Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

West Seattle Summer Fest
July 10–12
If you grew up in West Seattle, Summer Fest meant the true beginning of summer. It meant running into teachers outside of school (gasp!). It meant cracking open my piggy bank to buy used CDs at Easy Street’s sidewalk sale, an ice cream cone at Husky Deli, and tacky accessories from vendors (in 2008, I bought shutter shades from the sunglasses tent). It meant finding shelter from the sun at Pegasus Books or the West Seattle Antique Mall. Since then, the festival has grown exponentially—more live music, more food options, more local vendors, and MORE PEOPLE, which I try not to be cranky about. It is, after all, lovely to see people from all over the city enjoying long-running West Seattle institutions. Local highlights from this year’s music lineup include high-energy punk band Zookraught, synth trio Ghost Fetish, darkwave project Dark Chisme, and soul ensemble True Loves. (Alaska Junction, times vary) AUDREY VANN

7th Annual Goth Clothing Swap
July 11
Hosted by the Seattle Goth Collective in Volunteer Park, this event invites you to come declutter your wardrobe and get some new (to you) pants with a lot of zippers and straps. Trad Goth, Cybergoth, Deathrock, Romantic Goth, or brand-new to the scene? This is a free event open to all bodies and sizes. Attendees are invited to bring clean, gently used, or unwanted alt-fashion and subculture items to share. It’s a mutual aid–style event, so no buying, selling, or trading—this is a cute opportunity to gift clothes or just hang out and make new friends in the goth community! (Volunteer Park, noon–3 pm, all ages, free) DYLAN BUECHE

Ping-Pong Tournament
July 17
Square up for this summer’s first tournament on the outdoor tables of Hing Hay Park. Registration is at 1 p.m., then every game is match play from about 2 to 5 p.m. Double elimination with an Uwajimaya gift card on the line. The aunties and uncles can be ruthless, but watch the language barrier disappear through the magic of adversarial paddle sports. It can be intimidating to roll up and play on regular days, but it’s truly good vibes all around, and the competitive and open nature of a tournament gives this some more accessible structure. Bring your own paddle and get humbled or just come and enjoy the park. Seattle has a robust ping-pong scene and Hing Hay is the heart of it all. (Hing Hay Park, 2–6 pm, all ages, free) DYLAN BUECHE

Georgetown Pride
July 25
Georgetown Pride moved its celebrations to July, giving folks a chance to recharge after June’s debauchery. Thoughtful! The party starts with the annual neighborhood parade at Oxbow Park (where the hat ‘n’ boots are). Then the debauchery begins with performances on the mainstage in Star Brassworks’ parking lot, followed by the infamous Hot Dog Prom! (Downtown Georgetown, 3 pm, all ages and 21+ events, free) MEGAN SELING

More

For Which It Stands: The Many Threads of the American Flag July 3–November 15, times vary

41st Annual Naturalization Ceremony July 4, Fisher Pavilion, noon, free

July 4th at the Swedish Club with Graceland Manila July 4, Swedish Club, 5 pm, all ages

The Mix 2026 Pride Block Party with Bob the Drag Queen, Naomi Smalls, Karma Rivera, Anita Spritzer, and Many More July 14, the Mix (Tacoma), 2 pm, 21+

Mini Mart City Park’s 5th Annual Block Party July 11, Mini Mart City Park, 2–8 pm, free, all ages

On the Block 2026 July 11, 11th Ave between E Pine St and E Pike St, noon–6 pm

Beach Naturalist Shore Stroll July 13, Olympic Sculpture Park, 9:30 am–noon

Candidate Survivor Hosted by Harper Bizarre July 16, Neumos, 6:30 pm, 18+

After Hours Premier: Pride Celebration July 17, Seattle Aquarium, 7 pm, 21+

Forest Bathing July 18, Washington Park Arboretum, 10–11:30 am

Flock Fiber Festival July 31–Aug 2, Summit Building, times vary

Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle. 

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Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Tasting Notes: J. Kenji López-Alt
July 6
We all know Kenji as a NYT Best-Selling, James Beard Award–winning author, chef, content creator, and newish Seattleite, but fun fact: He was once on track to be a virtuoso violinist, and he still dabbles in the classical sphere. López-Alt’s talents in food and music harmonize beautifully in his role as the impresario behind Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Tasting Notes series, and in July, he’ll host another night of musical performances, live cooking demos, and a four-course dinner service. This summer’s edition features a culinary quartet of dishes prepared by celebrated Seattle chefs Mutsuko Soma (Kamonegi and Hannyatou), Christina Wood (Temple Pastries), and Taichi Kitamura (Sushi Kappo Tamura), while SCMS Artistic Director James Ehnes leads a concert of selections. Per the menu, the umamescent kasusake salmon with white miso and the tart with dark chocolate caramel ganache, toasted buckwheat groats, and yuzu mousse look particularly dank. There will be two seatings, vegetarian meals are available, and wine pairings by Gård Estate Wines can be added for $50. (Triple Door, 5:30 pm and 8 pm, all ages) MEG VAN HUYGEN

Classes at Street Cheese
July 22 and July 29
Every other year, the Mondial du Fromage—the world’s fair of cheese—takes place in Tours, France, and like any good fair, it involves a competition. To win, cheesemongers must tackle a written exam and a blind taste test, cut four identical 250-gram pieces of cheese, and present a five-minute speech about their favorite cheese. As adorable as this sounds, it is serious business on a global level, essentially the Olympics of Cheese. In 2025, Philadelphian cheesemonger Emilia d’Albero took the gold, while bronze went to Seattle’s own Courtney Johnson—marking not only the first American win but also the first time two American cheesemongers have stood together on the awards podium! Both women, no less! All summer, you can wheel into Johnson’s very fragrant Beacon Hill shop and take educational cheese classes from our local bleu-ribbon winner. The July 1 class, feat. d’Albero sold out in a flash! But as of press time, the Cheese 102 class, the pickle pairing class, and the N/A beverage pairing class still have seats available on July 22 and July 29, respectively. Check back for a new spread of classes in August. (Street Cheese, times vary) MEG VAN HUYGEN

Dark Room x Streamline Tavern
July 27
Dark Room’s chef/owner, Amy Beaumier, is staging a takeover of the kitchen hole at the divey old Streamline, bringing her signature Korean bites with some added Latin ’zazz—and vice versa. Some menu excerpts include mole-glazed popcorn chicken with yuj-scallion aioli (fuck!), birria tteokbokki (fuuuuuuuuck), and kimchi-pimento esquites (Beecher’s cheddar, Kewpie mayo, piquillo peppers, pickled jalapeños, and cilantro served over corn kernels with tortilla chips for scoopin’). Beaumier also famously excels at the art of the glizzy; this one will be loaded up with gochujang refried beans, chorizo, queso fresco, and kimchi salsa and served on a housemade milk-bread bun. There’ll also be a craft cocktail and a wacky Jell-O shot, TBA, and they’ll be selling shots of Rezpiral Mezcal, made by a fair-trade cooperative of small-scale artisanal mezcaleros, for $15 apiece. Beaumier is a frequent collaborator with Streamline’s bar manager, Matt Pachmayr—the impresario behind the wildly creative pop-up No Call No Show—and the cocktail, whatever it is, will very probably go crazy. (Streamline Tavern, 5 pm) MEG VAN HUYGEN

More

Sunset Sipping Series: Rooftop Bar Pop-Up with Veuve Clicquot July 4 Smith Tower

Batter Up Brewfest July 11, T-Mobile Park, 11:30 am

Gullet Stuffer VIII July 11, Grocery Outlet Madrona, 7–10 pm

The Ambrosia Sessions: The Amber Solstice July 11, W Seattle, 2 pm

Jessie’s Speedrack Send Off July 13, Dark Room, 6 pm

Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle

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Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

The Odyssey
Wide Release July 16
Elon Musk, is, as you’ve probably already heard, totally pissed that Christopher Nolan cast a Black woman, Lupita Nyong’o, to play Helen of Troy in his adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. Indeed, Musk went as far as to say that Nolan, a moderate Brit by any measure, desecrated one of the foundations of “Western Civilization.” What makes perfect sense in all of this nonsense is Musk’s insistence that the entire and messy history of the world conform to the foundations of capitalism, which were structured by the brutal extraction of free and cheap labor from Black and brown people. The fire of racial oppression is a matter of survival for white South Africans like Musk. Racism cannot depart from the economic system that’s made him a trillionaire. What are we to do? Well, go and watch The Odyssey. A Black Helen of Troy is not as nuts as the creation of a trillionaire. Also, Nolan always makes very watchable films. (Various theaters) CHARLES MUDEDE

Vanishing Seattle + Collide-o-Scope
July 20
Two beloved institutions team up at Clock-Out Lounge for a celebration of Seattle’s weird and wonderful past. Pop-culture conservators/video wizards Shane Wahlund and Michael Anderson of Collide-O-Scope are back with Vanishing Seattle curator/documentarian Cynthia Brothers for a night of civic memory and warped entertainment promising “an all-new special concoction of vintage video, freaky film, and found-footage fun in celebration of the Seattle you once knew.” It’s our city’s birthright to pine for the pre-tech-boom era, so strap in and get nostalgia-pilled with the best ephemeristas to do it. Apparently there will be prize giveaways, “and even geoduck, too.” Oh, good! (Clock-Out Lounge, 8 pm) EMILY NOKES

Unstreamable: I Shot Andy Warhol
July 24–26
I am deeply fascinated by director Mary Harron’s filmography, which includes the iconic American Psycho, followed by campy, so-bad-they’re-good biopics like The Notorious Bettie Page, The Anna Nicole Story, Charlie Says (about Charles Manson), and Dalíland (about Salvador Dalí). It all started with Harron’s directorial debut, I Shot Andy Warhol, which she’s described as an “anti-biopic” about radical feminist, satirist, and writer Valerie Solanas, who indeed shot Warhol. I first watched this film from my laptop on a website that probably gave my computer a virus, then later, when I ordered a VHS tape off eBay. For this reason, I am so grateful to the Northwest Film Forum’s Unstreamable Series, bringing forgotten gems to the big screen. (Northwest Film Forum, times vary) AUDREY VANN

More

Dead Souls with Director Alex Cox July 2, Central Cinema, 8 pm

Con Air July 3–8, Central Cinema, times vary

Goonies July 3–8, Central Cinema, times vary

Independence Day in Hecklevision July 4, Central Cinema, 6 pm

Science and a Movie: The Fly July 5, Central Cinema, 7 pm

SIFF Movie Club: Fried Green Tomatoes July 6, SIFF Uptown, 6:30 pm

Blade Runner July 8, Denny Park, 7:30 pm

Grand Illusion Cinema Presents: Carolina Caroline July 8, SIFF Film Center, 7 pm

The Invite Opens July 9, SIFF Cinema Uptown, times vary

Labyrinth July 10, Cal Anderson, 7:30 pm

Maddie’s Secret July 10, SIFF Cinema Uptown, times vary

Back to the Future July 10–15, Central Cinema, times vary

Face/Off in Hecklevision July 10–14, Central Cinema, times vary

SIFF Community Screening: Raiders of the Lost Ark July 12, SIFF Cinema Downtown, 11 am

Seeds July 13, SIFF Film Center, 6:30 pm

Hedwig and the Angry Inch with John Cameron Mitchell July 14–15, Neptune Theatre, 7 pm

Close Encounters of the Third Kind July 15, Denny Park, 7:30

Trash Baby July 15, SIFF Film Center, 7:30 pm

Seattle Film Critics Society at 10: RRR July 16, Northwest Film Forum, 6 pm

Sinners July 17, Cal Anderson, 7:30 pm

Honeyjoon July 17–19, SIFF Film Center, times vary

Staff Selects: Microcosmos July 17–23, Northwest Film Forum, times vary

5th Element July 22, Denny Park, 7:30 pm

Cold War Summer: The Lives of Others July 22, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7 pm

Wonka July 24, Mural Amphitheatre, 9 pm

Matilda July 14, Cal Anderson, 7:30 pm

Silent Movie Mondays: The General July 27, Paramount Theatre, 7 pm

Cold War Summer: The Manchurian Candidate July 29, SIFF Cinema Uptown, 7 pm

Art House Theatre Day July 30, multiple locations, times vary

The Princess Bride July 31, Mural Amphitheatre, 9 pm

Rocky Horror Picture Show July 31, Cal Anderson Park, 7:30 pm

Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle

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Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

Dolly Parton Fourth of July Drag Brunch
July 5
There is only one way to celebrate the 4th of July this year without looking like a nationalist fool: the Dolly Parton Drag Brunch at Emerald City Comedy Club. The club will morph into a utopian America where Mrs. Backwoods Barbie is our president, our flag is rainbow, and drag queens make the rules. RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Irene the Alien will host the afternoon of wigs, whiskey, Western tunes, and wacky drag performances. (Emerald City Comedy Club, 3 pm, 21+) AUDREY VANN

Leslie Jones
July 10–12
The expression “force of nature” is overused. To resolve this abuse, I recommend it be applied to only 123 individuals in the world. And in this limited realm, it should be identified with just three comedians, one of whom is undoubtedly the former writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live, Leslie Jones. She is a force of nature. But what exactly do I mean by this turn of speech? I mean to say that an individual like Jones is as irrepressible as a tree rising mightily from the ground, or as a bolt of lightning striking that tree from the sky. No matter what, Jones will speak her mind, which constantly crackles and churns. When she appears, you best be ready to split your sides, cause she is and will always be, when it comes to comedy, a force of nature. (Emerald City Comedy Club, times vary) CHARLES MUDEDE

More

Wish You Were Here Through July 5, ArtsWest, times vary

Birds Of Play July 9–25, Seattle Public Theater, times vary

Shakespeare in the Park July 10–Aug 15, various locations

Amanda Lepore, CAZWELL July 30, Crocodile, 8 pm

Hell’s Kitchen July 21–26, Paramount Theatre, times vary

Stormy Daniels July 7, Emerald City Comedy Club, 7:30 pm, 21+

James Austin Johnson July 8, Emerald City Comedy Club, 7:30 pm, 21+

Iliza Shlesinger July 16, Emerald City Comedy Club, 7:30 pm, 21+

Amanda Knox: Cartwheel July 30–Aug 1, Rabbit Box Theatre, times vary, all ages

Seattle Rep Presents: Freak the Mighty July 30–Sept 6, Bagley Wright Theater, times vary

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Chuck Tingle
July 7
A visionary writer of such titles as I’m Gay for My Living Billionaire Jet Plane, Slammed in the Butthole by My Concept of Linear Time, and, my personal favorite, Pounded in the Butt by My Handsome Sentient Library Card Who Seems Otherworldly but in Reality Is Just a Natural Part of the Priceless Resources Our Library System Provides (yes, these are real book titles), Chuck Tingle is kind of like the Nicholas Sparks of the modern era, except way less weird (have you seen Sparks’s recipe for chicken salad that includes eight packets of Splenda!?). But like Sparks, Tingle churns out entertaining, saucy novels at an inspiring rate—the man has published hundreds of books (so many that I can’t find an official count on the internet). How does he do it? I have no idea. But you can ask the masked cowboy of niche gay erotica this month at Third Place Books, as he stops by to promote his newest novel, Fabulous Bodies. (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, 7 pm) AUDREY VANN

Perrin Roosevelt Ireland
July 9
“Birds do it / bees do it”—so sang Capitol Hill’s blingiest drag queen, Mark “Mom” Finley, years ago, in the words of Cole Porter. “Do it” turned out to be falling in love (oh Cole, you kid)—but here comes Perrin Roosevelt Ireland with Poking the Squid, a guide (illustrated, even) to what the song actually meant. That’s right: Squids screw, spiders schtup, hyenas get horny, dolphins discharge, and spiny anteaters sport four-headed penises (which they fire two at a time). And if that doesn’t flip your wig, critters of the world marry, divorce, manifest queerness, and change sex. Expect a hail of ribald hilarity across the board—but the funny also features some serious considerations on how animals show us what we know, and only think we know, about our own intimate relations. (That said, I’m lining up mainly to hear about them there dolphin vaginal popsicles.) (Town Hall, 7:30 pm) ANDREW HAMLIN

Hot Off the Press Book Fair
July 11
Comic nerds, art book fiends, and zinesters, listen up! The 13th annual Hot Off the Press Book Fair showcases self-published and small-press comics, prints, and original artwork by over 50 regional indie artists and publishers, including Fantagraphics legends like Love and Rockets author Jaime Hernandez, Jim Woodring (creator of the generic anthropomorph Frank), Megan Kelso, Katie Skelly, and Jim Blanchard. There will also be live music from local garage-rock trio the Fall-Outs, experimental-rock project Martin Bland’s Randomized Controlled Trials, and the self-proclaimed “purveyor of questionable taste,” DJ Thirst ‘N’ Howl. (Fantagraphics, 5–9 pm) AUDREY VANN

Ocean Vuong with Putsata Reang
July 23
“The hardest thing in the world is to live only once…” reads the tagline for Ocean Vuong’s second novel, The Emperor of Gladness. On an amazing run for someone who’s only 37 years old, Vuong was born in Ho Chi Minh City, and the family fled Vietnam after a policeman detected his mother’s mixed-race heritage. After some time in the Philippines, the family made their way to Hartford, Connecticut. Vuong didn’t read until age 11, but then won admission to the prestigious Glastonbury High School. Degrees in creative writing and poetry followed, from New York institutions. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, his first novel, depicted a transcontinental raging mess that bore some resemblance to his own background—a family fighting for identity along with survival, and the narrator’s queerness blooming through the turbulence. Show up and learn what twists he puts on his further life in the service industry, elder care, and nursing the muse. (Town Hall, 7:30 pm) ANDREW HAMLIN

More

Fatimah Asghar July 8, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Ann Patchett July 9, Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm

Silent Reading Party July 12, Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater, 5 pm, free

Lauren Napier July 13, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Kim Narby July 14, Third Place Books Ravenna, 7 pm

Kyle T. Mays with Jessica Hernandez July 15, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Raúl Sánchez, Benjamin Schmitt, T. Clear, Molly Olguín July 15, Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, 7 pm

Safe Harbor: Open Mic Sessions July 16, Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 7 pm

Jennifer Lynn Barnes with Clare Edge July 20, Lake Forest Park, 7 pm

Keana Aguila Labra, Kerry J Heckman, Marty Salgado, Kalehua Kim, Eric Lochridge, & Lorenz Mazon Dumuk July 21, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Brooke Nevils July 22, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Clint Smith July 22, MOHAI, 7 pm

Claire Vaye Watkins with Claire Dederer July 23, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Rebecca Roanhorse with Tara Campbell July 23, Seattle Public Library Central Branch, 7 pm

Jack Straw Reading: Gabriella Garcia, Maiah A Merino, BeeLyn Naihiwet, Diane Nguyen, Alejandro Pérez-Cortés, and Sayantani Roy July 24, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Maria DiLorenzo with Christopher Robinson July 27, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Ronen Givony with Tricia Romano July 28, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm

Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle

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Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

Lotus L. Kang: I hear the hollow boom of time
Through Sept 27
Deep within the Frye, there’s a curious contraption: a delicate, industrial light- and color-casting machine made of yards and yards of 35-mm film spooled around a motorized, powder-coated steel-and-aluminum frame that slowly turns, scattering the soft glow of stage lights through amber film. All of Kang’s work is rooted in photography; it feels birthed in a Wonderland-like darkroom where everything is wondrously oversized and photographic processes have been deconstructed and turned into something totally new. Even her “paintings” are made using darkroom chemicals instead of paint. The pièce de résistance is Molt, an installation made of massive reams of unfixed, photosensitive film draped like scrolls over steel rods and suspended with aircraft cables. They’re beautiful as objects, but even more sublime as archives of material memory, continually color-shifting and image-changing over time—sometimes for years—responding to their environment. (Frye Art Museum) AMANDA MANITACH

Barry Johnson: silence is golden
July 7–Aug 22
Over the past decade, Barry Johnson’s practice has expanded at a prolific pace, from modest-scale portraits and paintings of domestic interiors to massive public works, like his large-scale aluminum relief sculpture, horizons, installed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport earlier this year. The thread running through it all is a devouring, enveloping sense of pathos. In recent years, the series of portraits of his deceased brother proved Johnson’s ability to turn personal tragedy into a locus of universal feeling, translating the unbearable weight of longing and love into imagery that not only contains, but transforms loss into something both bearable and beautiful. In his latest body of work, silence is golden, Johnson revisits motifs and memories from his Midwest upbringing, channeling the sacred solace of the plains. In times of fractured attention, Johnson extends a plea to make time for reflection—and he offers the space to do it. (Winston Wächter, 3–5 pm, all ages) AMANDA MANITACH

Assembly Art Fair and Seattle Art Fair
July 22–26 and July 23–26
It’s art fair season! Time to lace up your walking shoes and get ready for a lot of running around, especially since Seattle Art Fair—now in its 10th year—is joined by Assembly, a new invitational contemporary art fair spearheaded by Greg Kucera Gallery and Traver Gallery. Bucking the typical convention-center maze of booths, Assembly brings together 16 galleries from Seattle, Portland, Dallas, and Los Angeles, inviting them to fill the expansive rooms of West Canal Yards. Meanwhile, SAF is turning its focus on the Pacific Northwest’s growing textile and fiber scene, a material-driven practice increasingly taking root and gaining visibility. (Look out, glass!) Highlights include a suspended “hand-unwoven” installation by Ko Kirk Yamahira (presented by studio e) and a tapestry series by Lucy + Jorge Orta exploring “speculative cosmologies and planetary change.” The two fairs offer distinctly different energies, but for anyone interested in contemporary art, both are required viewing. (West Canal Yards and Lumen Field Event Center) AMANDA MANITACH

Ben Zamora: In a dream you SAW a way to survive
July 23–26
Ben Zamora is a master of large-scale light sculptures, weaving labyrinthine, geometric structures in the air with fluorescent tubes, LEDs, and bulbs. His work has been displayed globally (he’s designed for the Berlin Philharmonic and Kronos Quartet) and also close to home—you may have climbed around or through The Gathering, his large rainbow-ish sculpture at 14th Avenue and Madison on Capitol Hill (one of his non-illuminated pieces). This month, Zamora is reconstructing his childhood home entirely from linear tubes of lights. He’s stitching it together from memory—the halls, rooms, doors. Visitors will be able to walk through, navigating architecture made of light. I suspect this will be one of the best off-site experiences during art fair week. (The Jack) AMANDA MANITACH

More

Henry Gallery: Day-to-Day: Rhythm, Routine, Resistance July 5–Jan 3, 2027 Henry Art Gallery

Toys Not Included Volume 4 July 9–31, with artists opening July 9, Slip Gallery

Luminous Glow: Kelsey Fernkopf and Steve Gilbert July 11–March 2027, Whatcom Museum

Alki Art Fair July 17–19, Alki Beach

Ongoing

Nebula Seattle Presents Cabinet of Dreams: The Gallery Exhibition Through July 6, Buttnick Building

Carry On: A Portfolio of Small Works Through July 11, J. Rinehart Gallery

TADAIMA: I’m Home Through July 12, Museum of History & Industry

Koplin Del Rio Presents Eirik Johnson: Pine Through July 25, Foster/White Gallery

Perri Lynch Howard: Mapping the Invisible Through July 25, ArtX Contemporary

Beyond Mysticism: The Modern Northwest Through Aug 2, Seattle Art Museum

Black. Power. Black Panthers. Through Aug 3, Arte Noir

Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving Through Aug 30, Burke Museum

Chloë Bass: Soft Services Through Aug 2026, Volunteer Park

Moomins’ Sea Adventures & Tove and the Sea Through Sept 6, National Nordic Museum

Lost & Found: Searching for Home Through Sept 14, Wing Luke Museum

Tom Lloyd Through Sept 20, Frye Art Museum

Let There Be Light Through Sept 30, Cannonball Arts

Samantha Yun Wall: What We Leave Behind Through Oct 4, Seattle Art Museum

Jonathan Lasker: Drawings and Studies Through Oct 11, Frye Art Museum,

Artists’ Choice with Guest Curators Through Oct 11, Frye Art Museum

Boren Banner Series: Chloe King Through Oct 11, Frye Art Museum

Eric-Paul Riege: ojo|-|ól Through Oct 25, Henry Art Museum

Monochrome: Calder and Tara Donovan Through Jan 17, 2027, Seattle Art Museum

A Room for Animal Intelligence Through Jan 2027, Seattle Art Museum

Ten Thousand Things Through May 2, 2027, Wing Luke Museum

Pioneer Square Art Walk Every first Thursday

Capitol Hill Art Walk Every second Thursday

Georgetown Art Attack! Every second Saturday

Chris Kallmyer: Song Cycle Ongoing, Seattle Art Museum

Gossip: Between Us Ongoing, Tacoma Art Museum

Legacy: Highlights from the Permanent Collection Ongoing, Tacoma Art Museum

Qiu Zhijie: Map of the History of Science and Technology Ongoing, Olympic Sculpture Park

Ash-Glazed Ceramics from Korea and Japan Ongoing, Seattle Art Museum

Rebels + Icons: The Photography of Janette Beckman Ongoing, MoPOP

Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle

The post Things to Do in July: Visual Art appeared first on The Stranger.

Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This & That.

Say Goodbye to Wall of Sound
Through July 31
Over the last 36 years, Wall of Sound has been one of Seattle’s greatest music retailers for people whose tastes migrate far below the mainstream. Tragically, due to an exorbitant rent increase and declining sales, the store’s two ultra-knowledgeable owners, Jeffery Taylor and Michael Ohlenroth, cannot continue to do business at their small 12th Avenue and Pike shop. The duo’s curation has been excellent and eclectic, presenting the cream of various international musics, ambient, jazz, rock, techno, experimental, library, funk, and other styles. It would behoove music lovers to pay their final visits and make their last purchases before Wall of Sound closes in late July. Personally, I’ve spent thousands of dollars at WOS over the last 24 years and consider myself fortunate to call Taylor and Ohlenroth friends. As many in the region can attest, they’ve improved our minds with their selections and warmed our hearts with their kindness and good humor. Rest in power, Wall of Sound. (Wall of Sound, 11 am–7 pm daily, noon–6 pm Sundays, through July) DAVE SEGAL

CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso
July 7
I respect a music project that’s a whole thing. A costume, a plan, a concept. Even if it doesn’t quite work, I prefer to live in a timeline where people make the effort at all. And when it’s great? Buenos Aires duo CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso spent years honing their craft (and well-developed sense of irony) before their 2024 album, Baño María, and a viral Tiny Desk concert introduced their music (and lewks) to a much wider audience. Since then they’ve switched hair colors, adopted a deadpan wellness aesthetic, released the EP and short film Papota (2025), which earned them several Latin Grammys, followed by the full-length Free Spirits this year. The music is a blender of trap, jazz fusion, funk, club, and pop; their performances are theatrical, often with live-band arrangements, abrupt tonal pivots, and swaggy/absurdist choreography. (Paramount Theatre, 8 pm, all ages) EMILY NOKES

Amy Denio
July 11
Educated out East (and in Colorado, if that counts) but a Seattle fixture for decades now, Amy Denio’s never been rich, never been famous, and has taken more than her share of brickbats (a snarky program director called her “toneless”). But she’s stayed the course and maintained her creative bent while gathering accolades in the underground. She sings, plays a small orchestra’s worth of string instruments, plays woodwinds, French horn, and occasionally balloons—basically, anything she thinks might yield revelation. She’s run her own record label for 40 years. She speaks several languages, including Italian; she once took an artistic fellowship in a 15th-century Italian castle. The Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame inducted her in 2015. For a performance at Broadview Library, she’ll bring her accordion, guitar, and bass. One can never tell which directions she’ll take—and who knows if there will be any balloons—but her sound should contrast with the expected quietude of a library. (Broadview Library, 3:30 pm, free) ANDREW HAMLIN

Sincere Engineer, Ways Away, Smug LLC
July 13
If you like fast-paced, pop-punk-tinged rock songs about fucking up, falling in love, and/or finding joy in watching your enemies suffer, then you may already be in love with Chicago’s Sincere Engineer. The Hopeless Records act, led by vocalist/guitarist Deanna Belos, has an anthem for every major life milestone. Feeling like a failure and spiraling? “Trust Me.” Didn’t get into the dentistry school that you didn’t want to go to anyway? “Overbite.” “Fireplace” is for when you hate someone so much you relish the thought of them getting kidnapped by a serial killer; “Corn Dog Sonnet No. 7” is for those nights when you’re brokenhearted and nursing a late-night corn-dog-induced tummy ache; and “Twist My Tongue,” from the band’s new record, Probable Claws, captures the frustration of not thinking of a decent comeback when stuck in an argument with an idiot. Too real. The lyrics are so relatable that when Sincere Engineer played at Madame Lou’s in 2024, every song turned into big, emotive sing-alongs. Grab Probable Claws and learn the words ASAP so you don’t miss a moment of therapeutic bonding. (Vera Project, 6:30 pm, all ages) MEGAN SELING

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio
July 14–15
Recording for the revered Colemine Records, Seattle’s Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have been revivifying soul jazz and old-school funk since their scorching 2017 debut single, “Concussion”/“Memphis.” Leader and Hammond B-3 sorcerer Delvon Lamarr has had a rotating cast of amazing players filling the group’s drum seat and guitar slots, including Champagne Bubblebath titans Grant Schroff and Jimmy James. Sure, the indelible, galvanizing grooves and soul-stirring melodies DLO3 generate have roots in Jimmy Smith, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, and the Meters’ output from 55 to 60 years ago, but this music is ageless and should appeal to all. And it rocks hard, too. Check out “Between the Mayo and the Mustard” from their 2018 debut album, Close but No Cigar. And they’ve just dropped a slashing new funk joint, “Chicken Leg,” that continues their winning streak. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

Hilary Duff, La Roux, Jade LeMac
July 15
There is a common arc of teen idols becoming successful through the Disney machine, then spending the rest of their lives distancing themselves from it. But something really powerful happens when a teen idol embraces their past, e.g., Aly & AJ recording an explicit version of “Potential Breakup Song” in 2020, Mandy Moore performing “Candy” live in 2022, Miley Cyrus releasing a new Hannah Montana song in 2026, and, now, Hilary Duff touring the country singing early-aughts anthems like “What Dreams Are Made Of” and “Come Clean.” This reclamation of their often cringy past reminds us that we all have permission to revisit our younger selves with sweetness, not judgment. I will be one of thousands of millennials unabashedly singing along with Duff on the lucky me (lowercase stylization hers) tour, celebrating a past version of myself who believed that I, too, could go on an eighth-grade trip to Rome and be mistaken for an international pop star à la The Lizzie McGuire Movie. “Bulletproof” singer La Roux and Canadian singer-songwriter Jade LeMac will open. (White River Amphitheatre, 7 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN

Alice Bag, Someone’s Daughter
July 17
It was from the glittering ashes of male-centric glam rock that one of LA’s first punk bands emerged. As a music-obsessed teenager who was convinced she’d one day marry Elton John (this is the bi experience, people), Alice Bag met Patricia Morrison (Legal Weapon, the Gun Club) while waiting in line to see John guest star on Cher’s variety show. Later, when the two unsuccessfully auditioned for a post-Runaways Kim Fowley project, they scouted the fellow audition rejects. And this was the start of the Bags, a group of paper-bag-masked teenagers making angry, chaotic music. Although the Bags only released one single during their three-year stint, the band’s freewheeling ethos lives on through Alice’s solo music, collaborative projects, memoirs, advocacy, and appearance in Penelope Spheeris’s seminal punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization (as the Alice Bag Band). She will return to Seattle to play songs from her 2020 album Sister Dynamite, after an opening set from Seattle-based punk band Someone’s Daughter. (Black Lodge, 7 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN

Deep Sea Diver, Nation of Language
July 18
Nation of Language’s “Weak in Your Light” is my all-the-time song. On Sunday mornings. In the car. While I’m working. It fits every mood because it manages to be moody, vibey, almost melancholy, while also being absolutely danceable. Their newest album, Dance Called Memory, threads that same needle, and getting to hear them on a summer evening in Remlinger Farms couldn’t be more perfect. Joining them at the farm is Sub Pop labelmate Deep Sea Diver. So if you missed their homecoming show with Coral Grief at the Paramount, now’s the time to make it up. (Remlinger Farms, 6 pm, all ages) HANNAH MURPHY WINTER

The Lostines, Kinsey Lee, Sequoia
July 19
With her former band, the Wild Reeds, Kinsey Lee and Co. released three albums of harmony-filled, emotionally raw indie folk that led them to tour with Lord Huron and Shakey Graves, along with gigs on NPR’s Tiny Desk and KEXP studio sessions. When the band stopped touring at the end of 2019, Lee pursued a career as a flight attendant until she felt the urge to make music again. Her debut solo album, Cold Cuts, is the first thing she’s made and produced entirely on her own. The album is an amalgamation of Lee’s personal experiences: dissociating on airplanes, working in her family’s Italian deli, connecting her ancestry, soundtracking New Orleans hangouts, and finding slices of home at Italian community centers while living between LA, Seattle, and New Orleans. Sonically, I hear glimmers of Jenny Lewis, Sharon Van Etten, and Julia Jacklin. Like the aforementioned indie queens, Lee finds the perfect balance between authentic emotion and pop gloss. She will support the album alongside alt-country duo the Lostlines (also celebrating their new album, Meet the Lostines) and Virginia singer-songwriter Sequoia. (Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+) AUDREY VANN

Snõõper, Happy Death Men, Miscomings
July 21
Every time I go to see Nashville garage-punk band Snõõper live, the next handful of shows I attend are ruined. At the least, they feel incomplete. What do you mean your band doesn’t have props? That stage suddenly looks kinda empty without CRT monitors stacked one on top of the other, flashing strobe lights and playing CCTV footage of the crowd back at themselves. The bar is raised for everyone. Why aren’t your homemade puppets crowd-surfing? If the tempo doesn’t fall within the range of frenetic to blistering, then it won’t compare to a Snõõper show. Happy Death Men and Miscomings open. (Baba Yaga, 7 pm, 21+) DYLAN BUECHE

Charlie Porter Quintet
July 21
Can you afford to miss this? Trumpeter Charlie Porter brings to sonic life the themes of key science fiction films launched primarily during the generation designated as X. In Porter’s program, we find interpretations of the scores for Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Alien, Star Wars, and Dune. Can you feel that? Going back to the time when the future had a chance, to the time when it knew exactly where we would end up if we didn’t radically change course. Today, we are experiencing an environmental catastrophe that matches (if not surpasses) that which was visualized by Blade Runner. As for The Terminator, AI is actually here, in this world, and we are finding ourselves more and more powerless to resist its growing domination of every aspect of human (and, as a consequence, all) life. In the 1980s, we sat in the dark theaters and received these important transmissions from a future that was right around the corner and, it seems, we did nothing. And this is Generation X’s shame. But we still have the music from a period that warned us to “wake up” before it’s “time to die.” (Royal Room, 7:30 pm, all ages until 10 pm) CHARLES MUDEDE

Colleen Green, Mini Blinds, Faerie Born
July 22
Colleen Green, looks kinda mean, used to play guitar with a drum machine. This summer she’s performing her album Cool with a full band and all-time lineup, giving the record the party it never got back in 2021. Released by Hardly Art, Cool is the perfect dose of her sharp, lo-fi instrumentals and irreverent songwriting. Come early to see beloved and feared Seattle legends Faerie Born—who describe themselves as Illyrian indie, pop ACOTAR, faewave, and House of Wind house—play songs inspired by the wildly popular romantasy series A Court of Thorns and Roses. (Clock-Out Lounge, 8 pm, 21+) DYLAN BUECHE

Kim Gordon
July 25
The punk icon and eternal kool thing, best known for her time in Sonic Youth, will stop by Seattle to support her third solo album, PLAY ME. Taking inspiration from “the demolition of democracy, technocratic end-times fascism, the AI-fueled chill-vibes flattening of culture,” Gordon raps through crunchy beats and hip-hop samples with her signature unbothered affect. It kind of sounds like an album that Beck would have released in the ’90s, but admittedly, a lot cooler. Sigh, I’m still praying that Free Kitten—Gordon’s project with Pussy Galore’s Julia Cafritz—will re-form one of these days. (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN

Black Moth Super Rainbow, Giant Day
July 27
Since 2003, Pittsburgh’s Black Moth Super Rainbow have been creating some of the finest honey-glazed, weird-dream soundtracks in the USA. If you like rock music that sounds as if it’s being filtered through clouds of DMT haze and sung by a wonderstruck waif, BMSR will set your wheelhouse on fire. Back in 2009 in these pages, I wrote, “BMSR’s songs are concise and hooky, but peculiarly out of focus, smeared into a hazier dimension via technology—and a creator—that seems imbued with an otherworldly spirit.” Led by a singular presence named Tobacco, BMSR write uniquely warped and catchy songs—some unbelievably tender, some grotesquely sinister, some absurdly ebullient. Their newest LP, 2025’s aptly titled Soft New Magic Dream, doesn’t disorient like their first three albums did (“Tastebud” is an exception), but it still casts an oneiric spell. (Showbox, 8 pm, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

of Montreal, Sloppy Jane
July 28
I’ve seen of Montreal live three times, and this month, I won’t miss the chance to do it again. The first time I saw them was a whole 20 years ago at Bumbershoot 2006, where Kevin Barnes was surely part of my journey to figuring out just how queer I am. Then again in 2010, when the band was collaborating closely with Janelle Monáe, and they were small enough that they were touring as of Montreal’s opener. And the third time was in 2018 at the Knockdown Center in Bushwick, where someone in a Spiderman costume crowdsurfed and twerked while standing on people’s hands (remember pre-2020?). And my fourth will be at Neumos. Their new album, aethermead, brings it back to their early-2000s era, before any of us knew what a President DJT was, so it’s a perfect time to pack into a club and twerk while standing on people’s hands. This year of our lord 2026 needs more of Montreal. (Neumos, 7 pm, 21+) HANNAH MURPHY WINTER

Marcos Valle, Fabiano do Nascimento
July 30
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1943, Marcos Valle is one of those rare musicians who’s remained artistically and physically vital into his 80s. The Brazilian legend popularized bossa nova in the ’60s and then expanded his repertoire to embrace samba, rock, soul, funk, and jazz, making him a towering figure of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira). He’s a suave synthesist of styles, bringing a lovely lightness and danceability to his sophisticated compositions. And unlike with most aging musicians, Valle’s later albums have maintained lofty quality control; check out 2024’s lusciously groovy Túnel Acústico for proof. His last Seattle show a couple of years ago proved that this octogenarian still has energy and creativity to burn. (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages) DAVE SEGAL

More

The Revivalists, True Loves July 1, Woodland Park Zoo, 4:30 pm, all ages

Bonita Fishwife, Glutz, Pink Moss July 1, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Deck’d Out #3: DJ Said, Costa Showcase July 2, Monkey Loft, 7 pm, 21+

5 Seconds of Summer July 2, Climate Pledge, 8 pm, all ages

Noches de Rock en Español: Emi Pop, Albina, CcStencil July 3, Baba Yaga, 8 pm, 21+

Kurt Vile and the Violators July 3, 5th Avenue Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Yaeji July 3, Substation, 9 pm, 21+

Wolfmother July 5, Showbox, 8 pm, 21+

EMM x TeZATalks July 6, Hidden Hall, 7 pm, 21+

Seattle Chamber Music Society 2026 Summer Festival July 7–26, multiple locations, times vary,
all ages

Lady A July 8, Jimi Hendrix Park, 6:30 pm, free, all ages

Infinity Song July 9, Westlake Park, 6 pm, free, all ages

Beautiful Freaks, Apocalipsticks, Torch July 9, Add-a-Ball, 8 pm, 21+

Wimps, Love in Hell, DJ Martin Douglas July 9, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Eric Howk, Daggerhands, Grant Steele July 10, Add-a-Ball, 9 pm, 21+

Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms, Spin Doctors July 10, Marymoor Park, 6 pm, all ages

Souls of Mischief July 10, Crocodile, 6 pm, 21+

Modest Mouse, Pinback July 10–11, 5th Ave Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

The Head and the Heart July 10–11, Remlinger Farms, 6 pm, all ages

Ballard Music and Seafood Fest: Built to Spill, Nite Wave, Low Cut Connie, and More July 10-12, Ballard Ave, times vary, all ages

Tutti Flutti Flute Ensemble July 11, Ballard Locks, 2 pm, all ages

Zookraught, Buddy Wynkoop, Edging, Toxic Tears July 11, Baba Yaga, 9 pm, 21+

Art Gecko, Russian Blue, Velvet Heartbreak July 11, Neumos, 5 pm, 21+

Lucero, Thomas Dollbaum July 11, Showbox, 8 pm, 21+

Fiddlehead, Narrow Head, Knumears, Destiny Bond July 14, Washington Hall, 7:30 pm, all ages

Save Ferris: It Means Everything July 14, Jazzbones (Tacoma), 7 pm, 21+

Streetlight Manifesto, AJJ July 15, Showbox SoDo, 8 pm, all ages

Jonny’s Day Out, Exiter, Youth Do Choir July 15, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Marshall Law Band July 15, Railroad Way North, 4 pm, all ages

Young-Chhaylee, Erin Parkes, Ben Dyleuth July 16, Sunset Tavern, 7:30 pm, 21+

Fremont Fridays: Moviola July 17, LTD Bar & Grill, 5 pm, 21+

Jimmy Eat World, Motion City Soundtrack, Illuminati Hotties July 18, WAMU Theater, 7 pm, all ages

X Suns, A Collective Subconscious, UUKWUUK July 18, Sunset Tavern, 9 pm, 21+

Califone, Melanie Radford July 18, Substation, 7 pm, 21+

Chance Peña, Hans Williams July 20, Moore Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Kalia Vandever July 21, Vera Project, 7 pm, all ages

Maren Morris July 23, Woodland Park Zoo, 4:30 pm, all ages

John Craigie July 23, Westlake Park, 4 pm, all ages

Black Milk July 23, Nectar, 7 pm, 21+

Timber! Outdoor Music Festival 2026: Reyna Tropical, Lady Wray, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Dead Pioneers, Kassa Overall, and More July 23–25, Tolt-MacDonald Park, times vary, all ages

Wynonna Judd & Melissa Etheridge July 24, Chateau Ste. Michelle, 6:30 pm, all ages

Alabama Shakes, Billy Allen, the Pollies July 24, Dune Peninsula (Tacoma), 7:30 pm, all ages

CatFest 2026: Lichen Hearts, Filthy Traitors, Skates!, Straight to Video July 24, Sunset Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Dillstradamus (Dillon Francis B2B Flosstradamus), Henry Fong July 24, Showbox SoDo, 9 pm, 21+

Dead Disko Fest: Zookraught, Dark Chisme, Grizz CLL, Kill Buzz, Normal Bias, and More July 24–25, Baba Yaga, 8 pm, 21+

Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show July 24–25, Gorge Ampitheatre, 7:30 pm all ages

Chinese American Bear July 25, Neumos, 8 pm, all ages

Boyz II Men July 25, Chateau Ste. Michelle, 7 pm, all ages

Young the Giant, Cold War Kids July 25, Marymoor Park, 6 pm, all ages

Fitz and the Tantrums Jul 26, Chateau Ste. Michelle Amphitheatre, 7 pm, all ages

Mexican Institute of Sound x Meridian Brothers present Ruido Tovar July 27, Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Steve Earle July 28, Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Pavement, Street Night July 29, Woodland Park Zoo, 4:30 pm, all ages

Little Venom, Welcome Strawberry, Found Space, Combing July 29, Baba Yaga, 8 pm, 21+

Scott Yoder, Emi Pop, Micah & the Mirrors, Erica Rose & the Ragged School July 30, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Folk Bitch Trio July 30, Westlake Park, 4 pm, all ages

ConFunkShun July 30–Aug 2, Jazz Alley, times vary, all ages

Hannah Frances July 31, Fremont Abbey Arts Center, 8 pm, all ages

Babes in Canyon, Surprise Special Guests, New Body Electric July 31, Tractor Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Bad Nerves, the Death Cult Aug 1, Showbox, 8 pm, all ages

Ed Sheeran Aug 1, Lumen Field, 5:30 pm, all ages

Ani DiFranco, Valerie June Aug 2, Woodland Park Zoo, 6 pm, all ages

Poppy, Landmvrks, Thousand Below Aug 2, Paramount Theatre, 7 pm, all ages

Megan Moroney, JP Saxe, Solon Holt Aug 2, Climate Pledge Arena, 7 pm, all ages

Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire: Sing a Song All Night Long Aug 3, Climate Pledge Arena, 7:30 pm, all ages

Benson Boone Aug 4, Climate Pledge, 8 pm, all ages

Early Warnings

La Fonda Aug 5, 999 3rd, noon, all ages

Suki Waterhouse Aug 6, Woodland Park Zoo, 6 pm, all ages

Den Fest Aug 7–8, Sunset Tavern, 21+

Capitol Hill Block Party: Muna, Disco Lines, Wet Leg, Parcels, Magdalena Bay, and More Aug 7–9, Capitol Hill

The Mountain Goats, the Hold Steady Aug 9, Woodland Park Zoo, 5:45 pm, all ages

Man Man, American Tomahawk Aug 12, Neumos, 7 pm, 21+

Passion Pit, Arden Jones Aug 13, Showbox SoDo, 8 pm, all ages

Quicksand, Bane, Soulblind Aug 19, Showbox, 7:30 pm, all ages

Hippie Death Cult, Earth Tongue Aug 20, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Silkworm, Nina Nastasia Aug 21, Tractor Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

KEXP BBQ: Ty Segall, Arlo Parks, Angine de Poitrine, Los Mirlos, Packaging, Sea Lemon Aug 22, Northwest Courtyard at Seattle Center, 2 pm, all ages

Eagles of Death Metal Aug 29, Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Osees ft. Brigid Dawson, Traps PS Sept 2–3, Neumos, 7 pm, all ages (Sept 2) and 21+ (Sept 3)

Bumbershoot: Turnstile, Peaches, Lucy Dacus, Bikini Kill, Death Cab for Cutie, De La Soul, Orville Peck, and More Sep 5–6, Seattle Center, times vary, all ages

Chance the Rapper Sept 26, Paramount Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Perfume Genius, Dan English Sept 28, Town Hall, 8 pm, all ages

The Hayley Williams Show, Magdalena Bay, Rico Nasty Sept 30, White River Amphitheatre, 7 pm,
all ages

Iron & Wine, Ken Pomeroy Oct 13, 5th Avenue Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle

The post Things to Do in July: Music appeared first on The Stranger.

Back in early April, as lawyers, judges, and governor-appointed justices announced their candidacy for the historic number of Washington State Supreme Court positions up for grabs this election, I noticed something odd. Attorney Scott Edwards, a lawyer who lost the fight against the state’s new capital gains tax now running for Supreme Court, Justice Position No. 1 against Gov. Bob Ferguson-appointee Justice Colleen Melody, either had his facts tragically wrong or had generated the text on this website with a hallucinatory AI. 

Under the tab “What is the composition of the current Court?” Edwards listed a recently-retired justice, a dead justice, and a person who never sat on the court. Call me an elitist, but it should probably be a requirement to know who’s on the Court if you’re running for it, right? 

Here was Edwards’ list of current Washington State Supreme Court justices: 

• Debra L. Stephens (the chief justice)
• Charles W. Johnson (the associate justice)
• Susan Owens (she retired in 2024 and died last year)
• Sheryl Gordon McCloud
• Mary I. Yu (not only retired, but held the seat he is running for until December 31, 2025, a mere 181 days ago)
• Steven C. González
• G. Helen Whitener
• Raquel Montoya-Lewis
• Monty J. Shaw (who?)

I could not find a record of a Monty J. Shaw ever sitting on the state’s highest court. 

But just to be sure, I asked Chief Justice Debra Stephens if she recalled working with Justice Shaw.

“There has never been a justice by that name,” Stephens wrote in a text. “It appears that person has it wrong on their website.” 

I emailed Edwards about Monty J. Shaw and the other discrepancies. He never replied, but has since updated his site, which now lists the correct justices, saving a campaign that has raised more than $46,900. 

It got me thinking, where did this name come from? Does Monty J. Shaw even exist?

I found a few dead men named Monty Shaw, like the former lumber worker in Clarkston, Washington and the North Carolinian Monty who was so renowned for his cooking people knew him as “The Chicken Man.” Of the living Monty Shaws, there’s a recently-laid off account manager at a tech company that uses AI  and a 49-year-old man in Dallas, Texas who actually has the “J” initial. A fictional Monty Shaw appeared in the 2021 reboot of Walker Texas Ranger (his Walkerpedia here).

Then there’s singer/songwriter Monty Shaw, “aka Hip Pop,” from Vancouver, BC, who likes “to tell stories about family, love, and Christian worship” with his music, according to a Spotify bio with no mention of an esteemed legal side hustle. Shaw’s profile picture is of an AI-generated bald man strumming an AI-generated guitar. Google AI says he is human. I’m not so sure because he sings with what sounds like an AI voice. Are the Language Learning Models conspiring to convince defenseless humans like Edwards that Monty Shaw is a real living, breathing human who used his actual brain to write songs like “Faraway Daughter” and “Mom You Are My Hero”? 

You decide: 

The post State Supreme Court Candidate’s (Probably) AI-Generated Website Invented a Fake Sitting Justice, Who May Also Be an AI Musician appeared first on The Stranger.

Seattle multi-instrumentalist Morgan Henderson has played baroque folk rock to hundreds of thousands all over the world with Fleet Foxes and held down the low end with hell-raising post-hardcore cult faves the Blood Brothers, reflecting his tremendous range and ability to adapt. Despite these high-profile gigs, Henderson remains off many folks’ radars. He still isn’t a household name, though the bands for whom he plays bass, cello, bass clarinet, and saxophone are. 

Not that this situation bothers Henderson. He’s too busy creating compelling music in several projects that—to me, anyway—are more enjoyable than his better-known groups. And he’s an ultramarathoner, so you know he’s chill. It’s plausible that running for hours at a time enables Henderson to conceive inventive sonic ideas, putting his runner’s high to optimal use. Surely it helps with his lung power where sax, flute, and clarinet are concerned.   

At various intervals, Henderson seemingly has at least four bands going, and his discography is vast, involving several Northwest underground-music acts, including J.R.C.G., Seven Colors, and Spencer Moody’s jazzy/funky quirksters the Blind Seekers. Perhaps foremost right now is OC-EN (pronounced “Ocean”), a duo with fellow saxophonist/synthesist Joel Cuplin. Their improvisational live sets flow logically while hitting upon weird strains of ambient, jazz, dub, and IDM. They’ve opened for Colin Stetson and Go Kurosawa, and held their own. Henderson and Cuplin are currently working on their debut album. The two tracks I’ve heard flow in the minimalist, neo-avant-jazz stream that’s burgeoning nowadays.

For OC-EN, Henderson uses an Octatrack MIDI controller that controls two synthesizers—a Moog Siren, which creates the bass sound, and a Nord Drum that, Henderson says, “fits between rhythm and tonic sounds.” Cuplin employs a looper and effects units, so his loops correspond to Henderson’s moves.

In a 2024 interview on Slog, Henderson told me that he considers OC-EN the truest expression of his musical abilities “because it demands a bit more of me. Because I’m trying to be present and make something happen in the moment, but also write things, as far as the electronics go, that set up a world in which to explore. Not unlike any jazz or improvisational music where they might have some structures that they built ahead of time—songs that they’re going to play around in.”

Wow-wow, Henderson’s cross-country duo with NYC-based Pollens member Jeff Aaron Bryant, might just be his most fascinating group. Their hypnotically rhythmic, bizarrely textured instrumentals sound like ritualistic South Pacific Island pieces plugged into an organic techno matrix. A key part of Seattle’s music scene for over a quarter century, Henderson creates music that gets deeper and stranger as he goes.

The post The Ultra-Improvisionist appeared first on The Stranger.

Whether you’re excited to celebrate the Fourth or you’re simply stoked for a long weekend, we suggest you soak up some sun at spectacular events from the Seattle Paddle Rave to Seafair 4th of July and from the Seattle Center Classical festival to the Tianguis Market. For more ideas, check out our top picks of the week.

FRIDAY

COMEDY

Xavier Smith and Friends
No sports fans, Rams’ wide receiver Xavier Smith doesn’t do comedy in his spare time. This is Seattle’s Xavier Smith; the one who spent the past year playing professional basketball in Greece (insane lore) and is now back home for “one night only” to headline Laughs Comedy Club. As both an athlete and performer, Smith’s unique brand of comedy draws from the unique overlap between the two main parts of his identity, combining personal stories, observations about life abroad, and the awkward realities of relationships and adulthood. And because this is a homecoming of sorts, the whole thing kicks off with a laid-back pre-show patio happy hour to both celebrate Smith’s brief return. LANGSTON THOMAS
(Laughs Comedy Club, Northeast Seattle, $20)

Read more on EverOut!

The post The Best Bang for Your Buck Events in Seattle This Fourth of July Weekend: July 3–5, 2026 appeared first on The Stranger.