Neighborhood Meeting
(CITY LIVING) Capitol Hill folks are meeting at Seattle Central Community College tonight to hear what the city has in mind for Broadway, the neighborhood's hurting main drag. The panel, hosted by the community council and chamber of commerce, will (hopefully) address a slew of questions: What are cops doing about public safety on the strip? How will the city boost ailing Broadway businesses? Are there plans to let developers raise building heights on Broadway? And, perhaps most important, does the city even care about the neighborhood? (Seattle Central Community College, 1701 Broadway, Room 1110, 7 pm, free.) AMY JENNIGES
Cobra High
(CD) As part of our continuing lovefest with keyboard-driven Cobra High, The Stranger would like to congratulate the local four-piece on their new CD, Sunset in the Eye of the Hurricane, which comes out today on Cold Crush Records. Anchored by the mind-blowing, prog-informed instrumental track "Awesomeology," the album is a testament to Cobra High's intelligent, heavily layered, and constantly evolving take on rock-and-roll innovation. (Available at local record stores, and at www.coldcrushrecords.com.) KATHLEEN WILSON
FRIDAY MAY 9
Sex
(ART, THEN PARTY) It's spring; time to eroticize! The visual art component (called Wrapture) of the new Consolidated Works series looks sideways at sex, with work that is not directly sexy, but demands a kind of sexy interaction, mixing overt and covert, explicit and implied. With an excellent lineup of artists, including phenomenal New Yorkers Beverly Semmes and David Reed. For those of you who like things a little more direct, the gala opening will feature Burning Hearts Burlesque, steamy salsa music from Chuchata, and sexy poetry and film. (Artists' reception 6-8 pm, $5; gala opening 8 pm-2 am, $7. Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave N, 381-3218.) EMILY HALL
Yes Yes Y'all
(HIPHOP HISTORY) Doing what a museum devoted to pop music is supposed to be doing, the EMP exhibits objects, images, and sounds that constitute the birth of the now billion-dollar industry that is called hiphop. The opening party for this exhibit will feature rappers and DJs from back in the day (Busy Bee, Grandmaster Caz, and Tony Tone), and Charlie Ahearn, the director of the second-greatest hiphop film, Wild Style; Ahearn will sign copies of the book Yes Yes Y'all. (EMP, 7 pm to midnight, free for members, $7 for nonmembers. 770-2702.) CHARLES MUDEDE
Bowie: Inside/Outside
(DANCE) With Bowie: Inside/Outside, On the Boards has taken a potentially goofy idea and done it up right. Employing a near-exhaustive A-list of Seattle choreographers--specifically Wade Madsen, Amii LeGendre, Crispin Spaeth, KT Niehoff, Pablo Cornejo, Paige Barnes, Peggy Piacenza, and Pat Graney--On the Boards directed its dancemakers to stage pieces set to the music of David Bowie, perhaps the only modern pop songwriter with an oeuvre expansive enough to make a night like this make sense. (On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888. $12-$25. Thurs-Sat at 8 pm. Through May 11.) DAVID SCHMADER
'Sloth'
(ART) For those who haven't seen Tara Thomas' Sloth series, the woman is a pop culture genius. Using Sloth from The Goonies as her muse, Thomas superimposes the googly-eyed freak's face over portraits of famous people, from Mötley Crüe to David Bowie and Andrew W. K. Although the subjects of some paintings are easier to discern than others, the variety of settings and styles--along with the sheer quantity of Sloth inspiration Thomas has--is both entertaining and impressive. (Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873, free, 8-10 pm.) JENNIFER MAERZ
TopOff 2
(PLANNED PANIC) In SoDo, sometime today, the city debuts the long-awaited performance of their "Top Officials" exercise. The show--TopOff 2--features around-town scenes like a dirty bomb explosion and emergency response in SoDo, bubble-suited cops taking environmental samples on the Magnolia, Ballard, and West Seattle bridges, and victim shelters in White Center. Those scenes will be accentuated by emergency sirens and lights, to really bring things to life. The (fake) terrorist attack will play nonstop for 36 hours. (8 am May 12 to 8 am May 14, empty field near 3100 Airport Way South [i.e., Tully's Headquarters and Roasting Plant] and other locations.) AMY JENNIGES
'Project X: Before the Comet Comes'
(THEATER) Nikki Appino's Project X: Before the Comet Comes delves with typically brainy wit into the agony and ecstasy of millennial anxiety, teaming writer/director Appino with widely revered composer/pianist Robin Holcomb, who'll perform live nightly, as well as a choice cast of locals, including Nick Garrison, Todd Jefferson Moore, and Marianne Owen. (Empty Space Theatre, 3509 Fremont Ave N, 547-7500. $22-$40. Sun-Thurs at 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat at 8 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. Through May 31.) DAVID SCHMADER
Retail Therapy
(STORE) Sure, the name is a little silly, but Retail Therapy, the new store in the old Rent Tech space on Pike, has colorful and cute girly clothes that always catch my eye when I walk by. They celebrated their grand opening last week (though they've been open for a few weeks now), and they're worth a look if you're searching for that perfect and pretty summer dress. (905 E Pike St, 324-4092, open 10 am-6 pm Mon-Sat, noon-6 pm Sun.) MEGAN SELING
