Silent Lambs Project perform with DJ DV-ONE. MCs Jace and Blak (pictured above) don't so much rap as present a "crooked mind in the form of rhyme," as Blak phrases it on their upcoming single "Mic Choke." The SL Project aren't the type to throw a big party, as with their neighbors in the Sky Church, but they provoke a vision of rap that is at once intriguing and gratifying. BRIAN GOEDDE
Urban Music Bash: Sky Church at the EMP, Seattle Center, 770-2702, 9 pm, $8/$10. The Silent Lambs Project w/DV-ONE: Fri-Sat Sept 14-15, Liquid Lounge at the EMP, 9 pm, free.
The Notorious C.H.O.
(COMEDY) With her breakout one-woman show, I'm the One That I Want, comedian Margaret Cho exacted the perfect artistic revenge. By fearlessly and hilariously dissecting her failure to become "America's favorite Asian" via the dismal sitcom All-American Girl (as well as the attendant aftermath of booze, bulimia, and blowjobs), Cho transformed herself from a would-be has-been to a worship-worthy superstar. Tonight the triumphant comedy warrior returns with a brand new show. Chronicling Cho's love for the bad-ass women of rap, The Notorious C.H.O. promises to be a raw, raunchy, feminist-inspired laff riot. DAVID SCHMADER
Paramount Theatre, Ninth Ave and Pine St, 323-2992, 4 and 7 pm, $27.50-$37.50.
Grant Cogswell's Primary Party
(MUSIC, POLITICS, TV) Before I say anything: Get out and vote in the primaries; don't be stupid. Now: If there's anything great about election politics, it's not casting your ballot like a responsible citizen, but nervously drinking with eyes glued to the TV afterwards. Grant Cogswell--the original monorail initiative co-author, The Stranger's pick for Seattle City Council Pos. No. 8, and defender of all things righteous--won't be drinking. But his eyes will be glued to the TV screen as it tallies the votes to determine which candidates run against each other in November's election. While this is happening, the fabulous No. 13 Baby will play its favorite Pixies songs, as we all drink and sing Grant's way to victory. BRIAN GOEDDE
Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873, starting at 8 pm, $5.
The River
(FILM) Every once in a while it's refreshing to see a movie where you don't know what the hell is going on the whole time. Who are these characters? What are they doing? Is the dad going to fuck the kid? These questions and others are raised by Tsai Ming-Liang's The River, a film of understated visual beauty (maybe it's really about all those muted colors rising up from shallow pools of light) and even more understated narrative drive. It's easy enough to recognize Taipei's polluted Tanshui River as a symbol and cause of everything going wrong in the characters' lives. More challenging is actually deciphering the tiny actions that fill up the long takes as they accrete meaning both tender and harsh. SEAN NELSON
Grand Illusion Cinema, 1403 NE 50th St, 329-2629, Fri Sept 14 through Thurs Sept 20.
Salman Rushdie
(READING) Tonight, the most famous novelist in the last 20 years of the 20th century, Salman Rushdie, reads from his new book, Fury. This is his second American novel, his first being the rock fantasy The Ground Beneath her Feet. His best novel is certainly Satanic Verses; the designation could be achieved solely on the opening of the long novel, which stands as the most famous plane crash in all of literature. However, what makes Salman Rushdie worthwhile is not his fame, his good looks, or his sophistication, but the ground-zero fact that he is a responsive reader. He really works hard to keep the crowd entertained. Also, in the name of literature, go to this reading to express solidarity with the victims of terrorism. CHARLES MUDEDE
Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 7:30, $5, call Elliott Bay Book Company at 624-6600 for details.
Acid Mothers Temple
(MUSIC) Japan's Acid Mothers Temple is fronted by the freakishly talented guitarist/composer Makoto Kawabata, whose 20-plus-year career includes a gazillion solo records, contributions to the city-leveling distortion of Mainliner, and collaborations with members of the Boredoms and Ruins. The work of this perpetually mutating 30-member collective often sounds like a gorgeous shoving match between Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister and My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields--but one that's being refereed by the more calming influences of traditional troubadour folk music. Critics have a tendency to take the implications of their moniker too far, boxing them into vague and off-putting categories like "psychedelia" and "trip rock," but any of their devoted fans (including Sonic Youth, Julian Cope, and local openers Kinski) will tell you that Acid Mothers are simply a highly experimental, feedback-savvy rock group made up of technically stunning musicians. U.S. appearances are rare, so make time for this show. HANNAH LEVIN
Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611, $8.
Crash Fans
(FILM) Local filmmaker Paul Killebrew has made a documentary about the culture of the demolition derby, which is sort of like the world of tractor pulls without all the refinement. Though he easily could've used the opportunity to mock the poor and stupid, or to cash in on the baffling white-trash chic, Killebrew takes the high road, on a quest to enter the lives of participants and spectators alike. Crash Fans is presented as part of Warren Etheridge's Distinguishing Features, a monthly screening series of NW productions. SEAN NELSON
Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St, 654-3100, 7:30 pm, $7.
Contact
(MUSICAL) Last year, Contact won a Tony, a Drama Desk award, an Outer Critics Circle award, and a Drama League award, and turned choreographer Susan Stroman into the hottest name around. This "dance play" (co-written with playwright John Weidman) tells three stories, about a Restoration-era menage á trois, a 1950s Mafioso and his fantasizing wife, and--in the modern day--a suicidal advertising executive whose life is saved by a girl in a yellow dress. This triptych has garnered the gushiest quotes this side of The Producers (which, incidentally, Stroman also choreographed). Columnist Liz Smith called it "one of the rare absolutely perfect things I have ever seen in a theater"; The New Yorker, perhaps a bit more judicious, said, "Stroman's dances, which indulge their sexy savoir-faire perhaps too much, play like the best MTV video you've ever seen." This touring show doesn't have Contact's equally praised original cast, but it should be a deliriously kinetic evening nonetheless. BRET FETZER
Paramount Theatre, Ninth Ave and Pine St, 292-ARTS, Tues-Sat at 8 pm, Sat-Sun at 2, Sun at 7:30 pm, $20-$56.