Stay in the know! Get all this and more on the free Stranger Things To Do mobile app (available for iOS and Android), or delivered to your inbox.
Jump to: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
MONDAY
ELECTRONICJane Machine, Raica, Juliette
This is a strange bill in that Jane Machine (aka Erica von Trapp) writes fairly conventional vocal-centric electronic pop that wouldnât distract you from your meal, clothes shopping, or dental cleaning, and Raica (Seattle producer/DJ Chloe Harris, who also runs the great Further Records label with her husband) creates some of the deepest and most adventurous experimental-electronic music in the region. But perhaps this odd matchup will benefit both artists by exposing their fans to music they may not ordinarily encounter in a live context. Keep an open mind. DAVE SEGAL
ZZ Top
Classic rock relics and legendary beard connoisseurs ZZ Top will play an evening of hard-edged throwbacks and power chords on their "Tonnage" tour.
TUESDAY
ROCK/POPLisa Prank, Supermoon, Hoop
Experimental pop punk angel Lisa Prank brings dreamy rom-com meets Jimmy Eat World vibes into a low-key and lo-fi reality. She'll be joined by fuzzy Vancouver rockers Supermoon, who will be using this show to kick off their summer tour, and Seattle alt-pop and soft rock artisans Hoop. KIM SELLING
Mourn, Chastity
Bored with high school, a group of teenagers decided to start an angsty punk band whose sound would fit right in on prime-era SST Records. Whatâs notable, though, is that Mourn are from Barcelona, not some sleepy American suburb, and the band started in 2013, not 1992. These Spaniards are nonplussed when questioned on how and why they re-create sounds from a milieu that existed before they were born, citing a simple willingness to research and listen (âWe have all this internet stuff, we have Spotify,â founder Carla Perez Vas said to DIY mag). This temporal and cultural distance helps Mourn approach timeworn alt-rock touchstones from a fresh perspective. ANDREW GOSPE
Toto
In celebration of their 40th year playing music together, American rock band Toto will set out on North American and European tours entitled " 40 Trips Around The Sun," with an accompanying "greatest hits" album.
TUESDAY-THURSDAY
SOUL/R&BFreddie Jackson
R&B icon Freddie Jackson will share his decades of experience, stamina, and musical legacy, taking on urban contemporary, soul, and jazz for a two-night set.
WEDNESDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKWillie Nelson & Family, Alison Krauss
Willie Nelsonâs triumph is his subtlety. That may well also be his Achilles' heel, because, for too many people, subtlety doesnât track as genius or accomplishment or even breaking a sweat. He just sounds like heâs doing his thing. It sounds easy enough, unless you try to do it yourselfâno karaoke, no singing along in the car. If you try to make something like that, you truly appreciate how he always makes the right choices and never seems to fumble for an idea, an intonation, a pacing. Thankfully, enough people love him on general principle! ANDREW HAMLIN
THURSDAY
DJCity Arts and Blue Moon Present: CHILL
Celebrate the art festival season with a bar provided by Blue Moon, art installations, and music by great local acts Stas THEE Boss, Afrocop, and DJ Toya B.
Italo Disco Legacy
Italo disco has legsâgarishly hued, glittery-leotard'd legs. And the musical genre's lower limbs have refused to stop flexing four decades after its inception. In the United States, Italo is a cult favorite of club-culture aficionados who possess a refined ear for electronic music's more camp and flamboyant proclivities. (Seattle represents it with Pony Bar's monthly DJ night, Medical Records Rx, headed by Dr. Troy and DJ Sh1t-r, who will be playing an Italo set in the NWFF lobby at 7 p.m.) Unlike its American counterpart, which embraced a more soulful vocal approach, Italo disco stressed infectious melodies and hedonistic lyrics, often coming across as an over-the-top take on synth pop. A high tolerance for cheesiness is almost mandatory to enjoy it; grumpy types may not understand all the fuss, but viewing Pietro Anton's 79-minute documentary Italo Disco Legacy will give you a greater understanding of this niche style's enduring charm. DAVE SEGAL
Planning for Burial, Drowse, Nostalgist, Harsh R
Below the House is a fittingly titled album for the subterranean creations of solo artist Thom Wasluck (aka Planning for Burial). Listening to the album, you can envision Wasluck in the basement of his Wilkes-Barre home with a wall of guitar amps in one corner and a makeshift studio cobbled together in another, battling waves of depression and anxiety by grinding out densely layered slabs of tragic and tortured gloom-gaze in his private retreat. The rare Planning for Burial public performance is an emotional bloodletting, with Wasluck beating distorted forlorn melodies out of his guitar against a backdrop of rigid electronic rhythms and shimmering electronics. BRIAN COOK
Adam Ant, The Fixx
Reasons to go see Adam Ant: He looks like Gary Oldmanâwith a pirateâs hat! His last album is really weird. It sounds like he made the whole thing hiding in a basement with a drum machineâlike Sly Stone on Thereâs a Riot Goinâ On, only heâs Adam Ant. He called the album Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunnerâs Daughter. He does not own a television. You can yell for him to play his new songs, but not that skeevy one about lusting after a teenager. That oneâs just too squick. But the other ones are really good. And you get the hits! More hits! And weird stuff cut out from magazines and plastered onto his hat! Ridicule is nothing to be scared of! Live it! ANDREW HAMLIN
Niall Horan, Maren Morris
X-Factor and One Direction veteran Niall Horan has officially struck out on his lonesome, promoting his first solo album Flicker at this world tour stop with Maren Morris.
Wand, Teton, Nicholas Merz
In their five years together, Wand have grown from a raucous garage-rock act that ran in the same circles as Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin to an unusually tuneful psych-rock band. On their two most recent releases, last yearâs Plum and Mayâs Perfume EP, the band strikes a delicate balance between jamming and songwriting. The latter is a recent developmentâthe LA group could always write a good riff, but founder Cory Hanson has taken his craft, and his Thom Yorkeâesque tenor, to new heights. As far as sunny-day, windows-down rock music is concerned, you could do far worse. ANDREW GOSPE
Artist Watch 2018
Seattle Sound Music Awards and Nights at the Neptune will introduce rising hiphop and R&B artists Silver Shadow D, Son of Sam, King Rich, DPH, and Kierra Shiday.
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
VARIOUSDoe Bay Fest 11
Doe Bay Resort is on Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands north of Seattle. Their four-day grassroots festival features music, food, and hot tubbing. Pedro the Lion still sound like the crankiest Christian band ever. For fave second-best act, Iâll take the whole notion of singing along to Simon & Garfunkel, courtesy of Planes on Paper. Also featuring music from Telekinesis, the Dip, Black Tones, Acid Tongue, Vox Mod, Parisalexa, Falon Sierra, and more. Bring sunscreen and bug repellent! ANDREW HAMLIN
Summer Meltdown 2018
Nestled in the mountains of central Washington, Summer Meltdown aims to provide a weekend of high-energy live music performances in a lush woodland setting. Headliners will include Bassnectar, Big Gigantic, Greensky Bluegrass, Lettuce, and Beats Antique, and there will also be "adventures" like rafting, helicopter rides, and kayaking.
FRIDAY
SOUL/R&BThe Isley Brothers & The Pointer Sisters
Iconic Cincinnati-based group the Isley Brothers have been rocking and doo-wopping since 1954, having collaborated with Ice Cube, R. Kelly, the Notorious B.I.G. and many others. Catch their two remaining members, Ronald Isley and Ernie Isley, as they stop in Seattle on tour with the Pointer Sisters.
KEXP & Seattle Center Present: Concerts at the Mural 2018
In true KEXP summertime fashion, the station will be partnering with Seattle Center to provide another enjoyable round of free family-friendly concerts this year at the Mural Amphitheater, located within the heart of Seattle Center. Local and touring artists are included in each year's lineup, with Seattle favorites Tacocat kicking off the series tonight.
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
Women's-lib-dance-rock superstar Pat Benatar and her partner and guitarist Neil Giraldo will once again grace the Northwest with their dual presence for an evening of '80s classics.
SATURDAY
ELECTRONICCruel Diagonals, Medina/Walsh, V.Vecker
A CliffsNotes description of Cruel Diagonals might be something like âvoice-centric ambient music,â the domain of artists like Grouper or Julianna Barwick, who conjure up beatific, self-contained worlds out of little more than vocals and negative space. Bay Area musician Megan Mitchellâs project, though, is more fever dream than reverie. Mitchellâs debut, Disambiguation, is a heavy record, characterized by brooding atmospheres, field recordings, distant layered vocals, and forceful percussion sampled from archival sources. Those drums give her nebulous music uncommon rhythmic heft; a few tracks could even pass for ultra-minimalist techno. Mitchell arrives with a refined personal sonic vocabulary, no small feat in experimental music. ANDREW GOSPE
Daedelus, Gangus, Wylie Cable
As a live act, Daedelus cuts a striking figure: Dressed in a vest or suspenders like a Victorian-era apothecary, with sideburns down to his chin, he hunches over a grid of flashing buttons to trigger his rough-edged, acid-fried beats. That instrument, an endlessly customizable controller called a Monome, is sort of like a nerded-out MPC. Itâs also a decent metaphor for his music: brainy and a little inscrutable, but with unimpeachable beat-making prowess. The producerâs skillâand his ability to incorporate influences ranging from juke to new age to show tunesâhas shown itself time and again across dozens of releases, including several for heavy-hitter electronic labels like Ninja Tune and Brainfeeder. ANDREW GOSPE
Talib Kweli, Niko Is
Talib Kweli is an intellectual, street-savvy MC with socially conscious messages and a flow that can be at turns sleek, forceful, and singsong rugged. Heâs been active since the late 1990s (he had his start as one-half of Black Star with Mos Def) and has eight solo LPs to his credit. The most recent is last yearâs Radio Silence, which is pretty solid from what Iâve heardâcheck out âLet It Rollâ for some strong Kweli rhyme game. Live, he has raw power and a dynamic stage presence (including loads of one-liners and clever banter), amping up crowds while easing and sliding through verses and songs. When I saw him, Kweli performed with a hard-grooving band that was tight as hell. Expect a set list of new joints, old joints (like the ubiquitous âGet Byâ), and the occasional cover (heâs been known to reimagine the Beatlesâ âEleanor Rigbyâ). LEILANI POLK
Chateau Ste. Michelle Festival of Jazz
A whole day of live jazz classics and new interpretations from featured artists: Chris Botti, Morgan James, Sarah Niemietz and Snuffy Walden, and Tuck and Patti.
Rebirth Brass Band
Bringing second-line marching-band sounds into the mainstream (or at least as mainstream as brass-driven music gets), Rebirth Brass Band have been operating as the New Orleans standard since 1983. Led by tuba/sousaphone player Philip Frazier and his bass drummer brother Keith Frazier (their music is heavily featured in the HBO show named for the Treme neighborhood), RBB fuse elements of the second line (two trumpets, two trombones, and tenor sax, and thereâs also a snare drum player) with soul, jazz, funk, and hiphop. Amid their original material (âDo Whatcha Wannaâ and âFeel Like Funkinâ It Upâ are fan favorites), they add the occasional cover, such as the Jacksonsâ âShake Your Body (Down to the Ground).â LEILANI POLK
Dead Baby Downhill XXII
On Saturday, all of Georgetown will be blocked off for the twenty-second annual Dead Baby Downhill, Seattle's punk-colored Mad Max bike race. This year, the ride will begin at Drunky's Two Shoes BBQ in White Center before making its weird and wind-y way to Georgetown. Some pretty fun-forward activities await you at Dead Baby Downhill, including the crown jewel event: BIKE JOUSTING. You can also nosh on barbecue, drink from one of the nearly 100 kegs of beer, and watch bikers swirl around a mini Velodrome while very loud rock music plays all around you.
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Soccer Mommy
Stephen Malkmusâs self-titled solo debut was hardly an about-face, but rather an extension of Pavementâs grad-school ramblings, with all the smart-alecky self-consciousness that it implies. In the 18 years since, heâs experimented with more complicated arrangements and longer instrumental passages, much like a singer-songwriter reincarnated as a prog rocker. If you can get past the awkwardly jaunty song about Freddie Gray (âBike Laneâ), the new Sparkle Hard is another winner from one of the youngest 52-year-olds in the game. Twenty-one-year-old Sophie Allison, aka Soccer Mommy, has released only one album, this yearâs Clean, but itâs a killer. This is an inspired pairing. KATHY FENNESSY
Summer Cannibals, Tres Leches, Guests
There's no delicate way to say it: Summer Cannibals fucking rule. They play with the punishing urgency of young Superchunk, songs full of power and abandon but also set alight by excellent pop instincts and shrewd songwriting. Their third album, Full of It, has been a mainstay since its 2016 release, and their live shows are exciting in a way rock bands often don't even bother aspiring to anymore. Too bad for those losers. SEAN NELSON
Summer Stag Party III
Power-pop rippers Stag will throw their third annual summer party to celebrate the reunion of legendary Sub Pop group Love Battery, who will perform Dayglo in its entirety, along with live sets by Pink Parts, the Black Tones, Andrew McKeag Band, and DJ Kingblind.
Weezer, Pixies, Sleigh Bells
Thereâs no keeping track of Weezer, Rivers Cuomo, or any of the antics associated with either institution. They exist in the eternally smoking ashes of an eternally dumbfounding phoenix, given their prolific proclivity for pop rock. If there is any kind of keeping tabs on them, itâs that theyâve released their riffy-and-rote 12th studio full-length Black Albumâlike none of us saw that coming. Sonic stalwarts Pixies are still vibing off their 2016 album Head Carrier, and arena-bumpers Sleigh Bells, picking up where the Wombats leave off, will be blowing up the amphitheatre one dance-heavy jam after another. ZACH FRIMMEL
The Temptations
After seeing the Yardbirds perform with only two original members a few years ago, it became apparent that oldies acts can get by with makeshift lineups, as long as the songs still resonate and the pick-up players can execute them with ĂŠlan. So, Otis Williams is the only guy left from the Temptationsâ classic â60s/â70s lineup? No matter. When you have songs as potently soulful and dynamic as âJust My Imagination,â âPapa Was a Rollinâ Stone,â âBall of Confusion,â and âCloud Nine,â you can still smash it with earnest epigones on the mics. DAVE SEGAL
Tinariwen
A performance by Tinariwen will transport you to the windswept sands of the Sahara Desert. Rooted in blues, rock, and Afropop, their music incorporates exotic Berber and Arabic influences, and their mix of guitars, bass, percussion, and handclaps is carried by a chorus of male voices crooning, chanting, and howling harmonies in a language you wonât know but will feel deeply in your soul. The groupâs members are former Tuareg rebels who came together in 1979 to make music while living as refugees in Algeria. They returned to their home in Mali in the 1990s after a cease-fire and continued to play together, though they didnât release their first album until 2001. Six LPs and a Grammy Award have followed, including last yearâs Elwan, recorded in tents that were set up in a southern Morocco oasis. LEILANI POLK
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
VARIOUSSeventh Annual Watershed Festival
Watershed Country Music Festival will return to the Gorge for a wild weekend of twangin' goodness. Put on your "Shedder gear" (trucker hats?) and get ready for three whole days of down-home studs, including Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Cassadee Pope, Big & Rich, and more.
SUNDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKAmos Lee, Bailen
Perennial Starbucks-soundtracker Amos Lee will take his night of soulful singer-songwriter vibes to the next level at this live show alongside harmony-focused NYC pop group Bailen.
Swearin', Mike Krol, Sleepy Genes
To bend a line from Dorothy Gale, bands come and go so quickly hereâhere being the English-speaking part of planet Earth, at least. Swearinâ broke up three years ago, and now theyâre back. Letâs hope theyâve still got the pushy guitar that overflows all over the place, and the enigmatic vocals that sound like they could mean anything, but must mean something, a trick I still miss from when R.E.M. dropped it. I know Iâm old, and I know Iâll be dead in a few more go-rounds. Who was it that said, âGotta do the good stuff nowâ? ANDREW HAMLIN
