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MONDAY
METAL/PUNKMortuary Drape, Volahn, Domitian
Italian black metal! And while Iâd prefer Italian prog, Mortuary Drape bring the standard-issue black metal tropes, and they wonât let anyone down who shows up with a head already wrapped up in the scene. A Facebook acquaintance of mine says this stuff might be interesting but, sorry, they canât get past the Cookie Monster vocals. I say, hey, just imagine the Cookie Monster singing! And occasionally swallowing the mic, nom nom nom nom. The guitars ring out unwashed riffs and silvery runs, the drums pound, and the Cookie Monster testifies. Get thee (de)sanctified! ANDREW HAMLIN
RockânâRoll Patio Party with The Shivas & The Rare Forms
Soak up some sun on the back patio while you groove to peppy pop rock from the Shivas and the Rare Forms. DJ 50 Spence will spin 45s in between sets.
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY
CLASSICAL/OPERA2018 Seattle Chamber Music Society Summer Festival
Seattle Chamber Music Society is, once again, throwing their Summer Festival, with free informal recitals and full orchestral performances for all ages throughout the month of July. The cabal of esteemed artists involved this year will include Mary Lynch, Andrew Wan, Benjamin Beilman, Jonathan Vinocour, Astrid Schween, George Li, and many more. Plus, don't miss the Music Under The Stars series, during which a student ensemble sets up in a park and plays to whoever shows up, often folks with picnic blankets in tow and maybe a surreptitious bottle of wine or two, after which Benaroya Hall pipes in whatever festival performance is happening that night.
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
JAZZLiv Warfield with NPG Hornz
The Prince-approved vocalist Liv Warfield has toured extensively around the world, carefully honing her soulful sound over the years. She'll be joined by NPG Hornz for this performance.
WEDNESDAY
CLASSICAL/OPERABrahms V. Radiohead
The intersections and departures between two pieces of music created more than 120 years apart are explored and expanded upon in this intriguing rock and classical mash-up: the four movements of Brahms' Symphony No. 1 (circa 1876) and eight songs from Radiohead's OK Computer (1997). Seattle Symphony stages the program with support from three guest vocalists, including Andrew Lipke. LEILANI POLK
THURSDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKPhoebe Bridgers, Harrison Whitford
Last November, cinematically somber singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers was in town sharing the stage with Seattle staple Noah Gundersen. And a month before that, she was opening for Phillyâs the War on Drugs. Now the LA musician is back headlining gigs in support of her 2017 album, Stranger in the Alps, channeling nonchalant poetry with a sarcastically deadpan presence. Now that Bridgers is the main feature, sheâs brought along her Nashville-based collaborator Harrison Whitford, whose jangly freak folk will set the tone for the evening. Even if you caught Bridgers once or both times she came through last year, sheâs still got plenty for ya. ZACH FRIMMEL
Mama Tits is 'Big & Loud'
Get a load of the pipes on that broad! Everyone's favorite giant of drag is back in town and ready to belt out one showstopper after another. Mama's show Big & Loud is part storytelling, part musical revue, and part comedic actâwith a voice so sultry, it'll make your socks go up and down. Mama is one of a rare breed of drag performers whose song, dance, and personality can command any space she enters, whether it's a coffee shop or an auditorium or a city street. And with dinner and drinks served to your table, the Triple Door is a perfect home for this triple threat. MATT BAUME
Jeremy Enigk, Chris Staples
I saw a few folks put Jeremy Enigk on their âWorst Concert Everâ list, and I confess: I donât get it. He does his thing, namely lush jangle-pop, strings on board, with invocations to higher powers thankfully unspecified. His album from last year, Ghosts, keeps up the good work, though nothing so specific as the Good Wordâthat I can find, anyway. I tend to hear Christian artists as enjoyable, ironic cheese or iron-fisted demagogues with one hand on your wallet and the other in their own pants. Iâm happy to find an exception. ANDREW HAMLIN
Huun Huur Tu, Yaima, DJ Darek Mazzone
Straight outta Tuva, Russia, Huun Huur Tu gained notoriety back in the 1990s for their incredible throat-singing skills, using techniques that create multi-note drones and overtones that resemble emanations from birds, flutes, and synthesizers. The group's recent live performance on KEXP found them singing more conventionally while playing instruments such as igil (a two-stringed bowed instrument), khomus (jaw harp), dĂŒnggĂŒr (shaman drum), and doshpuluur (lute), as well as acoustic guitar. Their repertoire abounds with elegant folk songs that plumb a profound mournfulness in a language you'll never learn. You may find yourself crying without even knowing why. DAVE SEGAL
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
VARIOUSTimber! Outdoor Music Festival
Timber is back for its sixth year with three days of crowd-friendly folk, rock, and pop performances, and all-ages activities like camping, kayaking, and stargazing all weekend long. This year's lineup includes Car Seat Headrest, Industrial Revelation, Naked Giants, and more.
FRIDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKRy Cooder, Joachim Cooder
Synonymously linked with pioneers like the Buena Vista Social Club, Captain Beefheart, and Ali Farka TourĂ©, Ry Cooder is a living legend. Thereâs no ifs, ands, or buts about it. As a wunderkind, he starred in Captain Beefheartâs Safe as Milk at age 20. He cruised on a solo and session-musician career for decades, then later went on to be the producer and collaborator of the world-renowned Buena Vista Social Club. Cooder doesnât tour much these days, so now is the time to see him. Plus, heâs brought along his son Joachim on this tourâtheyâre generationally genius. ZACH FRIMMEL
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, the self-admitted First Couple of Country, hit the road on their Soul 2 Soul world tour.
Woodinville Bluegrass Classic: BĂ©la Fleck & The Flecktones, Del McCoury Band, The Jerry Douglas Band
Bluegrass bigwig BĂ©la Fleck and his backing band the Flecktones will play sonic vignettes of Fleck's multi-decade career as the "king of the banjo." He'll be joined by the Del McCoury Band and the Jerry Douglas Band.
Logic, NF
Young Maryland MC Logic fits easily into the "sensitive guy" rapper lineage, with his hardscrabble origin story buffeted by beats ripped straight from the turn-of-the-century Kanye gospel-soul playbook and rhymes that can achieve the internal fluidity of B-side Kendrick, with sadly little of the unflinching honesty that marked Mr. Lamar as a major new player. Indeed, this (good) kid can flow, and the production glistens expensively, but one finds little substance beyond the artfully flipped syllables and platitudes dressed up as choruses. KYLE FLECK
The Intelligence, the Fall-Outs, Tissue
Iâm not sure you could get a more Seattle lineup than the lineup on deck tonightâeven if the players donât all currently live here. First, weâll be gettin' Tissue, a slightly dark and deadpan indie rock group, followed by an actual garage band, the Fall-Outs, who are sussed (theyâve actually covered 1960s Nederbeat sides, i.e., songs from mid-â60s Dutch garage-rock bands), AND are known to enjoy Gorditos. Headlining is the most engaging of rock and rollers, the Intelligence. If you donât know their noise, GET TO KNOW THEM, âcause youâre late as hell gettinâ in on them. MIKE NIPPER
Furniture Girls, Rabia Shaheen Qazi, Sam Cobra, Temple Canyon, Oh, Rose
All local womxn-fronted bands will play Americana, soul, rock, punk, and folk jams.
S. Carey, H.C. McEntire
Sean Carey of S. Carey rose to prominence as one of the original multi-instrumentalists and angelic harmonies in Bon Iver. For the last decade, Carey has captained his own side project featuring serenely meditative lullabies of soft keyboard and whisper-like warbling that make you want to lie down next to a river and decompress and/or just gently float away. In 2018, he released his third studio full-length, Hundred Acres, which is just as delicately idyllic, but updated with some colorful, sonic textures. Warming the stage will be H.C. McEntireâs alt-country from Durham, North Carolina. ZACH FRIMMEL
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
CLASSICAL/OPERAStar Wars: A New Hope in Concert
The Seattle Symphony will perform the work of legendary composer and Hollywood score master John Williams, featuring Star Wars: A New Hope on the big screen with pitch-perfect symphonic accompaniment.
SATURDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKMelissa Etheridge, LeAnn Rimes
Folk-rock legend and '90s lesbian rumor mill icon Melissa Etheridge will spread her wings and do other inspiring Americana metaphors on her tour with country-pop star LeAnn Rimes.
Sylvan Esso
Every new generation of college kids needs at least one party album to rally behind. For my freshman year, it was M.I.A.âs Kala and Kanye Westâs Graduationâfor this yearâs crop, it will be Sylvan Essoâs What Now. Their electrified, multilayered pop is clever, bright, and fully hitched to dance as a primary activity in a way that feels much like two-dimensional worship. Preaching a lifestyle adjacent to âthe power of dance heals allâ is a little #LoveWins for my taste, but Sylvan Esso manage to carry their music through these lyrical tropes with a strength of conviction that is truly impressive (and occasionally beguiling). And heyâwho am I to shit on such an active joy? KIM SELLING
TUF FEST
This annual, free, all-day/all-night affair is thrown by the local TUF collective of female/nonbinary/trans artists and creatives with an emphasis on electronic music and comes with support from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. Panels will cover nuts-and-bolts matters like how to set up a PA, career advice like business skills for artists, and critical reflections on the music industry, with a stacked lineup of daytime performers and a late-night after party. Artists will include TT the Artist, Nightspace, and Guayaba, there will be art from the likes of FEMAIL and REEL GRRLS, and local notables including Nikkita Oliver and Women.Weed.Wifi will lead workshops.
Wimps, Fabulous Downey Brothers, Sleepover Club
Before typing out this blurb, I wondered if I really needed to bump this show, âcause like, I reckon all the hip kids are prolly already planning on spending this evening with Americaâs most favorite and fabulous SUPER-fun-pop-punk-sing-along-letâs-everybody-hug-weâre-so-happy band, Wimps. Right? Like, going to see Wimps live is a total no-brainer. MIKE NIPPER
Bets, Dummy, Lizzie Rose
Brooklyn-based indie-pop artist BETS covers every last angsty hit off of the Violent Femmes' 1983 debut album in her own style. Hear her perform Project Violent Femmes in its entirety with support from Dummy and Lizzie Rose.
Brit Floyd
In honor of the 45th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon, expect to hear many guitar solos as Pink Floyd tribute band Brit Floyd dishes out the hits.
Pentatonix
Texas-based a cappella pop group Pentatonix are best known for their covers of popular hitsâparticularly Christmas songsâin their own harmony-laden style.
The Bash
BIG BLDG RCRDS' annual summer music festival is now simply The Bash, happening in partnership with KEXP's Audioasis this year, and culminating in a four-stage, 30-artist, food truck and local beer extravaganza. Local notables will include Sloucher, GOODSTEPH, bod, Great Spiders, Haunted Horses, and many more.
SUNDAY
DJDay Shift at NAAM: Every(way) Black, Power to the People
Celebrate "black pride, black love, black power, black brilliance, and black allies" at this Central District dance party presented by Day Shift, featuring live sets from locals like Tendai Maraire (of Shabazz Palaces), Vitamin D, DJ TOPSPIN, Huneycut, DJ QUALIFI, Kween Kay$h, SaxG's Ultraloveforce, Sosa, PHNK, Aramis, Toya B, and others.
Spean Rajana Presents: The Romvong Remix
Plunge your eardrums into catchy and exciting Khmer disco and Romvong-style music spun by local DJs and sung live by Nath Chhim, plus spoken word, a raffle, and more. The profits will benefit Spean Rajana, which promotes Cambodian culture overseas.
Bill Brovold, Wally Shoup and Paul Klemmish, Noel Kennon/Greg Kelley/Robert Millis
About Wally Shoup I can say nothing I havenât said alreadyâheâs probably the greatest free-jazz saxophonist to call Seattle home; heâs fiery, heâs endlessly inventive, and we need to appreciate him while we can. Tacoma native and guitarist Bill Brovold stretches himself from country music to NYCâs early-â80s no-wave movement to minimalism. Paul Klemmish plays bass and has history with Shoup; thatâs all, regrettably, I was able to find out about him. Check out this passion in motion, if you value passion, or for that matter, motion. ANDREW HAMLIN
The Pillows feat. FLCL, Noodles, Cullen Omori
Japanese rock band the Pillows, who provide the soundtrack for the anime series FLCL, will be joined by Noodles and Cullen Omori on the U.S. tour stop.
Wye Oak
Baltimore duo Wye Oak forged their signature sound from the start with a dusky spin on Americana that doubles as a rootsy take on shoegaze. The first two records from bassist Jenn Wasner and drummer/keyboard player Andy Stack are lovely, if a little uneventful, but they came into their own on 2011's Civilian, where Wasnerâs magic-hour alto meets with the moodiest of melodies. Since then, they've traded the guitar for more electronic textures. On their fifth full-length, The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs, the clouds have started to lift, placing even greater emphasis on Wasner's ever-majestic vocals. KATHY FENNESSY
Quicksand, Glassjaw
Though they might not sound too much alike, Quicksand and Glassjaw have a lot in common. Most notably, they have both been classified as âpost hardcoreâ and returned from long hiatuses in 2017 to release comeback albums: Glassjaw with Material Control and Quicksand with Interiors. If there werenât a Quicksand to rise from the underground New York hardcore scene in 1990 and break into the mainstream with a more melodic, alternative-rock edge, sign to a major label, and tour on the first ever Warped Tour, there may never have been a Glassjaw to take that blueprint and push it even further in the late â90s. KEVIN DIERS
Tres Leches, Guayaba, Terror/Cactus
I can say with absolute certainty that this is one of the best lineups of summer 2018. Seattleâs Latinx community doesnât get enough credit for the taste and talent they bring to this ungrateful city, and this bill shows just a breath of whatâs out there to be enjoyed. In the simplest of genre labeling, Tres Leches play art pop and punk with biting social commentary, Guayaba is an otherworldly goddess bestowing Afrofuturist soul and hiphop upon us, and Terror/Cactus are hypnotic, psychedelic electro-cumbia influenced by TropicĂĄlia and science fictionâall of them are complex and engaging, and they will keep you dancing and thinking about all the ways music can be a million amazing things at once. KIM SELLING
