Wednesday 5/31

Watson’s Counter

(FOOD & DRINK) Guys! It’s the triumphant return of Watson’s Counter!!!! Caffe Ladro alum James Lim’s kitschy K-town-style cafe on Northwest 15th closed suddenly in March and had an uncertain future for a sec, but the shop’s popped back up for good just a few blocks west. Now at 65th Northwest and 24th Northwest, next to swanky Copine, Watson’s is slinging the same Korean fried chicken (and waffles!), Fruity Pebble French toast with orange-rosemary whipped cream, noodles, poutine, and variations on the pork belly string, with the important addition of a soft-serve machine—just in time for summer! When I visited, the ice cream flavors were a deep dark chocolate and a refreshing, light, lovely jasmine tea that I can’t stop thinking about. They also have a top-tier coffee program and roast their own beans. Folks, we’re seemingly ushering in an era of defunct Seattle restaurants coming back to life, somehow, miraculously, and I’m super fucking here for it. Let’s go celebrate over a cone. (Watson's Counter, 6420 24th Ave NW, daily 8 am-3 pm) MEG VAN HUYGEN


Thursday 6/1

They Live: A Fundraiser for the Starbucks Union Relief Fund

(FILM) What a perfect combination. On one side, we have a leftist masterpiece, They Live, of the years that launched neoliberalism (capitalism too good/socialism too bad), the Reagan years. On the other side, we have a local cinema, the Beacon, holding a fundraiser for the Pacific Northwest Starbucks Workers United labor union. The connection? They Live, a movie about aliens (capitalists) ruling by subliminal messages that encourage conservative values and mindless consumption, entered the theaters not long after Ronald Reagan crushed union power in the United States. The resurgence of union activism is a very new thing. Unions have been pretty much dead for the past 40 years. Most Gen Xers like me entered a job market (the 1990s) that was radically different from that of the previous generation, the boomers. There were no unions for us, and a lot of talk about bosses being coaches and the celebration of a work ethic that had the entrepreneur as its ideal. Recall, that the sunglasses in They Live are ideological. Meaning, they reveal the real message. When you don't wear them, a couch is a couch; when you do, a couch is just the same old boss. The struggle to unionize has also involved the struggle to make workers wear the demystifying glasses. (The Beacon, 4405 Rainier Ave S, 7:30 pm, $12.50) CHARLES MUDEDE


Friday 6/2

Sea of Vapors Opening Party

Artist Emily Counts previewing a few pieces from her new show, Sea of Vapors. BROOKE FITTS

(VISUAL ART) Emily Counts's new installation, Sea of Vapors, is an ambitious exploration of time, decay, self, and the women in Count's life. Her compositions are surreal, yet playful—nothing is quite as it seems. Looking at her pieces reminds me of reading tarot cards. With both, there’s a divination and magic inherent to each card or sculpture. Counts’s spindly spiders and cobwebs? The duality of childhood joy (Charlotte’s Web) and fear (fangs!). The droopy, larger-than-life flowers? A subtle hint at her past life as a florist. Phones, chains, interlinked vessels? Connection or disconnect. She undeniably has her own codex of symbols that appear throughout her work that won’t inhibit your understanding, but add to it. Read more about Sea of Vapors in our spring Arts + Performance magazine. (Museum of Museums, 900 Boylston Ave, 6 pm, $25) JAS KEIMIG


Saturday 6/3

Tony Molina, the Softies, All Girl Summer Fun Band, Mo Troper

(MUSIC) Don't be an idiot and skip the openers for Tony Molina at Sunset Tavern this Saturday. Molina first wowed me when his 2014 debut Dissed and Dismissed dropped my freshman year of college. I listened to the 11-minute and 27-second collection of fuzzy, fried bubblegum pop five or six times a day. It sounds like Teenage Fanclub, supernaturally good Weezer, or Dinosaur Jr. if J Mascis kept his guitar solos to eight bars. He's only refined his pop-rock brevity since, and these days, makes nods to some classic '60s and '70s sounds, but there's no pastiche here. Joining him are the Softies, All Girl Summer Fun Band, and Mo Troper, a gifted Portland songwriter who released one of the best songs this year, "For You to Sing," a true power pop gem and an exciting follow to 2022's MTV. (Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave, 8:30 pm, $20, 21+) VIVIAN MCCALL


Sunday 6/4

Werckmeister Harmonies

(FILM) Before you make the joke, Werckmeister Harmonies does sound like the embodiment of the meme about a film bro trying to get you to watch a two-hour, black-and-white movie about the Serbian government shown through the eyes of a pigeon. However, in addition to swapping out the pigeon for a giant stuffed whale and Serbia for Hungary, this film defies any other easy comparisons. Using only 39 meticulously staged shots over 145 haunting minutes, the precise director that is BĂ©la Tarr makes each one count, immersing us in a film that could initially appear small in scope but reveals itself to be mesmerizingly vast in ambition. The premise, about a small town that becomes forever changed by the arrival of a traveling circus, is merely the beginning of a gorgeously shot experience where a looming darkness soon takes hold of the characters, creating a reverie as oddly alluring as it is subtly disquieting. (SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 805 E Pine St, various showtimes June 4-8, $14) CHASE HUTCHINSON


Monday 6/5

Collide-O-Scope: Pride Edition

(PRIDE) Collide-O-Scope is the brilliant brain baby of Shane Wahlund and Michael Anderson, two local filmmakers and pop culture know-it-alls who cut, clip, and splice their way through hours and hours of music videos, movies, television shows, old commercials, and other footage to piece together spellbinding video collages. It's not a slap-dash memeification of vintage clips to get an easy laugh from 13-year-old YouTube addicts, Collide-O-Scope is an art form, a thoughtful and smart curation of strange, hilarious, surprising, and at times even touching moments of our history. (And I'm not just saying all these nice things because Wahlund is The Stranger's director of video production. I like Collide-O-Scope long before knowing Wahlund, as its been a Seattle staple for more than 12 years!) This month's theme is Pride and you can get a peak at what's in store via their June trailer above. A tip: Collide-O-Scope often sells out, so get your tickets sooner than later. See plenty more Pride events in our calendar, EverOut! (Here-After, 2505 First Ave, 8 pm, $15, 21+) MEGAN SELING


Tuesday 6/6

Brandee Younger Trio

(MUSIC) A first-call session musician in the '00s, NYC harpist Brandee Younger built her rep by playing with major figures such as Lauryn Hill, Ravi Coltrane, and BADBADNOTGOOD. Now Younger has blossomed into a jazz star in the 2020s, with her breakthrough coming via the collaborative LP with bassist Dezron Douglas, Force Majeure. Released during the pandemic's early days, it included life-giving covers of compositions by Kate Bush, Alice and John Coltrane, the Stylistics, and Sting, among others. The duo's rendition of Pharoah Sanders's holy “The Creator Has a Master Plan” compresses the 33-minute original to about three, distilling its most beautiful and hypnotic passage into a delicate tapestry of pure spiritual love. Younger's approach—making the harp the main engine of melody instead of its traditional role as ornamentation—also appears on her latest release, Brand New Life, a tribute album to the great post-bop harpist Dorothy Ashby. Whether with her own tunes or interpreting others', Younger's melodic gracefulness and supple soulfulness induce shivers. (Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 7:30 pm, $32.50, all ages) DAVE SEGAL