Yes, Seattle has been home to many an inspiring musician who went on to change the course of music as we know it—Jimi Hendrix, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Quincy Jones. But today’s music scene is just as exciting and vibrant. Catch a punk show at a roller rink! Lose your mind (and your hearing) at an experimental noise show in an art gallery! Discover the future of comedy in a pizza restaurant! You’ll only be bored in Seattle if you’re boring.

Rollerskate Around a Rock Show at Southgate Roller Rink

White Center

Southgate Roller Rink is an underrated Seattle treasure in White Center—a roller rink with Baby Ketten Karaoke for most of the week at the bar, and shows in the middle of the roller rink several times a month, with a focus on the rock, punk, and noise end of the genre spectrum. I haven’t tried doing anything fancier other than staying upright while the bands play, but I think bonus points should go to whoever manages to do the first Wall of Death on wheels. KATHLEEN TARRANT

Rock the Ballard Block at Sunset Tavern and Tractor Tavern

Ballard

Dropping in on a quality live music set is easy in central Ballard, with the Sunset and Tractor down the street from each other. The Sunset is a former Chinese restaurant that’s now a fun, divey rock ’n’ roll bar with live music across all popular genres, a photo booth, and friendly bartenders. The Tractor holds court just two blocks away, with gritty, saloon-esque decor, tallboys aplenty, and one of the best selections of live local and national rock, pop, alt-folk, and blues in town. STRANGER STAFF

Attend a Live On-Air Performance at KEXP

Seattle Center

One of the shiniest gems Seattle has to offer is the radio station 90.3 KEXP. Sure, you can stream KEXP all over the world, but there is something truly special about tuning in to the terrestrial signal. And if you’re not in Seattle, you can’t go see one of KEXP’s in-studio performances. KEXP hosts the most incredible artists about once a week and these four- or five-song sets are FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. This feels like a best-kept secret that no one is actually keeping secret and yet not enough people are capitalizing upon. Yes, the room caps out at about 70 people, so you would have to get there early for tickets; yes, I get that most of these performances are midday and some people hAvE jObS tHeY hAvE tO wOrK; but no, I don’t find either of those excuses valid. We’re talking FREE concerts with your favorite artists, which are usually over in a half hour. These are the best quickies in town. Find the schedule and more details at kexp.org. RACHEL STEVENS

Sweat It Out at Dance Church

Multiple locations

Dance Church immediately inspires curiosity with its culty name, which was coined when Seattle dancers Kate Wallich and Lavinia Vago started a small Sunday morning dance party in 2010. Today, that humble gathering has blossomed into a full-fledged movement with a presence in six cities and an online streaming platform. A professional dancer leads the group in loose choreography to an upbeat pop soundtrack, and participants are encouraged to move their bodies joyfully. There’s just something ineffably cathartic about being crammed in a room with 200 sweaty strangers, grooving your heart out to “Call Your Girlfriend”—devotees report being moved to tears, especially at the end when the collective clasps hands together in a circle. Frankly, I can’t imagine a better endorphin-fueled start to a weekend morning. JULIANNE BELL

Expect the Unexpected at Vermillion

Capitol Hill

Vermillion, an art gallery and bar on Capitol Hill, isn’t reinventing art galleries or bars, but it does always have cool shit that draws an unpretentious crowd. It feels good to be in a community space that’s integrated with local artists, which is why I like it. For instance, I’ve seen a sculpture made of cigarettes and a show of photography, painting, sketches, and leatherwork from Seattle’s leather community. At Vermillion, there’s always a band, storyteller, or some cool artist doing some cool thing that makes this city seem more vibrant. VIVIAN McCALL

Line Dance Your Pants Off at Little Red Hen

Green Lake

Sometimes, even we coastal elites long for the bucolic pleasures of a wide-brimmed hat, the twang of a banjo, and the simplicity of a dance with easy, clear rules. Luckily, Green Lake is home to one of the few country bars in the city: the nearly 100-year-old Little Red Hen. Every Monday, the Hen hosts line dancing lessons. The bar, muralled in pastoral Old West scenes, fills up with cowboy-hatted and booted clientele. After the lesson comes the line dance party. On Thursdays, the Hen hosts other dance lessons like the Cowboy Cha-Cha or the Sweetheart Schottische. If dancing doesn’t beckon, go to the Hen on Wednesdays for karaoke hosted by the unforgettable DJ Forrest Gump. Every other night is jam-packed with live country music from bluegrass jams to country trios. So, crack a cold one and giddy up on down. (Did that sound legit? Did I sound like a real cowboy?) NATHALIE GRAHAM

Let Loose at Babe Night

Multiple locations

It’s safe to say that no Seattle DJ burns more calories per gig than Waxwitch (aka Isabela Garcia). At any of her dozen-plus events per month, Garcia is in near-perpetual motion behind the decks (and sometimes in front of them), dancing up a tropical storm. The fun she’s clearly having while spinning records such as Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” or Björk’s “Big Time Sensuality” acts as a contagion on crowds around the city, particularly at Babe Night, the event into which she’s currently putting the most time and energy—with big dividends. The Babe Night concept seems so obvious and ripe for success, but nobody’s really capitalized on it like Garcia has. She and a rotating cast of the area’s savviest women selectors (including La Mala Noche, Kween Kaysh, and Gold Chisme) play female-centric tracks geared to get hands in the air and butts in gear. DAVE SEGAL

Support All-Ages Music at the Vera Project and Black Lodge

Lower Queen Anne and South Lake Union

Anyone under the age of 40 probably doesn’t realize this, but Seattle wasn’t always the music mecca it’s known as today. In fact, all ages concerts were illegal for a spell in the ’80s and ’90s due in part to our surprisingly puritanical liquor laws and overreaching politicians buying into hysterical misinformation fueled by ill-informed parents. Your homework: Listen to Let the Kids Dance!, a podcast presented by KUOW. Only after hearing the full story of the Teen Dance Ordinance, the All Ages Dance Ordinance, and how hard our city’s youth fought for their right to go to shows will you truly appreciate the Vera Project and the Black Lodge, two non-profit, mostly volunteer-run all-ages venues dedicated to keeping music accessible to everyone. The Vera Project also hosts classes during its off-hours, in which kids can learn everything from how to screen print their own flyers and merch to concert sound and lighting design. (Confidential to the real ones: Fuck Mark Sidran.) MEGAN SELING

Celebrate Your Old-School Faves at the Royal Room

Columbia City

A wood-bedecked space with great acoustics in Columbia City, the Royal Room made its name on jazz bookings (it is partially the brainchild of musician and composer Wayne Horvitz), but has since expanded into folk, world music, and multimedia events. Music booker Tish Gallow also produces fun-as-hell tribute nights where some of Seattle’s best celebrate the work of prominent Black musicians, including A Tribe Called Quest, Prince, Queen Latifah, and Whitney Houston. Do NOT miss their Juneteenth party, themed Divas of Soul and featuring music from all the greats. STRANGER STAFF

Join the Joketellers Union

BEACON HILL

Joketellers Union at the Clock-Out Lounge is one of Seattle’s most popular comedy nights for a reason. Every other week, hosts Emmett Montgomery and Brett Hamil bring together the region’s best performers, usually comedians, but also sometimes magicians, musicians, and PowerPoint devotees attempting to explain the emotional impact the Twilight franchise had on them as a child. (That last one is Bernice Larson, look her up, she’s hilarious.) From there, the night can go anywhere. It can be a comedy show, it can be a party, hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if it wound up inadvertently becoming a cult. Montgomery is charming AF. The best part: Joketellers Union isn’t just a name—you get a membership card when you join! It’s a pretty good litmus test when meeting people in Seattle. Ask to see their Joketellers Union card, and if they don’t have one, keep on walking. MEGAN SELING

Then Laugh Your Face Off at a Comedy Open Mic

Various locations

Okay, so we’re no LA, New York, or Chicago, but Seattle’s comedy scene is bustling. Especially our comedy open mic scene. Maybe you want to try your hand at standup, or you want to see people be brave (and funny!) as they ascend to the stage. Well, good news. There’s a lot to choose from and there’s something for everybody! If you’re into comedy focused on women, trans, queer, and POC people, check out the Comedy Nest every Tuesday at the Rendezvous at 8 p.m. Or, you could go watch Naked Brunch on Saturdays at the Rendezvous, a completely improvised, unprepared standup open mic. Perhaps you’re partial to Capitol Hill. You can catch open mic performances at Emerald City Comedy Club on Tuesday at 7 p.m. For the nerdier among us, I’d recommend stopping in at Roosevelt’s Distant Worlds Coffeehouse for geeky open mics every third Saturday. There are so many more, too! Just name a day of the week. Wednesday? You want Wednesdays? How about the Waterwheel Open Mic in Ballard? Good? Great. NATHALIE GRAHAM

Test Your Wits at Head in the Clouds Trivia

Multiple locations

Allow me to brag for a second: I was a member of my school’s Knowledge Bowl team and made it through multiple rounds of Jeopardy! callbacks in 2020, although I sadly never got that fateful call from Culver City. (I’m not giving up yet, though!) Are you a fellow freak for seemingly useless knowledge? Can you pick all of the Real Housewives out of a lineup? Do you have an uninterrupted New York Times crossword streak? If so, come to Head in the Clouds to flaunt your impressive command of minutiae. University of Washington grads and Jeopardy! champions Sally Neumann and Leah Caglio host this trivia night at bars throughout Seattle from Sunday through Thursday. You won’t find your typical musty, male-dominated questions here—the duo has made it their mission to incorporate topics that have traditionally gotten less respect, like pop culture, and to approach history from an anti-colonial perspective. JULIANNE BELL