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MONDAY
ROCK/POPHaley Reinhart, Micaiah Sawyer
Sultry-voiced singer-songwriter Haley Reinhart has shared the stage with the likes of Jeff Goldblum (who knew?) and Steven Tyler, and Tom Hanks allegedly voted for her twice when she was on American Idol. She'll come to Seattle with opening support from Olympia jazz artist Micaiah Sawyer.
John Vanderslice, Meernaa
John Vanderslice is likely better known for his behind-the-scenes âsloppy hi-fiâ analog recording techniques in his Tiny Telephone studio and his collabs with the Mountain Goats than for his solo output. Of the latter, there is a respectable amount, 11 LPs' worth of lightly experimental indie rock that has grown richer, more pristine, and less straightforward over the years. See songs like âToo Much Timeâ (off 2009âs Romanian Names), a twinkling thing of lonely, alienated beauty, or the offbeat, static-clung âHow the West Was Wonâ from 2013âs Dagger Beach. He also delivered a superb reimagining of David Bowieâs Diamond Dogs in 2015. This date falls behind The Cedars, his first original album in six years, which has a stripped-back feel fueled by drum machines, synthesizers, and a palette of unidentifiable sonic textures. LEILANI POLK
LP, Lauren Ruth Ward, Slugs
The artist otherwise known as Laura Pergolizzi is behind a lot of charting tracksâfor Rihanna, Cher, the Backstreet Boys, Leona Lewis, and Christina Aguilera, among others. Her own more varied, alt-pop-oriented catalog hasnât enjoyed much Billboard time, though singles like the upbeat heartache of âLost on Youâ saw high commercial success in Europe (it went 4x platinum in Italy). Her vocals can reach dramatic heights of belting that are tempered with a lower-key smoky, burry tonality not unlike Stevie Nicks, though 2018âs Heart to Mouth shows that her grooves are as varied as her delivery. LEILANI POLK
TUESDAY
SOUL/R&BFatai, Sharon Irving
Australian soul/R&B artist Fatai will stop in Seattle on her biggest US tour yet. Catch her after an opening set from folk artist Sharon Irving.
WEDNESDAY
ELECTRONICChong the Nomad, TezaTalks, Mirrorgloss, Tinsley, PSA, Stas Thee Boss
The lineup for this Seattle music showcase presented by the Pabst Blue Ribbon Sound Society looks perfect: you've got multitalented musician and Stranger favorite Chong the Nomad, electronic-based experimental singer-songwriter TeZATalks, triphop/dance artist PSA (aka Pop Star Archie), and DJ/host Stas THEE Boss.
DMX
Eternal Rough Ryder and legendary New York rapper DMX, or the other Uncle Earl, will return to Seattle to show us that all men are truly dawgs on this 20th-anniversary tour for his debut album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot.
Cole Schuster Organ Trio
Seattle guitarist Cole Schuster and will welcome his talented friends to the stage for an evening of smooth, soulful jazz.Â
TrÀden, Kinski
Off and on for 50 years, Swedish group TrĂ€den (formerly TrĂ€d, GrĂ€s Och StenarâTree, Grass and Stones in English) have been making trance rock of solemn yet ecstatic majesty. Their marathon workouts may seem easy to create, but it's difficult to generate the precise textures and conceive the choicest chord progressions that trigger the deepest feelings of transcendence. The line between sublimity and monotony is slim, and most bands topple into the latter when working in this mode. TrĂ€den nail it, time after time. DAVE SEGAL
Anoushka Shankar
Imagine the pressure of following in the footsteps of your father and musical guru, the most famous and respected sitarist in the world, Ravi Shankar. But Anoushka Shankar has handled stratospheric expectations with grace and developed her own grandiloquent skills on her familyâs main instrument. A composer steeped in Indian classical music (of course), Shankar began studying with her pop at age 7 and even began playing tamboura onstage with him at age 10. With such a rigorous apprenticeship, itâs not surprising she developed into a world-class musician. Her technique is marked by a calligraphic dexterity and profound emotional heft that showcase ragasâ innate, immortal psychedelic properties. Anoushka is advancing the Shankar legacy formidably into the future. DAVE SEGAL
THURSDAY
DJCultivate: Dillinja
It's a major coup for Substation to book Dillinja (aka Karl Francis), a prime mover in the UKâs potent drum & bass movement since 1993. His production style accentuates rapid, punishing beats, abrasive textures, and ominous atmospheresâall the qualities that made hundreds of thousands of folks flip for D&B in the 1990s. Check out cuts such as âHard Noizeâ and âAcid Trackâ for proof. Despite his unquestionable underground cred, Dillinjaâs also remixed tracks by major stars such as Björk, David Bowie, Soul II Soul, and Basement Jaxx. That's clout and range. DAVE SEGAL
Daedelus, J-Justice, WD4D
Stranger contributor Andrew Gospe has written of Daedelus, "The producerâs skillâand his ability to incorporate influences ranging from juke to new age to show tunesâhas shown itself time and again across dozens of releases, including several for heavy-hitter electronic labels like Ninja Tune and Brainfeeder." Catch him in all his suspender-clad glory after opening DJ sets from J-Justice and WD4D.Â
Raica, Vox Mod, Wristboi, Leash
Raica is the solo project of DJ and Further Records founder Chloe Harris. She'll be joined in support by Seattle electronic artists Vox Mod, Wristboi, and Leash.
ÂżTĂ©o?, Maro, Samson
Colombian American drum and bass artist ¿Téo? draws from Bossanova, hiphop, classical, and alternative influences for a genre he calls "neo-American." He'll be joined by Portuguese songwriter Maro and Samson.
Knife Knights, Ray Porter, DJ Thee
If you dig Shabazz Palaces, youâll likely flip for Knife Knights, the new project featuring that innovative hiphop ensembleâs rapper/producer Ishmael Butler and studio wizard Erik Blood (both are Stranger Geniuses, by the way). Knife Knightsâ music has been percolating for about a decade, tracks cohering between the two artistsâ many other endeavors. Their enigmatic songs sound like a blueprint for a brighter yet darker future, encompassing otherworldly atmospheres, eldritch melodies, and atypical rhythms. Trust me: It will be worth the effort it takes you to grasp them. DAVE SEGAL
The 1975, Pale Waves, No Rome
Manchester alt-rock revivalists and teen favorites the 1975 will return to Seattle on their North American 2019 spring tour with indie-pop band Pale Waves and Manila-based singer and producer No Rome.
Kero Kero Bonito, Jaakko Eino Kalevi
J-pop meets Britpop meets 8-bit meets dancehall! How does such a swirl go about swirling, you might well ask. Well, Sarah Midori Perry sings and raps in both Japanese and English, and while I canât vouch for her Japanese accent, she sounds cute and sometimes slightly standoffish in both languages. Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulledâwith the beats and melodiesâlike the Casio, throw in plenty of noises from nonexistent video games, love Windows 98 (I sure hope thatâs a joke), and remind us that itâs okay to be yourself and not what society wants you to be. Damn. Looks like we still need as much of that as we can get. ANDREW HAMLIN
Old Time Relijun, Lindstrom and the Limit
Northwestern renegades Old Time Relijun are one of those rock groups that you can tell possess a surplus of kundalini. Their jagged, feral songs burst with that primal energy you hear in bands such as Pop Group, Birthday Party, and Blurt. After a long hiatus, leader and master of the articulate grunt Arrington de Dionyso shunted OTR back into action with upright bassist Aaron Hartman, drummer Germaine Baca, and saxophonist Benjamin Hartman. Their new album, See Now and Hear, storms the reality asylum with increased funkiness and a predilection for Can-like rhythmic punchiness. Against the odds, OTR have come back from a long layoff with their most galvanizing batch of rock brut, which seems more necessary now than ever. DAVE SEGAL
Seagaze: True Primitives, This Blinding Light, Lost Echoes, BPA
The nearly monthlong Seagaze Fest celebrates the Northwestâs love of 1980/90s shoegaze; a sound glazed with melodies and a LOT of noiseâperhaps originally inspired by overindulgences in shitty, strychnine speedy, $5 blotter, incidental warehouse reverb, and, uh, the Beach Boys. Tonight's bill sorts Seattle locals This Blinding Light, who play cool rockinâ indie, and Blackpool Astronomy, who sculpt songs around thick, dark melodies, with two PDX groups, Lost Echoes, who frame atmosphere onto melody on top of indie pop, plus headliners True Primitives, who promise to smother us with their dreamy mid-tempo floaters. MIKE NIPPER
THURSDAY & SATURDAY
CLASSICALSurrogate Cities
German composer and theater artist Heiner Goebbels will present his multimedia project, Surrogate Cities, a study of the modern urban landscape, examining various demographics and society at large and how they all fit into and contend with the natural world. The music will be brought to life by vocalists Jocelyn B. Smith and David Moss, with texts by Paul Auster and Hugo Hamilton.
FRIDAY
DJDepth: Rrose, Raica, Gag Reflex
Rrose is my favorite techno producer. On release after release on their own Eaux label and via other imprints, Rrose accesses the deepest realms of hypnotic minimal techno, sometimes going ethereal, but more often conjuring dense, swarming atmospheres that hint at malignant forces in the matrix. Too dark for most clubs and getting darker by the year, Rrose's music taps into that commonplace dystopian vein in dance music, but their take on it somehow carries added gravitas and writhes with more fascinating shades of black (check âWaterfallâ for an example). To be honest, I'm still recovering from Rroseâs synapse-dissolving 2013 set at Electric Tea Garden. DAVE SEGAL
Slushii
Born in New Jersey but hustling in Los Angeles, producer and DJ Julian Scanlan, going by his more summery stage name Slushii, leans heavy on the electronica touchstones of dubstep and future bass. Catch him on his Monster Energy Outbreak Tour.
Mokoomba, Chimurenga Renaissance
If you want a night of the purest African headcharge out there, do not miss this show, which features two very progressive African bands, Mokoomba and Chimurenga Renaissance. The former is based in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and the latter is based in Seattle, but it features a member, Tendai âBabaâ Maraire, who is Zimbabwean by blood. (Maraire is also one-half of Shabazz Palaces.) Mokoombaâs sound is like nothing I have heard beforeâa swinging mix of Afro pop, Brit pop, American rock and soul, and Jamaican ska. Chimurenga Renaissanceâs direction is Afrofuturist. In their music, one hears the ancient ruins of Great Zimbabwe transformed into a spaceship guided by spirits. This show will take you there. CHARLES MUDEDE
The Spring Quartet: Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Leo Genovese
If you see Esperanza Spalding and Jack DeJohnette on a bill, buy a ticket. Spalding is the not-so-new rising star of jazz and adjacent genres (R&B, bossa nova, neo soul) who plays bass, both upright and electric, like she was born under a low-end sun. Her scatting and singing have a honeyed, soulful quality. DeJohnette is a highly influential vet drummer of jazz whose extensive résumé includes work with Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Alice Coltrane, and so many others. On this tour, they land in Seattle as part of the jazz-pushing Spring Quartet, which also features saxophonist, alto clarinetist, and flautist Joe Lovano, and Argentine keysman/composer Leo Genovese. LEILANI POLK
Fucked & Bound, Haunted Horses, Convictions
He Whose Ox Is Gored have long served as Seattleâs torchbearers for post-metal. Their meticulously woven compositions of brute guitars and symphonic keyboards capture a malicious fervor tempered by discipline and restraint. While there is genuine angst and sorrow knitted into those elaborate songs, there is also the hint that something much more uninhibited lies beneath the surface. Enter Fucked & Bound, the outlet for the Ox tribe to set aside the melody and math for raging d-beat hardcore. The musicianship is still razor sharp, but the exploratory dynamics of HWOIG are ditched in favor of bulldozing riffs and vocalist Lisa Mungoâs confrontational command of the stage. BRIAN COOK
Ben Kweller, MainMan, Modern Love Child
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ben Kweller (a former member of '90s sugar metal band Radish) will headline in Seattle with opening support from SoCal rock quartet MainMan and alt rocker Modern Love Child.Â
Jessica Pratt, Business of Dreams
San Francisco's Jessica Pratt has opened for big indie acts like Kurt Vile and White Fence with her dreamy lullabies. She'll headline her own tour with an opening set from LA's Business of Dreams on this Seattle stop.
King Princess, Banoffee, Miss Texas 1988
I love Miss Texas 1988âshe commits. I recently saw her onstage at Cucciâs Critter Barn drinking a giant bottle of vodka and shoveling chocolates into her mouth to Celine Dionâs âAll by Myself.â The Seattle-by-way-of-Minnesota queen quite literally throws herself into her performance, using her best toolâher bodyâto express and heighten emotion. Sheâll be supporting headliner and multi-instrumentalist King Princess, whose smoky vocals and pop beats explore queerness, desire, and love. Iâm walking down the aisle to her track âPussy Is God,â because, well, it is. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Afro-Cuban All Stars
The Afro-Cuban All-Stars will introduce Edmonds to the world of Cuban son with tres master Juan de Marcos and a rotating, multi-generational cast.
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
JAZZAn Evening with Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra
World music talent Ottmar Liebert has been playing guitar since the age of 11, and has traveled extensively to absorb as many global musical traditions as possible. He recently recorded an album that combined elements of the Tangos flamenco rhythm with reggae beats, from which he'll perform tracks tonight with his band Luna Negra.
SATURDAY
CLASSICALBeethoven V. Coldplay
Take the lowbrow of Coldplay and blend it with the highbrow of Beethoven at this symphonic concert that asks the question: Would Beethoven have found meaning in the music of Coldplay?
Ha-Yang Kim: Terminals
South Korean composer and cellist Ha-Yang Kim will be joined by three-time Bessie Award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Hahn Rowe on guitar, violin and viola, and electronics, as well as violist Heather Bentley. Video and performance artist Ursula Scherrer will use "organic sources" to provide light-and-shadow visuals.Â
A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy
A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy, with selections from throughout the game series, will return to Seattle with a whole new program featuring the New World Players chamber ensemble, piano soloist Benyamin Nuss, and conductor Eric Roth.
RĂFĂS DU SOL
Dang, I thought the 1970s/â80s funk-soul group that charted with âTell Me Something Goodâ and âYou Got the Loveâ and featured a young Chaka Khan on vocals had reunited. But no. This new, umlauted, and all-caps RĂFĂS are an Australian trio that topped the charts Down Under with their 2013 debut LP, Atlas. The RĂFĂS sound wavers somewhere between Hot Chipâs chipper electro-house and James Blakeâs woebegone, yearning soul meditations. Itâs a very commercial approach, and RĂFĂS do it with poise and skill. Theyâre certainly better at it than the Chainsmokers, but itâs still rather mild sauce to anyone whoâs put in more than a few years of serious electronic-music listening. DAVE SEGAL
Lil Mosey, Yung Bans, Lil Tjay, Polo G, C Glizzy, Bandkids
Seattle native Lil Mosey released his first bedroom-made track on SoundCloud, and he's been raking in fans ever since. He'll be joined by fellow Northwest hiphop artists Yung Bans, Lil Tjay, Polo G, C Glizzy, and Bandkids at this "Northsbest Fest."
Gooch Palms, Downtown, Quid Quo
Gooch Palms arenât necessarily doing anything super new with their up-tempo, lo-fi, punky, quirky tunes, but that doesnât mean their music isnât immensely enjoyable and fun as fuck. The Australian duo give off giant waves of energy on their tracks, translating into their live performances. Their latest single, âAre We Wasted?â asks that pertinent question over a fuzzed-out, blown-out guitar and heavy drums. Gooch Palms will be joined by two Seattle acts: electro synth-punk band Downtown, whose songs barrage you with sound, and Quid Quo, a punk/post-punk trio whose songs make you want to eat pizza and jump around. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Seagaze: The Prids, Black Nite Crash, Mother Mariposa, NHS, Sick Wish
Seagaze Fest continues, and it looks like weâre getting more sweetness and light tonight! Right, so weâre set to get dunked in Black Nite Crashâs melodic fuzz bath, dance music from Mother Mariposa, cool, well-written, danceable pop from National Honor Society, and, from Boise, Sick Wish. Sick Wish play jams as if they knowingly filtered their ideas of cool through a box of unknown new wave 45s. Oh, DUH, canât forget the headliners, the Prids. I reckon yâall know âem, though, as theyâre well-trod and well-loved for their angelic, dual voxxed, veiled-in-reverb indie rock. MIKE NIPPER
Turnover, Turnstile, Reptaliens, Big Bite
Led by Portland bassist/vocalist Bambi Browning and keyboardist Cole Browning, Reptaliens sound like Broadcast or Peaking Lights, if they subsisted on a diet of cotton candy. On their albums FM-2030 and VALIS, the married duo sprinkle lite electronic and dub elements over their dulcet pop songs that, as the titles âUbikâ and VALIS prove, draw inspiration from cult sci-fi author Philip K. Dick. But if you were expecting that writerâs paranoiac vibe to creep into Reptaliensâ music, youâd be disappointed. These tunes whisk you away to immaculate fantasy worlds where conflict is a mere rumor. Reptaliens are wizards of âahs." DAVE SEGAL
SUNDAY
HIPHOP/RAPGifted Gab, the Cause and Effect Band, Blimes, DJ Vega
Gifted Gab is one of the best rappers in the game, period. Her lyrics and flow are incisive, precise, even gravity altering. On 4/20 (ay!), Gab released her latest album, Cause & Effect, which only solidified her exalted status here in her native city. On âAND 1/Hurricane G,â Gab is out for blood. âHe Gonâ Rollâ finds the Central District rapper instructing a lover about how to roll a joint over a sensuous beat. Gab will be celebrating the release of Cause & Effect at the Crocodile, joined by San Francisco rapper and frequent collaborator Blimes as well as DJ Vega. Gifted Gab is the king and the queen MC of Seattle. Come through and pay your respects accordingly. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Juice WRLD, Ski Mask The Slump God, Lyrical Lemonade
Rapper Juice WRLD will come to town with hits like "Lucid Dreams" and "All Girls Are the Same" on his Death Race for Love Tour. He'll be joined by rappers Ski Mask The Slump God and Lyrical Lemonade.
Lizzo, Tayla Parx
Lizzo is an unforgettable performerâsheâs compelling, entertaining, and always feeling good as hell. Lizzo sings and raps about body positivity, independence, and self-acceptance better than anyone, and her beats are next level. On stage, Lizzo is joined by the Big Girls, two of the most fabulous backup dancers, and the ultra-chic DJ Sophia Eris. The four of them combined make for a powerhouse of pop, from Lizzoâs speaker-blasting rhymes to the choreographed dance routines. Youâll leave this show feeling so empowered, you wonât remember life pre-Lizzo. ANNA KAPLAN
