Tales of Lust & Madness with Lydia Lunch & Joseph Keckler
(MUSIC) Here's your chance to see a living legend in the flesh! Counterculture icon Lydia Lunch is best known for her '70s no-wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, as well as her later collaboration with Sonic Youth (their song "Death Valley '69" was named one of the "50 Most Evil Songs Ever" by Kerrang!) Nowadays, Lunch spends the bulk of her time leading self-empowerment workshops and performing spoken-word poetry. For these performances, she will be joined by fellow New Yorker and multi-hyphenate Joseph Keckler for two intimate evenings of "musical and linguistic intrigue." (The Rabbit Box Theatre, 94 Pike St #11, 8-11 pm, $30-$35, 18+) AUDREY VANN
THURSDAY 3/28
Deborah Faye Lawrence, Conservative Brain, on display at Photographic Center Northwest through June 2. COURTESY OF PCNW
(VISUAL ART) I confess that, even though it is a 20-minute walk from my home, I had never been to Photographic Center Northwest until their last exhibit featuring the works of Jon Henry. It humbled me, and inspired me to return. I typically have a hard time understanding "art," and gravitate toward photography where I expect things to be more real. The latest PCNW exhibit, Alterations, challenges that idea, as it features six Pacific Northwest artists who burn, tear, and paste various ephemera into their photographs. The works use collage to enhance, challenge, or twist the image, providing commentary on various aspects of our reality from gender stereotypes to environmental destruction. (Photographic Center Northwest, 900 12th Ave, March 28-June 2 with an artist reception April 11, free) SHANNON LUBETICH
FRIDAY 3/29(FILM/MUSIC) X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene once sang, "Oh bondage, up yours!"—that is the ethos of the Northwest Film Forum's Black Punk Weekend. The three-day festival takes inspiration from James Spooner's 2003 documentary film, AFRO-PUNK, and subsequent book, Black Punk Now, which explores the lives of Black punks within an overwhelmingly white subculture. The festival program will celebrate the groundbreaking, boundary-pushing art, music, writing, and more created by Black punks with a screening of Spooner's film (followed by a conversation with the director), live music from the Black Ends and Brontez Purnell, an award ceremony honoring Kimya Dawson, and more. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, March 29-31, $7-$100, see a full schedule here) AUDREY VANN
SATURDAY 3/30PDX Jazz Presents: Laurie Anderson
(MUSIC) Laurie Anderson has made an awe-inspiring mountain of music across her 40-year career as an experimental, trailblazing artist. You can attach multiple creative practices to her name, but her most well-known song—thanks to radio play from famed BBC DJ John Peel and an unexpected gen-z resurgence that landed her on the TikTok Billboard Top 50—is “O Superman.” If you scroll, you’ve heard the sample of Anderson’s track; she modulates her voice to an eerie, disembodied being, flatly singing: “Well you don’t know me / but I know you.” While “O Superman” conceptually floats somewhere in outer space, much of Anderson’s catalog is grounded, warm, and passionate. Don't miss Anderson in Seattle on her Let X=X tour backed by the NYC jazz ensemble Sexmob. The show is set to be a multimedia performance, showcasing her multi-hyphenate status while breathing new life into her extensive catalog. (Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 8 pm, $59.75-$100, all ages) AUDREY VANN
SUNDAY 3/313rd Annual Sexy Jesus Competition
(EASTER) 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, Sexy Jesus Competition invites participants 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. (Queer Bar, 1518 11th Ave, 6-10 pm, free) SHANNON LUBETICH
MONDAY 4/1View this post on InstagramA post shared by Mighty-O Donuts | Seattle, WA (@mightyodonuts)
(FOOD) I have come to loathe April Fool's Day. Idiots on social media make fake pregnancy or divorce claims and #brands fool news outlets into sharing bullshit press releases about nonexistent products like Butterfinger mayonnaise. The world is already full of fake news! Journalists are under attack. Influencers are constantly being outed as con artists or worse. Taco Bell's Mountain Dew Baja Blast pie is real. Every day is Fool's Day in America. Thankfully Mighty-O Donuts still understands classic April Fool's Day fun. For years now they've celebrated April 1 with deliciously disgusting poop donuts, their fantastic (and vegan!) yeast-raised donut swirled into a cute little, uh, pile, and covered with rich chocolate glaze. So gross! So funny! I promise, your friends will appreciate these little shits so much more than whatever dumb social media scam you've been contemplating. (Various Mighty-O Donuts locations, $5, pre-order by March 30 at mightyo.com) MEGAN SELING
TUESDAY 4/2(MUSIC) PNW rock royalty Sleater-Kinney will swing by for a two-night stint in Seattle to support their new album Little Rope. The cathartic, post-punk-driven album tackles personal and national grief with nods to the loss of Brownstein's parents and the overturn of Roe v. Wade. In a statement from the band, Brownstein writes "We’re always mixing the personal and the political but on this record, despite obviously thinking so much about politics, we were really thinking about the person—ourselves or versions of ourselves or iterations of depression or loneliness—in the middle of the chaos.” NYC indie rock project Palehound will open. (The Showbox, 1426 First Ave, 8:30 pm, $29.95-$45) AUDREY VANN
Prizefight!
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Keller Williams with Ryan Montbleau
Saturday, April 6, the Crocodile
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