More Balloon Bullshit
[Editor’s Note: This letter was submitted shortly after the I, Anonymous letter from a mom who was mad that someone stole all her balloons… related? You decide!] I was having a bad day, so I decided to take a quick stroll through the park, and what do I find? Someone had apparently had a party or picnic and decided to decorate…
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Ticket Alert: Kacey Musgraves, Foster The People, and More Seattle Events Going On Sale This Week
Wake up babe, a new batch of tickets just dropped. Country queen Kacey Musgraves heads to Seattle from the Middle of Nowhere this October. Indie pop band Foster The People brings their Good Mourning Sunshine Tour and opener Goth Babe to WaMu Theater in September. Plus, prolific singer-songwriter and musician LP celebrates their fourth album…
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Welcome to The Stranger’s May Issue!
It’s that time of year again: The daffodils have bloomed, the trees have leaves again, and the Seattle International Film Festival is back on our doorstep. The festival is a little smaller than it has been in the past, which is no surprise. SIFF has been through a hell of a year, from layoffs to…
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Freakout Festival Isn’t Happening This Year
In another blow to Seattle’s nightlife ecosystem, Freakout Festival’s organizers have decided not to hold its marquee event this fall. The nonprofit organization relies on grants for half of its funding, and current circumstances have proven to be too uncertain to make Freakout’s ambitious booking philosophy—typically 75-150 musical acts playing in several venues throughout the…
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New Music You Shouldn’t Miss
TelehealthGreen World Image(Sub Pop) With anxiety levels spiking to all-time highs because of you-know-who and -what in the USA, Seattle quintet Telehealth sound especially built for this awful moment. Their lyrics suggest struggles with working in the tech biz, and the music serves as an escape valve for the stresses they’ve endured in the air-…
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Slog AM: Iran Still Mulling on Peace Deal, Straight White Man Sues for Discrimination, and the Wall Street Journal Has Thoughts on the Millionaires Tax
Good Morning! The summery weather is back after a brief overcast break yesterday. Expect highs in the mid-60s with spotty cloud cover, and you can expect that over and over again for the next week or so. Soak up that vitamin D! Just remember to wear sunscreen. (More on that below.) Let’s do the news. …
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What’s the State of SIFF in 2026?
It’s been a tough year for SIFF. The nonprofit, which runs the annual Seattle International Film Festival each May, as well as three year-round cinemas, has been hit hard by the last 12 months. The multiple rounds of layoffs, the sudden exit of their former executive director, and the fall of the beloved SIFF Egyptian,…
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Pop Loser #28: Someone Crashed Into Golden Oldies… Again
Welcome back to Pop Loser! This week, someone drove their car into Golden Oldies, Neumos Workers United went public, and the Met Gala happened (if you even care). Pop divas Beyoncé and Charli XCX might not be going rock after all. Plus, I attended the Seattle Opera’s Carmen, and I can’t stop thinking about it. …
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SIFF Cinema Workers Union Still Want a Fair Contract
The 52nd Seattle International Film Festival kicks off Thursday with the opening night screening of communist director Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters, a pro-union, anti-capitalist satire about a group of working-class hustlers struggling to survive in the modern American hellscape. Awkwardly, at the same time, the SIFF Cinema Workers Union (SCWU) say that SIFF needs…
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Slog AM: The War in Iran Might Be Ending, ChatGPT Gets Violent, and PWHL Expands to Detroit
Wait! Before you read any further, may I ask a question? What have you done for yourself this morning? I ask because a 2024 study shows that starting your morning with doomscrolling can lead to “greater levels of existential anxiety.” So if that’s all you’ve done this morning, may I suggest you drink some water…
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May Things to Do: Music
Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That. Harmonia Orchestra and Chorus: The Planets May 8 I am a long-time lover of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, a symphonic journey through space written between 1914 and 1918. My personal favorite is the euphorically triumphant “Jupiter,…
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May Things to Do: Visual Art
Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That. Seattle Art Book Fair May 9–10 Lovers of art books (and art that comes in the form of books): Arrive rested and ready to immerse in work by more than 85 artists spread across all three…
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