“Lords of Portland” Portugal. The Man will head up north to support their latest album Chris Black Changed My Life. Metal’s favorite soprano Chelsea Wolfe has also announced a local date next spring. SNL mainstay Colin Jost will also stop by the Seattle area to give us his weekend update. Read on for details on those and other newly announced events, plus some news you can use.

ON SALE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

MUSIC

Briston Maroney: Ultrapure Tour
Neptune Theatre (Mar 18, 2024)

Built to Spill
The Showbox (Nov 24-25)

Chelsea Wolfe
Neptune Theatre (Mar 25, 2024)

“Seattle is the place where things started for me,” announced Turkish singer/percussionist Gaye Su Akyol after she and her fantastic band finished the second song of an exhilarating two-hour-plus set at Nectar Lounge last night. Born in 1985, she cited being inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana when she was 8 years old. Even if this admission smacked a bit of pandering to the locals, it was charming. Adding to the Seattle connection, the magnetic diva released a 7” single with Sub Pop this year whose A-side is a cover of Shocking Blue's “Love Buzz,” which Nirvana also cut for their 1988 debut single. In addition, the Glitterbeat label, run by former Seattle musician Chris Eckman, has released Akyol's last three albums. GSA and crew also recorded an in-studio session for KEXP with Wo'Pop host Darek Mazzone; it airs September 26.

At times, it felt as if I, a non-Turk, were eavesdropping on a private ceremony for Turkish nationals, and this sense of being an outsider just added another frisson to GSA's live Seattle debut. One felt privileged to witness such a communal sense of joy in that Middle Eastern nation's musical history and present, as this is a culture that doesn't get a ton of representation in Seattle. A similar scenario played out when the Turkish-Dutch group Altın Gün performed at the Crocodile in 2019. The room seemed to consist of 80% Turks, and they enthusiastically sang along with every song. No matter your ethnicity, though, you couldn't help getting swept away by the celebratory vibe.

You know the saying, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time?” 

Jaahnavi Kandula should be alive. Charleena Lyles should be alive. John T. Williams should be alive. The Seattle Police Department has been telling us who they are for a very long time. Why won’t we believe them?

I cried the first time I saw Kataka Corn perform. They were starring in the 5th Avenue Theatre’s 2022 production of The Wiz and days ago I had just moved back home to the Pacific Northwest after being away for almost a decade. During the show’s final song “Home,” Corn’s voice was as powerful as Aretha or Diana or Whitney when they sang, “A world full of love / Like yours, like mine / Like hoooooome.” I fucking lost it.

I blamed my emotional purge on the timing, but in the summer I saw Corn again in ArtsWest’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. They played Yitzhak alongside Nicholas Japaul Bernard’s Hedwig, and the two were explosive. When Corn sang the finale, “Midnight Radio,” it happened again! Tears! And I wasn’t the only one. The audience was full of people wiping their eyes.

Political consultants often tell Seattle City Council candidates that their paths to victory lie in sending voters pieces of mail with their faces and names on them. Some advise campaigns to spend at least 60% of their budgets on direct voter contact through mail and other forms of advertising.

Researchers show that mailers can increase a candidate’s name identification, but they show mixed results on whether the flyers persuade or turn out voters. But one thing is clear: the mailers are where campaign consultants make their money. 

(BOOKS) Four years ago, a crew of scientists set out for Thwaites Glacier, an unusually broad Antarctic glacier that had never been visited by humans before. Their goal? To learn as much as possible about the ice formation, which was purported to be deteriorating and potentially contributing to catastrophic global sea-level rise. Elizabeth Rush, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist...

Heart eyes x 100: I love the weather. I love the weather. I LOVE THE WEATHER. Today you can expect sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 60s. It's the perfect time to wear impractical fall clothing. Sweater vests with nothing under them à la Harry Styles and plaid pencil skirts sans the thermal tights. Go out into the beautiful weather and live your Gilmore Girls fantasy. 

Maybe the City should not pay this guy: The Community Police Commission called on the Chief of Police to put Daniel Auderer on unpaid leave—he's the cop who made fun of the woman another cop killed. While the Community Police Commission is an official part of the City’s accountability system for cops, they are pretty much toothless when it comes to actually holding anyone to account. The police department didn’t even flinch at the commission's demand in a letter they sent last week. SPD's spokesperson declined to comment and pointed the Seattle Times back to the department's earlier hand-waving statement.

I get it. Thanks to smartphones and Instagram, EvErYoNe Is A pHoToGrApHeR. But you and I know that’s not true. While I truly do appreciate that smartphones have made digital photography far more accessible to so many more people, I also worry that the art of photography will get lost in the deluge of images intended to hold attention for as long as it takes to scroll up.

Want to put some quality into your screen time? Here are five Seattle-based photographers to follow so your social media algorithm doesn’t just devolve into an endless stream of pictures of half-eaten burritos and your friends’ cats.

WEDNESDAY 9/20  

Dee's Nuts

(COMEDY) If you were one of the hundreds of comedy fans who packed into the Egyptian for The Stranger's inaugural Undisputable Geniuses of Comedy showcase last month, then you already know Dewa Dorje is hilarious. For further evidence, head to Here-After Wednesday night for Dee's Nuts, Dorje's monthly talk show-style comedy night where she gathers up some of her favorite fellow funny people to discuss everything from current events to beef jerky. This month's guests are Ev Jensen and Monica Nevi and Dorje says it's the last installment until 2024. Go! (Here-After, 2505 First Ave, 7 pm, $15, 21+) MEGAN SELING

When the bargaining unit for City workers told Mayor Bruce Harrell of its plans to flex its collective power at a rally, workers said he told them a rally wouldn’t scare him. “Rally your ass off,” the workers remember him saying dismissively. 

So that’s exactly what they did.

On Tuesday afternoon, a year after the two sides started bargaining, more than a thousand City workers and supporters rallied on the steps of City Hall. The demonstrators blocked 4th Avenue during rush hour to demand the City concede to the union’s demands. 

In 1998 Kirsten Anderson founded Roq La Rue in a dirt-cheap space in Belltown that was scheduled for demolition. She eventually moved the place to half a room next to Shorty’s, where rent was maybe $600 a month, and things went okay until the whole back roof collapsed. Then she moved to the spot above Pearl Jam’s rehearsal space.

For 25 years, Anderson and Roq La Rue have hopped around the city, from Belltown to Pioneer Square to Capitol Hill to Madison Valley, where Roq La Rue now stands in a slick, sun-filled space that’s a far cry from those early punk rock days.

The gallery has survived skyrocketing rents, a pandemic, and even Anderson’s brief departure from the art world. In October, she will celebrate Roq La Rue’s longevity with a group show featuring all new work from some of her favorite artists who’ve joined her on her wild, weird journey.

Dear young baristas: I am a full-ass grown woman, but you KEEP calling me "sweetie" or "honey" at least once a week. Why?

I am not sweet. If I were a dessert, I'd be bitter chocolate with a sprinkling of salt. I've lived in Seattle long enough to know that most Seattleites are like this. 

The war on drugs is back: In case you missed it, last night the Seattle City Council voted 6-3 to make drug possession and public use a gross misdemeanor with a penalty of up to 180 days in jail for a first or second offense. The vote kicks no additional funding toward treatment. Andrew Lewis, whose surprise 'no' vote killed this effort a few months back, co-sponsored the latest iteration. Lewis and the conservatives touted $27 million in treatment funding added to this new version of the bill, but the vast majority of that comes from opioid settlement funds that must be spent over 17 years. Seven million dollars comes from unspent grant funding. 

As a coda to this stupid chapter in Seattle politics, let's shake our heads at this absurd interview with Council Member Sara Nelson: 

In a 6-3 vote on Tuesday, the Seattle City Council adopted an ordinance making drug possession and public drug use a gross misdemeanor. The crime carries a penalty of up to 180 days in jail for a first or second offense and up to 364 days for any additional offenses.

While the bill encourages cops to divert people to services before arrest, the legislation provides no additional funding, rendering its advertised “treatment-centered approach” a “false promise,” Council Member Teresa Mosqueda said during a contentious public meeting.