MONDAY 9/21
(MUSIC) Listening to Arlo Parks has always felt like dappled sunlight falling on leaves to me. The English musician is known for emotionally stirring songs with narrative lyrics, often pausing her concerts to read a handwritten poem from a well-worn notebook. Parks makes a mix of indie pop and R&B, but her latest record integrates electronic elements, drawing influence from the nightlife scene in LA, which she moved to in 2022. The tracks on Ambiguous Desire hypnotize the listener as they transition seamlessly between twinkling piano, sparkling synths, and ethereal vocals. The album was co-produced by Parks’s long-time friend and collaborator Baird, who opens the show with a solo set of spacey R&B-influenced pop-rock tunes. (Showbox SoDo, 8 pm, all ages) SHANNON LUBETICH
TUESDAY 9/22
Gouge Away, Cherub Chains, Foxglove
(MUSIC) Florida, the syphilitic penis rotting the brain of our country, has given us a plethora of cathartic, captivating punk rock through the years. Against Me!, Hot Water Music, Less Than Jake (lol jk), and Gouge Away, a band that simultaneously sounds like it sprouted from the Washington, DC post-punk scene circa 2001 while also recalling the more guitar-driven wall of noise aspects of the coincidentally vaginal bands Mannequin Pussy and Perfect Pussy, with GA vocalist Christina Michelle’s lung-purging hollers hitting just as hard as Meredith Graves’ famous distorted rage. Also on the bill are Seattle’s Cherub Chains, a hardcore band Asian Verified columnist Michael Wong turned me onto when he described seeing them live for the first time thusly: “The sound was raw, thunderous, a wall of riffs that collapsed into screaming urgency. [Vocalist Molly Nguyen] let out the kind of rallying cry that is hard to make out among the chaos, but the emotions are indelible. You feel it in your chest before your brain catches up.” (Substation, 7 pm, 18+) MEGAN SELING
WEDNESDAY 9/23
(VISUAL ART) I regret all the William Kentridge prints I never bought at Kucera Gallery—which have been all of them, unfortunately. Kentridge is a renowned South African contemporary artist whose utterly prolific work ranges from opera productions and animated films (made by repeatedly erasing and redrawing the same palimpsest page) to sculpture and drawing. The work is often rooted in sociopolitical critique of apartheid and industrial exploitation, but also delves into the intimate ineffables of time and memory. His works on paper are deliciously wry, erudite, and kind of punk rock all at once, often involving layers of text and subtext—like linocuts and lithographs printed on actual pages of the Oxford English Dictionary. Learn from my mistake and take one home. Extra credit: The gallery will be screening Kentridge’s feature documentary, Anything Is Possible, on September 23 at 6 pm. (Greg Kucera Gallery, 6 pm) AMANDA MANITACH
THURSDAY 9/24
(PERFORMANCE) The longest-running sketch comedy festival in the US and a certifiably good way to spend an evening underneath Pike Market, Sketchfest 2026 has everything from deranged live sketches to musical numbers and celebrity impressions from local and touring groups. Unlike improv, sketch comedy somewhat mercifully involves skits that have been rehearsed, and someone has actually checked that they are funny and cohesive before performing them live in front of strangers. It’s hosted at the Unexpected Productions Market Theater in Post Alley, and features 20-plus different acts across four nights including solo performances by touring comedians like Cam Wyllie and sketches by writers/producers of The Daily Show and The Tonight Show! (Unexpected Productions, 7 pm) DYLAN BUECHE
FRIDAY 9/25
2026 HUMP! Film Festival – Fall Lineup
(FILM) The world was very different when Dan Savage introduced an amateur porn film festival to curious Seattleites in 2005. That same year, George W. Bush began his second term as the President of the United States, North Korea announced they had nuclear weapons, and Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast. That was also the year the first video was uploaded to YouTube. Online streaming services were distant glimmers of possibility. In fact, all HUMP! submissions that year—Savage remembers receiving about 50 total—were sent to the Stranger offices via mail on VHS tapes, and all evidence was destroyed after the final screening. Now, HUMP! is held twice a year and shown in more than 40 cities around the globe. Participants have upped their production and imagination, and, once COVID-19 hit, they also signed release forms allowing their work to be shown in a streaming library so fans can HUMP! at home. (And yup, they get a cut of the profits.) The 2026 fall lineup, running into October at On the Boards, is all new from anything ever shown before, with films featuring everything from a dim sum table to LEGOs and… Frankenstein’s monster? (On the Boards, 6:30 pm & 9 pm, 21+) MEGAN SELING
SATURDAY 9/26
Tyler Thrasher Pop-Up at Ghost Gallery
(SCIENCE/ART) My memory is hazy, but I’m pretty sure I screamed the first time I saw one of Tyler Thrasher’s crystallized cicadas. It was gorgeous. The bug’s body was completely engulfed with hunks of vibrant purple crystal, and its lacy wings shimmered with delicate shards of stone. It looked like something you’d see flying around planet Thra. Over the years, Thrasher has crystallized scorpions, snail shells, butterflies, stick bugs, snake skeletons, and mummified baby chameleons, and in recent years he’s gotten into “moonbeam flora,” dried plants and flowers coated with various mineral powders that make them glow otherworldly colors in the dark. Daylight saving time ends soon. Prepare for the dark season by filling your space with shimmery, bright, weird things. (Ghost Gallery, 4–8 pm, all ages, free) MEGAN SELING
SUNDAY 9/27
The Kehlani World Tour: North America
(MUSIC) Kehlani’s been making smooth and soulful R&B since they competed on America’s Got Talent as part of a teen pop group 15 years ago. And though they’ve been nominated for a smattering of awards since, they haven’t taken home many—until this year. Following the release of their self-titled fifth album, they won Best Female R&B/Pop Artist at the BET Awards and the record’s single “Folded” earned Grammys for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song. Judging by the music video for that track and their BET Awards performance, I expect a mesmerizing concert experience filled with costume changes, backup dancers, and dramatic ambience. Kehlani’s powerful and vulnerable vocals get me every time, whether they’re singing a downtempo breakup track or a joyful celebration of love. (Climate Pledge Arena, 6:30 pm, all ages) SHANNON LUBETICH
⚡ Prizefight! ⚡
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Turning Point U.S. Gay
The Crocodile, September 25, 21+
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Contest ends September 23 at 10 am
