Sub Pop's Silver Jubilee

Does Sub Pop know how to throw a party? Yes! The answer is yes! To celebrate 25 years of being one of the coolest (and also weirdest) record labels in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, the Sub Pop gang has put together the Silver Jubilee, a free party that will take over the streets of downtown Georgetown (on and around Airport Way). Musical guests include Built to Spill, THEESatisfaction with Shabazz Palaces, Pissed Jeans, and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, featuring Tad Doyle—they'll be playing TAD songs! There will be food, art, beer, and a record fair—and a zero percent chance of a Kurt Cobain hologram. Goddamn, it's gonna be so great. (July 13, Georgetown, silverjubilee.subpop .com, free, all ages) MEGAN SELING

Shows at Maritime Pacific Brewery

For everyone who grumbles about Ballard's condo overlords, there's still some Old Ballard left to love, I swear! Just stop by the decidedly old-school Maritime Pacific Brewery every other Thursday night all summer long, where you'll find an early evening no-cover all-ages show happening right in the brewery and adjoining parking lot. There's $3 beer and table service outside (get sliders!), and a portion of the proceeds goes to the Ballard Food Bank. The mood is always raucous and cheerful, with dancing and good times for all; check the website or Facebook for upcoming bands. Three cheers for beer-soaked revelry! (Every other Thurs, Maritime Pacific Brewery, 1111 NW Ballard Way, maritimebrewery.com, 6:30 pm, free, all ages) ANNA MINARD

Melvins' 30th Anniversary Tour

So after three decades of astonishing aural heaviness, Melvins are taking a big-ass victory lap, and rightly so. Few have done the metallic dirge and the brutally torqued hard rock with more panache than Melvins (ask Kurt Cobain... oh, wait...). Whether they're busting out meaty-riffed originals or executing irreverently reverent covers, Melvins put a uniquely skewed stamp on rock's wrinkled visage—and then spit on it. (For this tour, Butthole Surfers bassist Jeff Pinkus will sub for Jared Warren, who's on paternity leave.) (Aug 16 [all ages] and Aug 17 [21+], Neumos, 925 E Pike St, neumos.com, 8 pm, $22 adv) DAVE SEGAL

Pickathon

Let's get out of town for Pickathon! Not only is the lineup varied—Feist, Parquet Courts, Shabazz Palaces, Ty Segall, Kurt Vile & the Violators, and Sharon Van Etten are just a few of the 45 artists performing over the three days—but if you miss one of your favorites or just want to see them again, you're in luck! Every band plays at least twice: once on a main stage, again in some funkier location (I hear tell of a "Galaxy Barn"). And they're serious about sustainability—Pickathon has done away with plastic and single-use dishes and utensils, plus their solar array generates enough electricity over the year to offset 100 percent of the energy used by craft and food vendors. Groovy, man. (Aug 2–4, Pendarvis Farm, 16581 SE Hagen Rd, Happy Valley, Oregon, pickathon.com, $130–$260, all ages) EMILY NOKES

My Bloody Valentine

It's been four years since My Bloody Valentine dropped their nuclear bombast on a Seattle crowd, so most of us have probably recovered from the damage that spectacular show wreaked. Now armed with a new grip of songs from the burningly anticipated and sporadically brilliant m b v, these shoegaze-rock deities should bless us with more than just a greatest-hits revue—though as greatest-hits revues go, My Bloody Valentine's ranks high on the seismic-thrills scale. Prepare yourself for the loudest and melodically sweetest rock show you may ever experience. (Aug 21, WaMu Theater, 1000 Occidental Ave S, wamu theater.com, 8 pm, $39.50, all ages)DAVE SEGAL

Substrata 1.3

For a music festival, Substrata's niche is narrow, but profoundly deep and focused. What organizer/electronic musician Rafael Anton Irisarri (aka the Sight Below) offers is a rarefied slice of the world's most acute experimental, ambient, and drone musicians performing live in one of the city's most acoustically righteous spaces. You'll hear gripping tone poems that range from the infinitesimal to the monumental. The excellent international lineup for this edition includes Poland's Jacaszek, Belgium's Christina Vantzou, Iceland's Yagya, Chicago's Ken Camden, and Portland's Grouper. (July 18–21, Chapel Performance Space, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, substratafestival.com, $35 a day/$65 full pass, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Canada's iconic post-rock explorers excel in the live domain, and even in a cavernous cement box like Showbox Sodo, their grandiloquent melodies and beatific-to-turbulent song dynamics should overwhelm the senses. Godspeed You! Black Emperor will be supporting their most recent album, 2012's 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!, which many fans have been calling their best yet. Most rock groups are mired in a steady decline if they last as long as Godspeed have (19 years), but they have, uh, ascended to a new peak. This powerful, beautiful music has taken on an evergreen luster. (Sept 5, Showbox Sodo, 1700 First Ave S, showboxpresents.com, 9 pm, $25 adv/$28 DOS, all ages) DAVE SEGAL