(BOOKS) Hanif Abdurraqib is the best friend I never met. Having spent years reading his work—his essays, his poetry, his music criticism—it feels as though we’ve spent half a lifetime together sitting on floors, listening to records, and exchanging observations about everyone from Aretha Franklin to My Chemical Romance. He doesn’t write at you, as so many culture critics do—his prose opens up and pulls you into whatever little world he’s spinning in his brain. You don’t just understand his observations, you often feel them, too. He’ll be at Town Hall in April in support of his new book There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, which NPR, Time, Chicago Review of Books, and Lit Hub, among many others, have deemed as one of the most anticipated books of 2024. I can’t fucking wait. (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 7:30 pm, $5-$25, all ages) MEGAN SELING
THURSDAY 4/25Author Talk: Health Nut, Jess Damuck
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(FOOD/BOOKS) Recipe developer and food stylist Jess Damuck worked for Martha Stewart in various capacities for over a decade—including a stint as her personal chef, during which time she'd craft her signature "three-hour salads" for the legendary home and cooking mogul herself. Her 2022 debut cookbook Salad Freak detailed how to craft these leafy masterpieces. With her latest release Health Nut, Damuck's set her sights on updating traditional "hippie health food" like smoothies, stir-fries, and grain bowls, adding a modern twist to these granola-core staples. This results in nourishing, well-rounded dishes like brothy white beans with parmesan and pesto, or crispy rice and salmon bowls with quick pickles and greens. She'll visit Book Larder to chat about her fresh approach to wholesome cuisine. (Book Larder, 4252 Fremont Ave N, 6:30 pm, $39.55 with a signed book/$5.75 without) JULIANNE BELL
FRIDAY 4/26Acid Tongue Live at Easy Street
(MUSIC) Fresh off the platformed heels of their album, Acid on the Dancefloor, glam rock wizards Acid Tongue will take over Easy Street with plenty of guitar licks, sweaty hair flips, drug-inspired lyrics, and, as former Stranger writer Jas Kemig once wrote, "enough energy to power a small car." If you're unfamiliar with the band, check out the video for the album's title track which is a psychedelic explosion of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. (Easy Street Records, 4559 California Ave SW, 7 pm, free, all ages) AUDREY VANN
SATURDAY 4/27Whispers of the Veiled Melody: Nasim Moghadam and Kiana Honarmand
'Unveiled (detail)' by Nasim Moghadam. Part of 'Whispers of the Veiled Melody' at SOIL through April 27. COURTESY OF SOIL
(VISUAL ART) Exploring the diversity of SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) experience, SOIL's latest exhibition showcases video projections, sculptures, and vinyl installations. Whispers of the Veiled Melody features works by Iranian artists Nasim Moghadam and Kiana Honarmand, whose multimedia approaches blend memories and sociocultural influences to reflect on the distinctions of their identities and heritages. (Moghadam's award-winning works focus on "hyphenated identity, as well as the constraints on women, their bodies, and their voices," while Honarmand contemplates "the complexities of her cultural identity, the violation of women's rights in Iran, and the Western perception of the SWANA identity.") (SOIL, 112 Third Ave S, Fri-Sat, noon-5 pm, through April 27, free, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO
SUNDAY 4/28(FILM) "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." Local legend Bruce Lee's most entertaining flicks (The Dragon Lives Again, The Clones of Bruce Lee, and Two on The Road), also known as Bruceploitation films, will screen at Grand Illusion as part of its Kung Fu Clubhouse series. The theater's Bruceploitation Bonanza celebrates the newly released documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce, which "dives deep into the Bruceploitation craze that exploded in the immediate wake of Bruce Lee’s death." (Not enough Bruce for you? Head to Wing Luke Museum's ongoing exhibition, Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee.) (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, multiple screenings April 27-30, $8-$11) LINDSAY COSTELLO
MONDAY 4/29
Your Monday will be made infinitely better once you put this on some ice cream. MS
(FOOD) Celebrity chef David Chang, the founder of the famed Momofuku restaurant empire, inadvertently caused a social media storm earlier this month when his company attempted to enforce a trademark for the phrase “chili crunch,” even going so far as to issue cease-and-desist orders to other condiment brands using the term. He has since apologized, but in light of the controversy, we here at The Stranger decided to take it upon ourselves to conduct a chili crisp taste test to determine the best non-Momofuku alternatives. Our extremely (un)scientific methodology: We gathered a bunch of chili crisps from various sources (including Uwajimaya, Cone & Steiner, and Ba Mien Seafood Market) and tried them all both by themselves and paired with various snacks, including saltine crackers (both plain or spread with peanut butter or cream cheese), shumai, instant ramen, and vanilla ice cream (don’t knock it until you try it). Today, conduct your own taste test or just grab a jar of locally made Kari Kari, pour it all over a big bowl of vanilla ice cream, and thank us later. JULIANNE BELL
TUESDAY 4/30Life Be Lifin' Starring Monét X Change
(PERFORMANCE) "Guess who's Black in the house, bitch! Yas!" Fishy spitfire, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season four co-winner, and Sibling Rivalry podcast host Monét X Change will head to Seattle for an evening of stand-up comedy eleganza. You probably already know Monét for her congeniality and lip-syncing skills, but it should come as no surprise that she can also bring sociopolitical hilarity—she slaughtered as Maya Angelou in RPDR season 10's snatch game. (In the words of Monét as Maya, "If these hoes try to come for me, I surely will cut thee.") (Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St, 8 pm, $36-$46) LINDSAY COSTELLO
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