Get Down Syndrome

(LIVE MUSIC) If you dig the crude style of Deeetroit rock, you'll find plenty to pant about with Seattle's Get Down Syndrome. The three-piece swaggers through skin-tight garage blues, with this chick who's got real punk class on drums--Rachael Rudnick. She plays her kit standing, chomping a wad of gum and giving off the 'tude like, "Yeah, why don't you try and pick me up, fuckhead." My kinda lady. (Graceland, 109 Eastlake Ave E. $12.) JENNIFER MAERZ

Mariners vs. Yankees

(BASEBALL) Most baseball fans don't hate the Yankees because of their excessive, World-Series-buying payroll. Hell, even the Mariners are guilty of that (minus the World Series, of course). No, most people hate the Yankees because of their arrogant, exceptionally dunderheaded fans, fans who are loud, rude, and unable to win gracefully. Well, the post-9/11 lovefest is over. This year, as the Yankees roll into town for a three-game series, Seattle fans need to shed their ridiculously polite demeanors and shout the fuckers down. Send the message that come October, they either win gracefully (if they win at all) or they'll be limping back to their cars. (Safeco Field, April 26-28, with all three games broadcast on KIRO 7 and the Fox Sports Network.) BRADLEY STEINBACHER

If I Die in a Combat Zone

(THEATER) The cast of Book-It Theater's production runs through Tim O'Brien's Vietnam memoir with impressive energy and an excellent sense of teamwork--the kind of teamwork I imagine an army squad should have. The play's musings on morality don't quite translate to our current situation--the play is definitely about Vietnam--but these days it's rewarding to consider war's ideology of death. (Book-It at Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 325-6500. $19 senior/student/group discounts. Thurs-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun, at 2 pm. Through Sun April 28.) BRIAN GOEDDE

The Big Heat

(FILM) The Grand Illusion is presenting a mini-homage to Fritz Lang, the late, great filmmaker responsible for Metropolis, M, and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. The Big Heat is from his '50s period, when he was under contract to MGM. Thankfully, the wily constraints of The Big Heat's noir plot teased fantastic work out of Lang, whose moody, languorous camera follows vengeance-driven detective Dave Bannion as he tries to unravel the increasingly complex and deadly events surrounding a seemingly straightforward investigation. (The Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, 523-3935. Shows at 7 and 9 pm. Through May 1. $7.) NATE LIPPENS

Prince

(MUSIC) In an attempt to make his performances even "sexier" than his masturbatory song lyrics, Prince is playing a surprise, stripped-down show here in Seattle. The new skintight aesthetic means this show will go on sans foxy backup dancers, pyrotechnics, and other Vegas-style accessories, and will pull from the deeper recesses of the greatest-hits grab bag. Vet saxophonist Maceo Parker joins in as Prince's guest. (Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 8 pm. Call 467-5510 for ticket prices.) JENNIFER MAERZ

Neighbours

(NIGHTCLUBBING) After years of forcing patrons to skulk in via a seedy back-alley entrance, the never-say-die gay disco Neighbours is finally opening its front doors. Sure, Stonewall happened in 1969, and the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in 1973, but this is tangible progress. No more drunken staggering down the Alley of Loneliness. No more sneaking around. Hold your head high and stroll through the front door. And why not try a Monday night, when DJ Chance delivers new wave, gothic, synthpop, and industrial dance tunes? Dress up like an extra from Liquid Sky, pause out on the Broadway sidewalk, and reflect on your new freedom. (1509 Broadway, 324-5358. Doors open at 9 pm. $1.) NATE LIPPENS

Michael Collins

(READING) Tonight Irish-born, Seattle-based novelist Michael Collins reads from The Keepers of Truth, which I rank as one of the finest novels of the new millennium, and his new work-in-progress, The Resurrectionists. Keepers of the Truth was named Book of the Year by both the London Times and The Guardian. It was also short-listed for the prestigious Booker Prize. No diggity. (UW Kane Hall Room 110, University of Washington Campus, 543-9865. 7 pm. Free.) CHARLES MUDEDE

Geoff Garza

(VISUAL ART) I first encountered the work of Seattle artist Geoff Garza last year, when his beautiful show Wabi-Sabi graced Capitol Hill's Ballard Fetherston Gallery. Always a sucker for elegant abstraction, I fell in love with Garza's rugged visual poetry. With his new show, The Big Toy, Garza delivers another knockout set, packed with masculine emotion and telling imperfection. (Ballard Fetherston Gallery, 818 E Pike St. Tues-Sat, 11 am-5 pm. Through May 15.) DAVID SCHMADER