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TUESDAY
ROCK/POP"Weird Al" Yankovic
Since the day I first heard âAnother One Rides the Bus,â I have had a deep love and respect for âWeird Alâ Yankovic. And as time and pop music moves, um, forward, his parodies and the aural puns-ishment he produces have become a nice throwback to when AM radio and Top 40 charts welcomed novelty songs. Iâd guess even into the 1980s, novelty, parody, and answer songs were still radio-friendly genres, but that was wiped away in the â90s by contemporary pop radioâs homogenization and evident need to be taken seriously. Except maybe for Tenacious D, âWeird Alâ is the last, and only, parody/novelty performer allowed on the radio. Anyway, I bet Alâs blistering accordion solos tonight will be most choice and the gargled solo in âSmells Like Nirvanaâ will be divine. MIKE NIPPER
Wet, inc. no world
Wet are legendary for their emotionally motivated, expansive pop music that has been remarked upon by leading music critics at NPR and the New York Times, among others. They'll be joined by Inc. No World.
WEDNESDAY
DJObscenely Obscure
Alright, this one's for the capital-n Nerds of the music world. DJs Average Rooms (Norm Chambers), Dad (Eli Anderson), and Veins (the Stranger's own Dave Segal) have dug real deep into the wild world of library music (a.k.a. production music) to present for y'all an evening of the "scariest, funkiest, catchiest, and craziest tracks youâve never heard before... until now." Aubrey Nehring will be providing the surrealistic visuals to cap it all off.
TUF x TR Present: Carla dal Forno, Tess Roby, somesurprises, slowfoam
A member of the excellent, eerie experimental-electronic group F ingers, Carla dal Forno released one of 2016's best albums with You Know What It's Like. On it, she takes the singer-songwriter paradigm deep underground and infuses it with spectral atmospheres and slow-motion, minimal-wave propulsion while singing with anomic resolve. Itâs striking and moving stuffâconsoling downer music that never descends into melodrama. Slowfoam (Madelyn Byrd) is a young Seattle musician whose lust + boredom demos release hints at intriguing potential, especially âcarpet,â a piece of aqueous, glitchy ambience that recalls early Seefeel and former Seattle producer/vocalist Cruel Diagonals. Throughout the album, diaphanous, eldritch vocal tapestries cobweb your mind as unsettling wisps of guitar and synths encroach upon the stereo field. Chills ensue. DAVE SEGAL
Wednesday Experiments: Zen Mother, Drama Bahama, Baby Gramps, Bad Luck
When so many local bands of twentysomethings are content to reference the rock music made around the time they were born, Zen Mother are a refreshing corrective. The psych/experimental group is the project of two Virginia transplants, Monika Khot and Adam Wolcott Smith, who share an affinity for the avant-garde. The duo self-recorded their bandâs latest album, I Was Made to Be Like Her, and itâs rich with sonic experimentation: impressionistic layers of synth drone, caustic guitar leads, lyrics that repeat like incantations. Tension and release, instead of traditional song structure, gives the music its form, which allows Khot and Smithâs many ideas room to breathe. Youâre unlikely to hear a more risk-taking, rewarding rock record out of Seattle this year. ANDREW GOSPE
Gun Outfit, Nicolas Merz, Gretchen Grimm, Dog Sister
Gun Outfit left Olympia for Los Angeles, a move that wouldnât be worth pointing out if not for how it underscored the bandâs gradual sonic transformation from K Recordsâindebted lo-fi rockers to an understated group that mythologizes the Southwestâs wide-open spaces and desolate vistas. In their sun-swept guitar work and easy camaraderie, Gun Outfit have contemporaries in the likes of Steve Gunn and Phosphorescent, who offer similarly off-kilter takes on what could broadly be called Americana. Appropriately, Gun Outfitâs latest album, Out of Range, is a grower, full of languorous, meandering tunes that gradually unfurl their charms. ANDREW GOSPE
Killer Ghost, Secret Superpower, Sharkie
Killer Ghost's sunny lo-fi soul-rock and roll will bring some much needed warmth to this Ballard show, with opening sets by Secret Superpower and Sharkie.
Lake Street Dive, Mikaela Davis
Dance-party-ready pop foursome Lake Street Dive will grace the downtown stage in support of their most recent album Side Pony, with support from Michaela Davis.
Maroon 5, Julia Michaels
Perennial billboard-charters Maroon 5, currently riding the waves of their latest big hit "What Lovers Do," will crest in Tacoma on their Red Pill Blues Tour with support from Julia Michaels.
Vomitface, Thick, Velvet Sqrew, Xurs
Stranger contributor Andrew Hamlin gives Vomitface props for "the way the bass seems to be sinking to the center of the Earth" and "the way the drummer bashes away at one thing and the singer chalkboard-squawks away at one other thing, for as long as they damn well please." Tonight, the local doomy surf rockers will share a bill with Thick, Velvet Sqrew, and Xurs.
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY
JAZZIMPFest X
The Improvised Music Project throws itself a 10th birthday party, with the not-at-all awkwardly titled Improvised Music Project Festival (IMPFest, for short). This year, UW faculty and students will be joined by special guests for two days of improvised tunes and jazzy free-form. Headliners this year will include guitarist Bill Frisell, jazz pianist Myra Melford, and alto sax player Andrew D'Angelo.
WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY
JAZZBellevue Jazz & Blues Festival
The Bellevue Jazz & Blues Festival will feature free and ticketed events for all ages and tastes. Last year featured big talents like vocalist Catherine Russell, the Corey Harris Band, funk/soul group Radio Raheem, and the Rumba Band.
THURSDAY
ROCK/POPBig BLDG Bash Kickoff Party
Get frickin amped for this year's Big BLDG Bash by hitting up this precursor party with live sets by Blackwater Holylight, Wolcott's Instant Pain Annihilator, and Crosss.
Big Business, Cold Soda, Actionesse
Big Business represent a perfect example of how much you can do with so little. The two-piece drum and bass duo of Jared Warren and Coady Willis are more crushing than bands twice their size. Their low-end assault started with the release of Head for the Shallow 12 years ago, and itâs been an unrelenting force of all-out heaviness ever since. Would you expect anything different from members of legendary Northwest noisemakers KARP and Murder City Devils? Big Businessâs latest album, Command Your Weather, released in 2016, finds the tag team focused on one constant missionâsonic annihilation. KEVIN DIERS
Hockey Dad, Cold Fronts, Lovely Colours
From the sunny eastern shores of New South Wales come Hockey Dad. The Australian duoâs clap-along rhythms and jangly guitar licks joyfully belie their icy nameâwhich happens to reference a mid-era Simpsons episodeâalone making them a natural pick for your trans-Pacific summer playlist. But HDâs debut full-length, Boronia, goes beyond the beach foam and sand-in-your-shorts fun their Dreamin' EP provided, at times diving into a more jammy pool of indie pop (âGrange,â âTwo Foreverâ) while continuing to weave melancholy lyrics for contrast. Hockey Dad thrive in a rowdy mode, full of big, happy guitars and punchy drums, where growing up may be inevitable but the snooze button is always within armâs reach. TODD HAMM
LâInferno with Live Score by My Goodness
SIFF says: "Seattle rock band My Goodness bring their expansive blues and garage-inspired sound to the Triple Door for a live accompaniment to the 1911 Italian silent film, a macabre tour de force inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy featuring groundbreaking special effects and a cast of thousands."
White Poppy, Kristian North, Briana Marela, Slashed Tires
White Poppy is the songwriting and recording project of Crystal Dorval, a musician from British Columbia whose songs are bursting with detail and texture. Dorvalâs music has an exploratory feel, where harsh swathes of guitar, spiraling keyboards, ambient drifts, and washes of vocals are free to wander, seemingly without a destination in mind. Itâs warm and inviting music, homespun ragas that are decidedly psychedelic despite using few sounds typically associated with psychedelia. Show up early for Briana Marela, an Olympia producer whoâs branched out from vocal loop-based ambient music to lush, beat-driven electro-pop. ANDREW GOSPE
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
ROCK/POPYo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo are rightly associated with Hoboken through their alliances with WFMU and Maxwell'sâincluding their beloved Hanukkah showsâbut they've left their mark on Seattle, too. Aside from decades of concerts, they played the last in-store at Queen Anne's Easy Street Records (it was so crowded that I couldnât even see the band). They opened with a version of gospel standard "The Last Time," and it couldn't have been more perfect. That space now houses a Chase Bank branch, while Yo La Tengo have just released their 15th album, There's a Riot Going On, a gorgeous excursion into jazz-infused dream pop. KATHY FENNESSY
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
METAL/PUNKNorthwest Terror Fest
For the second year in a row, Northwest Terror Fest will be dosing Capitol Hill with three daysâ worth of loud noises ranging from the gnarliest of grindcore to the spaciest of doom. From Thursday through Saturday, the main shows will be held at Neumos and Barboza, with packed lineups all evening long, and underground legends Integrity, Panopticon, and Agoraphobic Nosebleed headlining each night. Aftershows will be held just down the street at Highline, and will feature performances by Danava on Thursday, Celeste on Friday, and a special Saturday night reunion set by Seattle metalcore band Himsa playing their breakout album Courting Tragedy and Disaster. KEVIN DIERS
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
CLASSICAL/OPERASibelius's Kullervo
Attention: Seattle Scandinavians. The Seattle Symphony and their Danish principal guest conductor (and future music director) Thomas Dausgaard are bringing you Sibelius's Kullervo, which will reportedly make you very horny for Finland folk mythology and for your snow-covered motherlands. Another thing to look forward to: soprano Maria MĂ€nnistö, who has âone of the most hauntingly beautiful voices" the Seattle Times has heard in years. RICH SMITH
No performance on Friday
Spyro Gyra
Jazz fusionists Spyro Gyra, who have performed more than 5000 shows and released 32 albums in the last 40+ years, will headline. Fun fact: the band name is a misspelling of a type of green algae, Spirogyra.
FRIDAY
ROCK/POPCold Cave, Black Marble, Choir Boy
Thereâs a video of Cold Cave playing Pitchfork Music Festival at the height of their popularity in 2011, the entire ensemble decked out in black leather despite what looks like a typically sweltering July day in Chicago. Itâs a good summation of how committed Wesley Eisold is to his projectâs very particular aesthetic: sleek, sad synth-pop with gothic and post-punk undertones, delivered with winking solemnity. Expect new music at this show: Eisold is releasing an EP later this year, which will be the first collection of new material from Cold Cave in more than seven years. ANDREW GOSPE
Diminished Men, the Sheen, Idol Ko Si
The combined cumulative accomplishments of Idol Ko Si's three members could constitute a fairly exhaustive history of Seattle's underground rock scene over the last 25 years. Bassist Min Yee, guitarist Robert Millis, and drummer Matthew Ford's uncanny instincts for unusual song structures and strange textures culminate in this new supergroup, as evidenced by their self-titled debut album, which you can hear on their Bandcamp page. If Idol Ko Si resembles anything from the trio's vast collective catalog, it might be Factums' Gilding the Lilies: post-punk messthetics alchemized into a murky, intriguing species of alien songcraft that baffles attempts to categorize it. Such subterranean otherness is rare and precious indeed. DAVE SEGAL
King Tuff, Cut Worms, Sasami
Judging by his newly bred full-length, The Other, it seems King Tuff has dashingly dropped the headbanger garage rock and is gracing us with something a little more synth-buttery smooth, a little more shimmery (like his album cover portrait), a little more situated in the hypno-pop arena. If you missed King Tuff (aka Kyle Thomas) when he was in Seattle last month for his Sub Pop release, then you should catch him with Brooklyn folkster Cut Worms and the dream-rock songwriter Sasami (Sasami Ashworth), who was previously Cherry Glazerrâs keyboardist. ZACH FRIMMEL
The Kooks
Brighton rockers The Kooks have entered their thirteenth year of playing together and will showcase tracks from The Best of... So Far at this tour stop.
Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Utopia, like Todd Rundgren, the man in charge, covered a lot of ground. Prog rock, arena glitz, sidelong songs, concept albums, Egyptology, Beatles homages, a pyramid and golden Sphinx that threatened to squash the band onstage, a spinning drum kit fashioned from a motorcycle chassis that threatened to throw drummer John âWillieâ Wilcox to the floor. Utopia probably left the props in storage, but theyâre back with three-fourths of the classic lineup, Rundgren and Wilcox included. And frankly, given the wicked state of the planet, we could use some (wary) optimists telling us that this is one world, our world, everybodyâs world. ANDREW HAMLIN
Tom Jones, Into The Ark
Music industry lifer Tom Jones has made a 50-plus year career out of playing to his strengths (hip-swiveling and heavy crooning), and keeping his fans happy with live sets shared equally by old classics and newer tracks.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
JAZZHONK! Fest West
This family-oriented festival gets you in on the brass, percussion, and street band "global renaissance." Twenty-five or more bands will jam in streets and parks around Seattle as they celebrate this democratic and ebullient musical genre.
Downstream Music Festival & Art Show
Substation promoter/festival organizer Tim Basaraba created Downstream Music Festival with the intention of supporting local outlier artists without the high ticket costs, big corporate backing, and pay-to-play structure of the Paul Allenâsponsored festival/persistent mold spore Upstream Music Fest. Downstream will host 28 acts and happen concurrently with Upstream, with 100 percent of the door split evenly among its artists. The initial requirement for playing Downstream? An official rejection from Upstream, of course. Downstreamâs ads carry the phrase âPaul Allen is afraid of these bands,â and while itâs unlikely the billionaire was directly involved with the Upstream lineup or will hear these bands, this counter-fest was successful in booking weirdo-flag-flying bands like Pukesnake, Visceral Candy, and Hexengeist. Downstream boasts a wide range of genres, opening with metal and foraying into noise, experimental, hiphop, and rock bills. BRITTNIE FULLER
Paulapalooza
Billing itself as the "poor man's Upstream," Paulapalooza will take place at Therapy Lounge and Victory Lounge this weekend, with live music from 23 participating bands and DJs.
Seaprog 2018
Progressive rock refuses to die! Thatâs right, folks: Dennis Rea and companyâs Seaprog fest offers three days of all the key-change blizzards, tempo-shift typhoons, arcane meters, in-your-face-down-your-esophagus soloing, and hymns to the ethereal a solitary consciousness could possibly snork. Seaprog 2018 artists will include Bubblemath, Cantrip, Moraine, Cheer-Accident, Clearly Beloved, Faun Fables, Free Salamander Exhibit, Himiko Cloud, Inner Ear Brigade, Marching Mind, Ocelot Omelet, Spontaneous Rex, and The Mercury Tree. ANDREW HAMLIN
Upstream Music Fest + Summit
There are two ways of looking at Upstream, a music festival unrivaled in its ability to spur discussion (or just hand-wringing) about the politics and culture in Seattle. On the one hand, itâs another financially inaccessible music fest, this time bankrolled by a tech billionaire. On the other hand, itâs commendably ambitious, seems to operate in good faith, and results in a whole bunch of local artists getting Paul Allenâs money. In the festâs second year, its top-of-the-lineup programming offers much of the same as the first time around: second-tier pop stars (Miguel), music fest veteran indie (Flaming Lips, Little Dragon), and something for the middle-aged rocker set (Jawbreaker). ANDREW GOSPE
SATURDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKDamien Jurado, Naomi Wachira
Prolific Seattle singer-songwriter Damien Jurado has been active since the mid-1990s, and he currently peddles alt-folk, psychedelia, and indie-rock with a vaguely vintage quality, his distinctive vocal tones made for AM radioâsoothing, supple, velvety, lightly timeworn. Heâs currently backing new studio LP The Horizon Just Laughed. Joining him on this night is Naomi Wachira, a Kenyan-born, Seattle-based, self-styled Afro-folk artist whose songs are soulful and richly emotive. LEILANI POLK
Natalia Lafourcade
Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade utilizes stylistic elements of jazz, pop, rock, and various world music traditions for a unique sound that's netted her 11 Grammys.
Eels, That 1 Guy
Mayhap you know Cali indie-rock band Eels from radio hit âNovocaine for the Soul,â or youâre familiar with the sweetly poignant heartache of âThat Look You Give That Guyââcurrently their most played song on Spotify. Whatever the case, you need to know the title track of The Deconstruction, a 2018 studio LP that came after the first real break that Eelsâ leader Mark Oliver Everett took from making music in more than 25 years. The song launches the album with eerie thematic minor chords picked on guitar, dramatic swells of strings backing easy-rocking rhythms, as Everett croons about breaking apart and putting himself back together again. Slinky, stealthy, psych-folk follow-up âBone Dryâ is pretty fantastic, too, driven by Everettâs earnest, raspy drawl. Youâll surely hear both on this tour, although Iâm curious how many of the slower and more introspective numbers will make it onto the set list. LEILANI POLK
Liz Phair
Like many restless suburban kids in the pre-streaming era, Liz Phair got her start through four-track recordings sent to fanzines. She quickly broke from the pack with wise-beyond-her-years lyrics in the Laurel Canyon vein combined with a sexual frankness and mastery of profanity rare among folk-based singer-songwriters. The success of the Girly-Sound tapes led to Exile in Guyville, which set the alt-rock world on fire. Major label recordings, TV theme songs, and other projects followed, but Exile is Phair's masterpiece. It was great then, it's great now, and it'll be great as long as polyester brides walk the earth. KATHY FENNESSY
Brian McKnight
Walking that line between smooth as hell and the cheesiest ever, multi-instrumentalist and triple-platinum recording artist Brian McKnight emerges from modern music history as a mascot for when '90s R&B hit the apex of its marketability. Expect beloved hits and deep cuts from his catalog of 15 albums.
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
CLASSICAL/OPERAO+E: A Journey to Hell and Back
For the sake of keeping up with the kids and bringing opera to the people, every year Seattle Opera does an English-language chamber piece that's normally cooler and more modern than the stuff they run on the main stage, and every year it's good. This time they're producing an all-women version of Christoph Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice, a retelling of the famous Greek myth about trust and faithfulness that birthed the great tradition of lyric poetry in the West. In Gluck's version, O hallucinates at her dying wife E's bedside as A (Amore) intervenes to save the wounded woman's life. Stage director Kelly Kitchens, who is no stranger to all-women productions in Seattle, says in press materials that she chose a Sapphic interpretation of Orpheus and Eurydice "because love is universal and this story belongs to all of us." RICH SMITH
SUNDAY
ROCK/POPGodspeed You! Black Emperor, Marisa Anderson
Montrealâs Godspeed You! Black Emperor are a band you see purely on principle. Their cult following calcified decades ago. Their mellifluous and cinematically epic post-rock never goes out of style, and their unbridled energy has never been underwhelming live. Their orchestral ohms wield a resistance much like their very own political ethos. The nine-member cadre need no vocals to voice their radicalness, and their compositions can be hellishly harrowing and heavenly harmoniousâeach dynamic representing a congruous cry for hope and beauty. The show will commence with Portlandâs Marisa Anderson showcasing her lexicon of guitar stylings over the last century. ZACH FRIMMEL
GBH, Fireburn, the Accused A.D., Acid Teeth
GBH are bona-fide punk-rock royalty. The three main songwriters of this iconic UK bandâvocalist Colin Abrahall, guitarist Colin Blyth, and bassist Ross Lomasâhave been at it since 1978, rising from the same scene that brought us bands like Discharge and the Exploited. Itâs no shock, then, that they would tap a band like Fireburn to tour with. Sure, theyâre technically a new band, but the members of this raging hardcore act are no rookies. These guys are a straight-up supergroup, composed of Todd Youth from Danzig and Murphyâs Law, Todd Jones from Nails, Nick Townsend from Knife Fight, and Israel Joseph I from Bad Brains. KEVIN DIERS
