Stranger Suggests: Your Agenda This Week, November 9–15

MONDAY 11/9

Jon Spencer, Genre Is Death

(MUSIC) For over 40 years in Pussy Galore, Blues Explosion, Boss Hog, and other feral units, ex-Ivy Leaguer Jon Spencer has adopted a lewd, shit-kicking persona, the better to make rock and roll sound savage, gritty, and reckless. It’s a shtick, sure, but Spencer’s utterly riveting with it. Even in his 60s, dude still rages. Late-career garage-rock heaters such as Spencer Sings the Hits!, Sick of Being Sick!, and the new Songs of Personal Loss and Protest prove that Jon can still find countless ways to transform primal urges into sonic art. With drummer Spider Bowman and bassist Kendall Wind in tow, Spencer continues to convert his anger at the state of the world and sadness over personal hardships into adrenaline-spiking, soul-inflating rock. (Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+) DAVE SEGAL

TUESDAY 11/10

Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean: Celebrating 30 years of Fugees’ The Score

(MUSIC) Lauryn Hill is one of hip-hop’s truly outstanding rappers. Her name is on two albums in the hip-hop canon—the Fugees’ The Score (1996) and her solo work The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). There is also the raw boom-bap/dancehall style track “Lost Ones,” which is on Miseducation. It alone put any doubt about her skills on the mic in the grave and solidified her reputation among the elite. And this, ultimately, is what matters in the game or rap and reality: her mic skills, her impeccable record, her undying commitment to what has almost entirely vanished from present-day rhymes; namely, “saying something” and never “fakin’ the funk.” So, let’s just show Hill the respect she deserves; few golden era rappers can match her accomplishments. (Climate Pledge Arena, 8 pm, all ages) CHARLES MUDEDE

WEDNESDAY 11/11

Armand Hammer, Sha Ray, DJ Haram

(MUSIC) When the world is on fire, radical compassion is one weapon, and trauma-bonding through bleak, back-alley art-rap is another. There are only two options. Armand Hammer, the binary star comprising New York rappers billy woods and Elucid, has that medicine, and their latest effort, last year’s acclaimed Mercy, a second team-up with everywhere man The Alchemist, takes the world to task. Politics, social ills, and petty annoyances are all handled with typical street corner soothsayer panache, woods stringing together rap-noir micro vignettes that Elucid bounces right back in the form of raspy, big picture, stream-of-consciousness bars. Never ones for undue optimism, the two emcees have nevertheless hit middle age with a head full of steam, itself a testament to the ability to thrive in the face of the static we’re all forced to wade through daily. AH continues to be a crucial antidote for the common ill, and only seems to be getting better with time. (Crocodile, 8 pm, all ages) TODD HAMM

THURSDAY 11/12

Andrew Joseph White: You’re No Better

(LITERATURE) Andrew Joseph White’s 2022 dystopian fantasy horror young adult novel Hell Followed With Us established him as an author to watch and attracted the notice of The Matrix director Lilly Wachowski, who is currently co-producing an anime-inspired film adaptation. His first book for adults, 2025’s You Weren’t Meant to Be Human, is a gruesome, transgressive trans body horror tale set in Appalachia. White incorporates his experience as a trans bi man with autism into his books and uses fear to plumb the terrors of our present-day existence. His newest book, You’re No Better, is a young adult psychological thriller about Morgan, a 17-year-old autistic trans boy who testified against his own serial killer father, putting him behind bars. He must prove to a predatory true crime documentary crew and his own mother that he is nothing like his dad. Given the relentless demonization of trans teens in the news lately, this novel’s message couldn’t be more timely or urgent. (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, 7 pm) JULIANNE BELL

Ravenna Brewing’s Battle of the Soups

(FOOD) Show up to Ravenna Brewing on Thursday to slurp four soups whipped up by four local breweries and restaurants all vying to be the winner of the coveted Golden Ladle. It is Ravenna’s fifth annual Battle of the Soups. This year the competition includes Hopvine Pub, Watershed Pub, Layers, and Big Time Brewery. All benefits go to Washington Wild. All soup goes into your belly. What soups will they be? It’s a secret. Tickets cost $25 and get you a 5 ounce serving of each soup. (Ravenna Brewing, 5–7 pm) NATHALIE GRAHAM

FRIDAY 11/13

Sad Boys in Harpy Land

(PERFORMANCE) Alex Tatarsky, who once made headlines by pulling a hoax at the Andy Kaufman Awards in 2013, where they announced they were Andy’s daughter and that he was still alive, says their absurdist performances live in “the uncomfortable in-between zone of comedy, dance-theater, performance art, and deluded rant—sometimes with songs.” Their solo show Sad Boys in Harpy Land was commissioned by and premiered at Abrons Arts Center in 2023 before transferring Off-Broadway to Playwrights Horizons later that year and comes to On the Boards November 12–14. In their “magnum o-pussy,” Tatarsky reanimates tortured characters from sources ranging from Seinfeld to Goethe and collages them into a bildungsroman about “a young Jewish woman who thinks she is a small German boy who thinks he is a tree.” Experimental electronic musician Shane Riley, director Iris McCloughan, set designer Andreea Mincic, and lighting designer Masha Tsimring also contribute to the “tour de farce.” It’s not for the faint of heart—be prepared for chewed-up sardines and mandatory audience participation—but you may walk away feeling a little less alone in our current dystopian nightmare. Read the full interview with Alex from our November issue. (On the Boards, 7:30 pm) JULIANNE BELL

SATURDAY 11/14

Radio Gaza & Wo’Pop Present: A Benefit For Palestine

(MUSIC/FUNDRAISER) If you’ve been feeling helpless on your doomscroll, here is something positive for you to actually do! Radio Gaza is a series that uplifts and celebrates Palestinian culture through music, art, poetry, and fundraising. Their next event is at Clock-Out Lounge and will benefit the organization Heal Palestine. The night is co-presented by KEXP’s Wo’Pop, and the lineup includes musicians Clarissa Bitar, Shelby Natasha, Intisaar (who was just featured on The Stranger’s live music podcast, Noise Complaint), PEN, and KEXP DJ Jyoti B.Fly. There will also be henna tattoos by Jo Sleem, poetry and Tatreez art by Hala Saleh, merch by Sweetmalson, and art from Seattle Artists for Palestine. All of this, plus Arabic treats and beverages by Ya Hala. (Clock-Out Lounge, 8 pm, 21+) NICO SWENSON

Min Jin Lee

(LITERATURE) New York-based author Min Jin Lee is best known for her sprawling Korean family epic masterpiece Pachinko, which was a 2017 finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and spawned a similarly critically acclaimed TV adaptation on Apple TV+ in 2022. Almost a decade after Pachinko, she’s back with her highly anticipated follow-up American Hagwon, which is just as ambitious in its scope. The novel follows the saga of the Koh family, which includes parents John and Helen and their three children—Bo, DH, and Mido. After their peaceful middle-class life in Korea is torn apart, they must leave Seoul for Sydney and then Southern California, where they grapple with a new reality, start over from scratch, and grasp for a better future. “Hagwon” refers to a Korean tutoring center, where students strive for excellence, and the book asks questions about the faith we place in academic institutions and the cost of pursuing success. Like Pachinko, it’s a nuanced critique of the American Dream and a portrait of the Korean diaspora, and the Kohs will root themselves in your memory forever over the 656 pages. (Meany Hall, 7:30 pm) JULIANNE BELL

SUNDAY 11/15

Light the Forest

(VISUAL ART) About an hour’s drive north of Seattle, there’s a magical place called Pilchuck Glass School where the world’s top glass artists convene throughout the year to whip miraculous glass art into existence in boiling hot shops and less-hot cold shops. The campus is a work of art in its own right: It spreads out like a 1970s hobbit fantasy complete with forests threaded with secret paths, stained-glass follies, and treehouses where acolytes retire to revel at the end of a long day’s work. The school isn’t typically accessible to the public, which makes the annual Light the Forest even more special. The event—a self-guided walking tour—unfolds on two dusky November nights, during which the already-ensorcelling Pilchuck campus transforms into an immersive light installation ablaze with neon. This year’s artists are Seattle-based glass baddies MiNHi England and John Sharvin (who both appeared on season 3 of Blown Away). Did I mention it’s magical? I can’t overemphasize how utterly enchanted it is. This year, they’re also offering day-of workshops, so you can walk away with your very own neon creation or hand-blown ornaments. (Pilchuck Glass School) AMANDA MANITACH

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