This week, The Stranger‘s arts critics have recommended the best events for you in every discipline: From First Thursday to the Wing Luke Museum’s Twilight Noodle Slurp to the Urban Craft Uprising. See them all below, and, if that’s still not enough, check out our complete Things To Do calendar.
MONDAY
MUSIC
1. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
“Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s live shows are all about giving people a reason to put on a zoot suit or cocktail dress and cut the rug, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a great band with some excellent tunes like ‘You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight’ and ‘Minnie the Moocher.'” -Joseph Schafer
FILM
2. The Winding Stream
“The Winding Stream takes us to the roots of a form of music that has long expressed the conditions and feelings of many working-class white Americans: country music.” -Charles Mudede
3. Metropolitan 25th Anniversary
“[When I first saw it], Metropolitan was like no other American film I had seen before for this reason alone: Its characters had a lot to say about class in general, and the condition of their class specifically. This sort of thing is not typical for Americans.” -Charles Mudede
4. Casablanca
They had a date with fate in Casablanca!
TUESDAY
READINGS & TALKS
5. Srikanth Reddy
“Reddy is a deeply (if quietly) funny professor-type whose electric mind makes surprising connections between unlike things.” -Rich Smith
MUSIC
6. Cancer Bats
“These Toronto natives fuse elements of thrash metal, punk rock, Southern rock, sludge metal, hardcore, and groove metal into a big ol’ melting pot of radness.” -Kevin Diers
7. !!! and Stereolad
Go see !!!’s Nic Offer and crew offer up their take on the tunes of legendary lounge pop act Stereolab as “Stereolad.”
8. Zappa Plays Zappa
“Fronted by Dweezil Zappa, son of the late, great weirdo musical genius Frank Zappa, the band carries on the family biz with live tribute shows and spot-on musicianship.” -Robin Edwards
WEDNESDAY
PERFORMANCE
9. Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales: Unwrapped
“There are no words for how brain-explodingly brilliant Jinkx Monsoon is. You think she was funny on RuPaul’s Drag Race? You don’t know the half of it. She brought down the house in The Vaudevillians at Seattle Rep last year, which was such a smash hit that the Rep offered Jinkx and Major Scales “an open invitation to come back to us with a new show.” This is it! It’s a holiday show, so expect really fucked-up Christmas songs—or maybe Hanukkah songs. Jinkx is half Jewish, as every die-hard Jinkx fan worth their salt knows.” -Christopher Frizzelle
FILM
10. The Breakfast Club
It’s playing for just 99 cents today at Central Cinema.
READINGS & TALKS
11. Silent Reading Party
The reading party, invented by Stranger editor-in-chief Christopher Frizzelle, is when the Fireside Room at the Sorrento Hotel goes quiet and fills with people with books tucked under their arms, and there’s free music.
12. The Gay Uncle Time: Marlene Dietrich
December’s edition of the avuncular variety show starring Santa-esque comedian Jeffrey Robert is a tribute to the revered Marlene Dietrich, and will feature Areola Borealis/Chris Haase, Mac S. McGregor, Lynn Rosskamp, and Maggie Bloodstone.
COMEDY
13. A John Waters Christmas: Holier and Dirtier
A holiday show with your favorite “Pope of Trash”/”Prince of Puke.”
MUSIC
14. G. Jones and Bleep Bloop
“G. Jones makes funky bass music that occupies the lucrative sweet spot between dubstep and electro.” -Dave Segal
15. Bell Witch
“With only bass and drums, Dylan Desmond and new drummer Jesse Shreibman (also of Transient) pull doom metal to its longest, most aching and progressive extremes.” -Joseph Schafer
16. Dom Kennedy
“Dom Kennedy’s grind puts many other contemporary rappers to shame: Independently releasing a slew of good-to-great West Coast-repping mix tapes since the mid-’00s, starting his own record label, and dropping the scene-defining “My Type of Party” in 2012.” -Kyle Fleck
THURSDAY
ART
17. First Thursday Art Walk
Exhibit openings, people watching, and (generally) free wine at the city’s central and oldest art walk. See the complete list of December openings here, and keep an eye out especially for opening receptions for Nicole Barton and Pop Up Pop In.
MUSIC
18. Every Little Counts
“Tonight several local musical luminaries gather to play the upliftingly melancholy dance rock of New Order, with the goal of raising funds for MusiCares, a foundation that provides financial assistance to musicians dealing with medical emergencies.” -Dave Segal
READINGS & TALKS
19. Sandi Doughton & David Montgomery: Rising to Disaster Risks in Cascadia
Here to quell your curiosities and fears following the New Yorker article are Sandi Doughton, author of Full-Rip 9.0, which warned about the potential danger’s of the fault line Seattle sits on, and other special guests.
20. Seattle StorySLAM
A live amateur storytelling competition, hosted by Lindy West, in which audience members who put their names in a hat are randomly chosen to tell stories on a theme (this week: excuses).
PERFORMANCE
21. zoe | juniper: We were.
“In an interview at the Frye, the Juniper part of the Stranger Genius Award–winning team zoe | juniper said that with this performance, the pair was trying to create a ‘memory matrix related to the idea of space.’ We don’t call them geniuses for nothing.” -Rich Smith
22. Predator Songstress
“Longtime local multi-media performers Degenerate Art Ensemble—led by composer Joshua Kohl and butoh-inflected dancer Haruko ‘Crow’ Nishimura—take the stage for their tenth full-length production. Continuing to explore their obsession with tyranny, this one’s a ‘modern-day fairy tale’ about a woman whose voice has been stolen. Over the course of the play she appropriates the regime’s tactics as a means to recover not only her voice, but the voices of the oppressed.” -Rich Smith
FILM
23. Cartoon Happy Hour
A two hour block of free classic cartoons every Thursday, plus food specials.
24. RiffTrax Live: Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny
A pig, a man in a gorilla suit, magic beans and more are featured in one of the strangest Christmas movies ever made.
FRIDAY
FOOD & DRINK
25. Winter Beer Fest
The bright side to long, gray, wet winters is all the time you get to savor the seasonal offerings from local craft breweries–dark malty stouts, robust winter warmers, and barrel-aged gems. This event features beers from over 50 Washington Brewers Guild member breweries.
26. Twilight Noodle Slurp
The Wing Luke Museum’s three-hour walking tour of the ID, during which they sample some of the many noodles offered at the neighborhood’s mix of Asian restaurants and learn about the dishes.
27. Bigwood
Brouwer’s will have over 50 wood-aged beers from around the world on draft, from stout to sour and everything in between. Get there early in the weekend before your favorites run out!
PERFORMANCE
28. SnowGlobed
The fifth iteration of SnowGlobed features five new holiday inspired plays featuring divorce courts, miserable orphanages, bloody puppet shows, and all the usual holiday staples. (Through Dec 19)
29. Spin the Bottle
This is Seattle’s longest-running cabaret and has seen just about everything—dance, theater, comedy, paper airplanes, tears, stunts, music, romance—from just about everyone.
30. The Nutcracker
“After retiring its much-loved Nutcracker last year, Pacific Northwest Ballet unveils a fresh one with new-to-the-company choreography by George Balanchine and a mystery design by illustrator (and theater designer) Ian Falconer.” -Brendan Kiley (PNB isn’t the only place you can catch The Nutcracker this season–see them all here.)
QUEER
31. Spoken Word for Art AIDS America
This spoken word event is inspired by Art AIDS America at Tacoma Art Museum, an exhibit that Jen Graves recommends and describes as “a bold, big group show meant to address how AIDS changed the course of American art,” featuring a wildly impressive list of names. This evening at Gay City will feature performances by queer poets, along with discussion led by a representative from the Tacoma Art Museum.
MUSIC
32. Scott Kelly
“Neurosis vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly veers toward the restrained components of his band’s arsenal in his solo work—there is no vestige of his band’s cataclysmic roar in Kelly’s countrified endeavors. But his current collaborative tour with experimental saxophonist Bruce Lamont proves that Kelly is still determined to defy expectations and toy with aural possibilities.” -Brian Cook
33. Yann Novak
“Usually augmented by field recordings, Novak’s output represents some of the purest, most patiently unspooling music around now, ideal for headphone-enabled stress relief.” -Dave Segal
34. A Benefit for James Atkins
“Dig this lineup of (mostly) ’90s-era Seattle: Headliners Hammerbox are playing their first show in over a decade; Alcohol Funnycar will perform their classic ’90s melodic, mid-tempo rock; Coffin Break are always a punk-rockin’ good time; newer group Stag are bringing the anthemic, late-’70s power pop; Gretta Harley will no doubt be singing and a’strumming; Selene Vigil promises to do the songs of her old group, 7 Year Bitch (acoustically?!); and the Long Winters, aka the unsung heroes of ‘post-grudge indie rock,’ are contracted to play their ‘post-grudge indie rock.'” -Mike Nipper
SATURDAY
FOOD & DRINK
35. Pyramid Brewing’s Snow Cap Party
Celebrate another year of Pyramid Brewing with brews (obviously) as well as some solid techno-pop provided by LIGHTS and The Mowgli’s.
FESTIVALS
36. Urban Craft Uprising
“Events that provide a big space for makers of small, hand-crafted art things to congregate and peddle their wares offer welcome reminders of the power of independent culture, and of humanity’s capacity for physical interaction despite the internet. The added bonus of Urban Craft Uprising is that you can buy all the presents you’ll ever need and still make a contribution to the war on Christmas!” -Sean Nelson
ART
37. Georgetown Holiday Market
Over 40 vendors will be at the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall selling wares ranging from antique furniture to “hip threads for your kiddos” and “delicious noshables.”
38. The Figure in Process: de Kooning to Kapoor, 1955-2015 Opening
“On December 5, Seattle gains a new nonprofit arts center created by billionaire Paul Allen, the businessman and philanthropist who’s also a major blue-chip art collector (and creator of Seattle Art Fair). The first exhibition, The Figure in Process, contains 20 works—a handful owned by Allen and the rest borrowed from around the world.” -Jen Graves
MUSIC
39. Afghan Whigs
“The Whigs are the real treat here. Greg Dulli’s kinky, soul-inflected hard-rock project are still one of the most vital acts in alternative rock.” -Joseph Schafer
40. Odesza
“Odesza’s ascent has been made possible by their glossy, billboard-sized beats: squeaky vocal samples, and predictable-enough bass kicks that provide an easily accessed head-nod zone for their fairly massive, blissed-out festival crowds.” -Todd Hamm
41. The Exquisites
“I’ve praised Jason Clackley’s emotionally charged punk band the Exquisites in these pages before, and they still deliver a “painlessly earnest” strain of sad beardo rock that tugs even the most cynical heartstrings.” -Brittnie Fuller
42. Dried Up Corpse
“Give a listen to Dried Up Corpse’s performance from the Ende Tymes festival in 2013 and prepare to get sucked into a grinding and desolate post-apocalyptic jet whorl of turbulent drone and harrowing textures. Best experienced live, we reckon, with earplugs in tow.” -Kyle Fleck
43. Smiling
“Seattle hardcore quintet Smiling create a dangerous whirlwind of sound, all sulfuric guitar strafing, mercurially careening rhythms, and cantankerous vocals. Their crisis-situation sound should appeal to fans of Die Kreuzen, Gang of Four, Lightning Bolt, and Volcano Suns.” -Dave Segal
FILM
44. Genius/21 Century/Seattle Film Festival
“During the first weekend of the Genius Film Festival, the Frye Art Museum celebrates the work of the cinematographer Ben Kasulke and the director Lynn Shelton. The internationally recognized filmmakers played a central role in shaping and defining the contemporary cinema of our region.” -Charles Mudede
QUEER
45. Rainy City Rubber Men Meetup
“Time to get all slick and slippery with the Rainy City Rubber Men! Slip into your tightest, squeakiest number and get ready for some friction. And if you don’t own any rubber gear (yet), that’s okay: spandex, leather, neoprene, and wetsuits are all encouraged.” -Matt Baume
SUNDAY
ART
46. Backstreet Bazaar’s 10×10 Fundraiser
Nosh on homemade tacos from culinary star Tarik Abdullah, listen to the musical stylings of Sebastian and the Deep Blue, and buy $50 works from local artists…all to benefit Community Arts Create, the organization that brings you the Backstreet Bazaar. Entry is free, but consider donating.
READINGS & TALKS
47. Babel/Salvage: Ogopogo
This installment of Babel/Salvage’s literary variety show features an impressive list of performers who are variety shows in and of themselves, including Stranger Genius and IT guy Maged Zaher, Emily Pothast, Natasha Marin, and Jekeva Phillips.
MUSIC
48. Mike Krol
“It only took the Mike Krol four days to record his third album, a potent party record in which glam, garage, and power pop coalesce in perfect harmony.” -Kathy Fennessy
49. Daniel Bachman
“Bachman weaves intricate skeins of bent folk-blues twang and plangent chime that uncannily set your mind at ease via the Appalachian algebra of joy.” -Dave Segal
50. Jay Farrar
“Jay Farrar holds the distinction of being the driving force behind Uncle Tupelo, one of the first acts to successfully bridge the gap between American roots music and the unrefined roar of punk. It’s a career he’s continued with his seminal alt-country outfit Son Volt and his more texturally adventurous solo albums.” -Brian Cook
51. He Whose Ox is Gored
“After six years of anticipation, local post-hardcore-gone-doom quartet He Whose Ox Is Gored have finally released their great debut full-length The Camel, The Lion, The Child via Bleeding Light Records. This is your chance to celebrate the culmination of all their efforts by having your eardrums assaulted in the flesh.” -Kevin Diers
COMEDY
52. Weird & Awesome with Emmett Montgomery
On the first Sunday of each month, comedy, variety, and “a parade of wonder and awkward sharing” are hosted by the self-proclaimed “mustache wizard” Emmett Montgomery.
