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READINGS & TALKS
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Surge Reproductive Justice’s quarterly storytelling shindig emphasizes community-building around reproductive justice, and it’s a cause you should get behind—the intersectional framework of reproductive justice was “created by Black women, [and] takes a holistic approach to addressing all that we need to live whole, healthy and powerful lives.” Their March BIPOC-only programming focuses on sex-positive storytelling with a spotlight on queer and trans people of color and sex workers. Intimacy educator Goddess Briq House will emcee. LC
(Gallery Erato, Pioneer Square, free)
LIVE MUSIC
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Byland is the moniker (and last name) of the Seattle-based, Albuquerque-raised singer-songwriter Alie Renee. She will take over Easy Street for a special record release party in honor of her new album, Heavy For Awhile. If you’re a fan of indie folk angels like Feist, Aldous Harding, or Laura Marling, expect this album to be a new favorite. AV
(Easy Street Records, Junction, free)
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In case you missed it, the long-running Conor Byrne pub is closing its doors for good this weekend—but not without one excellent final concert. Seattle-based artist Issara will bring her eclectic fusion of soul, French yéyé pop, rock, and, as she describes it, “Thai twist” to the stage to support her debut album, 222. Don’t miss opening sets from soul ensemble Breaks and Swells and groovy Afrobeat band Extra Thick. AV
(Conor Byrne, Ballard, $12)
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Midwife is the project of New Mexico-based musician Madeline Johnston, who crafts reflective experimental pop music that she’s coined “heaven metal.” Sonically, her work is much different than the traditional metal genre—it’s soft, lush, and at times, diaristic. However, her songs are also deeply cathartic and hypnotic, with metal-esque topics like pain, grief, and darkness. Johnston is bringing her Worship tour to Seattle alongside doom duo Ragana, slowcore artist Vyva Melinkolya, and experimental ambient project Body Negative. AV
(Black Lodge, South Lake Union, $15)
COMEDY
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I’m fortunate enough to have never been on a blind date, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to watch two strangers go through the whole rigamarole on a theater stage. Enter First Date, Bandit Theater’s newest solution to loneliness; they’ll set up two folks looking for love and the audience will watch them succeed or crash and burn. Then, a team of improvisers will devise comedy based on how the date went. Hey, they do say laughter makes you sexier. LC
(Here-After at the Crocodile, Belltown, $15)
VISUAL ART
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Palestinian artists Bashar Alhroub, Yazan Abu Salameh, and Hosni Radwan will showcase their work collaboratively in Palestine: Tracing Boundaries, an exhibition planned with the Ramallah- and Dubai-based Zawyeh Gallery. The group show aims to “give voice to Palestinian culture through the artwork of some of its most celebrated creatives”—I’m in love with Alhroub’s Holy Gates silkscreen prints. LC
(Suzanne Zahr Gallery, Mercer Island, free)
COMMUNITY
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As a child on the Kitsap Peninsula, I remember donning full rain gear to go search for Easter eggs in muddy fields. It looks like this weekend’s hunters will avoid such a fate, with dry (and maybe even sunny?) skies. You can take the kiddos to a variety of free egg hunts at community centers and parks across the city, all put on by Seattle Parks and Rec. Check their website for more about dates, times, and locations. SL
(Various locations, free)
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I’m willing to believe that I’m a weirdo for this one, but hitting up a free spelling bee sounds like a blast. Eighty middle schoolers attempting to spell “psammophile,” “zwitterion,” and “schistorrhachis?” This is an environment Christopher Guest could only dream of conjuring up. Anywho, don’t sleep on the cuteness of the King/Snohomish County Regional Spelling Bee, which sees smarty-pants middle-schoolers from King and Snohomish Counties knock out words like “feuilleton” and “scherenschnitte.” (I may still be mad that I lost a spelling bee in ’99 by misspelling “phosphorescent,” but these kids still have a shot at greatness.) Seattle Radio Theatre founder and KIRO Radio’s producer, host, and historian Feliks Banel will emcee the brainy event. LC
(Town Hall Seattle, First Hill, free)
FILM
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If you’re a sucker for old-school cinema with an element of surprise, this recurring series has your name written allll over it. Grand Illusion will continue a longstanding tradition with its 16th season of matinee classics screened alongside a secret feature film every Saturday, all in dreamy 16mm. The series continues this weekend with “Kookoo for Kaiju,” so strap in for Japanese monster classics. LC
(Grand Illusion, University District, $8-$11)
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Calling it now: If you’ve seen Stop Making Sense, it’s probably your favorite concert film. It’s jangly and arty and all of the other words one might use to describe Talking Heads’s catalog, and David wears the suit. Not feeling the Byrne? Listen, I know watching a concert movie for a band you don’t listen to sounds like hell, but this one might be an exception. If you haven’t seen it yet, anticipate looking back on the experience with a funny fondness later, like a good birthday party or the first time you smoked weed. Jonathan Demme (yes, the guy who went on to make The Silence of the Lambs) recorded all of the concert footage over the course of three days at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre in 1983, during the height of the Heads’ visionary fame. It’s screening in a new restoration, so prep for a “once in a lifetime” experience. LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, $14.50-$15.50)
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A freelance writer pitches an article about the “bunnies” working in gentlemen’s clubs (which, honestly, sounds like my kind of assignment), but confusion ensues when the breezy article becomes a stark social analysis of women’s working conditions. (This Easter, let’s celebrate feminism, y’all!) This kind of direct-to-VHS weirdness is par for the course at VHS Uber Alles, where three bucks will land you a ticket to a hush-hush flick that you’ve probably never heard of. The screening series is always offered at an ultra-low price aligned with the so-bad-it’s-good quality of its programming. (That’s what makes it fun.) LC
(Grand Illusion, University District, $3)
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When a teenaged Reese Witherspoon brings a bad boy (who turns out to be a violent sociopath, NBD) into her dad’s fancy Seattle home, he enlists the help of high-tech gadgets and surveillance to keep things in check. Fear also features a ’90s rave, a dad bod, self-mutilation, and a rollercoaster orgasm. What more could we ask for? Travis Vogt, Matt Lynch, and Kevin Clarke, hosts of The Suspense Is Killing Us podcast and retro thriller fanatics, will introduce the nightmare. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City, $12.50)
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Taking its title from the Japanese word omoiyari—which translates to having sympathy and compassion toward others—Seattle-based musician Kishi Bashi’s debut film documents his transformative voyage of facing his heritage and reconciling the painful history of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. With the “rising tide of discrimination against marginalized communities,” Kishi Bashi shines a light on incarceration survivors’ untold stories through this documentary film and accompanying orchestral pop album. This weekend, treat yourself to a ferry ride over to the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art for a special screening of the film to commemorate the anniversary of EO 9066. AV
(Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Winslow, $10-$12)
FOOD & DRINK
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Known for being Seattle’s oldest neighborhood, industrial-gritty Georgetown has become a culinary destination in its own right, with a high concentration of underrated gems. At this annual spring food walk, you can scoop up offerings from dozens of vendors, including fish tacos from El Sirenito, ube cookies from Voi Ca Phe, tavern burgers from Star Brass Lounge, soft serve from Matcha Man Ice Cream, and more. JB
(Various locations across Georgetown, $5 per food ticket)
LIVE MUSIC
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Can’t get enough of Beyoncé’s new Cowboy Carter era? Come “take it to the floor now” with Sho-Nuff’s Black Rodeo. Throw on your best western wear and hoedown to a mix of country and hip-hop tunes from Portland-based rapper Glam Doll with DJs LBXX, Uvraii, and Kween Kaysh. There will also be live go-go dancers, a snazzy photo booth, tattoos, nail art, and vintage clothing vendors. AV
(Madame Lou’s at the Crocodile, Belltown, $12)
READINGS & TALKS
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Local poet Eric M. Acosta will lead this ekphrastic writing workshop, which will mine Frye’s galleries to “explore the bond between language and art.” Frye’s partnership with Unpoetry fosters new writing inspired by its current exhibitions, so writers Aleyda Cervantes, Nadine Maestas, Clara Olivio, and Hannah Villanueva will share pieces responding to Jessica Jackson Hutchins: Wrecked and Righteous, and Sky Hopinka: Subterranean Ceremonies. LC
(Frye Art Museum, First Hill, free)
SPORTS & RECREATION
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If you don’t have tickets to the Seattle Kraken game at Climate Pledge, don’t fret, the Seattle Center Armory will be showing it on a big screen next door. To get hyped before the puck drops, the Armory will open two hours before each weekend match so you can join fellow Kraken fans in activities like sign making, cornhole, floor hockey, special activations, and more. Plus, snag a photo with Kraken mascot Buoy and enjoy tunes from Red Alert, the Kraken marching band. SL
(Seattle Center Armory, Uptown, free)
SPRING
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Expect to walk away rainbow-hued after attending this neighborhood Holi festival, planned in honor of India’s vibrant spring tradition. Attendees are encouraged to fling colored powder all over each other, so wear light-colored duds to get the full experience. Bura na mano Holi hai! LC
(Phinney Center Community Hall, Phinney Ridge, $7-$14)
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This free annual Holi celebration anticipates over 5000 attendees, so come prepared for crowds (and wear white to show off the metric ton of (safe, organic) colorful powder you’ll be covered with by the end.) Organized by nonprofit organization AmPowering, proceeds from the event will be donated to #FeedTheNeed, an ongoing project providing meals to 2,500 houseless community members weekly. Once you’re covered in color, you’ll find cultural food carts, traditional drums, and dance performances at the festival, too. LC
(Mural Amphitheatre, Uptown, $0-$14)
PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE
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The first time I saw a poster for the Sexy Jesus Competition on a telephone pole, I laughed out loud. The irreverence, the camaraderie, the infusion of drag, it’s quintessential Seattle to me. Back for the third year and celebrating a Queer/Bar debut, participants are invited to dress up in their holiest for a chance to be crowned “Sexiest Jesus” (and take home heavenly blessings, like DIDO tickets). Join the congregation if you’re not up for participating—every Jesus needs a Mary Magdalene. SL
Queer Bar, Capitol Hill
SHOPPING
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Shop sales and merchandise from a smattering of Ballard shops and boutiques all in one place! I’m looking to pick up some new scents from Spír Candle Co., cute clothing and accessories from Prism, and gifts for the tiny humans in my life from Clover Toys. Adults can sip Ballard-brewed beer on Friday night only, but the event promises goods “up to 75% off the original price” both days. SL
(Sons of Norway, Leif Erikson Lodge, Ballard, Friday-Saturday)
ACTIVISM & SOCIAL JUSTICE
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An often-overlooked 1968 social justice movement confronted poverty head-on and reimagined American activism, but you’ve probably never heard of it. The Smithsonian’s traveling exhibition Solidarity Now! 1968 Poor People’s Campaign looks closely at the nearly six-week-long protest, which took place in a constructed “Resurrection City” in DC and drew attention to the impact of poverty on Americans. Everyone from rural Appalachians to residents of Puerto Rico and Native communities showed up for demonstrations and demands for jobs, living wages, access to health care, and more. Organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, the Poor People’s Campaign was the “first large-scale, nationally organized demonstration to take place after King’s death.” Head to this exhibition to learn more about it through photographs, oral histories, and political ephemera. LC
(Washington State History Museum, Tacoma, $0-$14, Friday-Sunday)
COMEDY
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Drawing from radically honest projects like PostSecret, Mortified, and Found Magazine, this mysterious—and hilarious—show compiles anonymously submitted secrets from Seattleites and uses the city’s dirty laundry to create improvised scenes. Expect a mix of lighthearted laughs, tea-sipping, and catharsis. LC (Unexpected Productions’ Market Theater, Pike Place Market, $15, Friday-Saturday)
FESTIVALS
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It’s spring, which can only mean one thing: It’s time once again to admire gently wafting pink cherry blossoms in full bloom at the University of Washington Quad. To celebrate, over 80 U District businesses have come together to offer cherry blossom-themed food and drink specials and discounts on retail items. Before or after your petal-gazing excursion, stop by and enjoy treats like cherry blossom lattes from Cafe Canuc, cherry glazed ring doughnuts from Donut Factory, sakura ice cream from Sweet Alchemy, and pink custard croissant taiyaki at Oh Bear Cafe & Teahouse. JB
(Various locations throughout University District, Friday-Sunday)
FILM
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Emerald Fennell’s 2023 film is nothing if not polarizing (“Saltburn is the sort of embarrassment you’ll put up with for 75 minutes. But not for 127,” says the New York Times), but as the world’s preeminent Barry Keoghan stan, I have to at least entertain the idea that it has legs. Saltburn is billed as a “wicked tale of privilege and desire” (oOoOo) that sees an Oxford student attempt to infiltrate the aristocratic world of a classmate on an “eccentric family’s sprawling estate.” (Has anything good ever happened at a “sprawling estate?”) Also, if you’ve spent any time on Twitter over the last six months, it’s no spoiler to mention that Keoghan fucks a grave. Anyway, if you like Agatha Christie, drugs, and films that had exactly zero skin in the Oscars game, this one might hit. LC
(Central Cinema, Central District, $15, Friday-Sunday)
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Squatters are not a group of folks that I’d previously associated with cinema, but I’m not afraid to admit that I was wrong. “In 2019, a radical group calling itself the Cinéma La Clef Revival Collective forced their way into the derelict building which housed La Clef (The Key), a ’70s-era cinema,” The Beacon explains. The French collective revitalized the space, which had shuttered in 2015 because the owners wanted to sell the property for redevelopment. Booo! La Clef Revival has fostered a community-programmed space for “squatter’s cinema” ever since, shouting a gargantuan “fuck you” at exclusionary rental practices and vampiric landlords and developers. Show up to this screening series throughout March for a selection of squat-centric flicks like Occupied Cinema, Winstanley, and one of my personal faves, Robinson’s Garden—it’s a clear-cut punk statement offering up a rare glimpse of a multicultural Tokyo sans city pop and financial prosperity. Not to gush too much, but the film draws from underground No Wave aesthetics (think Jim Jarmusch) to tell an anticapitalist story of a bohemian drug dealer who discovers an abandoned building lush with vegetation. Promise you’ll dig it. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City, Friday-Saturday)
VISUAL ART
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Alexis Trice’s mysterious paintings conjure beauty amid brutality—gossamer-haired creatures shed tears, sip from pearlescent streams, swim among seaweed, and float above vast expanses of ocean. The artist’s diaphanous blend of realism and fantasy captures something rare: A real emotional undercurrent, something full of ecstasy and sadness, weaves throughout her compositions. Roq La Rue’s first solo exhibition with Trice “touches on themes of grief and redemption” and includes sepia-toned oil paintings on antique shells. LC
(Roq La Rue, Madison Valley, free, Friday-Saturday)
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Artists Mia Imani and Mayola Tikaka call upon the extraordinary visions of Octavia Butler for this installation, which features a low-lit resting space, an altar, and imagery of Black rest. Head to King Street Station to contemplate Butler’s visionary worlds, which counteract intergenerational trauma and stress often experienced by Black people with a “portal of healing and imagining.” By the way, Butler prophesized an eerily accurate, destabilized world in 2024, so Imani and Tikaka’s rest space has arrived just in time. Throughout the exhibition, visitors can engage with rest rituals, hear interviews, and watch performances by the artists. LC
(King Street Station, SoDo, free, Friday-Saturday)
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If you haven’t been enraptured by a ceramic platter lately, first of all: Same. But consider my previously platter-less perspective irrevocably changed by Generous Portions, the result of local artists Joe Max Emminger, Elizabeth Sandvig, and Dick Weiss’s collaborative painting sessions. The trio gathers on Sandvig’s sunny porch each week to gossip and paint ceramic plates with colorful enamels. (Hi guys, are you looking for a fourth friend?) The resulting pieces are layered, diary-like, and contain an element of spontaneity that only a hangout with a bestie can provide. LC
(Traver Gallery, Downtown Seattle, free, Friday-Saturday)
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I was intrigued by quinn mcnichol’s work in last year’s Hudson River School-inspired group exhibition Of A Place, so I’m stoked to see or was it all some kind of dream?, mcnichol’s solo exhibition at SOIL. The artist calls upon tarot readings, weather shifts, and medicinal herb gardens as “narratives” in a “visual adventure,” inviting viewers into a dream space of cozy cushions, quiet music, and ethereal artworks. Drop in and take a breath. LC
(SOIL, Pioneer Square, free, Friday-Sunday)
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Curator Hannah Newman’s Sleepless Nights explores the horrors that would’ve kept Edgar Allan Poe twisting and turning at night, had he been born in the last 50 years or so: Doomscrolling, mental health struggles, grind culture, inflation, all that very scary stuff. Describing busyness as a survival tactic (“The moment we slow down, our worries catch up,” the promotional materials explain), Sleepless Nights posits that artists distract themselves by creating beauty. The exhibition, which features works by Marcelo Fontana, Pamela Hadley, Nicholas Moler-Gallardo, Jessie Rose Vala, Morgan Rosskopf, Katherine Spinella, and Newman, will unfold in a “dark room via blacklights, nightlights, phone screens, and projectors…infused with a continuous stream of audio, a background score of current events, news updates, podcasts, and other data.” Nothing we’re not accustomed to, right? LC
(SOIL, Pioneer Square, free, Friday-Sunday)
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Spring is a great season and all, but it’s also kind of weird. Newly hatched nestlings emerge with pinkish, bald heads, and crocuses expand from the grass next to the muddied slush that’s still plopped in the gutters. As we emerge from the darkness of winter, it takes a moment for the season to feel real. Spring, Time conjures some of the surreality I’m describing—the artists involved, including Anneka Wilder, Sharon Servilio, Yeon Jin Kim, and others, are thinking about mechanically grown grass, plastic flowers, and misbehaving creatures. I’m intrigued by Colton Sampson’s barbed-wire flora. LC
(The Vestibule, Ballard, free, Friday-Saturday)
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You’ll find plenty of weekend-worthy exhibitions at Seattle Art Museum right now, like Remember the Rain, a collection of 20th-century Haitian paintings, and Elizabeth Malaska: All Be Your Mirror. (Pro tip for you Cheap and Easy readers: You can snag free museum passes from the Seattle Public Library and the King County Library.) Don’t forget to duck into SAM Gallery, though, where you’ll find Luminosity, which spotlights local artist Andy Eccleshall’s precise oil paintings of illuminated fields and sunrises. LC
(SAM Gallery, Downtown Seattle, free, Friday-Sunday)
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Transdisciplinary artist Martine Gutierrez creates twists on pop culture tropes through elaborate narrative scenes. Using a wide range of mediums connected to mass media, from music videos to billboard campaigns and satirical fashion magazines, Gutierrez explores constructions of self and their own multicultural, first-generation identity as an artist of Indigenous descent. This presentation of Gutierrez’s work was organized in conjunction with their upcoming Monsen Photography Lecture, an annual talk that brings key makers and thinkers in photographic practice to the Henry. LC
(Henry Art Gallery, University District, Friday-Sunday)
EverOut Staff
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